Thought I'd start this as we're getting some discussion going about it in other threads (and derailing them).

I've been watching the old Universal horrors in turn, as I was inspired to rewatch after seeing an excellent documentary series by the BBC on the history of horror movies, presented by Mark Gatiss ("A History of Horror")

In turn:

Dracula
Frankenstein
Bride of Frankenstein
Son of Frankenstein
Ghost of Frankenstein
The Wolf Man

And left to go:
Frankenstein Vs The Wolf Man
House of Dracula
House of Frankenstein
Abbott and Costello meet Frankenstein

The real high water mark here is Bride of Frankenstein, though Frankenstein is still very good, and the first 20 minute of Dracula were awesome.


Okay, I'm about to embark on a Giallo/Italian horror fest for the next few weeks/months the following (in no particular order)

Anthropophagus
Beyond, The
Bird With the Crystal Plumage, The
Demons 1+2
Don't Torture a Duckling
House by the Cemetery
House on the Edge of the Park
Inferno
Let Sleeping Corpses Lie
Macabre
Opera
Phenomena
Planet of the Vampires
Strip Nude for Your Killer
Twitch of the Death Nerve
Zombie 2
Zombi 3


Any comments or recommendations from the above, or not in the above, will be welcome

I'm coming back with recommendations sir! Give me time.

One of my favorite giallos is Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, the look and color tone of this film is so rich and backdropped against an Italian high fashion house and its models? Um yeah, pretty cool giallo, something so wicked in the contrast of blood and high fashion dress colors. Has a decadent feel about it.

Lucio Fulci's Manhattan Baby and New York Ripper are worth an add for giallo exploring.
Bava's Whip and the Body is another.
Argento's The Cat O' Nine Tails

I know you and I discussed but I'll put the word out here that the originally titled Communion is out and about for rent and purchase and I believe a blu ray release is soon upon us as well. Known here in the States as Alice, Sweet Alice, the director, the American born Alfred Sole created the one and only real American giallo. This also has the distinction of being Brooke Shields first film. She is only in it for a few minutes in the beginning so don't blink. She's probably about 8 or 9 years old and Paula Sheppard as Alice turns in a noteworthy performance for a 15 year old girl. She steals the show here.

bookmarking this thread

I guess I probably should say that Opera isn't my fave Argento film, since you're embarking on giallo I'm kind of going to assume you've seen Suspiria which cliche' yes, is my fave Argento. I did mention Dario's Opera because his newer film Giallo (2009) with Adrien Brody is pretty good and is an updated look for the Maestro! Another giallo to add.

Another great Italian film which is really more arthouse/slasher but some consider giallo is Stagefright (1987) directed by Michele Soavi. Soavi is a disciple of Dario Argento as Argento was with Mario Bava.

Argento's Demons is pretty good too. Written by Argento, directed by Lamberto Bava, who I'm pretty sure is Mario Bava's son?

Suspiria should be everyone's favorite. Although not nearly in the same class, The Stendhal Syndrome is filled with some gorgeous filmmaking. And it does feature Asia Argento.

Not a movie, but this tv play from the 70s Thriller series is sick scary:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1gPP1go6v9w

Indeed Lamberto Bava is Mario's son. I love how the Italians like to keep it all in the family! Asia Argento, Dario's daughter prooved to be a decent filmmaker with The Heart is Deceitful Above All Things: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0368774/ This is a really tough watch and not a horror film but so horrific in its own right and this I consider, her best work to date. She wrote the script based on the scandalous novel of the same title and she directed as well as acted in this project.

Wow what an enjoyable bit of nostalgia right here. Thanks for that.

I'm afraid to watch it in case it induces some childhood nightmare flashback.

I'm watching it still and maybe it will....If the pipe smoking bit doesn't get ya then I don't know what would!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9e6lP7gksV0

Just wanted to give folks a head's up on this amazing and uncompromising new zombie film set for a limited theater run in October. The Ford brothers are giving us a serious zombie film, set and filmed in So. Africa, with a production so plagued by problems due to the brutal environment this was filmed in, it's a wonder this ever got done. Keep an eye out for this to appear in a theater near you this October. It's worth the view. Scary and classy film.

I heard about this movie months ago, and it sound terrific.

Haven't got time now, but will review Strip Nude for your Killer later today.

STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER

This is an Italian thriller/slasher from the mid 70s, and the version I saw was pretty badly dubbed. The film is so-so, with the characters having quite muddled motivations and dialogue (probably a lot of that is due to the poor dubbing job), and the killer's identity at the end leaves you thinking to yourself WAH?

However, despite this, it was diverting and entertaining, and quite a bit of fun, mainly because the main protagonist is absolutely execrable, piggish and sexist. He makes, say, Connery's Bond look like an ultrafeminist. He isn't nice at all, and the movies starts with him herlping to hide the body of a girl that dies during a botched abortion he helped to arrange. Right after, we see him just following a girl and taking pictures of her ass, then seducing her quite forcefully into sex in a fairly public place. At another point, a girl he's with speculates even he could be the killer, and he gets quite cross and puts a chokehold on her that nearly makes her pass out. Later on, he acts like he's going to rape her anally, but stops and says 'oh, I'm just kidding'. And this is the good guy...


There isn't much tension, and the murders are bloody and graphic in a 70s way (ie not very realistic), but the killer is dressed head-to-toe in black leather and wears a black motorcycle helmet, so looks pretty cool. There's lots of bare female flesh and the ladies are quite attractive (and for you squeamish American guys, it's obvious from the ladies, erm, grooming habits that this is the 70s).

The title is a little misleading as the people who get killed mostly happen to be getting naked or be naked when they are stabbed to death. They don't actually strip for the killer.

Overall, I found it reasonably entertaining and amusing. It should be noted that I think I watched a slightly trimmed version at around 1hr 33minutes, whereas IMDB puts it at 1.38. I guess the more excessive bloodletting might be trimmed, so if you've seen it and it was worse than I seem to suggest, it's cos I've seen a tamer version.


OVERALL 2.5/5
REWATCHABILITY: Quite rewatchable, say once a year if you're in the mood for mindless titillation and want to laugh at the deplorable protagonist.

okay, because of input from this thread, I've tracked down the following to add to my list:

Blood and Black Lace
Cat O Nine Tales
Manhatten Baby
New York Ripper
Stage Fright
Stendhal Syndrome

I have indeed already seen Suspiria, but it was a long time ago, I may rewatch soon.


The only one I'm having trouble finding for rental etc is Alice, Sweet Alice


I've got The Beyond lined up next.

I'll agree! Dead on review for Strip Nude!

The Beyond is fantastic and twisted! I think you'll love it. Let me see what I can dig up for Alice, Sweet Alice but I do know it's for rent on netlfix. Here's my review from netflix, first page for it:

I saw this movie when I was a kid and it really scared me. I still think it's effectively creepy as an adult. It was kind of surreal, especially with the killer running around in the simple plastic mask, yellow rain slicker, patent leather shoes and tights. That look is so sublimely creepy and childlike. It's a twisty giallo story complete with red herrings, creepy looking scenes and camera work. It's catholicism riff made this very controvercial when it was first released under the title Communion in 1976. I think if you are a fan of the genre this is one of the must see movies. The acting is good, especially Paula Sheppard as Alice. She really was a good actress and yet never went on to do much else. Some of the other players overact a bit but it still works. There is some gore in this movie but it's not over the top or anything like that. This movie relies mostly on creepy atmosphere and there are some very memorable scenes. Even church takes on a creepy look in this film. I must confess that I have a soft spot in my heart for this movie and rightly so as I am a giallo fan and this is very reminiscent of those types of films. If you are a fan of the great Italian gialli then I recommend this movie to you. Oh and yes, it is Brooke Shields first movie role, but don't blink or you'll miss it, and Paula is the kid who steals this show!

I managed to find a place I can rent Alice Sweet Alice, so I'll try and watch it after The Beyond.

Nice review of Strip Nude, I gotta check that out.

I recommend Zombi 2. If for some reason you hate it at least FF until you see a zombie walking on the bottom of the ocean. That scene alone is worth the price of admission.

I'll second Losing all's recommend for Zombi 2 aka Fulci's Zombi definitely for zombie vs. also one more scene for those that freak out on eye penetration.

So here's a recommend and review for one of the more fun horror flicks that's come out recently. Based on the comic book of the same name, I highly recommend Trailer Park of Terror:

Six troubled youths and their Pastor embark on a journey to heal their fractured minds when their bus crashes and leaves them stranded in a place known as the Trucker’s Triangle. Here they meet Norma who is more than ready to be their hostess for the night and put them up in her trailer park. She’s got some very unexpected plans for these kids and their Pastor. With a bit of her southern charm, her undead friends in tow, all hell breaks loose.

This is some fun right here! Great dialogue, terrific makeup and well done cgi. I did not expect to like this as much as I did, hence I stumbled upon this low budget gem! Norma (Nichole Hiltz) had me at “pretty girl”. A touch of Jaime Pressly in her that she uses wisely in this vehicle. Her first scene, wishful makeup-ing at her dressing table draws you right into her plight and*head on into*her pathetic existence and wish to escape from it. From there it goes into fun mode right quick, the pacing in this flick is excellent. It’s got enough exposition of the inhabitants that you end up feeling for the demon/zombies, which is part of the fun here. This is buckets of blood (unrated version) and trailer trash zombies! You get an Asian masseuse and “the meat lady” who’s actually pretty scary. It's based on a great premise and I really enjoyed the story of how this Bermuda Triangle of a trailer park came to be. I was also treated to my very first zombie demolition derby.

This really turned out to be a very creative effort, especially for straight to dvd. It also has some intelligence to its’ cheese factor. Acting across the board is way above low budget. Even Trace Adkins, the good old country music boy does a fine job of playing his "Devil Down in Georgia" character. This small cast rocked! Fantastic music throughout and best of all, original and creative kills abound in here. I could not have asked for more from a b-movie made currently to leave me awash in the glory of the heyday of 80's horror! To me, this movie definitely belongs on a shelf because it has rewatch value. Highly recommended for genre lovers. Don't miss it. "Tell 'em Norma sent ya!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ePiQwGZENpU

So I just wanted to post this trailer for Worst Case Scenario. The best nazi/zombie film that never was......Really sad, I believe the filmmaker is Danish/Swede/Norwegian? I dunno but the man was unable to raise enough funds to make this fantastic idea/trailer come to fruition with a full blown feature film. Left a big hole for those of us who really wanted to see this made! The production values on this trailer alone utterly mystify me as to why we don't have Worst Case Scenario, the film! Just wanted to share my misery......

Meh. I liked the African setting, but the white lead seems like a very bad actor.

A lot of folks have that same complaint so, not make excuses but I will give you two different points that may have a lot to do with why this is an issue for some. The actor himself was directed to not show much emotion as the idea was that with death all around him, his reaction was to be in a sort of state of shock and eventual numbness. The actor was indeed sick with malaria throughout the filming as well. He literally would be on an i.v. and then shoot a scene, back and forth this went on for weeks. Just one of the many problems I spoke of earlier with the production itself. I really did like the performance given by the African mercenary though. Thought I'd add that I'm not part of this production or crew or anything though you might think that. I'm just really in support of indie cinema, especially like this one as it's not just some backyard dork with a camera making something a sixth grader might.

*crickets*