Clik here to view.
GOTHIC ORIGINALS: The Fall of the House of Usher(Roger Corman, 1960)
Thinking over this latest round of gothic horror reviews, it occurred to me that thus far we’ve not really touched upon American International Pictures’ hugely influential (and more to the point,...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GOTHIC ORIGINALS: The Embalmer (Dino Tavella, 1965)
Of the relatively few places on earth I’ve been lucky enough to visit over the years, Venice is one of my favourites, and as such, I’ve always found films set there to be a dead cert in terms of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GOTHIC ORIGINALS: The Gorgon (Terrence Fisher, 1964)
Contrary to the grand narrative that sees Hammer going from strength to strength following the establishment of their horror brand in the late ‘50s, the early ‘60s actually proved a pretty...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GOTHIC ORIGINALS: An Angel For Satan (Camillo Mastrocinque, 1966)
“This isn’t about witches or curses… this is about criminals and assassins!”The last of the gothic horror films Barbara Steele made in Italy between 1960 and 1966, Camillo Mastrocinque’s ‘Un Angelo per...
View ArticleClik here to view.
GOTHIC ORIGINALS: Appendum.
Before we temporarily put the gothic horror theme aside, I thought it might be a good opportunity to throw in a few choice examples of the seemingly never-ending supply of gothic pulp paperbacks that...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Panic Over Istanbul: A Two-Fisted Turkish Triple Bill!
Polite Notice: I’m afraid this is going to be a fairly huge post. As it’s a continuous piece of writing covering three films I watched in a single sitting, I didn’t want to split it up. So you might...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Wow, I Actually Saw a New Film:Some Thoughts on ‘Django Unchained’.
This week saw me undertaking my bi-annual trip to the cinema to actually see a new film, and turns out it gave me a whole bunch of stuff to get off my chest, so why not do so right here, I thought to...
View ArticleClik here to view.
People Who Died.
Although it seems a bit of a drag to break my brief blogging hiatus with yet another obits post, the fact is that January (and late December) saw the largely unreported deaths of a number of notable...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FRANCO FILES: The Diabolical Dr. Z(1965)
AKA:‘Miss Muerte’, ‘Das Geheimnis des Dr. Z’, ‘In the Grip of the Maniac’.Context:During the mid 1960s, it seems Jess Franco was primarily working out of Paris, building on the relative success of ‘62s...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FRANCO FILES: Barbed Wire Dolls (1975)
AKA:‘Frauengefängnis’, ‘Jailhouse Wardress’, ‘Caged Women’, ‘El Reformatorio De Las Perdidas’, ‘Women's Penitentiary IV’.Context:Being a fan of a director like Jess Franco is all about learning to take...
View ArticleClik here to view.
FRANCO FILES: Doriana Gray(1976)
AKA:‘Die Marquise von Sade’, ‘Le Portrait de Doriana Gray’, ‘Le Porno Storia della Marchesa De Sade’.Context:“I hinted at the calamity of my birth – that will have to suffice.”Jess Franco’s career has...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Spring Paperback Frenzy, week # 1.
It’s been a while since I’ve shared any old school crime, thriller, smut etc. paperbacks here, so now seems a good juncture to examine some recent acquisitions – sailing out tomorrow for an initial...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Net – Edward S. Aarons (Macfadden, 1969)
I like the artwork on this one, and the bright colours. I’m easily pleased.
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Cult of the Seven Wenches – Kevin North(Playtime, 1963)
Oh, *like* cattle… right. I hesitate to say ‘that’s a relief’, but it certainly beats my first reading.Also, expect to see the phrase ‘erotic foulage’ finding usage on these pages before long.Gotta...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Yellow Villa – Suzanne Blanc (Macfadden, 1968)
Giallo-tastic!It seems author Suzanne Blanc - sometimes mistakenly assumed to have been French (see comments) - wrote several crime novels set in Mexico, winning two Edgar Allan Poe awards and a French...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The Corpse – Carter Brown ( (Signet, 1958)
Pretty standard stuff in pretty poor shape. Robert Mcginnis artwork, but not one of his best I feel (bit of a gloomy colour palette, etc). That “cool jazz and hot corpses” line is a classic though. In...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Deathblog: Damiano Damiani (1922-2013)
Yet another obscure film director obit I’m afraid, and a bit of a late one too, but I learned today that Damiano Damiani passed away a few weeks back, aged 90, and thought it was worth pausing to mark...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Death Bed: The Bed That Eats (George Barry, 1977)
If ever there was a film title destined to provoke immediate expressions of hilarity and disbelief from the general public, and a corresponding instant viewing/purchase decision from the kind of...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Deathblog: Jesús Franco Manera (1930 – 2013)
Well in our heart-of-hearts I guess we knew it was going to happen sooner or later, so let’s close the curtains, take the phone off the hook, break out the whisky – it is time to mourn Jess Franco.As...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Franco Farewells Update.
Before we move on, I just thought I’d do a quick round up of some of the numerous tributes to Jess Franco that have appeared online since I wrote my initial post below.Contrary to my preliminary...
View Article