Friday, June 30, 2006

Jodorowsky prepares a new film!!!


The rumors would appear to be true. Alejandro Jodorwsky is in preproduction for a new film, a metaphysical poliziotteschi (a counterpart to his "metaphysical spaghetti western" EL TOPO?) called KING SHOT. The film will star Nick Nolte and Marilyn Manson (who are apparently coughing up a sizable chunk of the films 3 million dollar budget) and will be made in Jodo's old stomping grounds, Mexico. While we here at Worldweird aren't in the habit of following the developments going on in contemporary film (most of which we don't like all that much, to be honest), this is major, MAJOR news. Jodorowsky is our favorite director as well as just one of our favorite human beings, period. We will keep you updated as more news comes in.
The lucky, well-connected bastards at Twitch are responsible for this important breaking news and as well have exclusive looks at some of the storyboards. They look unbelievably cool, if somewhat extravagant for such a modestly budgeted flick.

Thursday, June 29, 2006

Another CasaNegra update! THE VAMPIRE will live again on Halloween!!



CasaNegra will release a two disc set featuring the Mexican horror classics THE VAMPIRE and THE VAMPIRE'S COFFIN on October 31st. This is great news, indeed! THE VAMPIRE (or EL VAMPIRO) is a corpse-cold classic of latin gothic atmosphere, and while I haven't seen it's sequel, I'm sure it's no slouch either. We are excited. You should be too.
So sayeth the CasaNegra press release:

Masterfully crafted, brilliantly atmospheric and as powerfully chilling as the day they were released, these Gothic tales of undead, bloodthirsty Count Karol de Lavud (Germán Robles) upped the impact of Hollywood horror and set the template for countless fright-films for years to come -- made both in Mexico and the world over.

Described as "Dracula on a hacienda," El Vampiro chronicles the journey of young Marta (Ariadna Welter) who learns that her family is under the demonic control of Count Luvad (Germán Robles). As he feeds on the blood of the locals and aims to raise his brother from the dead, Marta and the mysterious Dr. Enrique (Abel Salazar) threaten the Count. The wrath of El Vampiro then reigns down upon them, and an all-time horror classic plays out with unforgettable eeriness and excitement.

You can't keep a wicked bloodsucker down, as proven in El Ataúd del Vampiro, the follow-up to El Vampiro. Marta (Ariadna Welter) and Dr. Enrique (Abel Salazar) battle Count Luvad (Germán Robles) anew, after he has turned the grave-robbers who accidentally resurrected him into zombie servants. Bent on vengeance and clamoring for the blood of beautiful women, Count Luvad proves to be one of horror's most indelible villains, and The Vampire's Coffin is a spooky, thrilling classic every bit on par with its renowned predecessor.

CasaNegra Entertainment is proud to present these acclaimed horror classics of Mexico in a single collector's edition: The Vampire (aka El Vampiro) and its sequel, The Vampire's Coffin (aka El Ataúd del Vampiro).

Special Features:

* Original Uncut Versions
* Both Films Completely Re-Mastered Picture & Sound from Newly Restored Vault Elements
* Bilingual Menus in English & Spanish
* Audio Commentary by Robert Cotter, Author of The Mexican Masked Wrestler & Monster Filmography
* Photo Essay: Fear a la Mexicana! Mexican Horror Cinema, 1953 to 1965
* DVD ROM: Complete 1976 French Photo Novel of The Vampire’s Coffin
* The Original U.S. Theatrical Release Radio Spots
* Cast Biographies
* Extensive Poster and Stills Gallery

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

This is the REAL 'Superman Returns'

From YouTube, the trailer for the real SUPERMAN RETURNS this one from Turkey made 16 years ago or something and coming later this year from the great Onar Films.
This folks, is true entertainment:

Monday, June 26, 2006

Worldweird/YouTube Trailer of the Week!

LIZARD IN A WOMANS SKIN!!
UNA LUCERTOLA CON LA PELLE DI DONNA!!

Friday, June 23, 2006

Yet Still More Jess Franco Smut on Shiny Plastic Disc!!

This time courtesy "new kid on the block" Severin Films (who will soon release Just Jaekin's GWENDOLINE on two different DVDs). They've just announced via their new website that they will release Franco's MACUMBA SEXUAL and MANSION OF THE LIVING DEAD sometime in the (near?)future. Great news. MACUMBA features transexual icon Ajita Wilson and MANSION is Franco's twisted take on the BLIND DEAD mythos. Fantastic. Their Myspace page also promises future releases from the likes of Walerian Borowczyk, Shuji Terayama, Lucio Fulci and Joe D’Amato. If all that pans out this could end up being one of our favorite DVD boutiques.
Hurrah for international smut!!
Sniffed this info out at the ever informative and entertaing DVD Maniacs Forum!

Thursday, June 22, 2006

DVD Review: 3 DEV ADAM!



This special DVD presentation of the Turkish superhero classic 3 DEV ADAM (or 3 MIGHTY MEN or 3 GIANTS) is a truly remarkable thing. Remarkable in that it exists at all. Overlooking all the trouble and tribulation Bill Barounis of Onar Films went through to get this thing out, just the fact that the film itself has not been completely lost to time makes it a wonder of international pop culture survival. With the original negatives long ago burned up in storage facility fire, Onar had to search for alternate elements and while the end results are far from perfect, we should all get down on our knees and give praise and thanks to the gods of exploitation that we can all enjoy this wacked-out pop-art caper in a watchable (and subtitled!) presentation, with excellent extras to boot!
3 DEV ADAM is a truly nutty flick. A simple plot synopsis will hardly do justice to the overall experience of watching it with mouth agape and eyes bulging. There are times you will hardly believe what you’re seeing. Others times when you can only wonder, “what we’re they thinking?” (or smoking, maybe). The story goes something like this: Captain America and Santo the Masked Wrestler arrive in Turkey to track down an elusive criminal organization which has been wreaking havoc in the US and Mexico, counterfeiting money and stealing extremely valuable antiques. Having trailed them to them to Istanbul, our heroes reveal the evil culprit, it’s ... Spiderman? Yes, your once friendly neighborhood Spiderman now leads a bloodthirsty mob of thugs and hoods (Cap claims they’re “from the Far East” but they sure do look Turkish to me, they all have that same mustache and hairdo, now to be forever known as “the Turkish”, alright?), who are intent on stealing various Anatolian treasures, selling them on the cheap, and then buy them back with counterfeit cash before absconding with both the booty and the loot (or something like that anyway). They also have obscure but somehow very important connections with the Istanbul fashion scene, the mannequin industry, a popular nightclub and a Gymnasium, where Santo spends some quality time at the beginning of the movie, busting the heads of some sorry Karate students (all of whom sport “the Turkish”). Where all this connects, well, you’ll have to figure that out yourself, because sometimes, even subtitles don’t help with these kinds of odd foreign exploitation films.
It’s in the film’s weirdo, sexy and sometimes outright sadistic details that it truly soars. Cap’s fights with Spiderman are marvels of barely competent kung fu-ish choreography, they grapple at each other with amateur abandon, two dudes in ill-fitting costumes going at each other with zeal, tenacity and not much skill. And almost at every turn the film throws a scene of cheapjack sadism which leave you slackjawed and/or howling with laughter. The movie begins, in fact, with a violent scene that takes you by surprise and sets the pace for what’s to follow. Spidey and his gang bury some hapless maiden up to her neck in the sand at a Bosporus Beach and while she screams for her life, the thugs drag up a boat, turn on it’s outboard motor and ... well, you get the idea. Blood splatters across the legs of Spiderman’s moll as she grins maniacally. Later, Spidey punishes an incompetent gang member by tying him down, hoisting a long tube up to his face which covers his eyes, and at the other end shoves in two starving gerbils (although the subs call them “mice”) who precede to feast upon his eyeballs. Amazing. Throughout the movie, Spiderman stabs, strangles and skewers several people (many of whom are bathing at the time for some reason) providing the film with most of it’s highlights. In comparison Captain America and Santo are something of a bore, spending more time out of costume than in. Somewhat to the film’s detriment, I think.
I might also mention the film’s many sexy girls and sexy scenes. This was a regular feature in Turkish pulp cinema, along with the violence and incomprehensible plots. While there is no outright nudity, there are several scenes with sexy Turkish dames in various states of undress or longing for love in the form of a costumed hero or villain. There’s even a somewhat Franco-esque sexy nightclub act scene, to keep just enough sex in the picture to keep it moving in between the many fight and torture scenes. But really, it’s all about men in cheap, flimsy costumes beating on one another. In this manner, it comes across not unlike a American superhero comic made during the 50s or 60s, before they became all grim and leaden in the 70s and 80s. All in all, the film is a one of a kind experience, combining the silver age comic influence with American serials and Italian “anti-hero” comics and films (the Spiderman character is more like a Diabolik or a Kriminal than any traditional depiction of the webslinger, in fact never once during the film does Spiderman ever sling a single web, or do anything spider like whatsoever)shot through a singularly Turkish perspective with results which are spectacular weird, fun and more than a little bit silly. .
As mentioned before, it’s something of a miracle that this DVD got released at all. Onar Films had to endure disappearances, deaths, deadbeats, technical malfunctions, locust swarms, erupting volcanos, assassination attempts and other hardships (OK I made a few of those up) to get this DVD out, making it a true labor of love. The results, while being maybe just shy of impressive, nonetheless present the film in a better light than it has in 30 or so years probably. The picture quality is a little soft and the colors are slightly drab due to age and lack of actual film elements (the DVD is taken from an old video master located in Germany), BUT it looks quite remarkable compared to what we’ve had of this film previously. The copy I had seen of before was among the very worst gray market VHS imaginable, a blur of green, red, brown and tan. One gets the impression that at one time this film was really pretty bright and colorful but the ravages of time have done a number. Onar deserves credit not only for going through hades to present this almost-lost-classic, but for being able to get it out in a highly watchable presentation.
All that and there are a ton of extras here as well. Highlights include three long interviews (generously donated from the fine folks at Mondo Macabro) with the director and the actors playing Captain America and the police chief respectively. They are all rather long and informative if a little dry. Aytekin Akkaya (Cap) comes off the best and most charismatic making it the most enjoyable. There are also a few pages of biographies and filmographies which unfortunately are presented as heavy black type against a bright red background, making them somewhat hard to read. Topping off the extras are a selection of Onar’s trailers for previous releases (the KILINK films, also highly recommended) as well as some upcoming stuff that looks absolutely smashing such as another superhero caper DEMIR YUMRUK DEVLER GELIYOR a.k.a. IRON FIST: THE GIANTS ARE COMING, a gothic chiller OLULER KONUSMAZ KI a.k.a. THE DEAD DON'T TALK and best of all the amazing (and I do mean AMAZING) Turkish giallo ASKA SUSAYANLAR SEKS VE CINAYET a.k.a. THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER, one of my personal all time favorite Turkish films. A neat little photogallery (I would love to get my hands on some of those lobby cards!) rounds out the bill.
While not perfect, this DVD is among the most outstanding releases of this year and is highly recommended to all fans of Turkish cinema, low budget superhero films or just weird pop culture in general.

Wednesday, June 21, 2006

Monday, June 19, 2006

Mondo Macabro goes Bollywood!!

Our favorite DVD label will unleash upon the world a double feature of Bollywood horror films (BANDH DARWAZA and PURANA MANDIR) on September 29. Here is a Worldweird Exclusive First Look at the cover:



Pretty damned cool. We can't wait. To tide you over till then here's a couple of YouTube clips that MM has put up which give a sneak peak at the docu on the discs.
Enjoy!





This should be some seriously wild and woolly stuff. Speaking of wild and woolly, here's another video that Mondo Macabro has posted, a clip from some very, very strange looking 'Lollywood' ( nickname for the Pakistani film industry) flick. Don't know what movie it's from or if it's something they will be putting out soon or what, but it is incredibly weird and the kind of thing we just can't get enough of 'round here.

Prepare yourself:



ALSO:

Andy from MM has given me the lowdown on what's coming when from them later this year . Following the Bollywood set will be SNAKE DANCER in October, which has been on their webpage for awhile now, but has been pushed back somewhat. Info on this film has been somewhat scarce, so Andy filled me in:

"Snake Dancer is pretty much the only South African cult movie! Made by legendary Dirk DeVilliers it was also known as Glenda and tells the story of Glenda Kemp - an exotic dancer who gained enormous fame and notoriety in the 70's."

Cool. We will keep you updated with any more info when it becomes available.

Worldweird/YouTube Trailer of the Week!

ONE ARMED BOXER!!
DOP BEY KUAN WAN!!

Friday, June 16, 2006

Movie Review: LA PAPESSE

LA PAPESSE is an odd, savage and hypnotic French erotic horror film of the 1970s. Its director Mario Mercier is now better known as an expert on the Tarot and shamanism than he is as a film-maker, having only made one other movie, the earlier and elusive EROTIC WITCHCRAFT aka LA GOULVE. Mercier's occult credentials serve him well, as this film effortlessly achieves a strange supernatural aura that a dozen other occult themed horror films from the same decade couldn't come close to achieving. It concerns a man whose initiation into a pagan cult in a mountainous region of rural France comes at the cost of his wife and ultimately, his life. Weird and lyrical, the film never lets you settle into anything approaching a traditional narrative, instead it throttles you with a stream of violent, sexy and surreal set pieces filled with sadism, primitive special effects, hot naked euro-babes and apparently real honest-to-goddess magickal rites. It almost doesn't matter what it all "means" or whether or not there's a coherent story, it's the oddly galvanizing effect of the images burned into your cerebellum that gives the film it's hedonistic power. Only during a few moments of obvious budget limitation does the spell break; a rather unconvincing fatal dog attack comes to mind. And animal lovers will find offense at certain scenes which could never be put in a feature film today. So beware. Beware also if you like your movies simple and straightforward, with pleasures handed to you on a platter or hammered onto your head. LA PAPESSE makes you work, in effect, initiates you into it's particular, peculiar cult. Can you take it?

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Criterion goes to HELL!

More classic Asian Horror is on the way as Criterion has just announced the deluxe DVD release of Nobuo Nakagawa's 1960 film JIGOKU a.k.a. HELL.
From the Image (Criterion's distributor) website:

Shocking, outrageous, and poetic, Jigoku (Hell) is the most innovative creation from Nobuo Nakagawa, the father of the Japanese horror film. After a young theology student flees a hit-and-run accident, he is plagued by both his own guilt-ridden conscience and a mysterious, diabolical doppelganger. But all possible escape routes lead to Hell - literally. In the gloriously gory final third of the film, Nakagawa offers up his vision of the underworld in a tour-de-force of torture and degradation. A striking departure from traditional Japanese ghost stories thanks to its truly eye-popping (and gouging) imagery, Jigoku created aftershocks that are still reverberating in cinema around the world today.

Extras include:

- Galleries of posters from selected Nakagawa and Shintoho Studio films
- Theatrical trailer
- New, restored high-definition digital transfer
- "Building the Inferno," a new documentary on Nakagawa and the making of the film
- New and improved English subtitle translation
- New essay by noted Asian cinema critic Chuck Stephens


Out on September 12!
Thanks to the tireless eyes at Twitch for the info.

Monday, June 12, 2006

Worldweird/YouTube Trailer of the Week!

NUDE FOR SATAN!!
NUDA PER SATANA!!

Friday, June 09, 2006

Movie Review: DARNA ANG PAGBABALIK!


DARNA ANG PAGBABALIK aka DARNA THE RETURN is a wacky Filipino superhero film from the early 1990s. It's filled with cheap special effects, poorly choreographed fights, decent enough looking latex creatures, blunt hack-job editing and only serviceable cinematography and acting. It's also completely fascinating and totally entertaining. Darna is kind of a Filipino Wonder Woman rip with a dash of Captain Marvel (you know: "Shazam!") and this is the second and final(?) film in the series. I haven't seen the first, but here's what I can make out about the series from this film. Darna is Narda, a young, pretty and rather *ahem* busty young girl who when she swallows a magic pearl (I'm not making that up I swear!) and yells "Darna!" becomes, well yes, Darna, a flying , eye-laser-beam shooting, bikini-wearing superheroine out to defend poor Filipinos from bizarre supernatural villains, corrupt industrialists and rampant natural disasters. It's the rampant natural disasters that are featured prominently in this feature. Narda/Darna's village is destroyed by a flood which displaces her family to the slums of Manila. Even worse, during the disaster Darna loses her Magic Pearl! It's been stolen by Valentina (or something), Darna's medusa-headed archfoe who needs the pearl to keep her medusa-headed mother alive (or something). She also happens to be attempting to take over the Philipines by sending out subliminal messages through the television, which is slowly winning the populace over to her weird, new age-y cult thing. Narda's mother falls for it. Eventually Narda gets her pearl back, falls in love with two men, one a cop with a secret and the other her cousin (!?!) and it all ends with some wonderfully inexpensive special effects, silly fights (the ultimate showdown reminded me of a BUFFY THE VAMPIRE SLAYER episode at about 1/3 the production cost)and some sentimental exposition. It's all pretty weird and well, y'know, foreign. But it keeps up a terrific pace, with a constant barrage of cheesy fantasy and fighting. The inept film-making, acting and (on the DVD I viewed anyway) really horrible subtitling only enhances the bizarre spectacle of the whole thing. Go forth and find it, now!

Thursday, June 08, 2006

Image dabbles in BLACK MAGIC!

Image has acquired the license to (finally) release the Shaw Bros. catalog in the US. Their first film they're putting out is an inspired choice: the classic HK Horror flick BLACK MAGIC. You can get info on the release, coming out on 9/12/06, here. They list the features, have a trailer and a first look at the cover. Which, frankly, I don't like at all. But, oh well. We love this film and Hong Kong pulp cinema in general, so we're incredibly excited about all this to say the least.
Other titles coming soon:

THE EXECUTIONER
INTIMATE CONFESSIONS OF A CHINESE COURTESAN
THE MAGIC BLADE
SUPER INFRAMAN
THE WATER MARGIN
and most importantly for us, BOXER'S OMEN, in our opinion, one of the greatest films ever made!

Let's hope BLACK MAGIC 2, KILLER SNAKES, OILY MANIAC and the absolutely astonishing SEEDING OF A GHOST are not to far away either.

Mario Bava returns to DVD!!

The films of the great Italian genre movie director Mario Bava will be returning to DVD next year apparently in a series of box sets, courtesy of Anchor Bay.
These are some (but not all) of the films to be represented:

- BLACK SUNDAY
- BLACK SABBATH
- BARON BLOOD
- THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH
- KNIVES OF THE AVENGER
- BAY OF BLOOD
- LISA AND THE DEVIL
- FIVE DOLLS FOR AN AUGUST MOON
- FOUR TIMES THAT NIGHT


Unfortunately no RABID DOGS on that list but we've heard that they do have the rights to that desperate crime masterpiece, or at least they used to.

Info provided by the fine chaps at Gorezone.net.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Interesting DVD release of the week!

I hope to have a full DVD release calender up by the end of the week, but here's the one thing coming out on tuesday that looks pretty cool to me ...



This volume of the Eastern Horror series presents a double feature of Asian flicks blending horror and martial arts. In the Filipino film MAGIC OF THE UNIVERSE (1988), a circus magician journeys through a nightmarish netherworld in order to rescue his kidnapped daughter from the clutches of supernatural forces angry over his dabbling in the magical arts. And in the Hong Kong film COUNTER DESTROYER (1989), a screenwriter working on a film script in an old haunted house unleashes an army of the undead, including a robot-vampire and a Freddy Kruger-like creature with deadly scissorhands.

Haven't yet seen either of these films, but of particular interest is MAGIC OF THE UNIVERSE. Filipino Fantasy? Yes, please.

Monday, June 05, 2006

Worldweird/YouTube Trailer of the Week!

THIS NIGHT I'LL POSSESS YOUR CORPSE!!
ESTA NOITE ENCARNAREI NO TEU CADAVER!!

Saturday, June 03, 2006

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Alejandro Jodorowsky News!



There is no greater Worldweird Cinema icon than Jodorowsky, so for us, there is nothing more exciting going on in the DVD world than the early rumblings of official, remastered DVDs of his famous and too-long-unavailable cult films EL TOPO and HOLY MOUNTAIN.

ABKCO has a cool little webpage announcement thing, bare on details but a cool little video that you may not want to watch if you've never seen these films so, SPOILER ALERT!

And Nucleus Films' Marc Morris filed this report at the Mobius forum after seeing the presentation of these movies at the recent Cannes Fest:

I saw the Cannes screening of EL TOPO the other night. The film was introduced by Jodorowsky, and joining him on stage were Jody and Rob
in Klein, plus Alejandro's two sons. Jodo' spoke in French, and he explained the problems he had had in getting the film released, and how happy he was now that everything had been resolved, and thanked Allan's son and daughter. It was all very emotional.


The film was digitally projected in Hi Definition from the newly restored HD master, and it looked absolutely stunning. ABKCO have restored the original Spanish language version. Earlier in the day I met up with Jody Klein, who gave me a list of the extras you can expect on the upcoming US DVD releases later this year, which will tie in with limited theatrical releases of FANDY Y LIS, EL TOPO and THE HOLY MOUNTAIN.

They've uncovered unseen footage, some great extras, trailers, and he also mentioned that soundtracks are in preparation too. I can't wait to get these on CD!

We can't wait either!! But when will it happen?!?
We'll let you know when we know!

More Jess Franco coming to DVD!!

Always a good thing!
One of our favorite directors and some of his wildest films.
The first two from Blue Underground. Here's the press release and small sneak looks at the covers.

SUCCUBUS



THE SENSUAL EXPERIENCE OF '69 At a chic nightclub for jaded jetsetters, a simulated snuff performance is the main attraction, and Lorna, its leading lady, is the obsession of men and women alike. Little do they realize that Lorna's Mephistophelian manager has transformed her into "the essence of evil.a devil on earth!" Soon the sensuous starlet's stage persona possesses her entirely, thrusting Lorna into a hallucinatory world of sadomasochistic excess and drawing everyone she touches into her debaucherous delirium. Can anyone stop Lorna before her perverse stage show becomes a murderous reality? Starring the beautiful Janine Reynaud (TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS, KISS ME, MONSTER), Jack Taylor (THE GHOST GALLEON, THE NINTH GATE) and Howard Vernon (THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF, DELICATESSEN), Jess Franco's (99 WOMEN, VAMPYROS LESBOS) Faustian fever dream provides the blue-print for the erotic horror that has become the infamous director's enduring legacy. Newly remastered from original vault materials, SUCCUBUS features exclusive Extras, including revealing interviews with Jess Franco and Jack Taylor!
Featuring: Janine Reynaud - Jack Taylor - Adrian Hoven - Howard Vernon
Special Features: From Necronomicon to Succubus - Interview with Director Jess Franco
Director: Jess Franco
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen, 16x9 Anamorphic
Studio: Blue Underground
Street Date: July 25, 2006


RED LIPS DOUBLE FEATURE:
TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS & KISS ME, MONSTER




Blue Underground proudly presents these psychedelic spy spoofs featuring the bold and beautiful detective duo The Red Lips! In TWO UNDERCOVER ANGELS, the sultry super-sleuths stumble upon a slew of murdered models, actresses and exotic dancers - all of whom appear in the work of a perverted pop artist. If he and his shaggy henchman are turning buxom beauties into art brut, can The Red Lips stop him before one of them becomes his next objet d'art? Then KISS ME, MONSTER finds the girls moonlighting on a striptease world tour - but no sooner do they hit the stage than the girls are up to their pasties in stiffs, Satanists and Sapphic sadists, all after a secret formula for human clones! But if The Red Lips can get to it first, will they still be able to survive the dangers lurking around every corner? Director Jess Franco (SADOMANIA, 99 WOMEN) combines hedonistic fantasy with subversive wit in these sizzling thrillers showcasing the cheesecake charms of Janine Reynaud (SUCCUBUS) and Rosanna Yanni (COUNT DRACULA'S GREAT LOVE). Both films have been remastered from original vault elements and include all-new interviews with the infamous Jess Franco!
Featuring: Janine Reynaud - Rosanna Yanni - Adrian Hoven
Special Features: New interviews with Franco, Theatrical Trailers
Director: Jess Franco
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen
Studio: Blue Underground
Street Date: July 25, 2006

And later, in August, from Image ...

DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN!