Saturday, July 12, 2008

Mondo Nikkatsu Macabro Porno!

The next MM releases have been revealed! Two shocking Nikkatsu Roman Porno Masterpieces! ASSAULT! JACK THE RIPPER and THE WATCHER IN THE ATTIC! Coming October 28th!
Here are the covers!




And in further good Macabro news, word has it that the following month (that would be November) will see the long awaited release of the Indonesian action-fantasy wonder THE WARRIOR! And sometime next year more Nikkatsu erotic cinema and the perhaps at last the wildest of wild looking Filipino Freakouts SNAKE SISTERS!

Sunday, June 29, 2008

DVD Review: KIZIL TUG CENGIS HAN



First off, many apologies to Bill at Onar Films for the lateness of this review, no excuses I just haven't been in the writing frame of mind of late. But don't let my lack of punctuality in reviewing this DVD suggest to you the buying public that this is a lesser product. Far from it. In fact it is easily one of the DVDs of the year, setting an even higher standard for historical importance that usual for our favorite Turkish digital disc specialists. KIZIL TUG is one of the oldest examples of Turkish cinema fantastique and fun little film to boot. Combined with the overwhelming extras provided, this DVD exceeds the high expectations we've all come accustomed to from Onar, no small feat.

The story, like so many Turkish genre films, is a little confusing. This print might be missing a few scenes as the plot careens from point to point with little chance for the viewer to get their bearings. But who knows? As it stands the confusing narrative doesn't distract too much from the fun. A young warrior Turk saves the life of Genghis Khan and is rewarded with what basically amounts to a suicide mission, to go and secure payments from a rebellious Muslim caliph owed to the Khan's now deceased brother. This places our hero in a curious conundrum as it just so happens he's a dead ringer for the caliph's skirt-chasing poetry-loving dandy of a son. The caliph is embarrassed by his son's lack of war-scarred courage and bargains with the young Turk to take his place in a contest of soldiering skills in order to align his family with another powerful family through marriage. I know, it's complicated. It gets even more complicated as all plans go awry leading somehow to the young Turk coming to blows with the infamous Khan himself. While the finer details of the story are somewhat obscure, the movie is never anything less that a blast throughout. While not a surreal as later Turkish historical adventures such as KARA BOGA or the TARKAN films, KIZIL TUG keeps up the action throughout the running time with the climatic battle being especially bloody, surprising for a film from 1952. It's the kind of movie that works really well as a Saturday afternoon matinee kind of diversion, sparking feelings of swashbuckling nostalgia for all of us that can remember when old-school historical adventure films of this sort actually used to play on television. All in all, a real good time.

The DVD presentation of this film does what it can with the meager elements that were available. Long considered lost this is as good as we'll ever see this important film, one of the very first of its kind made in Turkey. It looks OK, not great, but OK. If you've seen Onar's previous TARZAN IN ISTANBUL DVD you know what to expect. More problematic is the soundtrack which drops out and distorts continually throughout the film. Again, this is an incredibly obscure movie and problems of this sort should be expected. More than making up for this is host of outstanding special feature provided. Chief among these on the disc is a portion of documentary on Turkish fantastic films concerning the great historical films which reached the heights of popularity in the late 60s/early 70s. The doc. is chock full of incredible clips and interviews with some of the movers and shakers of the period such as Cuneyt Arkin. It's great stuff, although I think a little of the overall context of the doc. is lost by it being exerted from the whole. But it's much appreciated nonetheless, whetting my appetite for more films of this sort to be released on DVD. Beyond that you get a usual excellent smattering of bios and filmographies by the great Ayman Kole and a batch of new trailer for upcoming Onar releases. And that about wraps it up for this great release ... oh, wait, no it doesn't! The best feature yet in not on the disc itself but is featured along with the disc, a 40 page booklet that sets out to catalog the entirety of every known Turkish Fantastic Film! It's a beautiful, full color affair that lists tons of amazing sounding movies that are sadly, now mostly lost. But the memory lives on here in these spectacular pages, which will no doubt be an inspiration to future generations of Turk-film lovers to continue to seek out and find once lost films just like Onar itself is doing. This booklet is really what sends the release into orbit, assuring its place among the best DVDs of 2008. Get it while you can, Worldweird Faithful!

Available from Onar Films!

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

Trailers for crazy new movies coming soon from Onar Films!!

ALTIN COCUK!


MASKELI UCLER!


KORKUSUZ KAPTAN SWING! Coming in June!


And coming in September - Yes, it's CELLAT!!!!!! (So good it's worth posting this trailer for the second time here!)

Wednesday, May 07, 2008

Next from Onar!!!



KORKUSUZ KAPTAN SWING (CAPTAIN SWING THE FEARLESS)

THE 11th ONAR FILMS OFFICIAL DVD RELEASE!
ONAR proudly presents the unique Turkish film adaptation of the cult italian 1966 fumetti comic, IL COMANDANTE MARK. Being 100% faithful to the comic, Captain Swing's stooges buddies Mister Blof and Sad Owl are here, along with Betty, the British enemies "Red Coats" and that skinny dog of course! The only surving print was in decent condition and now the result is surely better.
Country: Turkey
Year: 1971
Director: Tunc Basarn
Actors: Salih Guney, Suleyman Turan, Ali Sen, Gulgun Erdem, Reha Yurdakul

DVD FEATURES:
--------------------
ULTRA-LIMITED EDITION OF 500 numbered copies
Turkish audio with English & Greek subs
Dolby Digital 2.0
Documentary: Turkish Fantastic Cinema - Part 2
Poster Insert
Photogalleries
Biographies
Filmographies
Theatrical Trailer
NEW Trailers

Monday, April 21, 2008

TARKAN on Youtube!!!

FOUR COMPLETE MOVIES!!!!

TARKAN part 1 of 9


TARKAN GUMMUS EYER part 1 of 9


TARKAN ALTIN MADALYON part 1 of 9



TARKAN KOLSUZ KAHRAMANA KARSI part 1 of 9


This is the best Youtube discovery we've made in quite awhile. Check out the "channel" they come from for the rest of each movie and more Turkish stuff, looks like mostly comedies and dramas, but there are several other GREAT fantastic films hidden within, so dig a little.
Go here for the first three and here for the last one.

Thursday, April 10, 2008

CELLAT! Coming soon from Onar Films?

If you dig the following (in our opinion - AMAZING!) trailer for this very obscure Turkish remake of DEATH WISH, then get thy ass to voting for Onar to release it! Just click Onar's link at the right and go to their blog to vote.

WARNING!: Not Work Safe!

Tuesday, April 01, 2008

DVD Review: DEMIR PENCE KORSAN ADAM



Directed by Cetin Inanc
Starring Demir Karahan and Yildirim Gencer
Turkey; 1969

This new DVD, another jewel in Onar’s crown, wins us over mostly as a love letter to prodigious Turkish Trash director Cetin Inanc. For me, there is no more underappreciated international auteur than Inanc. Like most, I know his work primarily for his 80s psychedelic action epics with the legendary Cuneyt Arkin. Films which haphazardly mix kung-fu, hair monsters, big-bummed girls and unrelated footage from whatever films they could get their hands on to plunder. The resulting mix is explosive and ridiculous. This DVD is a portal into his early work as it represents one of his first films, one which bares the unmistakable imprint of his mentor, Anatolian auteur Yilmaz Atadeniz. It isn’t quite up to the insanity of his later films, but is a solid winner nonetheless.



DEMIR PENCE is another warped superhero yarn not unlike previous Onar released films such as DEMIR YUMRUK or CASUS KIRAN. Like those, DEMIR blends U.S. style serial adventures with the more mature Italian fumetti but in a particularly Turkish mindset (and budget). If DEMIR suffers a bit in comparison to those previous wonders it may only be due to a case of embarrassment of riches. If we hadn’t been privy to those excellent previous DVDs, then DEMIR might not have seemed so … well, repetitive. The story is nearly identical to the Atadeniz flicks with a masked avenger fighting foreign criminal organization out to destroy Turkey and all it righteous citizens. Kidnapped Professors and their hot daughters, state secrets that will reap destruction if revealed, girls tied down and whipped and an episodic nature indebted to the serials and comics which inspired it: sound familiar? That it works is down to the manic nature of the action, the performers and of course, Mr. Inanc.



One thing definitely going for it is the presence of European pulp villain Fantomas and he makes for one hell of a villain. Cruel and sadistic criminal masterminds are part and parcel of Turkish Trash Cinema and this version of Fantomas lives up to the challenge laid down by others with this genre. He is nothing less throughout the film than an unhinged and deranged fucker who doesn’t hesitate to kill anyone who gets in his way, including his hot-ass girlfriends. Bastard. Mostly the movie gets by on this violent spirit, which it contains in greater abundance than others of its ilk. The blood flows quickly and easily in the various shootouts and fisticuffs which permeate the frame. Much more so than in the more reserved efforts by Atadeniz, et al. Another positive aspect of the movie is its many, many scenes of extremely comely girlies in many various states of undress doing sexy dances for the benefit of heroes and villains alike. Really, like every other scene is blessed in such a manner! Hott! But really, the success of the film comes down to the wild vision of Inanc, who litters the screen with many of the visual tics which would become more pronounced later in his career. Off kilter camera angles, uncomfortable close-ups and an ability to actually move his camera between cuts makes this little number unique among it counterparts, if not entirely more entertaining.



This DVD presentation is where we really take off. The movie looks damned good for a black and white Turkish film of the late 60s. The image is clear and we get tape flutters only every once and awhile and only for a few seconds. Said it before, I’ll say it again – Onar does it right, every time. The extras give you something special too. We get the usual Onar trailers and excellent bios by Turkfilm historian Ayman Kole but the biggest and most impressive extras by far is a new half hour documentary highlighting the crazy career of Cetin Inanc. Produced by CIKO, an Inanc/Cuneyt Arkin fan group, the featurette gives a quick overview of his career, covering the many genres the maestro has worked in through the years, and best of all, laying a heavy dose of wild, wild clips from the various movies on us. This is great stuff folks. It is a little maddening as most of the flicks featured are extremely rare, and therefore very hard to track down. But if you love and are excited by Turkish Pulp Cinema of the 60s-70s-80s this little docu will blow you already crazed minds. This DVD should take you no consideration as whether or not to buy it. If you dig this kind of thing, you’re all over it. For the more skeptical or just Turk-curious, let the fact that this is EXTREMELY LIMITED do your considering for you. Only 500 copies of this beauty are in existence so all you collector scum out there better get on the ball!



Available from Onar Films!

Tuesday, March 25, 2008

Sunday, March 16, 2008

The New Mondo Macabro: QUEEN OF BLACK MAGIC!!!

If you haven't seen it anywhere else, here's the lowdown on the next release from our favorite DVD company.



• Interview with FX creator El Badrun, produced by Mondo Macabro and exclusive to this disc
• Extensive background information about the film
• Original theatrical trailer
• Mondo Macabro’s ever-popular preview reel

With a new anamorphic transfer from the original negative!

Friday, February 29, 2008

Movie Review: HIS NAME WAS HOLY GHOST



aka Uomo avvisato mezzo ammazzato... Parola di Spirito Santo; Forewarned, Half-Killed... the Word of the Holy Ghost; They Call Him Holy Ghost; Y le llamaban El Halcón
Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo (Anthony Ascott)
Italy/Spain; 1971

“Anybody hurt or killed?”
“Yep. All of you!”

The Mexican government has been overthrown.
The people’s beloved President is out and forced into hiding among them in Morelos while the pompous, self-appointed, cigar-chomping stand-in, General Ubarte, has sent out a search detail to Bring Him the Head of Don Firmino by any means necessary.
Soldiers storm local villages; people are questioned; people are shot; people are stabbed and beaten regardless of age or infirmity; a hungry little boy is the sole witness to his mother’s murder in cold blood.
And all this takes place during the opening credits!

In order to assert themselves among the peasants, and humiliate Firmino in the process, the military string him up alongside his daughter, Juana, in a crucifixion position and force all the villagers to spit in his face, one by one while the officers sit ringside, stuffing their sweaty faces with local rations. All who refuse get an honorable discharge from the Lieutenant’s revolver, right between the eyes.
And just as this salivary processional hits full swing, up jump the Holy Ghost with his trusted companion, Eagle (a white dove with an identity crisis!), and proceeds to mow down the soldiers with his automatic rifle leaving them slumped in a not-so-living portrait of “The Last Supper.”
Why has Holy Ghost (real name “Harold”) come here, of all places, and saved the day? Why, to get the prospecting rights renewed for a goldmine he recently ‘acquired’, of course. And as soon as he learns the President is unable to complete his request at this time, Holy Ghost politely loses interest and rides off to gain audience with the uncooperative Ubarte, who unsuccessfully tries to recruit Spirito Santo into his stable of nitwits.

Soon enough, Don Firmino and Juana are recaptured in the cellar of a saloon, but Holy Ghost (who again pops in out of the blue, this time wanting to ask Firmino directions to his new goldmine) offends the arresting officer by suggesting he fix lunch for everyone since he’s killed the saloon owner! After thwarting his own execution by blinding the firing squad with the mirrored lining of his cape (!), Juana has convinced Holy Ghost to join them in their revolution to take back the state in exchange for help with his goldmine. Holy Ghost agrees, and for additional revolutionary insurance, a one-time hustler and cohort, now a reborn servant of God, joins the party– the Bluto-esque mass of a man, Chicken Little!
Together, they take on the presiding military presence by way of projectile Bibles, fun with corpse animation, bird beak interrogation torture, dynamite-fed chickens which lay explosive eggs used to make OMELETTE BOMBS, tough-as-nails prostitutes, cross-dressing combat tactics (aka the Trojan Whores, with Garko looking like a member of the Cockettes!), angry farmers with machetes, and many a manner of traps, set-ups, and knock-down drag-outs!

This is the second in a brief series of “Holy Ghost” films teaming director Carnimeo with star Gianni Garko, who would also join forces for films in both the SARTANA and HALLELUJAH cycles.
An offbeat comedy-western of the finest variety, the action is horn-a-plenty with mucho gunplay and killings, seasoned with a pinch of acrobatics and crashing camera zooms, while the comedy is integrated in a way which works, but does not overpower nor distract. There are sequences during the big battle scene which perfectly embody a classic 3 Stooges brand of bizarre slapstick.
The ofttimes underrated Garko plays the role perfectly-- nonchalant, sarcastic, charismatic, focused, never missing his target even while not looking in the direction of the danger. The effective Bruno Nicolai score fuses familiar effects with the humble atmosphere of a 10-pew cathedral.
Despite the title’s inference, a supernatural slant to the character is not so prominent. The handful of instances which might qualify could easily be attributed to successfully suspending one’s disbelief. Your choice.

A very nice quality widescreen print exists on DVD in Spain (Spanish language only), but unfortunately it is incomplete. European Trash Cinema carries a good quality dubbed print which appears to be uncut.
Recommended!

Review by Scott "Jealous Pervert" Wallis!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Worldweird Cinema Recommends: The New ELECTRIC LARVAE Store!

There's a new e-store in town, and it's catering to the "worldweird" fan in all of us. From the mean streets of Athens, Greece comes ELECTRIC LARVAE, previously a topnotch "gray market" dealer of all things "world", "weird" and "cinema", it has hence been reborn , in a new straight up manner distributing DVDs, VCDs, and classic OOP VHS tapes. You can search all over the internet for these obscure items or you can one-stop-shop!



The amazingly varied selection is helpfully organized by country or region/language. Ya got Hindi, Turkish, Filipino, Thai, Pakistani, Indonesian, Arabic etc. with a load of rare items filling out each category with the promise of more to come! Certainly our review docket will be shot through with a ton of titles from this bank, so stay tuned for that!



In the meantime, check out the store here! And order lots of stuff!!

Tuesday, February 05, 2008

Simply Awesome Onar News!!!

If we here at Worldweird Cinema have one overarching goal in mind, it's to aid in the ascent to world dominance of Onar Films! The small Greek one-man DVD operation has been gifting all of us with astoundingly rare and amazing Turkish trash films gems for more than two years now and while global hegemony might as of yet eluded our friends' grasp, we feel confident that these releases will be viewed by future generations as some of the best the medium had ever to offer. Here we present a rundown of the HUGE new developments from Onar. 2008 looks to be a landmark year for this most humble and yet important of digital disc providers.

Firstly, the next blockbusting DVD release!

KIZIL TUG CENGIZ HAN!




ONAR presents the oldest Turkish Historical Peplum Sword film surviving! Made in 1952 and considered lost till now it precedes the Italian Peplums by many years and puts them to shame. A spectacular and epic production proving that the older the better when it comes to Turkish Fantastic Cinema! The only surviving material was unearthed in watchable condition but thanks to Onar's touch the result is now better.

Trailer:



NOW, ON 500 COPIES ONLY!

Country: Turkey
Year: 1952

Director: Aydin Arakon

Actors: Turan Seyfioglu, Mesiha Yelda, Atif Kaptan, Cahit Irgat

FEATURES:

ULTRA-LIMITED EDITION OF 500 numbered copies
Turkish audio with English & Greek subs
Dolby Digital 2.0
Documentary: Turkish Fantastic Cinema - Part 1
Booklet (32 pages): Full Catalog of Turkish Fantastic Films
Photogallery
Biographies
Filmographies
NEW Trailers

Notes on the AMAZING extras for this DVD from Onar Films' blog:

1- Documentary: Turkish Fantastic Cinema - Part 1 :
I have bought a superb Documentary, running 92 minutes, including dozens of interviews and scenes from countless obscure films of all genres. It runs by genre (Western, Historical, Superhero, Cuneyt Arkin, etc etc) so, I decided to offer it in relevant parts, depending on genre.
This DVD is Historical so you'll see the part featuring lots of sequences from cult films/series like TARKAN, KELOGLAN, MALCOCOGLU and many more, plus interviews and explanatory voice-over!

2- Booklet (32 pages): Full Catalog of Turkish Fantastic Films:
I used the best experts and managed to make a huge, complete catalog of ALL Turkish Fantastic Films, by genre and year. With english translation for each title. Plus, intriguing introductions on each genre, with highlights on specific titles and directors.Plus, tons of photos!
I really believe this will be the DEFINITE, ULTIMATE GUIDE on Turkish Cult Cinema!!

3- NEW Trailers
I have bought many NEW films, you know. I'll tell you about the titles at another post, this month. BUT, if you want to check their trailers you better get this DVD.

And in other MINDBLOWING Onar news ... (also from the blog)

Remember a mysterious teaser I uploaded last December?
It was called "Turkish Eerie Lost Gem" and I only had a promo of the first 7 minutes off which I made up a 2 minutes teaser.

Ok now, I just received the screener of the whole movie, watched it carefully and made up a big trailer of about 7 minutes:



The title is CICI CAN (pronnounced CHICHI JAN) and was made in 1963 by the team that later on made the 007 ripoff ALTIN COCUK series.

I was told it was based on a kids comic!! The movie itself ranges from spooky to weird and eerie and nutty and silly and superheroic and metaphysical and nostalgic and romantic and....
Generally I find it to be a truly unprecedented Turkish movie and totally original in every way.
For example, can you tell me of ANY other films of that period that used the "cartoon with real actors" effect?
Here, we have a gross ghost animation among real actors! In Turkey! In 1963!!

On the blog Bill Onar asks that that you VOTE on whether or not he should release this unique and bizarre film. I strongly INSIST that you vote Y-E-S!!!!
You can do so as a comment at the blog itself (just go to the Onar site [link is above and to the right]).

More updates, reviews and other stuff soon - if there is anyone left out there!

Thursday, January 24, 2008

The Best of Something Weird Video on the YouTube!!

For your viewing enjoyment, here's a sampling of classic trailers and clips from the cream of the crap offered by your favorite exploitation video providers.

AROUSED!


HOT THRILLS AND WARM CHILLS!


SHE-FREAK!


SOMETHING WEIRD!


GODMONSTER OF INDIAN FLATS!


THE ZODIAC KILLER!


CRYPT OF DARK SECRETS!

Friday, January 11, 2008

DVD Review: CASUS KIRAN




Directed by Yilmaz Atadeniz
Starring Irfan Atasoy and Sevda Ferdag
Turkey; 1968




Woo Hoo! Now this is more like it! While we were a little lukewarm on the last two Onar releases the new one, CASUS KIRAN is real doozy! It’s a rapid-fire super-hero flick with incoherence to burn and style up to its neck. Yilmaz Atadeniz is the mastermind here, who you may (or rather should) know as the genius behind the KILINK films as well as the all time retarded cinema classic DEATHLESS DEVIL, so you know you’re in for a wild time. It’s all action, all movement and no plot, no meaning, an almost existential pop confection that had me hugging myself with barely-contained joy throughout its all-too brief running time. Apparently the movie is based on a WWII era comic book called SPY SMASHER about a masked hero who, well, smashes spies. Atadeniz takes this template and crafts something really immediate and striking. CASUS KIRAN is slapdash nonsense to be sure, but it is altogether glorious nonetheless.



A plot synopsis is not really necessary, nor even really possible. The print provided seems like it might be missing a few scenes and the English subtitles don’t make much sense for most of the time. It doesn’t matter, trust me. Casus Kiran and his hot-chick side-kick Sevda (also the name of the actress playing the role) fight a devious cabal of spies intent on destroying the western world (or something like that) but they hadn’t counted on the tenacity of the Turks! There is a ton of fighting, all of it fake looking, contrived and absolutely thrilling. I honestly could not follow the finer details of the plot, for the reasons enumerated above, but the film’s constant blur of fisticuffs, motorcycles and recycled garage riffs simply pour on the fleeting entertainment. It’s as fine an hour+ of trash movie joy as your likely to find in this fresh new year and so I can do nothing better that recommend you pick up CASUS KIRAN at you soonest opportunity.



I’ll be frank here, in regards to the picture quality: It ain’t hot. BUT. This is the first time it has ever been released on video anywhere in the world. Since its Anatolian theatrical release in the late 60s CASUS has been languishing “in the vaults” just waiting for Onar’s timely discovery. Under those circumstances, this is an utterly beautiful print and we should all praise the efforts of Mr. Barounis for bring it to us. This amazing DVD, one of the best of 2007 for sure, also contains a video interview (conducted by the late, lamented Turkish film historian Metin Demirhan) with director/producer Atadeniz who provides, as usual with the interviews on Onar’s DVDs, many insights into the history of Turkish cinema, covering not only his better know superhero and action films but some of his early more dramatic films as well. Essential viewing for all fans of obscure international pop cinema, to be sure. There is also a nice image gallery of rare press materials for the film which are quite beautiful. Ayman Kole’s usual terrific bios and a smattering of Onar trailers fill up the rest of the disc. The trailer for the next release DEMIR PENCE KORSAN ADAM, is especially tantalizing and makes the disc highly anticipated at least by me, being an early film by my fave Turk Director Cetin Inanc. Gods, I cannot wait for that DVD, due at the end of this very month.



Without a doubt this is a DVD that every trash/exploitation/60s-superhero-film fan needs to have in their collection. If you’ve ever thought about buying an Onar DVD but weren’t sure where to start, this is an excellent place. These more obscure Turkish masked-men features like the upcoming DEMIR PENCE or the previous DEMIR YUMRUK are some of the 21st century’s most amazing and essential cinematic discoveries going. There are no more exciting and entertaining films available on digital disc right now. You owe it to yourself to add this to your collection for, in this humble reviewer’s opinion, your life is a much bleaker and soul-less place without them.



Available from Onar Films!