R1 DVD Insanity!

More upcoming R1 DVD stuff that you should consider checking out!

L'AMOUR BRAQUE (Mondo Vision) Out 10-15-2009


ART OF LOVE (Severin) Out 11-24-2009


BLADE OF THE RIPPER (Mya) Out 1-26-2010


DESIRABLE TEACHER (Mya) Out 1-26-2010


DUSAN MAKAVAJEV, FREE RADICAL (Eclipse/Criterion) Out 10-13-2009


GOODBYE GEMINI (Scorpion) Out 2-23-2010


HUMAN COBRAS (Mya) Out 11-24-2009


HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE (Mya) Out 11-24-2009


THE LADY MEDIC (Mya) Out 11-24-2009


THE LAST DECAMERON (Mya) Out 11-24-2009


MASSACRE MAFIA STYLE (JRH Films) Out 10-29-2009


PETS (Code Red) Out 10-06-2009


THE REAL EMANUELLE (Mya) Out 11-24-2009


RITUALS (Code Red) Out 11-17-2009


SATAN'S WIFE (Mya) Out 1-26-2010


SCHOOLGIRL REPORT: WHAT PARENTS WOULD GLADLY HUSH UP (Impulse) Out 1-26-2010


SEX ADVICE (Mya) Out 1-26-2010

SEVERINSPLOITATION! Three Reviews of Recent Eurotrash DVD Releases!

NIGHTMARE CASTLE (Italy, 1965)


NIGHTMARE CASTLE is but one of many titles for Mario Caino’s 1965 Italian Gothic AMANTI D’OLTRETOMBA which translates more or less to “Lovers Beyond the Grave”. Home video has been awash in substandard versions of this terrific chiller for many years but this marks the first release to treat it with any manner of respect. The film itself is a total classic of its type. While suffering perhaps when placed next to other extraordinary examples of the genre from the same era like THE WHIP AND THE BODY or MILL OF THE STONE WOMAN, NIGHTMARE has just enough surreal heat to it to make the film a near-visionary experience some 40+ years after its initial theatrical exposure. The story is a mish-mash of gothic elements - some supernatural, some bordering on sci-fi and some purely sadistic/sexual. Paul Muller is a scientist married to a rich heiress (the incomparable Barbara Steele) who finds an escape from her husband’s cool contempt in the sweaty arms of a manservant. Catching the illicit lovers in the act Muller imprisons them and tortures both unto death. He marries again, this time to Jenny, his late wife’s stepsister who bares a remarkable resemblance to her doomed predecessor (also played by Steele). It isn’t too long before Jenny’s fragile mental state becomes the vehicle for an obsessive spectral revenge which ensnares the entire household.

AMANTI sags a bit in its middle section, wallowing in sometimes tedious gothic melodrama, but for the most part the film is enflamed with twisted emotions and surreal detail. In an unearthly dream sequence Jenny is menaced by a bizarre faceless murderer and in another scene a do-gooder psychiatrist uncovers a tank containing two human hearts, both pierced by an ornate dagger. Caino films the lush interiors of the Château with a monolithic sense of space, with its baroque designs seeming to enclose oppressively around Jenny as her mind begins to splinter. While the story is mostly by-the-numbers there is a truly obsessive air about the whole thing, an unhealthy atmosphere that hints at something kinky, something abnormal and terrifying. The wonderful performances of Muller and Steele, not to mention the great Helga Liné - who plays Muller’s scheming maid/mistress, fix the film’s flimsier elements to the ground, making it psychologically rich even as the story occasionally stumbles into cliché. The sum total adds up to something greater than its individual elements making NIGHTMARE CASTLE an altogether remarkable film.

Severin’s visual presentation of this gloomy and stark psychodrama easily trumps all previous home video incarnations. It looks as crisp and clean as anyone could possibly hope for. A few instances of damage look as though they probably originate on the negative itself and are not flaws of the transfer. It looks freaking stunning. Two interviews highlight the extras. Barbara Steele’s interview is highly entertaining as she animatedly takes us on a guided verbal tour of her career. She’s a wonderful storyteller and still looks remarkable after all these years. The other is with Director Mario Caino who comes off very sweet and grandfatherly (in her interview Steele speaks highly of Caino). It’s mostly a quick behind-the-scenes view of the making of this movie rather than a career retrospective which would have been nice. As it stands this feature is great to have but possesses little real depth. Two trailers, a UK version under the title NIGHT OF THE DOOMED and the US variant under this current moniker, are featured with the former looking nearly as good as the film itself and the latter looking much like the PD versions of NIGHTMARE we’ve been scorned with all these years. This is one of the year’s best DVDs. You’re doing yourself a disservice by not having it in your collection.


DOOR INTO SILENCE (Italy, 1991)


Melvin Deavereax is on his way home from a business meeting in New Orleans. Along the way he stops in at his father’s gravesite. Speaking aloud to the tomb he thanks him for teaching him that “Nothing can stop me. Nothing.” Well, one shouldn’t tempt fate. Melvin (a puffy, tired-looking John Savage) finds the long route back to his rural home impeded by a number of increasingly bizarre and frustrating obstacles: roads out of service, overzealous police, ancient wooden bridges on the verge of falling apart, flooded roads and a mysterious woman who attempts to seduce our pudgy, middle aged leading man for obscure reasons and then promptly disappears. Melvin finds himself caught, with the setting sun constantly blazing in his eyes, along the dusty back roads of Louisiana, not lost exactly, but unable to reach his destination. His most formidable obstacle on the road turns out to be a hearse, whose driver aggressively refuses to let Melvin pass him. In his increasingly fractured state of mind Melvin begins to suspect that somehow, in someway the body in the back of that hearse might be his own …

This 1991 production was Director Lucio Fulci’s last completed film. It’s a shame, then, that his name doesn’t even appear in the credits as it is thematically very much of a piece with most of his filmography. Fulci’s best work features an over-riding and existential concern with death. And DOOR INTO SILENCE is one of clearest investigations into this murky and morbid realm. That it was made only a few years before his own death only increases the morbid fascination. DOOR has a nightmarish quality to it. Not in the usual booga-booga horror film fashion, but in the manner of an actual nightmare - the kind where you feel trapped in an endless loop of incomprehensible events. The movie is so successful in creating this atmosphere that it threatens tediousness at times – you will start to feel like you can’t escape these events either. Overall, it’s a good little film, but it does tend to drag a bit. It has been noted by some that DOOR resembles a TWILIGHT ZONE episode, and I would agree and offer the criticism that this movie might have fared better as a short work, an hour or less perhaps. That said, it has it fascinations and I found myself mostly enthralled by the film's depiction of dying as an endless labyrinth of backwoods roads and decrepit bridges.

Sadly there are no context-providing extras on this release in order to elaborate on these interesting themes. No essays, nor bios, not anything, not even a trailer have found there way onto this disc. In some way this is not surprising. DOOR INTO SILENCE is a production by the Italian company Filmirage, headed up by exploitation guru Aristide Mannaccassi (aka Joe D’Amato), and like most of their output, was mostly intended for the US video market. As such this fly-by-night production probably just doesn’t yield much material for extras. Cast with American actors and shot in sync sound mostly on US soil, these very Italian movies were passed off as cheap American productions, hence the embarrassing pseudonym credits. Certainly the film looks very much like a made-for-cable movie by LA producers and as such there are limits to how good this DVD presentation could look. It is presented correctly in a full-frame transfer that while sharp and colorful enough isn’t going to wow anyone with it brilliant visual prowess. But still, it’s good to finally have Fulci’s last film widely available and all fans of the notorious auteur will do well to pick it up at their soonest conveniance.


THE SINFUL DWARF (Denmark, 1974)


Do you really need to know the plot of THE SINFUL DWARF? I would argue: you do not. The point of this sleazy 70s Danish production is only to wallow in filth and depravity, not to enlighten you with a clever narrative. There is almost no narrative to THE SINFUL DWARF, just a series of crudely hilarious events edited together with an ostensible intent to arouse, I suppose. But it is quite a lot of fun as long as you understand it to be a deliberately ugly film experience. The movie is constantly shoving distorted and hideous faces at you in extreme close-ups, not least of all, the Sinful Dwarf himself, the amazing Torbin Bille. This movie loves and fetishes his ugly mug like Von Sternberg loved and fetishized Marlene Deitrich’s striking visage. With his unnerving, diabolical giggle and bulged, hate-spewing eyes, Torbin towers over this meager production like the superstar he should have been. Mr. Bille certainly could have eaten Weng Weng for breakfast and withered Herve Villechez with a single demented glare. This is easily the greatest “little person” performance in cinema history. Yeah, that’s right, I said it! The only other thing that can compete with him in this movie is the complete loveliness of actress Anne Sparrow, or more to the point, the complete loveliness of Ms. Sparrow’s tits, which are spectacular and unsheathed through a good chunk of the movie.

Other high points include the astonishing electronic-drone soundtrack by Ole Ørsted (Where’s the CD of this, Severin?), Clara Keller’s off-the-rails performance as the sinful dwarf’s sinful aging diva mother and an unusual and almost spastic editing scheme which keeps the sleaze from becoming too redundant. It’s redundancy that looms over this picture like a gray cloud. There’s just not enough elements to construct a full cinematic narrative on, even a z-grade exploitation narrative. Thus the films attempts to get by on its grotesque charms and mostly does so, though hints of boredom crop up from time to time. The three performers highlighted above excepted, this movie is woefully acted, mostly by stiff leading man Tony Eades, whose wooden whine grates after only a few seconds of screen time. And for God’s sake please don’t expect stunning or even interesting cinematography as it is perfunctory at best. But as all fans of “bad” movies know, these detriments can further the far-out experience of such trash films, reaching out into almost surreal levels of ineptitude and idiocy. DWARF isn’t really that bad, but should still pleasurably get under the skin of any z-grade cinema devotee.

Severin unleashes this trash in a respectable manner, presenting it in an open-matte full-frame presentation that preserves its original aspect ratio. The video quality is as good as it probably could be for a 16mm production now over 35 years old. Grain is ever-present, but then it should be there, and the colors look rather strong if not all that sharp. But, if you’ve ever seen Something Weird’s old VHS tape you’ll be very happy with the improvements made here. While the film is “uncut” there is an alternate hardcore version released by Severin in partnership with Private Screenings/CAV. I have not seen this version and so could not illuminate for you the precise differences for each sex scene. Sadly, the extras on this DVD are not what one might want or expect for this film. I would have loved for Severin to fill in the gaps on the background of this formerly obscure Danish production or at least given a text bio of the extraordinary Torbin Bille. Instead all we get is two old radio spots, one color-drained trailer under the alternate title ABDUCTED BRIDE (which actually pretty cool) and a 10 or so minute featurette originally passed around the net detailing a phony “controversy” around Severin’s descision to release this admittedly questionable film. It’s pretty funny, but something more substantial would have been nice. Still, I like this movie and feel grateful to have a DVD of it at all, so these faults are easily overlooked.

More subtitled Turkish rarities!!

Just thought you should know,our great friends at Sinematik are offering more English subtitled Turkish wonders at their Ebay store. You get a brand new VCD copy of the film, a DVD-R featuring an English subtitled version of the film plus a cool vintage Turkish lobby card! What a deal! Included are a Cetin Inanc erotic thriller, a Yilmaz Guney "Anatolian Western" and an amazing looking crime thriller called HAMAL!
Go Here to spend your money wisely!

Eight short films by Walerian Borowczyk!

One of my favorite directors of the moment is Walerian Borowczyk, best known as the director of controversial Euro-erotica IMMORAL TALES and THE BEAST. Though my personal favorites of his are DOCTEUR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES and DZIEJE GRZECHU, a horror film and a historical drama respectively. Here's a selection of some of Borowczyk's short and animated films, the movies his reputation rested upon until his erotic-themed features made made waves in European cinema in the mid seventies . There are eight films, from all throughout Borowczyk's career, with seven on the Youtube and the last accessed via the link provided.


Love Requited (Nagrodzone uczucia) - With Jan Lenica - Poland - 1957



DOM - With Jan Lenica - Poland - 1958



Encyclopedia de Grand Maman - France - 1963



Renaissance - France - 1963



Le Petit Poucet - France - 1965



L' Amour monstre de tous les temps - France - 1977



Scherzo Infernal - France - 1984




Une collection particulière - France - 1973
Click here to view!

And for all those converted to the charms of Walerian Borowczyk's bizarre cinema, there's a modicum of news you may find interesting:

ART OF LOVE is coming to DVD from Severin!



One of our faves from Boro, this wild and ethereal erotic idyll set in first century Rome will be let loose onto Region 1 this November 24th, we don't know many details, although the first pre-order we could find, from HK Flix, lists only English as a language option. This might be disappointing to some fans of this Italian/French co-production. But we will be checking it out with great interest here no matter what shape its in you can be sure!

In other Boro DVD news, I have heard word that Cult Epics, who have released THE BEAST, GOTO ISLAND OF LOVE and LOVE RITES on R1 DVD, are hard at work on another batch of Borowczykian bounty, including his notorious Nunnery epic BEHIND CONVENT WALLS, a compilation of his short and animated films (surely some if not all those featured above!) and maybe, just maybe ... DOCTEUR JEKYLL ET LES FEMMES aka BLOODBATH OF DR. JEKYLL! My mind simply melts at even the idea of it! It's still early on in the process and let's not count any chickens just yet - but this is potentially awesome news!!

There might also be a new book about Borowczyk by Eastern European film expert Daniel Bird sometime this year, but I'd wager that it will be next year before it's actually out since it's already September and no official announcement has been made. Something to look forward to I'm sure as Bird seems to really know his stuff and has been working on the tome for the better part of a decade. In the meantime, here's some nice reading materials to help you fill in the gaps on this most underrated auteur.

Immoral Tales: European Sex and Horror Movies 1956-1984 by Cathal Tohill and Pete Tombs

Walerian Borowczyk: Cinema of Erotic Dreams by Jeremy Mark Robinson

Video Watchdog Special Edition #1

Islamic Psychotronic! Iranian Cinema Fantastique 1955-1965!

Here's a list of genre and fantasy movies made in the Shah's Iran from the years 1955 through to 1965. It was during this time that Iranian cinema came unto its own both artistically and commercially with '65 being the year that saw homegrown films almost completely displacing US and European fare. This list was culled from a book called Cinema in Iran 1900-1979 by M. Ali Issari and may or may not be comprehensive. I have not seen any of these films and I would assume that most are very difficult to find. There are some bone fide auteurs here, as a cursory Internet search will uncover, such as Samuel Khachikian, noted as the "Iranian Hitchcock" or Farrokh Ghaffari, a leader of the Iranian "new wave" whose film NIGHT OF THE HUNCHBACK is acknowledged as a true classic of Farsi cinema (and is the film featured in the poster above). I have chosen to include films of Worldweird interest, in this case mostly crime films and thrillers, and not such much social dramas or comedies. There are a handful of fantasy films and historical adventures, but gritty noir-esque fare seemed to rule the genre roost in Iran at this time. I also included a few films which are described as comedies or dramas but whose titles may indicate some sort of fantastical content. If you have copies of any of the below please contact me at jaredaunerATyahooDOTcom for trades!

AHRIMANE ZIBA
“The Beautiful Devil”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: January 16, 1963
Production Co: Pars Film Studio
Producer/Writer/Director: Esmail Kooshan

ARAS KHAN
proper name
35mm/B&W/Cinemascope/110 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: May 2, 1962
Production Co: Pars Film Studio
Writer/Producer: Esmail Kooshan
Director: Naser Malek-Motyie

AROUSE DAJLEH
“Bridge of the Tigris River”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Historical
Premiere: February 8, 1955
Production Company: Rey Film
Director: N. Mohtashem

BABRE KOOHESTAN
“The Mountain Tiger”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 27, 1965
Production Co: Asre Talaie Studio
Writer/Director: Khosrow Parvizi

BAZGASHT BE ZENDEGI
“Return to Life”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Fantasy
Premiere: August 8, 1957
Production Co: Asre Talaie Studio
Director: Ataollah Zahed

BONBAST
“Dead End”
35mm/B&W/115 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: February 24, 1965
Production Co: Sazmane Cinemaie Panoroma
Director: Mirsamadzadeh

CHAHAR-RAHE HAVADES
“The Crossroad of Events”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: March 20, 1955
Production Company: Diana Film
Director: Samuel Khachikian

DELHOREH
“Anxiety”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: December 20, 1962
Production Co: Ajir Film
Writer/Director: Samuel Khachikian

ENSANE PARANDEH
“The Flying Man”
35mm/B&W/115 min
Genre: Comedy
Premiere: September 12, 1961
Production Co: Atlas Film Studio
Writer/Director: Parviz Khatibi

ESHQ VA ENTEGHAM
“Love and Vengeance”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: September 29, 1965
Independent Production
Writer/Director: M. A. Fardin

ETTEHAM
“Accusation”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: May 6, 1956
Production Co: Pars Film Studio
Director: Shappor Yasami

FARAR
“The Escape”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: December 5, 1963
Production Co: Misaghieh Studio
Writer/Director: Abbas Shabaviz

FARYADE DEHKADEH
“The Cry of the Village”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: July 22, 1965
Independent Production
Writer/Director: Ahamd Safaie

FARYADE NIMESHAB
“The Midnight Terror”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: August 24, 1961
Production Co: Misaghieh Studio
Writer/Director: Samuel Khachikian

GORGEHAYE GOROSNEH
“The Hungry Wolves”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: December 11, 1962
Independent Production
Director: M.A. Fardin

HEVDAH RUZ BE E’DAM
“Seventeen Days to Exectution”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: December 26, 1958
Production Co: Asre Talaie Studio
Writer/Director: Houshang Kavoosi

JADDEH MARG
“Highway of Death”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: June 18, 1963
Production Co: Caravan Film
Writer/Director: Esmail Riahi

JADOU
“Witchcraft”
16mm/Color/95 min
Genre: Melodrama
Premiere: January 25, 1956
Production Co: Asia Film
Producer/Director/Cameraman/Co-writer: Salar Eshghi

KAMINGAHE SHEITAN
“Hideaway of the Devil”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: May 7, 1964
Independent Production
Writer/Director: Nezam Fatemi

KELID
“The Key”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: December 6, 1962
Production Co: Misaghieh Studio
Director: Mahmoud Nowzari

KHESHM VA FARYAD
“Anger and Screaming”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: March 13, 1964
Independent Production
Writer/Director: Reza Safaie

KHOON VA SHARAF
“Blood and Honor”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: War
Premiere: December 12, 1955
Production Company: Diana Film
Director: Samuel Khachikian

MAHTABE KHOONIN
“The Bloody Moonlight”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Drama
Premiere: January 15, 1956
Production Co: Caravan Film
Writer/Director: Moshavegh Sorouri

MAJERAJOOYANE KHASHEN
“The Rough Adventurers”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Adventure
Premiere: January 25, 1957
Production Co: Cinema Theater Rex Co.
Writer/Director: Mehdi Rais-Firuz

MOOTALAIE SHARE MA
“The Blonde Woman of Our Town”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: December 16, 1965
Production Co: Iran Film Studio
Writer/Director: Abbas Shabaviz

MORVARID SIAH
“The Black Pearl”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: August 28, 1961
Production Co: Shahrokh Film
Director: Mehdi Rais-Firuz

NABARDE GHOOLHA
“The War of the Giants”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: December 9, 1965
Independent Production
Director: Reza Beik-Imanverdi

PANJEH
“The Claw”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: January 8, 1963
Production Co: Asre Talaie Studio
Writer/Director: Amin Amini

PARTGAHE MAKHOUF
“Frightening Canyon”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: May 11, 1963
Production Co: Sazmane Cinemaie 555
Writer/Director: Reza Safaie

PESARE DARYA
“Son of the Sea”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: April 11, 1958
Independent Production
Writer/Director: Shahpoor Yasami

RAHZAN
“The Bandit”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Adventure
Premiere: March 18, 1955
Production Company: Pars Film Studio
Director: Siamak Yasami

SARKESH
“The Mutineer”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: February 16, 1965
Production Co: Azar Film
Producer/Writer/Director: Samad Sabahi

SARSAM
“Delirium”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 21, 1965
Production Co: Misaghieh Studio
Writer/Director: Samuel Khachikian

SAYE
“Shadow”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: June 25, 1959
Production Co: Asre Talaie Studio
Writer/Director: Amin Amini

SAYYADANE NAMAKZAR
“Hunters of the Salt Desert”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: June 28, 1965
Independent Production
Producer/Writer/Director: Akbar Hashemi

SETAREI CHESHMAK ZAD
“A Star Twinkled”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Fantasy
Premiere: October 23, 1963
Production Co: October 23, 1963
Producer/Director: Gorji Ebadia

SHABE GHOUZI
“Night of the Hunchback”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: February 25, 1965
Production Co: Iran Nema Studio
Producer/Director: Farrokh Ghaffari

SHAHINE TOUS
“The Eagle of Tous”
35mmB&W/110 min
Genre: Historical
Year: 1955
Production Company: Pass Film Studio
Director: Hossein Daneshvar

SHEITANE SEFID
“The White Devil”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: September 16, 1965
Production Co: Mahtab Film
Writer/Director: Ahmad Safaie

SOWDAGARANE MARG
“The Merchants of Death”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 26, 1962
Production Co: Pars Film Studio
Director: Naser Malek-Motyie

TA’GHIBE KHATARNAK
“The Dangerous Chase”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: March 9, 1965
Independent Production
Producer/Writer/Director: Reza Safaie

TALAYE SEFID
“White Gold”
35mm/B&W/120 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 11, 1962
Production Co: Sahar Studio
Producer/Director: Jamshid Sheibani

TARE ANKABOUT
“The Cobweb”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: September 26, 1963
Production Co: Sazmane Cinemaie Panorama
Director: Mirasamdzadeh

TARS VA TARIKY
“Fear and Darkness”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: ?
Premiere: June 25, 1963
Production Co: Atlas Film Studio
Producer/Writer/Director: Mohammad Motovaselani

TELESME SHEITAN
“The Spell of Satan”
16mm/B&W/100min
Genre: Comedy
Premiere: January 5, 1956
Production Company: Asia Film
Director: Mohsen Farid
Producer/Writer/Cameraman: Salar Eshghi

TOOFAN DAR SHAHRE MA
“Storm in Our Town”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 13, 1958
Production Co: Ajir Film
Writer/Director: Samuel Khachikian

VAHSHAT
“Horror”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 16, 1963
Production Co: Misaghieh Studio
Writer/Director: Siamak Yasami

YA’QUB LAYTH SAFFARI
Proper name – founder of Saffarid dynasty
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Historical
Premiere: May 30, 1957
Production Co: Pars Film Studio
Director: Ali Kasmaie

YEK GHADAM TA MARG
“One Step to Death”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: December 6, 1961
Production Co: Ajir Film
Writer/Director: Samuel Khachikian

YEKI BOUD YEKI NABOUD
“Once Upon a Time”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: March 22, 1959
Production Co: Oranus Film
Producer/Writer/Director: Rahim Rowshanian

ZAMINE TALKH
“The Bitter Earth”
35mm/B&W/100 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: March 12, 1963
Production Co: Atlas Film Studio
Writer/Director: Khosrow Parvizi

ZAN VA AROUSAKHAYASH
“The Woman and Her Dolls”
35mm/B&W/110 min
Genre: Thriller
Premiere: September 16, 1965
Independent Production
Producer/Writer/Director: Esmail Riahi

ZARBAT
“The Strike”
35mm/B&W/95 min
Genre: Crime
Premiere: April 23, 1964
Production Co: Ajir Film
Writer/Director: Samuel Khachikian

Handmade movie poster art from Ghana!

After spying a book on the subject over at Cinema Books here in Seattle, I dug into the internets and uncovered a stunning collection of wonders. These posters, all hand painted with great imagination -usually on used flour sacks, were advertisements for entrepreneurs who travelled from village to village projecting rare videocassette copies of movies otherwise difficult to see. Along with the usual Hollywood blockbuster fare they seemed to show a great selection of wider world exploitation. Films from Indonesia, Italy, India, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Nigeria poured in to this small West African country. Here's a selection of the best Worldweird-y posters I could find.

José Bénazéraf on Youtube!

Here's a selection of clips from French erotic autuer José Bénazéraf. They look great, too bad the movies are so hard to see in English. Hopefully this will change soon. I've only seen LE CONCERTO DE LA PEUR in the hacked up US version produced by Bob Cresse and passed off as NIGHT OF LUST. I don't think I got the full Bénazéraf experience from that, interesting as it may have been.
Apologies for the far right edge of the videos being cut off. I re-formated my page inadvisably and now it slices off images. If anyone knows how to fix this let me know.

Questions and Reflections on ÜC SÜPERMEN OLIMPIYATLARDA

OK, first off - JUST WHAT THE {*BLEEP*} IS GOING ON IN THIS MOVIE? How, and why, do the 3 Supermen get back to Ancient Greece? Who's the Asiatic looking dude who talks (telepathically?) to the blond Superman whiles he's flying? And just how is the footage from 3 SUPERMEN AND A MAD GIRL supposed to fit in?

Although it might just be due to my non-understanding of Turkish, it seemed that whole portions of the movie had absolutely nothing to do with each other. Is it possible that there are more than just 2 movies inserted here? The footage at the end with Blond Superman (Levent Çakır) back in the "present" seems like it may have been footage filmed for a separate project but perhaps discarded and then fit into this movie. Furthering this impression is the overtly comedic nature of the scenes with all three Supermen and those in ancient Greece. Am I wrong or is OLYMPIC GAMES pretty much intended as a straight up comedy? All the 3 SUPERMEN films have comedic elements but this one really seems to have been made as more of a send-up then an action adventure with some comedy relief along the way. Perhaps this is why they added the footage from the other movie(s?), in order to "spice up" the action. Perhaps it was released sans other footage and made no inroads necessitating the re-editing? Or is it a matter of two cooks in the kitchen? It's still somewhat controversial just who directed OLYMPIC GAMES, series producer Italo Martinenghi or Yavuz Yalinkiliç, director of the cult classic DEAD DON'T TALK. My suspicion is that Martinenghi is responsible for most of the comedy stuff and Yalinkiliç for the more action oriented scenes exclusively featuring Levent Çakır. Was it Yalinkiliç who then brought in the MAD GIRL footage to try and make it look presentable? Ack, too many questions for such a terrible movie!

And the movie really is terrible. The comedy is mostly verbal, which doesn't really work if you don't speak the language. And it's with these scenes the film spends most of its time. The fantasy and action scenes pop up with regularity but not enough frequency. The best parts are the MAD GIRL scenes, which are wild and pulpy fun. This leads me off on a tangent concerning the relative picture quality of Turkish pulp cinema. These scenes look much better, more colorful, in OLYMPIC GAMES than in the version I have of MAD GIRL. Here's a quick screen shot comparison.

Top - OLYMPIC GAMES
Bottom - MAD GIRL









There's a marked difference as you can see. What this brings to mind is just how much we've lost of Turkish cinema. Not just whole films, but without proper materials we often can't see just how colorful and vibrant these movies really were. Most of the films we can get our hand on these days are rather drab and bled-out looking, only occasionally, as in this case, do we get a glimpse of what once was, however blurry it may be. Another example would be Onar's DVD of 3 DEV ADAM wherein the first 16 seconds are from a Greek VHS and the rest from a more complete video betamaster. The Greek tape is far more colorful, if a bit less sharp:





What this suggests is that even by the mid 1980s when OLYMPIC GAMES was made and when ADAM was put on video there were still fairly nice, usable elements of 70s films to work with. This begs the question: What exactly happened between then and now? Why were these elements available then and what happened that made these so impossibly rare? Is the passage of time the only issue or is something else to blame? Is it a simple casualty of the collapse of the Turkish film industry? We are told that the elements for 3 DEV ADAM were destroyed in facility fire. Was this an isolated event or symptomatic of a wider problem? Was there a structural lack of concern for even the safe storage of such things? And how many other films were destroyed in that conflagration? It would seem that as with everywhere else in world cinema, the 90s were a real bad time in Turkey.

So really the only thing that makes 3 SUPERMEN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES worthwhile, other than being funny for reasons for which it does not intend, is the preservation (so to speak) of these scenes from the superior 3 SUPERMEN AND A MAD GIRL. Even better, I noticed also that this movie preserves an entire scene which is missing from the print of MAD GIRL that I have! In MAD the movie begins with the green KKK dudes already in the Devil's Chamber, while the scene interpolated into GAMES features the long windswept procession into the Chamber! Very cool! I leave you with a few screen shots from OLYMPIC GAMES of these (fairly well composed) images.




NOTE: This piece has been adapted from a post I made at the Cinehound Forum some time ago. Below you will find all credible cast and crew info I could dig up on the internet and from the credits of the films themselves. Sadly, the credits in ÇILGIN KIZ VE ÜÇ SÜPER ADAM are unreadable so I was unable to glean any further info from that source. If anyone reading this has access to a cleaner copy with readable credits please contact me at jaredaunerATyahooDOTcom.


THREE SUPEMEN AT THE OLYMPIC GAMES
ÜC SÜPERMEN OLIMPIYATLARDA
Turkey/Italy, 1984
Production Company: Objektif Film
Produced and Directed by Yavuz Yalinkiliç and Italo Martinenghi
Screenplay by Yavuz Yalinkiliç
Cinematography by Salih Dikisçi and Dinçel Onal
CAST:
Yılmaz Köksal
Levent Çakır
Stefano Martinengi
Filiz Özten
Alain Flick
Daniel Darnault
Oktar Durukan
Bahattin Eroğlu
Kadir Kök
Jocelien Davan


THREE SUPERMEN AND A MAD GIRL
ÇILGIN KIZ VE ÜÇ SÜPER ADAM
Turkey, 1973
Production Company: Birlik Film
Directed by Cavit Yürüklü
Produced by Müfit Ilkiz
Screenplay by Volkan Kayhan
Cinematography by Orhan Kapki
CAST:
Levent Cekir
Emel Özden
Altan Bozkurt
Yeşim Yükselen
Hüseyin Sayar
Nubar Terziyan
Nuri Kırgeç
Mine Sun
Ahmet Karatop