Deep Red: Christmas Giallo?

Hmm?

There's a Christmas tree!

                                                                                    

There's another one!

So, yes, it is a Christmas giallo.

Holiday Terror

I have a slew of Christmas themed horror films that I would like to get around to this month. One thing I never miss is a Christmas Eve viewing of Black Christmas (1974). And this year I'm pretty excited about a new release of Silent Night, Bloody Night, cleaned up and in widescreen supposedly.

What holiday horrors do you watch?

Giallo?

In his interview, Jeffrey of nessuntimore.blogspot.com mentioned that he considers Suspiria a giallo. Richard and I have discussed this many times and I don't fight hard either way. Want to include it as a giallo? I can see that. Absolutely not a giallo? Okay, fine by me. I'm easy to please. (Inferno has some gialloish moments. What about that?) Suspiria is a giallo. What say you? Yea or nay?

Um, spoiler alert.

Am I Crazy?

In response to a comment left by Simon of Creatures of Darkness and Light (link on the side of the page) on Insidious 2 I said that James Wan had made the best horror films by a contemporary director being rivaled only by Ti West (and Rob Zombie.) This is obviously just my opinion. Am I crazy?

Happy Halloween!

I hope everyone has a delightfully spooky and safe Halloween! Go watch something good. (I suggest um...Halloween!)

Update: So I published this yesterday and it got shoved down in the feed. Blogger (company) being stupid? Blogger (me) being stupid? Take your pick. I hope everyone had a great day. 

Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People

Hey Gang! Richard has very kindly written a guest post! About Hitchcock!

Sometime in the 1980s, everyone went Alfred Hitchcock crazy. Between films like Psycho and The Birds being on TV constantly, Psycho II making its television premiere, Psycho III in theaters, "Alfred Hitchock Presents" in syndication, AND "The New Afred Hitchcock Presents" on TV as well, you couldn't let out a secret fart without the ghost old Hitch catching a whiff of it. I too was swept up in all this madness. I remember very vividly watching Psycho and Psycho II on TV one night and being completely freaked out. I started dragging a chair into the bathroom whenever I had to shower. I would jam the back of the chair under doorknob to slow Mrs. Bates down a little.

My parents couldn't help but notice that I was into the "Master of Suspense" so they got me his record titled: "Alfred Hitchcock Presents Ghost Stories for Young People" either for my birthday or Christmas, I can't remember which. Where they had obtained a copy, I have no idea. All I know is that this album brought me so much joyful dread that very night. Side A scared me so badly that I didn't dare flip the record over. Instead, I waited until the following day. In fact, I started it beforenoon so that there was no chance that Side B would finish after dusk.

Revisiting this record now, for the first time in nearly 30 years, everything is all new and familiar to me which means I must have listened to this record A LOT. I am instantly transported back to my childhood bedroom bathed in the gloom of a cloudy afternoon. There are G.I. Joes in every available nook and cranny. There is a collection of secondhand (and unread by me) Hardy Boys books. What the fuck is up with those anyway? How come they were never as good as the cover art? 

"Ghost Stories for Young People" is just wonderful even though it is wildly hokey. Any ghost story that features the line: "And in the door came a squirrel as big as a... SHEEP DOG!" is silly as heck, to say the least. Give it a listen and maybe get a little peek into my childhood. More importantly, see if you get a little creeped out by some fun yet effective ghost stories.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8T255y7nKLY&feature=youtu.be

Slashers from 1989

While Richard was having The Vorheesathon he sent me a text complaining how awful Friday The 13th Part 9: Jason Takes Vancouver After A Long Boat Ride was and I said that I couldn't think of ANY good slasher films from 1989. He said he would have to take a look at a list to be sure, but offhand he couldn't either. So you know what I did: easy blog content!

The first things that popped into my head were Halloween 5: The Revenge Of Michael Myers and whatever Nightmare On Elm Street film came out that year. Halloween 5 has a few moments that I really enjoy but as a whole is not a great film. I haven't seen A Nightmare On Elm Street 5: The Dream Child as I'm not a big Freddy fan but I think I have read it is not that great.

So I did some digging around and made a list.


Sleepaway Camp III: Teenage Wasteland
Silent Night, Deadly Night III: You Better Watch Out
The Stepfather II
Intruder
Clownhouse
Cutting Class
Moonstalker
Nightmare Beach
Psycho Cop
Elves
Fatal Image
Freeway Maniac
Massacre
Las Vegas Bloodbath
Offerings
Out Of The Dark
Phantom Of The Mall: Eric's Revenge
Return Of The Family Man
Slashdance
Night Visitor
Parents
Hell High


I'm sure the list isn't complete and I'm not sure if all of them are even slasher films. Out of the ones I have seen I do enjoy Intruder and Nightmare Beach. Actually I really liked Nightmare Beach. I've seen Clownhouse but I don't remember much of it other than it's decidedly unwholesome reputation. The Cutting Class disc I got from Netflix didn't play all the way through. Elves is the craziest film I have ever seen and Phantom Of The Mall: Eric's Revenge was okay.

Am I missing some films? Are there films on here that I haven't seen but should?



Check out The Vorheesathon here:


http://www.cinemasomnambulist.com/2013/09/the-friday-13th-voorheesathon.html

Question

Today's question is short and sweet. What was the last great Italian Horror film? Hit me up in the comments.

Creatures Of Light And Darkness

Hello folks. Everyone should quit fooling around here and head over to Simon's blog. We've been corresponding through email for a bit and he is a gentleman of incomparable insight and wit. I suspect he speaks with a British accent. Anyway he is doing a big October blogathon and you do not want to miss it! He is too cultured to do something rash if you don't but you know how I am!

(And I know everyone is checking out Slashtober II at Nessun Timore. Don't make me come over there.)

Creatures Of Light And Darkness

The Night He Came Home (It Was A Friday)

We are all painfully aware that Halloween is my favorite film of all time. You've read me mention it on Doomed Moviethon, you've heard me go on about it on Hello! This Is The Doomed Show, and you got that restraining order on me when I threw rocks at your window late at night because I wanted to talk about it. Well good news! I'm talking about it again and since it's the internet your court documents can't stop me!

So I preordered the 35th Anniversary bluray. Other than a marketing deal I'm not sure why 35 years is significant. Yes there's a 25th Anniversary dvd but is there a 15th Anniversary VHS tape? Will there be a 45th Anniversary download? A 55th Anniversary brain implant? No silly, there will be a 50th Anniversary brain implant.

I'm just one year younger than Halloween so all this __th Anniversary talk can get depressing. I am (barely) a child of the 70's.

Back during the summer I had some people over for a viewing of Halloween. Of the folks present (other than Elizabeth and I) only one had seen it before. We watched the 2007 Anchor Bay bluray and it was one of my best experiences watching the film. Everyone really seemed to get into it.

The 2007 bluray is, up to that point, the best Halloween has ever looked in my opinion. It looks so good I had overlooked the fans' concerns about the colors being brightened and the blue hue being diminished. Usually I am a purist when it comes to these things. Code Red's release of Madman completely removed the blue hue that gives Madman a lot of its atmosphere. But I can't stress enough how sharp the 2007 bluray of Halloween looks. Detail is unbelievable. You can count the leaves on trees in the background.

When I heard there was going to be a 35th Anniversary release I preordered. It didn't matter to me if it was even the same transfer with a different cover. I am borderline obsessive about Halloween. Anchor Bay actually encourages this because they release Halloween all the time. I don't mind, they do run a business and I don't buy their yearly release of Evil Dead II. So we are square.

Across the street neighbor and friend Heather attended our little soiree so when the new disc arrived I invited her to come over and she said she couldn't wait to see it again. Now Heather is new to the world of horror and before we started showing her horror films she professed she didn't like them. So her response made me very happy. I think I'm doing something right.

So how did it go? Ths colors in the daylight scenes are muted to look more like autumn. The nighttime scenes are darker and the blue hues are more in force. And the picture is still very sharp. Heather seemed to enjoy it as much as she did the first time and I still love it after 296 viewings. It was a great experience. This is the version I will return to when I watch it on bluray. Highly recommended.

Book Sale Find!

Twice a year our local library has a booksale. Paperbacks are fifty cents and hardcovers are a dollar. They also have dvds. Look what I snagged:

That's right! A copy of Something Weird's The Thirsty Dead/The Swamp Of The Ravens double feature! Normally I don't pick up any dvds at the booksale because I don't need any more copies of Dorf On Golf. I've been keeping an eye out for this since Richard talked it up a while back. And it was only a dollar! Serendipity!

Check out Richard's The Swamp Of The Ravens review here:

http://doomedmoviethon.com/reviews2/237theswampoftheravens.htm

1 Month Of Blogging!

Hey Gang! The blog has been up for a month today and I'd like to thank everyone who has stopped by. I've had the support of a bunch of other great bloggers like Rod of pitofrod.blogspot.com, Jeffrey of nessuntimore.blogspot.com, Simon of creatures-of-light-and-darkness.blogspot.com, Aaron of the mighty deathrattle.net and of course the king of the internet Richard of cinemasomnambulist.com and doomedmoviethon.com. These Fellow Yellow Fellas are the best!

As of this morning I have 1013 page views! Thanks to everyone!

Night Of Dark Shadows

Hey gang, Richard has very kindly posted my review for 1971's Night Of Dark Shadows over at doomedmoviethon.com. Check it out!


Cinema Somnambulist

http://www.cinemasomnambulist.com/2013/09/new-review-night-of-dark-shadows.html


Doomed Moviethon

http://www.doomedmoviethon.com/reviews3/320nightofdarkshadows.htm

Insidious 2

Elizabeth and I saw Insidious 2 over the weekend and we both enjoyed it. No. We are not contrarians. Not on purpose anyway. I said to her (and Richard) that it is the sort of film that when someone (Scream Factory?) releases it in 15 years (in a Special Edition download, surely) people like me will be very excited. And perhaps some adults that will have caught it on cable as kids. I think The Conjuring's financial and critical success has somewhat kneecapped it. Shame, really.

UPDATE: When I said that The Conjuring's financial and critical success had kneecapped Insidious 2 I meant critically not financially. It made a boatload of money this weekend. Boatloads actually. Depending on the size of the boats they are filling with money.

Cinema de Bizarre

Hey gang. I want to take a moment to plug a great rare dvd company: Cinema de Bizarre. My shelves are full of their titles from Paul Naschy films to rare gialli and Eurocrime films. They have a great sale going on now and their buy 4 get 2 free, buy 6 get 3 free etc., deal applies. Head on over there and buy something! They have over 1000 rare titles and I know you need something from them. I KNOW.

(Click the link below)





Cinema de Bizarre

Interview With A Jeffrey

Jeffrey Canino of nessuntimore.blogspot.com has assented to be interviewed by yours truly. How smart is Jeffrey? He is a professor, that's how smart he is. Heck, his cat is a high school teacher. Jeffrey gave some excellent answers to my questions and I've found that when we learn more about Jeffrey, we learn more about ourselves. Dig on that my friends!

1. Tell us something about yourself. Anything.

My middle name is Clark. Everyone reading this is now one step closer to thieving my identity.

2. What is your favorite horror film?

Way to start with an impossible question. At the moment I'll say Jean Rollin's Iron Rose, but I'm sure that's wrong.

3. Give me 5 other favorite horror films

Also subject to a moment's notice change: A Virgin Among the Living Dead, Deep Red, Trouble Every Day, Next of Kin, Lisa and the Devil.

4. What is the best album of the 90's?

There was a point in my life during which I would have had an answer for this without having to think about it. But at this moment I have to think about it so I'll just say the Batman Forever soundtrack.

5. What 5 horror films should I watch right now?

I'm taking this to mean 5 horror movies that I think that you should watch that you might not have seen. So, in that case: Habit, The Stone Tape, Scream of Fear, Bloody Birthday, Rabid Grannies.

6. Favorite Donald Barthelme story?

"The School" is pretty much perfect. I have other favorites, certainly, but "The School" is the only one I like so much that I adapted it into a short comic book.

7. Favorite film monster? (vampire, zombie, werewolf, sparkly vampire, sexy werewolf, Michael Bay, etc.)

The Boogens from The Boogens. Snot-nosed tentacled turtles rule my world.

8. Favorite giallo?

The House with Laughing Windows, but that's sort of an atypical example. For a more typical specimen: Don't Torture a Duckling, or maybe Seven Blood-Stained Orchids.

9. 5 underrated gialli?

Delirium (not the Lambava), A White Dress for Mariale, Death Laid an Egg, Seven Notes in Black, and that wonderful Spanish Scooby Doo feature-length, Murder Mansion.

10. Do you like Brian DePalma?

No. I love him.

11. If so, put these in order of preference: Raising Cain, Sisters, Dressed To Kill, Obsession, The Fury, Blow Out, Body Double, The Fury

1. Blow Out, 2. Sisters, 3. Dressed to Kill, 4. Body Double, 5. Phantom of the Paradise (surprise entry!), 6. Femme Fatale (another surprise entry!), 7. Carrie (!!), 8. Raising Cain, 9. Obsession, 10. The Fury, 11. Passion (!!)

12. What pre-1950 horror fiction should I read?

The spooky stories of M. R. James or Algernon Blackwood.

13. What is your favorite Klaus Kinski horror/thriller film?

Death Smiles on a Murderer probably shouldn't count, but he's in it, and it's my favorite, so that's probably it. I also sort of adore Venom for its powerhouse combo of genre film titans, but I suppose it's not a very good movie. However, Kinski being felled by the snake is one of the greatest moments in cinema.

14. 5 favorite horror directors?

Jess Franco, Jean Rollin, David Cronenberg, Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci. Sorry Argento: you made Dracula 3-D.

15. What is your favorite horror film franchise?

I guess I'll just answer this by telling you my favorite of the big three, and in that regard the Halloween series has the most entries that I like and has really only ever been truly awful once. Can't say the same for Friday or Nightmare.

16. Scariest film you have seen?

The only film to have scared me in the last 15 years would be Brad Anderson's Session 9. Why should be pretty clear to anyone who has actually seen it.

17. 5 desert island albums?

Five compilations of music featured in '70s Blaxploitation pictures. It's the only way I'd be able to stay cool on that hot island.

18. What do you make of The Smiths?

With the Smiths one makes a Hatful of Hollow.

19. Freakiest Sam Neill film: In The Mouth Of Madness, Event Horizon or Possession?

I'm glad Possession is an option because that's the answer. I have vague recollections of seeing Event Horizon on television and thinking it was pretty freaky, though. But how on earth could a Paul W. S. Anderson film be freaky?

20. How many times have you seen Friday The 13th Part 2?

I've seen Part 2 the most out of any Friday film except for maybe Part 1, which I had a strong childhood fondness for. And yes, Part 2 is the best one. Maybe 5-7 times?

21. Black gloved killer or axe wielding madman/woman?

Black gloves, yo.

22. Argento or Fulci

Argento really pissed me off when I did his later years, so Fulci for now, at least until I watch all of his later films in a row and get really pissed off.

23. Antonio Margheriti or Riccardo Freda?

Really tough. Though I probably like more of Freda's films, Margheriti made Castle of Blood, which is one the Best of All Time, and also allegedly directed a little bit of Blood for Dracula and Flesh for Frankenstein. He wins.

24. Two favorite Barbara Steele Italian gothic horror films?

Castle of Blood (naturally) and Horrible Dr. Hichcock.

25. Give me 5 found footage films I should see (beyond Paranormal Activity)

There are many great found footage horror films though it's undeniable that the majority blow chunks. Five favorites: The Last Broadcast, Zero Day, Noroi, Megan is Missing, Exhibit A. And also Ghostwatch.

26. What was your first giallo?

Suspiria, if you want to count that one, which I do.

27. What post 1950 horror fiction should I read?

The strange stories of Robert Aickman.

28. The Lords Of Salem: Rob Zombie's best film?

Very, very possibly. House of 1000 Corpses might be my favorite, or the one I'd be most likely to throw on at the moment, but yeah, Lords rules.

29. What do you make of The House Of The Devil?

It is one of the best horror films of our time. But it's not as good as The Innkeepers.

30. Rosemary's Baby or The Omen?

Rosemary's Baby. The Omen ain't even playing the same game.

31. What 5 blurays/dvds would you grab if your apartment/house were about to slide into another dimension, forever lost?

I'd grab Arrow's gigantic Russ Meyer set off the shelf. That would last me awhile. Also probably Twilight Time's Fight Night blu-ray: I could sell that to some sucker and get a head start on re-building my collection.

32. Leon Klimovsky or Carlos Aured?

Aured gave us Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll AND Horror Rises. He is a wonderful man.

33. Do you like Dr. Pepper?

With rum or whiskey especially.

34. You are in New York, I am in Kentucky. How Southern do I sound on Hello! This Is The Doomed Show?

Pretty Southern, but not like Deliverance Southern. Not even Rod & Troy Southern. But Southern.

35. How do you feel about Eurocrime films?

I feel warm fuzzy things for them. Raro's second Fernando Di Leo blu-ray collection arrived in my mailbox a few days ago. I now want to feign illness and spend the day watching them.

36. Spaghetti Westerns?

Equally warm and fuzzy. And dusty.

37. 5 guilty pleasure horror films

Can't really answer this one cause I harbor no guilty feelings about anything I like, bad as they may be. I'll defend 'em all.

38. Is Halloween the best slasher film? If it is what is second best? If not, what is?

In the Halloween/Black Christmas tussle, I take residence in the Black Christmas camp. I love them both, I just love BC slightly more. But the best slasher film is My Bloody Valentine.

39. What is the last 'classic' giallo?

Stagefright, if you want to count that one, which I sort of don't. So I'll say Tenebrae is the capper. After that we get into Lambava territory.

40. What is your favorite film ever? (or top 5 if that is too difficult)

Clue, the movie. Too easy.

First Giallo

This used to mean something

Long, long, long ago in 2007 we watched our first giallo. It was our habit in those bygone days to go to the video store and rent a stack of dvds for the weekend. In this particular stack was two films by a Dario Argento, one I had seen and one I had not. The seen one was Suspiria and the unseen one was a little film named Deep Red.

I had been rummaging around the internet looking for horror films to show my soon to be wife and somehow stumbled across a review (I don't remember whose) of Deep Red. I knew my Hollywood Video had it so while we were there we grabbed it and picked up Suspiria to boot.

Two minutes into the film we were hooked. Hooked. There is a whole genre of these murder mysteries? Sign us up! The colors, the setpieces, the camera angles, the music, the whole dang thing had totally captivated us. So much so that when we watched Suspiria immediately after we were let down. Nothing, no matter how good (and we LOVE Suspiria) was going to top that. We call it the Deep Red effect now but the only thing we heard that night was the call to spend all our money buying giallos. Mission accomplished.

You might imagine that there would be inherent difficulties in watching the best (in my opinion anyway) giallo first. Not so with this viewer. Following immediately on Deep Red's heels were the birthday gifts of The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail and The Black Belly Of The Tarantula. And I went and spent $29.98 on the Blue Underground double disc set of The Bird With The Crystal Plumage at my local FYE. But even so when introducing our friend Heather to gialli I never entertained the thought of showing her Deep Red first. We showed her Bird followed by Death Walks On High Heels and The Case Of The Bloody Iris over a period of a week or so. I think working up to Deep Red is the way to go although I don't think it hurt my appreciation of the genre at all.

Fang Of Joy

Richard of Cinema Somnambulist, Doomed Moviethon and Hello! This Is The Doomed Show can add another title: Richard of Fang Of Joy. That's right, he wasn't content with just conquering the internet, he has conquered a medium thought dead: the zine! And Elizabeth and I were fortunate enough to be asked to contribute as well as some other very talented folks like Jeffrey Canino of Nessun Timore and Scott McDonald of Eurocult AV. LeEtta (Richard's wife and super awesome artist extraordinaire) supplied the gorgeous cover. As well as containing articles on gialli and Italian gothic horror there's an article on Luigi Bazzoni, an article on Borocwyk's Bloodbath Of Dr. Jekyll and interviews with Death Metal band Druid Lord and super groovy soundtracker Orgasmo Sonore! 22 pages including the front and back covers, you need to OWN this! It's just $4!


Link to zine goodness:



Fang Of Joy!

Interview With A Carl

I've decided to interview everyone I know. I know Carl so let's interview him! Carl makes music, is an actor and eats dinner like a boss. I've always known Carl. Always being since 1994.

1. Tell us a little about yourself. Anything.

In 1976, something magical happened.....America's Bicentennial. I was also born that year.

2. What is your favorite horror film?

There are three that always stand out.

1) Night of the Living Dead

2) The Texas Chainsaw Massacre

3) The Shining

I go back and forth between the three, but at the moment, it would have to be Stanley Kubrick's masterpiece "The Shining". If you'll notice, I didn't credit Stephen King. His TV movie version was an unwatchable affair. On a sidenote, the new series based on one of his latter books should be titled "Under the Dumb".

3. Give me five other favorite horror films

1) Halloween

2) The Exorcist

3) Poltergeist

4) The Fog

5) Bad Boys

4. What is the best album of the 90's?

Radiohead-OK Computer is my final answer. The 90s had some great moments, some better memories, and music that I have chosen to ignore. The after-effects can be heard in a lot of the "modern" rock of today.

5. Why aren't you listening to Hello! This Is The Doomed show?

Because I'm in the middle of an interview, and God...and The Bible

6. What is your favorite giallo?

Four Flies on Grey Velvet

7. Favorite film monster? (werewolves, vampires, zombies, Kevin James, etc.)

The notion of a zombie apocalypse scares me the most, but Paul Blart Mall Cop scared the shit out of me. I haven't shopped since.

8. Favorite horror franchise?

This is a tough one. All franchises seem to spiral downwards, quickly. I'd have to say The Lord of the Rings.

9. Scariest film you have seen?

Okay-I'll be serious about this one....

When I was young, in the 1st grade, Poltergeist scared the shit out of me. We were new to HBO, and they played it all the time. One part in particular scared me so much that I couldn't watch it after the first viewing....the clown under the bed. I am not scared of clowns, but scared of people who like them.

10. 5 desert island albums?

1) Richie Hawtin "DE9-Closer to the Edit"

2) David Bowie "Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders From Mars"

3) Depeche Mode "Black Celebration"

4) Radiohead  "In Rainbows (special edition (that includes a rowboat, paddle, a surplus of food and water, and some serious will not to give up))

5) Ozzy Osbourne "Mama, I'm Coming Home"

11. What is your earliest horror film memory?

I remember watching this film in Georgia, 1981, and in the film someone was swimming in a pool that was  in the process of being covered. The swimmer was trapped. Later in the film, someone visited an old lady in a hospital who was on life support, but my impression was that she was already dead. The second part reminded me of an episode of The New Twilight Zone. It was called Grandma.  don't know the film's name, still. I've gone back several times to make sense of this obviously fractured memory. No dice (or definite answers) as of yet. Maybe I should go to Vegas. I hear people find answers there.

12. How many times have you seen Friday The 13th Part 2?

This is my favorite installment. I have seen it maybe 50 times? My favorite Jason kill is in this one-the guy in the wheelchair, dying all the way down that unnecessarily long flight of steps. Jason killed him because he was a lazy asshole. Just get up and walk like the rest of us.

13. Scarier Sam Neill film: In The Mouth Of Madness or Event Horizon?

This is an excellent question. Both of these films freaked me to the point of bewilderment. I had to take the rest of the day/night off from life after each one's initial viewing. If I had to choose, I would choose Event Horizon. It surprised me, because I usually view Sci Fi/Horror as less scary. In the Mouth of Madness is still one of my favorites though. The scariest part is the seriously dated soundtrack...hahaha

14. What horror film should they never ever remake?

The Lawnmower Man

15. Rosemary's Baby or The Omen?

Definitely The Omen. I did love Rosemary's Baby, and still do, but The Omen has a more immediate menace to it. I love art, and respect it, but give me the visceral experience first (in a horror film).

16. Argento or Fulci?

I will take Fulci.

I have loved everything he's done....especially City of the Living Dead

17. Black glove killer or madman with an axe?

T.P. (Madman reference-Brad)

18. Do you like Dr. Pepper?

23 flavors of glorious, born in America? Yeah, it's pretty good. I just drank the diet version, which has 10 flavors. Unfortunately, one of those flavors is most likely prolonged cancer.

19. If you could watch a horror film right now what would it be?

You're Next......muahahaaha

Nessun Timore

I would advise everyone to drop what they are doing and head over to Jeffrey Canino's brilliant blog Nessun Timore. He is running a giallo series right now and he has picked some that are way beyond your usual giallo fare. Clever, insightful and in-depth, I find Jeffrey never misses the mark!




 http://nessuntimore.blogspot.com/

Werewolf Wednesday

The poster in question

Our friend (horror novice) Heather was admiring our The Werewolf Vs. Vampire Woman poster (the American title of Werewolf Shadow) that hangs in our living room and said she wouldn't mind seeing it. I immediately jumped at the chance to make a big deal out of it and instituted Werewolf Wednesday, demonstrating my love for alliteration in the process. So every Wednesday that we can we watch a wolfy double feature. Last week it was The Howling and Silver Bullet for an episode of Hello! This Is The Doomed Show which will soon be hitting the internets. This week it's The Wolf Man and Werewolf Shadow.

1941's The Wolf Man is as good as any place to start I think. Universal had tried their hand at a werewolf film six years earlier with Werewolf Of London that was not enormously successful. Lead actor Henry Hull wasn't willing to sit in a makeup chair for hours on end even though Jack Pierce had worked out a wolfman makeup design that would be identical to the one used in The Wolf Man. The makeup used was much lighter and that probably helped people to think it was too similar to Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. For me the film is most memorable for the inclusion of actor Warner Oland who was at the time already playing Charlie Chan.


The thing that always strikes me about The Wolf Man is how compact the film is. We are in and out of there in an economical 70 minutes or so. Character introductions, curse, fight, resolution, bam! we are done. Oh and this:

The werewolf as astronomer

 And this:

This guy was Dracula

Oh yeah! Bela Lugosi is in this! Claude Rains and Ralph Bellamy too. What a cast. This affords me an opportunity to explain to Heather the difference between a wolfman and a werewolf. A wolfman is a werewolf but a werewolf is not necessarily a wolfman. Glad I cleared that up. 

Wolfman and Werewolf

Lon Chaney Jr. would go on to play The Wolfman in all of the characters appearances of the 1940's. I've always liked him and the fact that he couldn't play a wolfman in Frankenstein's Bloody Terror directly led to the career of Paul Naschy. Lon is very good in this, charming and friendly at the beginning and full of wide eyed terror later on.

1971's Werewolf Shadow is easily one of my top twenty favorite horror films. About five years ago or so I discovered the mighty Paul Naschy when I bought a Horror Rises From The Tomb/The Loreley's Grasp dvd set. We watched it, liked it, and promptly forgot about it. Later on we received The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman from Netflix and while we found it entertaining it too was quickly forgotten. Then a third time (I don't remember exactly what we watched) everything clicked together.

The Man himself

For Valentine's Day one year Elizabeth bought me Deimos' absolutely fantastic dvd release of Werewolf Shadow (it was soon to go out of print, Deimos was very sadly soon to go out of business.) What a difference a cleaned up, widescreen print makes!

Maybe the most attractive woman in all of 70's Eurohorror
Barbara Capell 

From starting off the film with picking up Waldemar's story to the two young ladies doing Countess Nadasdy research to the Countess herself, I love this film. My only complaint is that I would have switched the lead actresses. Barbara Capell is one of my favorite actresses of 70's Eurohorror and that is saying a lot seeing that this is her only horror film role so far as I can tell. Between her as Genevieve and the lovely Patty Sheppard as the vampire countess I'm left cold by Gaby Fuchs as Elvira, Naschy's main squeeze of the film. She is a bit too Olive Oyl-y for my tastes. Other than that minor complaint I think the film is amazing.

Don't go Genevieve!

 Curses, ancient crypts, madwomen, zombie monks, werewolves, Pierre, vampires and Satan himself make appearances in what was Naschy's breakthrough film. Leon Klimovsky did a fantastic job as director (the first of many film collaborations with Naschy) right down to the slow motion vampire scenes (slow motion also appeared the same year in Amando de Ossorio's also classic Tombs Of The Blind Dead. de Ossorio fans and Naschy fans can now argue over who came up with the idea first. I think they both did.) to the werewolf and vampire battle at the end, (a rare moment of truth in advertising) it is Eurohorror at it's finest.

El Hombre Lobo

I recommend that you see this asap if you haven't. Then immediately listen to Naschycast's brilliant show on Werewolf Shadow. They do a very detailed rundown of the film that is highly informative and entertaining. You can find Naschycast on itunes. Werewolf Shadow is episode #10. 

But Brad, what did Heather think? She enjoyed both films. She commented on the (non ridiculous) music in Werewolf Shadow and enjoyed the slow motion bits of it. Not only was it her first Paul Naschy film it was also her first Eurohorror film. I think it was also a good place to start. We have been bombarding her with horror films so I think The Wolf Man was a nice change of pace. She did comment on the wolf transformations saying that they were different than The Howling which she enjoyed. Special effects came a long way from 1941 to 1971 to 1981. I also had her download the Naschycast episode. It's surely the best bit of homework that anyone has ever received!

Yes today is Thursday. But we watch on Wednesday night and Werewolf Thursday doesn't sound as good to me. Besides, when would we do Thrilling Thursday?

More screenshots! Visual spoilers for the uninitiated!

This didn't happen

This did

Ok I took way too many screenshots. Presented for your enjoyment:

Werewolf Shadow Trailer

Apparently you can watch the whole thing on YouTube. And it isn't the crappy looking one I first saw. This is a fun trailer and pertains to something I am posting soon. Tomorrow.

Datacolt

Here is a link to my friend Carl's Bandcamp page. The best minimal techno you will hear all day!

                  http://datacolt.bandcamp.com/

 He has been destroying data culture since 1997. What have you been doing?

Giallo Preferences

So let's talk about the picture I am using for my background. It is a screenshot from Sergio Martino's 1971 giallo classic The Strange Vice Of Mrs. Wardh. It has a couple of different titles but that is the one I go with as opposed to Blade of The Ripper or Next! Anyway I figured with a blog titled Yellow Razor I should at least start with a picture of a razor.

Ladies and Gentlemen, The King and Queen

I was listening to the great Gentlemen's Guide To Midnight Cinema a while back when The Samurai mentioned that when he went for a giallo it was rarely an Argento but a Martino giallo. I thought that was crazy at first but the more I thought about it I realized that I agreed with him. As much as I love Deep Red or The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (or Tenebre or The Cat 'O' Nine Tails) when I usually am in a giallo mood I reach for a Martino giallo (or one that is Martinoish, like The Case Of The Bloody Iris.)

It doesn't get any cooler than this

What do you think? Do you reach for Tenebre? The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail? A Lenziani thriller with Carroll Baker? It amazes me that within the giallo subgenre there are many sub subgenres. I love all of them. It depends on the mood I am in. Am I down for an inheritance scheme? A case of mistaken identity? An art induced crime? A psychosexual pervert madman/woman on the loose? What say you?
                                             

Sometimes I pretend she is calling me

                                           

Richard the Cinema Somnambulist

The question I'm most commonly asked (by no one, this is only my second post) is, "Why did you start a blog when you can post over at world famous Cinema Somnambulist?" Well gang, I put it to you like this. Richard runs a tight ship and Yellow Razor is more of a uh, leaky boat.

I owe a lot to Richard. He has been the best friend a guy can have that has never met another guy in person. Without him guiding me my giallo collection would be a lot poorer. I now know a little bit about anime. At least enough to know what I like. My horror film book collection has grown thanks to kind gifts from him on my birthday and Christmas. I know and like Tera Melos. I have a blast recording Hello! This Is The Doomed Show with him. I appreciate He Knows You're Alone in a way I didn't before. We started a musical project called Mimsy that I really love. I could go on and on and on. He is good people.

That is a great beard

But I thought I'd start my own blog. Richard has very kindly allowed me to post about moviethons I've had and underrated slashers over at Cin Som. I figure this will be a way to say more on a daily basis. Well maybe not daily. Weekly. Bi weekly. You know what I'm saying. And if Richard lets me I'll still post things on Cin Som. (He'll let me. I asked.) And with practice on this blog, maybe I'll get better! Now get on over to Cin Som. And don't forget Doomed Moviethon.

Hey There

Hi. I'm Brad. You may know me from Hello! This Is The Doomed Show or as an occasional contributor to Cinemasomnambulist.com. You may not know me at all. So here's your big chance!

I named my blog Yellow Razor in homage to giallo films and we will certainly be talking about them around here as well as Italian horror, slasher films, music, just whatever strikes my fancy. I'm going to try to get my wife Elizabeth to post too.

Please feel free to leave a comment on how awesome I am doing. Or how terrible. Whichever the case may be. I'm shooting for awesome.