Kadin Düsmani (1967)

In 1936 Agatha Christie published one of her most famous books, The A.B.C. Murders, where the killer murdered women with the same letter in the beginning of the name as the city they lived it. Between 1971 and 1973 the Alphabet Killer murdered three girls the same way. And in between, in 1967, Turkey released this impressive little giallo-esque thriller who could have been both a rip-off on the Christie-novel and a blueprint for the future real murders. Kadin Düsmani, or Woman Despiser, is a weird because it feels somehow like it's very inspired by the giallos that came years after, but this was before the big giallo-boom. Sure, it could also has been inspired by the Christie-novel or the Edgar Wallace-movies from Germany, but it's also a fact that this one stands on it's own legs and has it's own chilling story to tell.

Ekrem Bora plays a tough police who's handling the investigation of a series of brutal murders with necrophiliac tendencies. He falls in loves with the sister of one of the suspects, but will have more problem because of her mother - a psychotic controlling bitch, and his own - who fakes a handicap to be able to control her family even more. But more and more murders occur, and the suspects are falling down like apples from a tree. No one seem to be able to stop the killer, who dresses in goofy horror-masks and rubber-hands as gloves... 

This is a very typical slasher/giallo-style thriller, which manages to be really good. As usual the budget are low and some of the horror effects might be a bit silly, but Ilhan Engin tells the story with a helluva lot of style and gives us many great set-pieces with brutal murders and a lot of sleazy and perverted hints of what goes one after the murders. Engin uses a lot of shadows and light, and creates a feeling of both German expressionism and American noir, with the big difference that the story is more simple and a great excuse to thrill it's audience with out to much exposition. Even if the print is not in perfect shape (but far from bad), it can't hide the fact that the cinematography looks stunning.

I also like the characters, which are similar but it's still easy to tell them apart. The suspects is a bunch of young men around the same age, but all has different personalities and styles. The female characters are both strong, victims and psychopats, and it feels like this was a great movie to star in if you was a female character actor during this time. The female victims are mostly cute, and at least one of them a terrible, terrible actress. But it's all made with a lot of talent and imagination.

I know it's wrong to call it a giallo, because a giallo must be Italian. But I'm sure that everyone that enjoys a good murder mystery in the eurocult-genre would love this movie. It was a long time since I saw so many red herrings and suspects in one movie, and it brings a lot of joy to us, the viewers, because it's never boring and it's well made as hell!

The disc from Onar Films is as usual above average! The print they found for this one is in good shape, but of course there's a lot of scratches and problems with it to - but this is the best way to watch the movie and it will never, believe me, never look better than this. For lovers of eurocult and giallos, Turkish cult-cinema and a good thriller with out putting a lable on it, this is something for your. Get it at Onar Films before it goes OOP.

3 Dev Adam (1973)

Ya know, sometimes I have periods when I find it very hard to write about movies, yes even watch movies. Since my last review I've only watched too movies (both Hollywood stuff) and just didn't give a fuck about all those hundreds of movies I really should watch. But today 3 Dev Adam arrived from Onar Films in Greece, just a couple of days after I ordered it - and what a relief. I'm not sure about the story, but I think IMDB says it quite good: "Istanbul is being terrorized by a crime wave, and the police call in American superhero Captain America and Mexican wrestler Santo to put a stop to it.". But this little resume leaves out that the bad guys is Spiderman! Well, he's called The Spider or Green Maniac in the movie, but he's basically a pot-belly version of Spiderman - but with huge eyebrows and slightly different colors on his tight, all to revealing, Spiderman-dress. 

We're not talking high art here, but when it comes to pure craziness, a wacky superhero-sillython - this and Tarkan vs The Vikings is the movies you should see if you have all braincells left. You might loose some when watching this fascinating story about Spiderman stealing statues, killing a lot of people and Santos and Captain America getting into a lot of funny fights. For me, as a fight-fetischist, this is a dream come true. All those classic Turk-moves are here, wild stunts and weird acrobatics. It's colorful and violent, a bit bloody and very silly inbetween. One of the strangest scenes is when Santos, in his human form of course, is taking a shower alone - wearing his underwears on! I can understand if the actor don't want to show his thingie to the crew - but why don't just film in from the waist up? He also glances into the camera directly after coming out from the shower, so what we have here is a shy Santos. Very shy.

Like Tarkan vs The Vikings there's a lot of red theatrical blood running over the screen. Not much, but a woman is getting her face/head chopped of with a boat propeller (off screen, but with blood spraying on the legs of the evil girlfriend of Spiderman), a man getting his eyes eaten by a guinea pig, a violent stabbing in a shower - complete with a close-up of the blood running down the drain. The actors are actually quite good and brings a lot of energy and some kinda seriousness to the characters. The two heroes, Aytekin Akkaya and Yavuz Selekman, is in great shape and makes a great job in the action scenes. Another favorite, Altan Günbay, shows up as a baddie too!

Onar Films brings us 3 Dev Adam in the best shape it's ever been in. Not perfect of course, because the movie is so damn obscure and no negatives probably left. But the quality is good and the colors strong. As usual the menu and cover is fantastic, and fits the movie perfectly - but the highlight (except the movie itself of course) is three amazing interviews. This is a stellar DVD release and it seem like Onar Films has a couple of copies left - so get it NOW.

Just go to Onar Films and buy a dvd... or two... or three... or...

Sorry for the silence here. I'm quite tired of writing and I haven't been watching any movies too. Just don't feel for it and I think writing about something you love should come naturally and not being forced. But don't worry, don't feel to alone. I'll be back as soon as possible - maybe tomorrow, maybe next week. I'll see.

But in the meantime, go to Onar Films and buy one of this fantastic, amazing, cool releases! This is stuff that you probably don't own, but should own! I've been reviewing some of his releases, and read and feel inspired:

Altin Cocuk 

The Dead Don't Talk

Kilink vs Superman

Thirsty of love, sex and murder

These are just a few of his fantastic line of übercool Turkish movies on DVD. We're talking rare stuff here, very rare stuff! Right now he has some cool prices to, which could be could for you who are scared about new stuff and don't want to pay to much. These are amazing prices, and whatever they cost, they're worth every penny! For example:

CASUS KIRAN (SPY SMASHER) €5.90

TARZAN ISTANBUL'DA €6.90

TURKISH HORROR DOUBLE BILL €7.90

Ah, what the heck! Just go to his page, check out his releases and buy, buy and buy. You won't regret it. EVERYTHING is worth buying. Not kidding here.

And another thing, spread the word about Onar Films. Link to his site, review his releases, buy his movies. 

Today I made an order myself actually, on Kadin Dusmani (Woman Despiser), a Turkish "giallo" and of course the movie everybody should own: 3 Dev Adam! Awesome stuff!

Man of the Week: James Franciscus

I think we all can agree that James Franciscus is one mega-hunk! Alright, not that he looks the best on the half-naked photo here, but still... that face, that charisma. Perfect teeth, even more perfect hair cut (oh, me and my hair cuts - I should have been a hairdresser instead). A typical classic movie star.

The most important thing with Franciscus is that he was a very good actor, but he never became that superstar he deserved to be, which is a pity. He's also one of the few actors (together with Kinski for example) that I can watch a movie because he's in it.

The latest posters!

These are four COOL posters I'm waiting for right now. And yes, the Hell of the Living Dead-poster is signed by Bruno Mattei! Not dedicated to me though, but I can live with that. It's also signed with his other name, "Vincent Dawn", which makes it even cooler.

Phantom of the Opera (1998)

Over to one of the most hated Argento-productions EVER: Phantom of the Opera, the 1998-movie with Asia Argento as Christine and Julian Sands as the notorious Phantom. I can agree that there's a lot of stuff that don't work (and to be fair, Argento did the same story excellent in Opera) but few critics brings up the parts that actually work fantastic. I know it's difficult to understand the very weak and unconvincing attraction between both Christine and the Phantom and Christine and her fiancé Jerome De Chagny (Leonardo Treviglio). There's no spark at all. I think Asia is quite good here and she makes the best of the character, but the love scenes between her and the Phantom is just silly (he clearly is more interested in having sex with a rat later on anyway!) and the kisses between her and Treviglio is like to rocks touching each other.

I probably don't have to mention the Fellini-esque nude-scenes with fat naked ladies, the infamous turkish bath, the little girls dancing in front of mirrors and the extremely cheesy sequence when the Phantom is on top of the roof watching very, very, very unconvincing visions of both Asia and a bunch of ugly people trapped in mousetrap. The acting from most of the other actors are quite crappy, but I'm sure a lot of that is because of them being Hungarian actors dubbed to English, and directed by a mad Italian. We get to see a lot of very colorful over-acting, which fits better on a local variety show than in a version of Phantom of the Opera. The screenplay is a bit to episodic and has a lot of comedy-scenes involving (among others) some rat catchers that clearly don't work at all.

Now, what's good with this movie is - and I know I've been saying the opposite for many years - Ronnie Taylors cinematography. When I first watched the movie on tape many years ago I felt his work to be static, boring, cold and very flat. Now when watch the movie we new eyes, it's not at all that way. I guess this first feeling was because of the tape-transfer, which actually can take away a lot of the quality. On DVD, especially the Scandinavian disc, the movie looks vibrant, warm and brings forth the color of blood perfectly! It also has a lot of Argento's visual flair, and the direction is more alive and well than for example in the superior Trauma. Even if the script lacked quality, Argento clearly wanted this movie to be something special.

What people also tend to forget is that this is a damn gory movie. I always forget how much blood and body parts Argento treats us. There's stabbings, impalings, decapitations, crushed head and a lot more. It's the most violent of the Phantom-movies and the pratical effects is well done and convincing. The scene when a big lamps falls down on the audience is badly edited, but delivers a lot of creative deaths - so watch out when that scene comes! I like the atmosphere of the movie, Asia Argento, the gore and the amazing locations and visual style - but it lacks in story and characterization - which is a pity, because Argento had something going here.

If his Dracula 3D movie will be reality, I guess we're gonna see more lavish sets, castles and good ol' Italian melodrama!

Trauma (1993)

It's a pity Piper Laurie (who's fantastic here) and Frederic Forrest (who's worse than ever) never bothered to see Dario Argento's Trauma, because it's a very fine piece of giallo-cinema. I would say it's even underrated (it's a dangerous word, I know). It might be a little bit colder and calculated than some of Argento's earlier movies, but still has his trademarks: fluent camera, wicked characters and brutal killings.

The Headhunter is terrorizing the city. He or she is sawing the heads of innocent (yeah, sure!) victims all around the city and taking them as souvenirs. Christopher Rydell plays a cartoonist (is that a real word?) at a TV-station and one day he saves a young woman (Asia Argento) from killing herself. Soon it's clear that she's somehow connected to the headhunter, and after her parents being brutally killed our hero tries to figure out why this is happening and how she is involved in this...

Oh, that was a very simple retelling of the story. It's actually quite complex and involves many characters and a damn fine storyline that people seem to forget. It's probably one of Argento's best stories since... Deep Red, and has several nods in that direction too. Christopher Rydell, a fine actors, is a bit pale in the lead and we never gets under his skin like the other male heroes in Argento's movies, but Asia's characters works better. Piper Laurie is the best, a classic mother-character from Argento's universe, while Frederic Forrest seem to treat his role as a joke and seem to want to destroy every take he's in. Very childish. In a smaller role we also have Brad Dourif, and he's good as usual, even if his part hardly is especially meaty for an actor of his range. 

I want to talk more about the story. The script is brilliant, but more mainstream and laid-back. The dialogue comes of a bit stiff (like in all his movies), but everything leads to something and there is not much unnecessary stuff to watch. People do what they expect to do, and the murder-set-pieces is wonderful, but not so gory or graphic. It's said a lot was left on the cutting room floor. I also love the main "thing" with the movie, that small detail that so easily can reveal the killer - like in Deep Red and Bird with the Crystal Plumage, but works good because of the editing and lightning. It surprised me the first time I saw the movie, and was a perfect red herring away from who the real killer is.

What don't work is Tom Savini's terrible, terrible effects. I will dream nightmares about those plastic, ugly, unrealistic heads. Like something from a Troma-movie. Not that he's the best effects-guy out there (I'm only impressed by four movies he worked on: Friday 1 and 4, The Prowler and Day of the Dead - the rest is more or less mediocre) and probably got is reputation as a master from being involved in some very graphic horror movies. What Trauma needs is a Stivaletti or De Rossi!

Trauma is a fine and intelligent giallo that suffers from bad effects by Tom Savini and that awful idea to put a fucking reggae-band in the end credits (the fuck came up with that idea? I hope it wasn't Dario himself, but one of the producers - because it takes away the power of the ending). But if you forget those things, it's one of Argento's best work during the later part of his career.