The Eye Behind The Wall (1977)

Dir: Giuliano Petrelli

Oddball rare giallo in which a wheelchair-bound man (Fernando Rey) and his partner (Olga Bisera) get more than they bargained for when they start spying on their introverted tenant (John Phillip Law). It's a little bit "Rear Window" and I'm a sucker for that kind of story but "Eye Behind The Wall" takes matters way further down the spiral of morbid sexuality. Every character has some kind of massive perversion and this makes for a fascinatingly sordid story once the whole grim affair has unfolded. There's a creepy atmosphere throughout and a nice twist, but the script's structure is awkward, badly paced and overladen with dead end subplots that go nowhere. At times, its darkness feels a lot like some kind of cry for help from writer/director Petrelli (who's never made another film or been heard from again). He's clearly trying to make a more serious film than perhaps he was asked to. Sadly, his sombre dialogue jars with things like the hilarious naked disco scene and further adds to the film's imbalance. There's real talent and passion here, certainly, but it's a shame Petrelli was never able to develop it further and fulfil the promises hinted at in this flawed effort. **1/2

Demons 2 (1986)

Dir: Lamberto Bava

Sally (Coralina Cataldi-Tassoni) throws a party at her trendy apartment. She plays The Smiths all night, moans about how hideous her dress looks and threatens to throw her guests out at the slightest hint of a disagreement. Amazingly, she still has an awful lot of friends despite being such a massive drag. This is handy, as they make good victims for some random demons who pop out of a TV that's showing a film about events from the first film, which was in itself a film within a film. Bzzt. Whu-whu-what? If you can deal with the brain-warping lack of logic or reason, there are some gooey rubbery FX treats to be found here but not a lot else. Despite having almost identical characters/structure/plot, "Demons 2" just isn't a patch on the first film. It's a moodier affair, with far more subdued lighting, a lot less gore and goth hits from the 80s in place of the original's rowdier heavy metal. This could be more effective perhaps if the film wasn't so silly but the mix of ANY restraint whatsoever with such a ludicrous plot is ill-advised and much lowers the fun level. It's worth a look for one or two very cool scenes (one of a demon boy giving birth (!?) to a winged demon child is just jaw-dropping) but not a classic like the first. **1/2

The Cat With The Jade Eyes (1977)

Dir: Antonio Bido

(aka Watch Me When I Kill!, The Cat's Victims)

Decent, well-crafted giallo in which a cabaret actress named Mara (Paola Tedesco) goes to buy some aspirin and finds the pharmacist dead on the floor. Worse yet, our ubiquitous black-clad, gloved killer is fleeing the scene! The killer now thinks Mara knows his/her identity and begins to stalk our hapless young lady, dragging her and her sound engineer boyfriend (Corrado Pani) into a web of serial killings and deep-running conspiracy. The film is, on one hand, typical giallo fare and there's nothing particularly bizarre or flamboyant about it to instantly grab one's attention. However, this has a tightly written plot and a good twist that delights rather than puzzles. There's also a sleek, pulsing score by Trans Europa Express and some great one-liners from Pani. The titular cat is nowhere near as sinister as you may expect (although it is significantly cuddlier) but, otherwise, this is a decent way to pass a rainy afternoon. **1/2

The Bloodstained Shadow (1978)

Dir: Antonio Bido

Solid giallo that lowers the usual quotient of gore (there's hardly any) and nudity (there's one fleeting scene) in favour of focusing on the mystery and atmosphere. In this one, Lino Capolicchio plays a dude named Stefano (not to be confused with the dude named Stefano that he plays in "The House With Windows That Laughed") who suffers some kind of unexplained breakdown and goes to stay with his brother, a priest, on some foggy island near Venice. On Stefano's first night, his brother witnesses the murder of a local spiritualist loony and starts subsequently receiving notes that threaten to kill him too. Stefano just about manages to distract himself from his blossoming relationship with Stefania Casini long enough to work out the killer's identity. Admittedly, I didn't have Stefania Casini distracting me but, sad to say, I solved the mystery about an hour before Stefano did and this is the film's biggest weakness. It's a predictable ending but the direction is slick, the script moves quickly, it looks beautiful, there's a cool squelchy Goblin score and I enjoyed the two lead performances immensely. It's definitely worth a watch if you're into the genre and is certainly amongst the most coherent and accessible gialli out there. **1/2

Death Laid An Egg (1968)

Dir: Giulo Questi

The beautiful Ewa Aulin leads the cast of this psychedelic proto-giallo set in a hi-tech poultry farm. There are a couple of plots going on at once here; one involving a love triangle between Aulin's character, her cousin (Jean-Louis Trintigant) and his wife (Gina Lollobrigida!) and another involving the farm's ultimate owners (THE ASSOCIATION) and some mutant headless chickens that double in size at an alarming rate having accidentally fed on a combination of dead dog and radiation... Um. Yeah. There's a dude in black leather gloves killing some women in lingerie as well if that helps you? "Death Laid An Egg" is an odd one in that it's years ahead of the giallo curve with its insane crossover ideas and its beautiful photography by Fellini collaborator Dario di Palma (think of how an episode of "Mad Men" might look if you watch it right after sustaining a serious bump on the head). It's rich with symbolism. Even the "mystery" element,as pulpy as it is, makes sense. But there's just something that doesn't quite work. If it's anything, it's an overabundance of ideas trying awkwardly to squeeze into 85 minutes (which is no bad thing in itself) but there's just something stopping it from attaining the greatness that it so frequently brushes. **1/2

Fear Island (2009)

Dir: Michael Storey

Haylie Duff, Aaron Ashmore and their pushing-30-but-pretending-to-be-college-age friends take a boat out to a secluded island with no telephones, where they have a delightful holiday in the sun, then go home feeling rejuvenated and serene. What? No, I'm kidding of course! They get picked off one by one in a variety of imaginative ways, courtesy of a black-gloved killer who's lurking in the woods! Hoorah! There's not a high special FX budget sadly, so instead we have snakes in the cupboard, dogs in the hot tub, nails in the jam jar, nailguns in very much the wrong hands, impromptu premature burials and an ice-bucket o' blood. This is all told in flashback while an angry boneheaded detective works with what little he has (one traumatized witness and some sketchy evidence) in order to uncover the killer's identity. The mystery has a couple of holes here and there but it's quite lively and the final twist, while not a surprise, is entertainingly executed. "Fear Island" obviously isn't a great movie but for a made-for-TV teen slasher, someone's really put their all into making it about as good as it can get. It's very tame and daft as a bag of toy monkeys but it's colourful, fast-paced, occasionally even funny. You could do a lot worse for a Sunday afternoon hangover viewing. **1/2

The Mansion of Madness (1973)

Dir: Juan López Moctezuma

Surreal Mexican horror (loosely based on Poe) in which a journalist named Gaston LeBlanc shows up at an insane asylum in the woods, hoping to write a piece on the methods of the famous Dr Maillard. Said methods start seeming a little unorthodox (assuming crucifixions in the basement and attempted human sacrifices are unorthodox to you) and Gaston soon suspects the inmates may have taken over the asylum. Director Moctezuma's understanding of surrealism and its power to unsettle is strong and its hard to deny the weirdness of images like a man dry-humping a skinned veal carcass or three people dressed as birds performing a scythe-toting dance of death. The film looks fantastic - so many shots are framed as things of beauty - but ultimately the thin Z-movie plotting is so predictable and generic that it lets down the overall effect (especially during a seemingly endless chase through the woods sequence in the middle). At its best, the film scales the giddy heights of Russell and Jodorowsky but frustratingly fails to sustain anything like that for a full 83 minutes. Clearly a dry run for the director's later masterpiece, Alucarda. **1/2

Baron Blood (1972)

Dir: Mario Bava

Sumptuous gothic horror in which cocky young upstart Peter Kleist (Antonio Cantafora) flies out to Vienna to visit the castle of a long-dead distant ancestor... All sounds fine and dandy and like a setup for a nice tea party until you find out said ancestor was known around the village as Baron Blood and had a penchant for impaling people on spikes and hanging them from his castle ramparts. But wait! It gets worse because Peter's got an ancient parchment that can raise the Baron from the dead as a result of some convoluted witch's curse or other and... well, you know the rest, I'm sure. The script is pretty generic and predictable but master stylist Bava brings it to life with his usual array of dizzying camera work, phenomenal lighting and Escher-like set design. It helps that the dazzling Elke Sommer gets to show off about sixteen different designer outfits, but mostly this film is worth watching for the 'classic' horror atmosphere, all cobwebs and skulls, clanging bells, thunderstorms, flickering candles and creepy secret passageways. You just want to turn all the lights off and watch it alone on a rainy night with a goblet of blood (legal note: red wine is also available). It's simple but effective; a lovely old-fashioned movie and they really don't make them like this any more. **1/2

What Have They Done To Your Daughters? (1974)

Dir: Massimo Dallamano

A skillful blend of giallo and poliziotteschi courtesy of the ever-dependable Massimo Dallamano. Once again, Dallamano reaches higher than the usual confines of his genre and turns in an angry film about political corruption and the exploitation of children. There's definitely more thought and feeling put into this story of vice rings and black-gloved murderers than the usual sleazy parade of tits and gore. Although, to be fair these things are also amply provided for. Sherry Buchanan provides the former; some well-aimed meat cleavers to the heads and arms of hapless victims provide the latter. On the poliziotteschi side, we've got a cop who's boiled harder than nails (the late Claudio Cassinelli) and some of the most vibrantly shot car chase sequences I've ever seen. If you're expecting proper giallo, the weak "mystery" element will no doubt disappoint but it's an entertaining, impeccably made film and definitely worth a look to those with a deeper interest in the genre. **1/2

The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1969)

Dir: Dario Argento

An American writer in Rome witnesses a beautiful woman being stabbed by an anonymous black gloved killer in an art gallery and an entire genre is born. While Dario Argento's infamous debut may not be the first giallo film, it certainly created many of the themes, ideas and aesthetics that would subsequently shape the genre. Nowadays it's maybe hard to appreciate the sheer level of innovation that's on offer throughout "Bird" as it's been imitated so many times. But once you do, it's even harder to deny Argento's genius. Working with a top-notch crew that includes Vittorio Storaro and Ennio Morricone, he crafted a stylish, violent and inventive thriller that's still highly watchable today (and is looking better than ever on Blu Ray). It's let down only by how dated and simplistic the mystery plot appears in the light of the many wilder, crazier and more convoluted gialli that followed it. Truly, maestro, we have been spoiled. **1/2

What are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing On Jennifer's Body? (1972)

Dir: Giuliano Carnimeo

(aka "The Case of the Bloody Iris")

Edwige Fenech plays a fashion model who falls prey to a masked serial killer operating in her building, although this may be the least of her worries as she's also on the run from her husband's sex cult (yes, sex cult), hit on by her lesbian neighbour and glared at menacingly by the creepy old lady next door who may or may not have a hideously deformed son... A pair of the funniest giallo cops ever try (badly) to sift through all these misfits (and more) to work out who the killer is while he merrily stabs and drowns and flays his way through a series of screaming women. The mystery in this fairly run-of-the-mill giallo is both easy to guess and a little strained but, although it loses points on plot, many of the genre's staple ingredients are present and correct; ultra-stylish photography, cool and unusual location shooting, beautiful women, eye-popping fashions and a couple of memorable set piece scenes. It's not upper echelon stuff but if you're looking for an inoffensive and zippy giallo to pass the time, you could sure do a lot worse. **1/2

Monsters (2009)

Dir: Gareth Edwards

Set sometime in the near-future, a NASA probe containing alien creature samples has crashed over Mexico. These creatures are giant, dangerous squid-like beasties who can't be controlled and, as a result, parts of Mexico are sealed off as Infected Zones. A photographer is assigned to get his boss's daughter home from Mexico and the film follows their journey through said Infected Zones back to the US border. Monsters is a bizarre, low-key film and one that doesn't always work. Too much of the film is spent on filming our heroes walking through bleak locations in silence when it could be spent on character development and the pace drops almost unbearably in the middle. However, it is all impeccably shot and directed, the story is unusual enough to resonate and the unexpected ending comes from out of nowhere and is - most shocking of all - really rather beautiful. **1/2

The Shrine (2010)

Dir: Jon Knautz

A bonehead journalist drags her photographer boyfriend (who could do a whole lot better, all things considered) and her cannon fodder intern on an unsanctioned trip to Poland. They try (badly) to track down a number of American backpackers who've gone missing but instead find a spooky cloud of fog in the forests, a bleach-blonde gym-rat farmer who LOVES TO SHOUT and a statue of the Devil with eyes that cry blood! Yeah! Now we're talking. The Shrine is above average for this kind of horror as it takes a couple of risks - from the three significant tonal shifts in the film to the fact that there's a whole 15 minute section with dialogue entirely in unsubtitled Polish - and they pay off for the most part. The photography is that horrible washed-out blue that's a touchstone for "HORROR!" nowadays but otherwise, this is a zippy, gory little B-feature that'll pass the time on a lazy afternoon. **1/2

Lisa and the Devil (1974)

Dir: Mario Bava

Elke Sommer parades around a gothic mansion in a series of gorgeous outfits in this most surreal and personal Mario Bava film. There's a soapish web of family secrets, dead lovers littering the house like dustmites and Telly Savalas as a spooky mannequin-bothering butler who may or may not be the Devil. The dreamlike nature of the film makes it hard to really discern exactly what's happening (and if you get a bad DVD transfer like the R1 Image Entertainment one it's even harder as the audio track is virtually inaudible) but there's something to it nevertheless. The photography is beautiful, Sommer and Savalas play their parts perfectly and some of the weird imagery is unforgettable. Shame it's marred by the fact that there really isn't a decent print available anywhere. This one really needs a lovingly restored Blu Ray version to happen soon so it can be enjoyed as intended; a beautiful kaleidoscopic nightmare. **1/2

The Violent Kind (2010)

Dir: The Butcher Brothers

The Butcher Brothers have another crack at genre-hopping horror in a similar vein to their earlier effort, "The Hamiltons". Again, we're faced with a slightly lopsided family; in this case a group of bikers who go up to their isolated cabin in the woods for a party and wind up staying overnight when their engines stop working. This leads to, at first, a kind of "Sons of Anarchy" meets "The Evil Dead" type affair but soon takes a turn for the seriously weird. I won't spoil it because I quite enjoyed watching it unfold without having any idea what was going to happen and, for that, I've got to give them credit. Arguably, "The Violent Kind" bites off a little more than it can chew by throwing so many elements into the mix but the script and performances are all pretty strong and I do gives points for originality. **1/2

Killing Spree (1986)

Dir: Tim Ritter

Classic trash from the early age of the straight-to-video shocker. It's easy to take "Killing Spree" for granted nowadays since it spawned a legion of no-budget imitators that continue to pollute the shelves to this day but there's a charm to this that endures. The marvellously-named Asbestos Felt plays Tom Russo, a working stiff who snaps under the dual pressures of his dead-end job and his wife who appears to be screwing up to three handymen a day. Unfortunately for Tom, the victims of his titular spree are coming back to life faster than he can kill them... Splatter ensues. The film's got a fun DIY ethic and, considering the now-unimaginable constraints these guys were working under, it's amazing they made anything watchable at all, let alone something as entertaining as Killing Spree. While slow to start and roughly made at times, the cast is charismatic and it's hard to not get some joy from the outrageous dialogue ("You screw my wife, I screwdrive your head!" / "Take your pink faggot hat, you stupid country motherfucker!") or inventively gross-out gore FX. **1/2

The Last Broadcast (1998)

Dir: Stefan Avalos / Lance Weiler

Ah. The infamous micro-budget film that "The Blair Witch Project" allegedly stole its ideas from. There are obvious similarities - a film crew heading out into the woods to investigate a supernatural being of local yore - but the presentation of the 'found footage' is very different. In this one, the conceit is that of a documentary being made about the filmmakers and their premature demise. It's well-structured and engaging for the most part as it leads up to the exciting discovery of a damaged videotape that may or may not contain the actual murders. However, "The Last Broadcast" blows it with a catastrophically stupid, gratuitous twist that's way over-complicated and renders most of what we've already seen either meaningless, confusing or just plain incoherent. Amazing how 75 minutes of excellent low-budget filmmaking can be let down so heavily by just 5 really dumb ones but this is an example of just that. You'll feel cheated so don't say I didn't warn you. **1/2

Machine Head (2000)

Dir: Michael Patrick Leonard Murphy (I think?)

Ultra-obscure weirdness that got released in the UK with the worst quality DVD transfer imaginable. It looks like a straight copy from a 3rd generation VHS tape that the cat sicked up on, which is a shame as the movie deserves better. In true Frankenstylee, a nerd brings a corpse back to life by attaching a lawnmower motor to its head and doing science (reversal of polarity, bouncing graviton particle beams or some other such made-up shit). This leads to a RAMPAGE! The script is surprisingly witty and poignant given the subject matter and, while it's clearly an el cheapo production, the editing and photography indicate the director at least went to film school. Some crowd scenes and impressive looking pyro also make the most of budgetary constraints. In fact, predictable storyline and some questionable acting aside, I found it hard not to warm to this. It's got heart. Even if that heart runs on petrol. Shame no one involved (seemingly) ever did anything again as it could've been the start of some beautiful careers. **1/2

Hansel & Gretel (2007)

Dir: Pil-Sung Yim

This surreal Korean spookfest starts off with a dude crashing his car and waking up in a forest. He is led through the trees by a young girl who takes him to The House of Happy Children, a building in the woods where three kids live with their parents and an inordinate number of toys. Before you can yell "Dude, look out! Those kids are creepy as balls!" he works it out for himself and tries to leave. However, no matter how far he walks away from the house, he is unable to leave and keeps returning... The film doesn't work completely - there are one or two minor holes and, at 2 hours, it's waaaaaay too long - but it's got a strong concept, wonderful set design, a lot of atmosphere and quite an emotionally affecting reveal when the mystery of the house is finally made apparent. A solid scary movie. **1/2

Platoon of the Dead (2009)

Dir: John Bowker

I probably shouldn't like this one as much as I did. It's definitely the lowest-budget film I've ever seen. In fact, I'd hesitate to call it a film. It feels more like some guy's home movie. There's some terribly cheap CGI in it and a fair bit of questionable acting from what I can only guess are the director's friends. HOWEVER, what it does have is heart and lots of it. It feels much like the early No Rules straight-to-video splatter gems like the "Video Violence" films or Tim Ritter's serial killer stuff. The story is set in a near-future where the "army" are fighting zombies with toy laser guns (!). A platoon gets ambushed and killed, leaving just three mismatched semi-competent goobers alive. In fear for their lives, they find a house in the woods where a group of women are hiding out from the undead. I won't say any more but the plot gets surprisingly weird from there and has a fair few enjoyable twists and ideas in it. A perfect Sunday morning hangover movie; its unchallenging, freewheelin' approach makes it fun and easy viewing. **1/2