I love Lenzi's gialli offerings, or at least the one's I have experiences! I still need to see KNIFE OF ICE and A QUIET PLACE TO KILL. SPASMO and EYEBALL are some of my more favorite gialli viewings. Two very stylish yet, odd in nature but still very effective in the payoff!
It's been a long time since I first seen his SO SWEET... SO PERVERSE (1969), was that not just recently issued on DVD again??
I absolutely loved Freda's brilliant I VAMPRI! Now, what was the deal with Bava being uncredited for with this again? I know he had something to do with the overall direction, but what's the full story on that again?
Any opinions about this more recent giallo? I've heard some bad things but when I found it dirt cheap on eBay, I couldn't resist the temptation of picking it up. Figured I need to give some of the more recent horrer/thriller stuff a chance too. Still waiting for it to arrive and I'm not quite sure what to expect of it but at least it has a pretty good cast that includes famous transsexual Eva Robins from TENEBRAE (1982) and the good-looking Elisabetta Rocchietti, who has been cropping up in a lot of horror stuff like THE THREE FACES OF TERROR (2004), DO YOU LIKE HITCHCOCK? (2005) and THE LAST HOUSE IN THE WOODS (2006). Not to mention supporting roles by Florinda Bolkan and Franco Nero! Anyone here seen it?
Interesting looking film out of Italy with Irish/Spanish co-financiers. Directed by Italian SFX man Stefano Bessoni.
In the 1600s, long before the invention of photography, a scientist named Girolamo Fumagalli was obsessed with the idea of reproducing images. He discovered that by killing a victim and removing the victim's eyeballs, it was possible to reproduce on paper the last image imprinted on that person's retinas. He named this technique 'thanatography'. Today, the same kind of gruesome ritual and abominable crime recurs within the walls of an international school of cinema. -imdb.com
Also stars the daughter of Charlie Chapman, Geraldine Chaplin as well as her daughter Oona.
Well, it seems this is yet another Argento flick that is taking a beating in the review department. Even die hard fans are not too pleased with this outing. Anyhow, the PAL R2 DVD is now out via a Polish company that found it important to force the Polish subs!
Looks like this will be getting a UK release first via Arrow Films! I still haven't seen this, it was on my radar during last year's Midnight Madness during the Toronto Film Fest. The disc will be released March 15th..
I'd love to grab this, but for now I'm holding off on the Blu-Ray player for now, too unstable industry right now. Plus, the multi-region player are way too expensive!
(1973/ITALY/SPAIN) REVIEW BY-STEVE GENIER/DIRECTED BY-TULIO DEMICHELI/CAST-CHRISTOPHER MITCHUM, BARBARA BOUCHET, MALISA LONGO, EDUARDO FAJARDO, MANUEL ZARZO and AURTHUR KENNEDY/SOURCE-DARKSKY FILMS DVD (NTSC 2007 / 94 MINS)
Sent by
zombi69
(1973/ITALY/SPAIN)REVIEW BY-STEVE GENIER/DIRECTED BY-TULIO DEMICHELI/CAST-CHRISTOPHER MITCHUM, BARBARA BOUCHET, MALISA LONGO, EDUARDO FAJARDO, MANUEL ZARZO and AURTHUR KENNEDY/SOURCE-DARKSKY FILMS DVD (NTSC 2007 / 94 MINS)
Free after serving a 2 year sentence in prison, Rocco has questions, those being the murderer of his father and where his girlfriend Rosa has gone too. Upon learning that not only did the mob boss he had attacked and ending up in the joint for, took over his murdered father’s business, but had inherited Rosa as well. Though his intension when leaving jail was not revenge, it made it very hard when those around him including his own mother sworn by it. So, doing it his own way, Rocco sets out to find the answers and to get Rosa back.
The only other film I have seen Christopher Mitchum in was Eloy de la Iglesia’s MURDER IN A BLUE WORLD, a Spanish like CLOCKWORK ORANGE. That being a few years, it would be pretty much a new experience seeing his style as an actor and being in a genre I really enjoy, the Euro-Crime flick. I still have to catch him in SUMMERTIME KILLER, of course another day and soon. First though Demichelli’s RICCO, and what a catch indeed, I’m still wondering how this film eluded me for all these year, of course it doesn’t help when it was first pushed here in North America as the horror film CAULDREN OF DEATH! That I can see now after witnessing this film uncut, the graphic killings are something else. Though pretty tame by today’s standards except the castration scene, damn they made him eat it!
RICCO is laced with a simple story of an inquiry turning into a bloody revenge festival. Money, diamonds, guns and smoking hot femme fatales, oh yes one can’t forget to mention that there is two of them here! The always stunning Barbara Bouchet and Italian hottie Malisa Longo.There’s nothing like being hypnotized half naked Bouchet doing a striptease on the hood of a car in the fog! The action is basic, though at times seems quite cheesy. Yes as does the dialogue, but hey that’s what you get with English dubbing! Still though, this film really delivers a very entertaining 94 minutes on all levels. Hell, the always classic Arthur Kennedy as a mob Don, kill the UK accent already, just kidding he really does make it work. He’s ruthless just as he was in Grau’s LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE.
The Darksky DVD release is certainly a keeper, the main feature alone caps this. Both the picture and audio are very good. The picture presented in a very clear and full of colour anamorphic widescreen. The audio is in a crisp Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 presentation. The keeper though is the great interview with Christopher Mitchum and his career as well as working on RICCO. The interview lasts for around 18 or 19 minutes in length and is rather interesting. There is also a still gallery and trailer for the film.
RICCO-THE MEAN MACHINE
