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!
THE DEAD DON'T TALK/THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER
Title
THE DEAD DON'T TALK/THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER
Description
Turkish Horror Double Bill:(1970/1972/TURKEY)Source: Onar Films DVD (Greece, PAL Region 0)
Sent by
zombi69
Turkish Horror Double Bill:
Review by: Johan Melle
THE DEAD DON’T TALK
[a.k.a. Ölüler konuşmazki] (Turkey/1970) Cast: Sema Yaprak, Jirayir Çarkçi, Kerem Mertoğlu, Giray Alpan, Aytekin Akkaya, Doğan Tamer, Ahmet Sert, Sirri Elitaş. Written & directed by Yavuz Yalinkiliç.
THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER
[a.k.a. Aşka susayanlar seks ve cinayet] (Turkey/1972) Cast: Meral Zeren, Kadir Inanir, Nihat Ziyalan, Eva Bender, Yildirim Gencer, Hamit Yildirim, Yavuz Özkan, Seyhan Gümüş, Funda Azir, Rengi Voltgan. Directed by Mehmet Aslan. Written by Aykut Düz. Source: Onar Films DVD (Greece, PAL Region 0)
Just when you feel as if you’ve seen all there is to be seen of weird and wacky 1970s cult films, something really unexpected comes along and surprises you. This is certainly the case with Onar Films’ Turkish horror double bill, which serves us some extremely rare and decidedly different slices of bizarre world horror.
Though made in 1970, THE DEAD DON’T SPEAK is a black and white (!) haunted house film. The somewhat confused plot introduces us to a young couple, Melih (Aytekin Akkaya) and Oya, who arrive at an old, creaky guesthouse mansion. Their reasons for going to the house are never really explained but it’s clear from the get-go that there’s something strange going on in the village: the coachman who takes Melih and Oya to the mansion is visibly nervous and is anxious to drop them off as quickly as possible. “This is the 15th day of the month. I have to get back as soon as possible” he keeps repeating. Once Melih and Oya arrive at the house, they are creeped out by doors that appear to open and close all by themselves, and by the strange, troubled house servant Hasan (Vincent Price-lookalike Giray Alpan). It quickly transpires that the village is plagued by a hulking, murderous ghoul (Jirayir Çarkçi). On the 15th of every month, this hysterically laughing and talking ghoul (so much for the title!) rises from his grave to kill.
What can one really say about something like THE DEAD DON’T SPEAK? This film certainly doesn’t play out like any “normal” film, and isn’t particularly interested in plot or even the most basic of character development. It’s amazing how director Yavuz Yalinkiliç bothers to set up the characters of Melih and Oya as main characters, only to have them disappear from the film at around the half hour mark. At which point the village’s pretty new schoolteacher Sema (Sema Yaprak) comes to stay at the mansion and thus becomes the new main character.
Certainly, this isn’t a good film in any stretch of the imagination. The way it’s been put together is just downright odd, and we’re often not sure of what’s unfolding before us on the screen. As the ghoul creature, Jirayir Çarkçi appears to have modeled his acting after Tor Johnson in PLAN 9 FROM OUTER SPACE (1958), only with added laughter. Lots and LOTS of laughter. Unfortunately, this exaggerated hysterical cackling sounds like a Disney villain and it starts to grate on the nerves pretty quickly. It also prevents the ghoul from ever becoming scary.
The film does, however, score high marks on overall weirdness. There’s something about its overall strangeness that gives it a surprisingly enjoyable feel from time to time. Furthermore it’s actually a pretty nice-looking film in spite of its very low-budget. The black and white photography lends the film a great gothic atmosphere; the shots of the ghoul’s manically laughing face draped in shadows are particularly creepy-looking, and the creaky doors, candelabras aplenty and pretty girls running about in white nightgowns further add to the package. Most of the music is non-original – having been shamelessly stolen from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) but that somehow feels appropriate for such a weird and absurd flick.
The film is certainly demented, and that can be a blessing for a silly, low-budget B-movie but in this case I’m not sure how much of a blessing it really is. THE DEAD DON’T SPEAK is probably too weird for its own good. Viewers with a very open mind may find it refreshing but most people are likely to be turned off by the incomprehensible storytelling and the annoying amount of loud, hysterical laughter. That’s not to say that the film is without its qualities but even if you can get past all the annoying laughter, this flick is still more akin to unintentional hilarity than it is scares.
The most familiar face in the cast is no doubt Aytekin Akkaya, known from numerous Turkish adventure films including THE MAN WHO SAVES THE WORLD (1982), as well as supporting turns in two Italian flicks made by Antonio Margheriti, YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) and ARK OF THE SUN GOD (1983). This, however, was one of his earliest roles and he doesn’t get too much to do in his relatively small role.
The second feature on the disc is THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER, and with a title like that, you’ll know just what to expect. The plot has a sadistic black-clad killer with a hat and sunglasses who goes around slashing up pretty girls with a razor. We also follow Mine (Meral Zeren), a gorgeous married woman who is alarmed when she hears the razor murderer described as having a big scar on his cheek. It just so happens that Mine was assaulted and raped some years earlier by a shady fellow named Tarik (Yildirim Gencer), and she only escaped after hitting him with a broken bottle - leaving a big scar on his cheek. Mine now fears that Tarik could be the razor killer who's running around slashing up girls. At a party with her slutty friend Oya (Eva Bender), Mine is introduced to a handsome young man named Yilmaz (Kadir Inanir), who immediately tries to woo her. Torn between her husband Metin (Nihat Ziyalan) and her new admirer as well as living in fear from her Tarik, Mine also finds herself in grave danger as she’s targeted by the razor killer…
Does the above synopsis sound familiar? If it does, then this is most likely because you’ve already seen Sergio Martino’s wonderful giallo THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (1970), of which this is an unofficial remake. Apparently, Turkish directors frequently took the plots from successful films and remade them for a Turkish audience. THIRSTY copies the plot of MRS. WARDH fairly closely – employing most of the same twists and turns, the rape in the pouring rain, the shower murder and more – but director Mehmet Aslan also works in enough changes and new twists to give his film its own individual stamp.
Clocking in at only 58 minutes, THIRSTY is certainly quite fast-paced and it has to be too as it’s trying to cram the plot of normal length feature film into its short running time. It is never boring, which is a good thing, and it also feels very different from most Italian gialli by being about ten times trashier! The opening scene sets the tone nicely: a pretty girl is chased through the woods by the killer and finally ends up being cornered. “Please! I’m engaged” she begs – as if that’s gonna convince a homicidal razor-wielding killer to leave her alone. Realizing that the black-clad murderer isn’t going anywhere, the girl then assumes he wants to rape her, and since she’s cornered, she simply undresses and lies down on the ground to let him have his way! Unfortunately, her cooperative gesture gets her nowhere as she still ends up slashed to pieces. Quite an attention-grabbing opening sequence!
A couple of scenes are somewhat sloppily put together and there are obviously a few laughable moments but overall the film is surprisingly enjoyable. Director Aslan actually manages to muster up some decent suspense scenes too; the most effective one being an impressive sequence where Mine has an encounter with the killer in a parking house. But this is also a very stylish film; boasting some surprisingly cool camera angles.
As for the music, this is the only place where the film really drops the ball. The soundtrack is made up entirely of music from various Italian films, which is all really fine and dandy (hearing a good score ripped-off in a cheap flick is always a bit of fun) but the problem is not the stealing of the music. No, the main issue here is the awkward way the various scores has been put together: they’ll put on one score for a few brief seconds, only to abruptly switch to a different one and back without any rhyme or reason whatsoever. Sometimes we also get music that doesn’t fit the images on the screen at all but it still keeps playing and playing. This is likely to give several viewers a bit of headache but it isn’t really that big of a deal, and it’s only like this in certain scenes.
As for the rest of the film, it’s a pure delight right from its mind-boggling opening murder to its wacky action movie-style ending featuring a shootout and a cart-wheeling hero! Now, that’s one part that was most certainly not stolen from MRS. WARDH! Sure, there are a couple of scenes that don’t work but this is more than made up for by the sheer craziness and fun found in other scenes.
The cast is quite fun too, with the irresistibly gorgeous Meral Zeren doing a great job in the Edwige Fenech role from the original. She’s a sexy and likable heroine and gets to show herself off in a wide array of colorful 1970s outfits. Swedish Eva Bender, who also appeared in several Turkish TARKAN films around the same time, is equally wonderful as the slutty and scantly-dressed blonde best-friend, and her character luckily gets a meatier and more substantial role here than in the original. The male cast members do pretty solid jobs too and it’s really fun to notice how Nihat Ziyalan, who plays Mine’s husband, looks amazingly similar to Alberto De Mendoza, who played the husband in MRS. WARDH.
Unfortunately, Turkish film negatives are rarely, if ever, properly stored; making it a great challenge to put out any decent releases of Turkish films. Onar Films have done what they can with these two rarities but, obviously, several imperfections exist. THE DEAD DON’T TALK looks pretty okay. It’s a bit soft and there are some brightness issues in daytime scenes but nothing too distracting. There’s a disclaimer on the DVD that explains how this film was thought to be lost until a copy was discovered in recent years. Considering the rarity and that this has never been seen before (even as a bootleg), any flaws can easily be forgiven. THIRSTY also looks quite good but there’s plenty of print damage here and there in the form of lines and dirt. This is mostly problematic during reel changes. The colors could have been a bit better too but, again, the film can obviously only look as good as the original master. Onar have done what could be done, and this is perfectly watchable all things considered. Both films are presented with the original Turkish audio with optional and easy to read English subtitles. The dialogue is perfectly clear but this is obviously not the right release to demonstrate the power of your surround system with. Optional Greek subtitles are also included in the package.
Finally we have the extras and here we get some real goodies! We get biographies and filmographies of directors Yavuz Yalinkiliç and Mehmet Aslan, which is extremely useful considering how there’s very little information available on these two elsewhere. There are also very impressive picture galleries of images from Turkish horror cinema and of the career of actor Aytekin Akkaya, as well as trailers for other Onar releases. However, the biggest and best of the extras is a 45 minute interview with Akkaya, where he discusses his acting career in detail; including working on THE DEAD DON’T WALK, several Turkish adventure films and his work in international productions. Unfortunately, his work for Antonio Margheriti is just barely mentioned but that’s a minor quibble – the interview is excellent, informative and highly interesting. There is also an interview with Turkish horror film enthusiast Metin Demhiran, in which he discusses Turkish horror cinema in general; giving an overview of the genre as a whole. It’s informative but Demirhan is unfortunately not too engaging to listen to. The third and final interview is with film historian Giovanni Scognamillo, who also discusses the Turkish horror scene in general. He and Demhiran basically cover much of the same ground and repeat each other, which is a bit irritating, but Scognamillo makes for an overall more interesting listen (he also discusses working with directors like Jess Franco, Riccardo Freda and Umberto Lenzi when they were doing location filming in Istanbul). Surprisingly, though, he seems very dismissive of the genre and doesn’t appear to like any of the Turkish horror films he discusses. It’s also very surprising how THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER isn’t mentioned by either Demhiran or Scognamillo but I guess it’s because it’s basically a Turkish giallo rather than an all-out horror film. All in all it’s an impressive assembly of extras, though, with special kudos for the Akkaya interview.
This great double-bill comes highly recommended for all fans of weird and wild cinema. THE DEAD DON’T TALK is an amazing find as this is the first release it has ever received. It’s not a particularly enjoyable film, though, but it is at the very least refreshingly different, and could be well worth checking out for those who are after something unconventional. The real gem, though, is definitely THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER. A wonderful and wacky giallo – Turkish style – that boldly rips off and copies THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH without blinking. It’s the kind of film one can’t help but admire, and it’s one that belongs in the collection of every trash film aficionado. Onar’s release is limited to 1200 copies so do yourself a favor and grab this disc quickly!
THE DEAD DON'T TALK/THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER
Just when you feel as if you’ve seen all there is to be seen of weird and wacky 1970s cult films, something really unexpected comes along and surprises you. This is certainly the case with Onar Films’ Turkish horror double bill, which serves us some extremely rare and decidedly different slices of bizarre world horror. 
looking film in spite of its very low-budget. The black and white photography lends the film a great gothic atmosphere; the shots of the ghoul’s manically laughing face draped in shadows are particularly creepy-looking, and the creaky doors, candelabras aplenty and pretty girls running about in white nightgowns further add to the package. Most of the music is non-original – having been shamelessly stolen from 2001: A SPACE ODYSSEY (1968) and ROSEMARY’S BABY (1968) but that somehow feels appropriate for such a weird and absurd flick. 
Does the above synopsis sound familiar? If it does, then this is most likely because you’ve already seen Sergio Martino’s wonderful giallo THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (1970), of which this is an unofficial remake. Apparently, Turkish directors frequently took the plots from successful films and remade them for a Turkish audience. THIRSTY copies the plot of MRS. WARDH fairly closely – employing most of the same twists and turns, the rape in the pouring rain, the shower murder and more – but director Mehmet Aslan also works in enough changes and new twists to give his film its own individual stamp. 
information available on these two elsewhere. There are also very impressive picture galleries of images from Turkish horror cinema and of the career of actor Aytekin Akkaya, as well as trailers for other Onar releases. However, the biggest and best of the extras is a 45 minute interview with Akkaya, where he discusses his acting career in detail; including working on THE DEAD DON’T WALK, several Turkish adventure films and his work in international productions. Unfortunately, his work for Antonio Margheriti is just barely mentioned but that’s a minor quibble – the interview is excellent, informative and highly interesting. There is also an interview with Turkish horror film enthusiast Metin Demhiran, in which he discusses Turkish horror cinema in general; giving an overview of the genre as a whole. It’s informative but Demirhan is unfortunately not too engaging to listen to. The third and final interview is with film historian Giovanni Scognamillo, who also discusses the Turkish horror scene in general. He and Demhiran basically cover much of the same ground and repeat each other, which is a bit irritating, but Scognamillo makes for an overall more interesting listen (he also discusses working with directors like Jess Franco, Riccardo Freda and Umberto Lenzi when they were doing location filming in Istanbul). Surprisingly, though, he seems very dismissive of the genre and doesn’t appear to like any of the Turkish horror films he discusses. It’s also very surprising how THIRSTY FOR LOVE, SEX AND MURDER isn’t mentioned by either Demhiran or Scognamillo but I guess it’s because it’s basically a Turkish giallo rather than an all-out horror film. All in all it’s an impressive assembly of extras, though, with special kudos for the Akkaya interview. 
