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!
REVIEW BY- NICK FRAME DIRECTED BY - JAVIER AGUIRRE CAST - PAUL NASCHY, ROSANNA YANNI, VICTOR ALCAZAR, MARIA ELENA ARPON and ANTONIO PICA. SOURCE-DVD Release: MYA Communication/DVD Released: January 12th, 2010/Approximate Running Time: 82 minutes/Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Anamorphic Widescreen/Rating: NR/Sound: Dolby Digital Mono English, Spanish and Italian Subtitles: English /Region Coding: Region 0 NTSC/Retail Price: $19.99
The Film
Ok, I admit it despite being a massive Euro cult movie fan and knowing all about him, this was my first Paul Naschy movie, I somehow have never got round to seeing any of his other films on DVD! However, if they are like this, then I need to start adding them to my DVD wish list! Furthermore I was saddened recently to learn the Naschy had succumbed to cancer just before this DVD was released and he will be a loss to horror as he seemed to truly love the genre!
Naschy plays Gotho, a hunchback, who works in the local hospital – a simple soul but one who is ridiculed by just about everyone in village. Only a handful of folk are kind to him, Ilse (María Elena Arpón) the girl he loves but is gravely ill, Elke (Rosanna Yanni), the psychiatrist at a local women’s prison and the mysterious Dr.Orla (Alberto Dalbes) who gets Gotho to collect bodies for his experiments. Not exactly a fun bunch, but that’s all Gotho has!
He brings flowers to Ilse every day, but she has not long left and can no longer fight her illness and Gotho goes mental when an autopsy is attempted on Ilse so he takes the body and hides out, not really comprehending what has befallen the stricken Ilse. He stumbles on Dr.Orlas underground lair, full of torture devices and cruel machinery and begs Orla to wake up Ilse! Realising he can exploit Gotho, Orla says he will help if he does his bidding and helps carry out his grand experiment to create a new life form the “Primordial”. Despite being as thick as mince, Gotho manages to bed Elke despite acting like a total freak show! Will Dr.Orla succeed with his plan, will Gotho realise Ilse is rat food and how much scenery will be chewed in this whole process? It’s gonna be fun finding out!
This is a really cool slice of Euro horror, directed by Javier Aguirre and co written by both him and Naschy himself that has loads going for it! Naschy is very good as Gotho, managing to induce both empathy and disgust at the same time! The locations are eerie and the plot is totally bat-shit but it’s great, great fun and that is what is important! Look out for the famous love scene between Gotho and Elke, that was supposedly more explicit in longer lost cuts of the movie, and the scene where Gotho sets fire to some real live rats that are crawling over Elke! Throw in some acid baths, Orla’s creation that looks like one of Swamp-Things little brother, lots of bloody violence and a good night’s entertainment is ahead!
Transfer and Audio.
Seemingly taken from a beaten up Spanish print the 1.85:1 Anamorphic image is probably the best this film is ever going to look! It’s not great, grainy and with scratches here and there but very watchable. Also the night time outdoor scenes are very dark and it can be difficult to see what’s going on, but I’m nitpicking! It seems to be fully uncut and includes the nude Rosanna Yanni love scene that had been missing in the past!
3 audio options are available – English, Spanish and Italian mono, with English subs on hand for each track! For ultimate cheese choose the English option, but really dependent on your tastes the Spanish and Italian dubs sound much better, so I’d go for one of them instead, as they are much stronger.
Extras
Generally MYA do not go overboard with extras, but they have made an exception here! We have a side by side comparison of the Naschy-Yanni love scene – one nude, the other not! The scene can also be watched full screen if you prefer. Also included are the USA, German and Italian (with an alternative score) credits, the US original trailer, plus photo galleries with stills from the film, the original movie posters, promo materials and the original home video covers. All in all a nice little package from MYA.
Overall
A fun Euro horror entry from 1973 and by all accounts one of Naschy’s best, Hunchback of the Morgue deserves to be in all Euro horror fans shelves, and I’m really looking forward to adding more Naschy to my collection!
Hunchback of the Morgue
Ok, I admit it despite being a massive Euro cult movie fan and knowing all about him, this was my first Paul Naschy movie, I somehow have never got round to seeing any of his other films on DVD! However, if they are like this, then I need to start adding them to my DVD wish list! Furthermore I was saddened recently to learn the Naschy had succumbed to cancer just before this DVD was released and he will be a loss to horror as he seemed to truly love the genre!
Extras 
