sangue Reviews

La redada (1973)

ho hum

[31 August 2001]

an average crime drama that starts out with a somewhat intersting plot, but stretches it so far it becomes ridiculous. there are some good ideas in the story, but nothing is really made of them.

Spanish character actor Eduardo Fajardo (Django) is wasted on a phoned-in performance, and Stelvio Cipriani delivers a mediocre score.

there is however a 15 minute stretch of solid booty kicking action starting off with a guy getting his head repeatedly bashed into the walls of his apartment, then thrown down the stairs, followed by an extended "Bullit-esque" car chase.

Barcelona Kill is overall pretty pedestrian...not help by the incredibly weak ending. recommended only to the most forgiving fans of Euro action who are running out of stuff to watch.

Blood and Lace (1971)

yeah!

[7 August 2001]

Blood And Lace is a great old-fashioned horror flick, which manages some campy laughs as well as some real scares.

shot in lurid, eye-poping colors, not unlike the films of HG Lewis, and stuffed with some nasty gore scenes and unhealthy references to prostitution and pedophilia. belive it or not, all in a GP (todays equivilent of PG) rated movie.

look for early roles from "Alice" star Vic Tayback as a sleazy detective, and a hilariously over-the-top performance from Len Lesser as the creepy scumball handyman...all the funnier because Len Lesser went on to play Jerry's uncle Leo on "Seinfield!"

if you're in the mood for a good old style horror flick, you can't go wrong with this one.

From Corleone to Brooklyn (1979)

one of the best

[26 March 2001]

From Corleone To Brookln is one of Umberto Lenzi's best crime films, which is saying lot because he directed many classics in the genre.

Maurizio Merli plays Berni, the usual P.O. cop, and here he has to escort a lowlife criminal (Biagio Pellegra) from Italy to New York so he can testify against a mafia head.

the mafia have set up a series of traps along the way, making things a bit difficult for the boys.

at times very suspenseful, action packed and helped along by one of composer Franco Micalizzi's best scores, From Corleone To Brooklyn gets my highest recommendation.

sadly, this would be the last "real" crime film Lenzi would make, but at least he went out with a bang!

Poliziotto solitudine e rabbia (1980)

okay late entry to the Italo-crime sweepstakes

[16 March 2001]

a very well made film, with a good cast and excellent photography, sadly falls short of the mark.

it seems that after about 1977, all Italian cop movies went through a change; less random scenes of violence and action, more plot and character development:

The Rebel (title of the Japanese video relese) concerns retired cop Nick Rossi (Maurizio Merli) who lets a friend talk him into becoming a body gaurd. Rossi agrees, then the man the are hired to protect gets shot in a Venetian glass shop. a fairly cool shoot out takes place, including an awesome scene where Merli jumps through a stained-glass window in slow motion, but the fim really drags on from here. it's not a bad film, but not what fans of the genre expect.

worth a watch for Merli/Italian crime complitists, but others shouldn' bother. not like you'd be able to find a copy anyway:)

The Tony Blair Witch Project (2000 Video)

window-breakin' fun; makes me wanna $hit in the woods!

[30 October 2000]

well, it didn't make me as nauseous as the original:)

a group of film makers venture into the grenn inferno of West Virginia to shoot a documentary-they never come back.

how many sickening scenes of window breaking and underage drinking can you stand?

this Blair Witch/Cannibal Holocaust rip off, directed by Alaskan mad man Mike Martinez is, although maybe a bit overlong, hilarious and much more entertaining than the original Blair Witch.

i guess Mike and his buddies were sitting around in their igloo trying to think of something that sounded like "The Blair Witch Project" and the first thing they thought of was "The Tony Blair Witch Project." for those of you who don't know (like me ) Ton Blair is the prime minister of England (i think) and he along with some chums travel to the states to capture the tony blair witch on tape. they don't of course, but the pay off is pretty damn good. after running aound in an abandoned house for like 45 minutes, the group are ambushed by rednecks, in a cross between Deleverance, Nightmare City, and Cannibal Holocaust.

a fun piece of trash, and Martinez shows promise as a director.

Stunt Squad (1977)

100% @ss kickin!

[4 October 2000]

Marcel Bozzuffi stars as comissioner Griffi, yet another hard boiled cop out to rough up the bad guys. Valli, had of a vicious protection racket, has his men plant bombs in the phones of citizens who won't pay up.

after an old woman is killed in one of the attacks, Griffi forms the "stunt squad," a team of motorcycle riding cops trained in martial arts and stunt driving.

okay, it sounds silly, but there's lots of cool chase scenes, car crashes, shootouts, beatings and explosions. the score by Stelvio Cipriani is great, as always, fitting the action perfectly.

spoiler....... another cool thing is the ending where Valli gets lynched, the mob is broken up, then he gets lynched again!

that's the first time i've seen that!

Strip Nude for Your Killer (1975)

giallo-riffic!

[10/10 · 26 August 2000]

wow! i was quite pleasantly surprised by this film. Andrea Bianchi, known by most for his enjoyable, but goofy BURIAL GROUND/LE NOTTI DEL TERRORE directed this exellent gory and sexy thriller.

a woman dies during an abortion, so the doctor takes her back to her house and sticks her in the bathtub. soon after, the doctor as well as her fellow employees at the albatross fashion studio are murdered by a motorcycle helmet wearing killer. the lovely Edwidge Fenench, a veteran of the giallo, tries to solve the puzzle before she herself is murdered.

this film is quite stylish, and compared to most gialli, it moves along at a brisk pace. gory murders and full frontal nudity keep the viewer interested, and the story is fairly easy to follow, and almost plausible. the comic relief, which in my opinion Dario Argento is terrible at, but insist on putting in damn near all his films, is actually funny here. a fat guy who can only get it up with a blow up doll, and the ending where Edwidge says that she doesn't have to worry about getting pregnant because she takes the pill, then her boyfriend says they shouldn't risk it .....

i would highly recommend this film to trashy film fans.

Erotic Nights of the Living Dead (1980)

top notch trash as only joe can do

[18 August 2000]

i think a lot of people where let down by this flick, as most catalogs and genre books describe it as a gore soaked zombie porno. honestly, this film isn't that graphic. the sex is what i would call "hard soft-core" and there isn't much gore (though what gore there is is pretty cool.)

anywho, the story, from what i can tell concerns some kind of scientist/archetect/developer who travels to a strange island to do something or other, most likely something bad. once there, he angers the natives and a voodoo priest raises the dead which leads to a really creepy zombie attack-no really, it's right up there with fulci's zombie. as i said, there isn't much gore, but there is a neat scene where a doctor is examining a cadaver that was found floating in the bay, it sits up and takes a big bite out of the guys throat. then at the end there's a few bullet hits, some zombie carnage and star marks shannon gets his johnson bit of by laura gemser. the sex is fairly tame but there's a hilariously sleazy scene of a woman un-corking a champange bottle with her naughty bits. this film also has a great atmosphere and some excellent photography (also by Joe D'Amato) look out for some cool trick shots like when mark shannon throws a voddo idle on the ground and it changes instantly into a black cat that jumps up and attacks him. i had to watch that one again in slow motion i was so impressed! i would highly recommend this film for fans of bizarre cinema, and despite the lack of english, i think most will enjoy.

Code Name: Wild Geese (1984)

stupidly entertaining

[7/10 · 13 August 2000]

i don't know, this movie isn't that great, but it's quite entertaining in it's own dumb way, and boasts an excellent cast,( Lee Van Cleef, Klaus Kinski, Ernest Borgnine, Mimsy Farmer.) David Warbeck wannabe Lewis Collins stars as a tough commando sent to the golden triangle to wipe out an opium ring. he inlists the help of a war pilot (Van Cleef) and they venture into the jungle and blow lots of stuff up. the plot doesn't make much sense, and the direction isn't nearly as stylish as earlier Margheriti action flicks like The Last Hunter, but it does have lots of patented Margheriti explosions and some good action scenes, as well as the aforementioned cast. there's also a scene where freaky little Luciano Pigozzi gets crucified in his own church

Bloody Moon (1981)

a must for Francophiles

[13 August 2000]

okay, so this isn't as good as most Italian Gialli, but to be fair, it is head and shoulders above 90% of American slashers of the early-mid 80's.

Jess Franco certainly delivers the goods with this one, with lots of bloody stabbings (including a girl stabbed in the back, the knife protruding through her nipple), strangulations, a hedge trimer attack, and an awesome band saw decapitation. the German title of this film is "die sage des todes" which translates into "the saw of death" so they must have been impressed too. it's not too original, the basic "girl stalked by a sex maniac" but, Franco filters the standard formula through his own twisted vision and throws in some incest to keep things lively. also, the film ends with a great twist,twist ending that wraps things up nicely, no sequal here! be on the look out for the Franco Cameo at the beginning of the film, he's the doctor.

The Frozen Inferno (2000 Video)

the frozen inferno is...cool

[9/10 · 20 June 2000]

i was pleasantly surprised by this entertaining no budget post-apocalyptic action flick. after the nuclear holocaust, a team of renegades battle deranged mutants in the frozen wastelands of Alaska. lots of funny stuff in this one, like the guy who keeps getting shoved into a trashcan, and german soldiers with mohawks who dies three seperate times. also, the use of antonio margheriti explosions as stock footage was very clever. imagine what these guys could do with a budget of over $12.50!

High Crime (1973)

one of the best!

[10/10 · 20 June 2000]

if you have never seen an Italian crime movie, this is a great place to start. unlike many other films of this type, it actually works on an emotional level as well as being very entertaining, simular to the films of Scorsese. it's a very violent film, but none of the violence is gratuitous. lots of stylish slow motion shootings, car explosions, and people run over by various moter vehicles, and the excellent musical score by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis captures the emotion of these scenes perfectly. the cast is also very good, especialy Italian Star Franco Nero. highly recommended.

Oasis of the Zombies (1982)

better than it gets credit for

[15 June 2000]

those expecting a gory blood bath will be disappointed, which is probably why everyone hates it, but i think it's pretty good. the zombies are really cool looking, and the attacks are directed with some style. Daniel White's music adds a certain flavor too. unfortunately, the slow pace will put some viewers to sleep, but i think it adds to the atmosphere. not a great film, but a good one.

Violent Naples (1976)

awesome Italian crime (minor spoilers)

[10/10 · 14 June 2000]

1976 was a great year for the "poliziottsche" genre (Italian Crime films) and Napoli Violenta is no exeption. the late, great Maurizio Merli stars as inspector Betti, a no nonsense cop who spends his time slapping around thugs and delevering some of the best line ever heard (i.e "you crud, you make me wanna beat your ears in!")

Betti is transfered to napels where the local protection racket has the city in fear for their lives. but when the police try to help, no one seems to know anything. recieving no help from the town, Betti must bring down the racket by himself.

a highly entertaining film...fast paced, lots of action and stunts, and some surprising violence, including a bowling ball head smashing, a woman's head bashed up against a moving trolley, and a crook imapling his face on a fence while running from the cops. directed with flair by Umberto Lenzi, and set to a pulse pounding score by Franco Micalizzi. if you have yet to see an Italian crime flick, this is a good place to start

A Virgin Among the Living Dead (1973)

a bizarre masterpiece

[10/10 · 13 June 2000]

most have only seen the cut version with added zombie footage shot by director Jean Rollin, which makes the film an irritating, confusing mess. the uncut european version is a GREAT confusing mess! one of Franco's personal favorites, which he also ha a meaty acting role as Basillio, a deranged mute. great cinematography, great weird performances from all the actors, and a kick-ass score by Brun Nicholi. best watched very late at night, but be sure to track down an uncut print.