Wild Wild Podcast Season 2: Episode 2 - THE SEXBURY TALES (1973)

We're back for more Decameron-inspired shenanigans, as this time we travel to medieval Viterbo for a collection of ribald tales featuring cuckolded husbands, horny ghosts, frustrated brides and misplaced shellfish. Join Adrian and I as we find much entertainment in this film that is very much a product of its time. 

For more information on this Italian sub genre, which morphed into the highly successful commedia sexy all'italiana, this article is a very good primer and one we will be coming back to: “Canterbury Rides Again”… PASOLINI & HIS “DECAMEROTIC” IMITATORS.

We would love to hear from you if you have any experience with the Decamerotici films. You can contact us on Twitter, Instagram, or by email at wildwildpodcast@gmail.com

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Beyond Naschy #26 - THE DIABOLICAL DR Z (1966)

The Naschycast returns with our ninth anniversary episode! We dive back into the films of beloved Spanish filmmaker Jess Franco with THE DIABOLICAL DR. Z (1966). This is one of the director's final black & white movies and is considered by many to be his most accomplished work. I'm not sure where I would rank it on Franco's long list of credits but it is certainly a fantastic and beautiful horror film that features several amazing performances. It also has one of the best revenge seeking female mad scientist characters in cinema history. The lovely and deadly Doctor Zimmer is not someone you want to antagonize! Especially not when she can bend to her will the incredible nightclub dancer Nadia (a.k.a. Miss Death) whose long fingernails are laced with poison! And did I mention the murderous, mind-controlled escaped convict willing to strangle anyone blocking the destructive path of this mad woman? Strap in or, more likely, be held down by scary robotic arms for this amazing film!

Troy and I ramble our way through a discussion of this Spanish Horror classic marveling at the clarity and sharpness of the print available on the Kino Blu-Ray. The black & white  cinematography of Alejandro Ulloa is remarkable to see in high definition. As fans of his director of photography work for Naschy's lushly colorful EL CAMINATE (1979) and NIGHT OF THE WEREWOLF (1981) we're amazed by his ingenuity at presenting shades of light and darkness without losing detail. Even if the film was only half as good as it is Ulloa's skill would make this a must-see for curious cinema aficionados.

We pick apart the plot, question the need for certain evil elements and gush about the intelligence of the script. Some time is spent on co-writer Jean-Claude Carrière's amazing career with me delighting in talking about his late 1950's Frankenstein sequel novels. The adult nature of the story is discussed as we make note of possible censored spots in the narrative. The amusing onscreen roles played by Franco and his longtime musical collaborator Daniel White are pointed out so that we can praise their acting talent. And we can't resist taking note of Franco's kitty co-star in one scene and his rather direct directorial touch with this wandering performer. Meow!

Any comments or questions can be sent to naschycast@gmail.com or dropped on the Naschycast Facebook page. We read out a couple of missives in the final few minutes of this episode and they stir some unexpected conversation, as always. Thank you for downloading and listening to the show. We'll be back next month with more Spanish Horror! 

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SINFONIA EROTICA (1980)

I just finished watching Jess Franco's film SINFONIA EROTICA (1980) recently released on Blu-ray by Severin. This is another of Franco's films that I've missed in my various hunts through bootlegs over the past 20 to 30 years and I was glad to see that there are still so many little hidden gems out there for me to find. This one was made in 1979 and is another of Franco's explorations of the works of the Marquis De Sade. While now that I've seen the film I don't agree with the ballyhoo on the back of the Blu-ray calling this a lost masterpiece, I do find it to be absolutely fascinating in many ways. This is once again Franco in experimental mode using the camera as a questing eye roaming around the scenes to lock onto images as the actors deliver their lines. At times these movements and changes in focus are seemingly at random but when sometimes they click the film succeeds in bringing a fresh perspective on the story slowly unfolding before you.

While the film certainly has all of the exploitable elements that you would expect from a 1970's lensed Jess Franco effort it is very much a period piece as well. Filmed on a couple of gorgeous locations with some pretty decent costuming and an attempt to bring a sense of. Reality to things. The movie manages to once again do to me what more and more of Franco from this period of his career is capable of - It manages to mesmerize me. For an hour and 24 minutes I was caught up, dazzled, occasionally frustrated and sometimes overly curious about how he is doing what he's doing and why he is attempting to tell this story in this way.

From the opening we are told that there is a plot involved between Lina Romay's character and her doctor. It's not until the third act, of course, that we will learn what this plot is but along the way we see enough depravity around the home she lives in with her husband the Marquis to know that it would have to be pretty daunting to outdo the sexual nastiness and murderous intent of this woman's husband. Without ruining anything I'll just say that the finale is satisfying and journey there is one I'm glad I took. As with all such Franco works your mileage will vary.

Severin's Blu-Ray has a couple of significant extras too. A brief interview piece with Franco in which he talks about the ladies loves of his life. This was touching, warm conversation and brought a tear to my eyes. I miss old Uncle Jess. The other extra is an excellent 22 minute talk from author Stephen Thrower discussing Franco's work and this film in particular. As always, Thrower is entertaining and incredibly informative making this extra worth the price of the disc for fans.

Brief Thoughts - THE DEVIL'S HONEY (1986)

It's not often I sit down with the intention of watching a sleazy movie. I know that seems odd considering my love for European Trash cinema but it's true. Although sleazy elements may be a part of a lot of the films I watch and enjoy I don't seek out movies just because they are known as sleazy in their approach to their subject matter. In my younger days I did seek out cinema that catered to the more sordid side of things but over time I've pretty much seen everything I wanted so the thrill of simple shock has worn off.

Or at least I thought so.

Last night I watched Lucio Fulci's 1986 feature THE DEVIL'S HONEY. I knew it was known for it's sexually sleazy story but had kept myself as unaware of details as possible so I could absorb the film without interference from expectations. My first surprise was to learn that the lovely Corinne Cléry appears as Bret Halsey's wife. I have a thing for that lovely lady dating back to YOR, THE HUNTER FROM THE FUTURE (1983) so the prospect of ample nudity from her was enticing and on that front this film certainly delivers! Miss Cléry spends a great deal of her small amount of screen time nude or in various states of undress but the same is true of the actual female lead actor Blanca Marsillach. In fact, here is so much nudity in the film that by the end I should have been inured to the sight of female beauty but both of these ladies are so gorgeous I remained in awe of them.

That I never became accustomed to the nudity in the film is a testament not just to the physical beauty of the women onscreen but to the fascinating themes being explored in the story. I won't go into detail so as to allow curious viewers to see the film as I did but the sadomasochistic relationship at the heart of things is explored in absorbing ways. The wants and needs of a person in such a relationship are so complicated and confused that even knowing your own mind seems difficult. I'm not sure the story's physiological complexity justifies such a sleazy, exploitative movie but I know I couldn't take my eyes off it wondering what might happen next. That is the most shocking thing this film showed me- that I can still be entranced by something so seedy and dark. Fulci continues to surprise me decades after his death.

TWINS OF EVIL (1971)

I might get some argument for this statement but I feel that Twins of Evil is easily the best of the Hammer "Karnstein Trilogy" of movies. Not as slowly paced as The Vampire Lovers and not as sloppily constructed as Lust for a Vampire, this film moves with strong forward momentum as it tells a clearly defined, interesting story. Don't misunderstand me — I like all of them and have watched each multiple times over the years but as I get older and my brain-searing lust to see buxom naked women onscreen fades to a mere bonfire, I find myself able to better concentrate on the stories presented in these movies. A big part of its cinematic power comes from the excellent lead performance from Peter Cushing as a religious man at first confident of his own correctness, who slowly begins to realize he may have (repeatedly) done the wrong thing for the right reasons. Cushing was often the best performer in his Hammer pictures and he proves his talent again with this well-crafted character. It is in this light that I can say that TOE is a very well written, well-played and quite compelling piece of gothic vampire horror that just happens to have two gorgeous, occasionally nude sisters as its focus. Now, if those two lovely ladies were the film's only positive attribute(s) it might still be worth seeing, but it'd hardly be worth seeing twice. Well — maybe, but... No, the joys in this film are many and varied and start with the fact that, as it's one of the last of Hammer Films' opulent period horror pictures, it is absolutely beautiful to look at. As a horror film nut I've always been drawn to the gothic horrors of the 1960s for their ability to conjure up a mythic time and place that exists completely in its own eerie reality. Often just the sumptuous look of one of these movies is enough to draw my attention for a full 90 minutes, but this film offers much more. Of course, TOE is a great example of fine set design and dressing, amazing costumes, colorful locations and that dignified atmosphere of creepy dread I look for in a Gothic. Most of Hammer's horror output shared that particularly British trait of pushing creepy tales over the 'willing suspension of disbelief' threshold by piling on visual detail and fog.

The film relates the story of recently orphaned twin sisters Maria and Frieda (Mary & Madeline Collinson) as they arrive in the village of Karnstein circa the late 1700s. They have come to live with their pious uncle and aunt after the tragic sudden death of their parents but the relationship with uncle Gustav Weil (Cushing) is rocky from the start when he deems them to have stopped mourning too soon. It's quickly apparent that although the teenaged beauties are identical physically, their attitudes toward life couldn't be more different. Demonstrating a classic good girl/bad girl split, Marria is sweet and obedient while Frieda is a rebellious pleasure seeker who eventually makes contact with the local bad boy: Count Karnstein (Damien Thomas) himself. The Count has been at odds for a long time with Gustav and his group of village men for their almost nightly rides around the countryside in search of witches. As their definition of "witch" seems to be 'young, unmarried, good-looking female' they typically find a victim to burn at the stake pretty much any time they go a-hunting. The Count doesn't like having the choicest girls killed off willy-nilly and confronts the Witch Hunters on several occasions, taunting them with their own clearly lustful actions as they go about their 'holy' work. But what Gustav doesn't know is that the decadent Count has moved into a deeper level of evil by being willing to become a vampire! He has resurrected his supernatural ancestor Mircalla (Katya Wyeth) and crossed over into the realm of the undead — mainly out of boredom! Did I mention the implied incest inherent in this activity?

Adding complications to this juicy scenario are the romantic attentions paid to Frieda by the studly and handsome Anton (David Warbeck). A pious and intelligent composer of music, he is drawn to the darker sister just as she becomes fed up with her repressive uncle and seeks out the attentions of the Count. Will hunky Anton and the well-meaning but stern Gustav be able to save either of these beautiful girls from an unholy, bloody fate?

Twins of Evil really is a great Hammer film and is one of the very last of their classic-styled gothic horrors. There would be two or three more period monster movies from the studio after this but the coming of the 1970s signaled that time was running out for this kind of scary movie. No matter how good this film, Captain Kronos, Vampire Circus or Frankenstein and the Monster from Hell might be, times had changed and these quaint, old fashioned fairy tales were just not going to cut it any longer. It's a shame as everyone involved seemed to be working hard to do the best job possible. The performances are mostly excellent with Cushing being joined by a fine cast of actors that are consistently convincing in their roles. The only weak spots are (as you might expect) the titular twins, who were really only models pressed into film work because of their fantastic physical attributes. They still manage to do a solid job but the fact that their voices were dubbed by other actresses to make them more understandable puts a distance between us and them that makes their lack of experience stand out all the more. This isn't always a bad thing, as in several scenes the twin's lack of onscreen confidence causes their performances to have a nice touch of naiveté that plays very well, especially for Maria as the 'good' sister.

NUDE FOR SATAN (1974)

Nude for Satan presents a conundrum for any reviewer. Or, at least, any reviewer that hopes to offer up something more than hyperbolic babble about the how bizarre the stuff on display becomes in this not quite coherent splay of images. Should this film be called stream of consciousness gothic fluff? Or perhaps a low budget sleazy creepfest? Is it maybe just a silly shaggy dog story with a punch line that lands with a thud instead of a pop? Or maybe it should simply be noted as a typical 1970s European entry in the 'hell is a place on earth' camp of EC comics inspired horror tales? No. While those labels might do for someone with less interest in this sub-genre those terms will not suffice for me. This movie more accurately falls into a category I like to call 'Foregone Conclusion Theater'. You've seen these stories before. The entire movie builds slowly to a final revelation that sharp viewers have copped to long before the onscreen characters gasp in reaction to the supposedly amazing information. Except even that description isn't quite right because both main characters are openly wondering if they are really dead by the half way mark of the movie. So what the hell is this thing? Crazy as a rat trapped in a coffee can, to be perfectly honest. Cinema delirium! But is it entertaining? Well...

The story begins simply enough with Doctor Benson (Stelio Candelli) driving through the night on his way to the Witmore Estate to make a house call. Unsure of his way, he stops for directions and is warned that going to the Witmore villa is a bad idea. He ignores this advice and drives on until a woman dressed in white looms up out of the dark into the path of his car. The doctor swerves and misses the woman but as he searches the roadside for her afterwards there is nothing to be found. Puzzled and at a loss to explain this he is about to continue his journey when a second car crashes on the road only a few feet from him. Just for the record, this is one of the worst faked car crashes in cinema history. The sound of a skid and crash are heard on the soundtrack and a lone tire rolls past Benson in the road. Hysterically, the tire would never have fit the car it's supposed to have detached from. This was the first indicator of just how strange things were going to get.

Benson pulls Susan (the very lovely Rita Calderoni), the only passenger of the 'crashed' car, out and loads her into his own vehicle. He recognizes her and decides it would be best to get her to the estate to care for her injuries. Once there he has a strange encounter with a servant who makes odd statements and then disappears into thin air. Unable to get anyone to answer his knocking he is about to return to the car when the front door of the castle opens on its own. Clueless that this is a BAD sign, he enters and looks around the apparently deserted, dusty and cobwebbed place. Searching for people he stumbles from room to room and behind each door there seems to be a new strange sight. There is a laughing, web-covered corpse, a nude woman being molested by a man dressed in Victorian clothing, etc. Confused as can be, Benson is then greeted by the hale & hardy woman he pulled from the car wreck, wearing a 19th century style dress. She insists her name is Evelyn, not Susan, and persuades the doctor to join her to be introduced to the family as her beloved.

From here on in it becomes increasingly clear that time has no meaning and both the present day events and 19th century happenings are jumbled together. The narrative swings back and forth between the modern day Susan meeting the lord of the Witmore castle and Dr. Benson trying to figure out his predicament with Evelyn. Susan is ushered into the house by the mysterious Lord (James Harris) and it quickly becomes evident that he is some kind of devil or demon pushing the characters around. Susan acts as if she is under a spell, never asking his name and blithely going along with his suggestions. She is shown to a room, given a hot bath and slips very naturally into a lesbian tryst with the black chambermaid. She then goes to bed but has a dream of her sexy new female lover that becomes a nightmare as the servant strangles her. Awakening out of this she goes wandering around the castle while a storm rages outside. Following odd sounds, she is horrified to find the chambermaid being whipped by an older male servant. Then things get weird. (I know — just bear with me!)

Running away from the torture scene, Susan stumbles into a room and becomes trapped in a giant spider's web. And here comes the big hairy spider right toward its new prey! Okay. Remember earlier when I said the faked car crash was hysterical? I should have saved that word to describe the fake spider in this sequence. Seriously! I have seen some bad fake spiders in my day. The ones Fulci set next to real ones in The Beyond. The awful one that leaped onto Rod Taylor in World Without End. The Volkswagen beetle in The Giant Spider Invasion. All of these now take a back seat to the miserable excuse for a spider in Nude for Satan. But that's not the funniest part! By this time the separate storylines are mashed together in such a way that confusion is par for the course. So when Dr. Benson bursts into the room and shoots the spider off Susan, all the questions lingering in my mind about what is actually happening evaporated as I sputter-laughed at the site of what looks like feathers flying off the thing. Disregard the madness of shooting at the girl-  the fake spider's ignominious death is a classic of bizarre cinema.

Anyway, things continue on like this for a good long while with doppelgangers running about the place getting naked and more hints that the lord of the castle is Old Scratch himself — all to little real effect. The film reaches its nadir with a ten minute chase through the castle grounds that ends with Benson catching himself. Yeah, it's that kind of film. It's crazy, nonsensical and mostly silly but I have to admit I didn't really dislike it. It's not for every audience and will most likely only please fans of Euro-Trash or those interested in bizarre cinema in general. Although I fit both those categories I only think of this as a middling experience. But as with any movie of this type, your mileage may vary. It's sleazy, sadistic and displays plenty of perversity making it a fun experience — if you know what I mean. On the 'Weird-Ass European Cinema' scale it's stranger than Delirium but not as freaky as Black Magic Rites (AKA The Reincarnation of Isabel). Take that for what it's worth. And did I mention that Rita Calderoni is gorgeous? And nude for a considerable percentage of the running time? That is well worth mentioning. (Trust me.)

Trailers From Hell: THE SWORD & THE SORCERER (1982)

I have a lot of (probably) misplaced affection for this film and this look at the trailer by the movie's editor indicates some of the reasons. If only they had produced a quick sequel or two! And where is the Blu-Ray o this one?

Examples of Pre-Code Nudity!

While editing the next Bloody Pit podcast I was taken by the brief discussion Chris Herzog and I have about Pre-Code movies. Here is a definition from Wikipedia for those unaware -

"Pre-Code Hollywood refers to the era in the American film industry between the introduction of sound in the late 1920's and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code (usually labeled, albeit inaccurately after 1934, as the "Hays Code") censorship guidelines. Although the Code was adopted in 1930, oversight was poor and it did not become rigorously enforced until July 1, 1934. Before that date, movie content was restricted more by local laws, negotiations between the Studio Relations Committee (SRC) and the major studios, and popular opinion, than strict adherence to the Hays Code, which was often ignored by Hollywood filmmakers.

Beginning in late 1933 and escalating throughout the first half of 1934, American Roman Catholics launched a campaign against what they deemed the immorality of American cinema. This, plus a potential government takeover of film censorship and social research seeming to indicate that movies which were seen to be immoral could promote bad behavior, was enough pressure to force the studios to capitulate to greater oversight." 

So, with that history in mind here is a video that shows some of the wily ways Hollywood showed some skin in the good old days!

INVASION OF THE BEE GIRLS (1973)

State Department investigator Neil Agar (William Smith in a rare good guy role) is sent to Peckham, California to investigate a mysterious death. The town is the home of a small government lab and one of their scientists has turned up dead of cardiac arrest even though he had no previous record of heart trouble. Things only look stranger when the coroner lists the cause of death as "sexual exhaustion". Agar quickly discovers that there seems to be a rash of these types of deaths in the town, and once another scientist snuffs it he starts looking for unusual possibilities. Enlisting the aid of pretty lab assistant Julie (Victoria Vetri), it isn't long before he's taking a closer look at entomologist Dr. Susan Harris (Anitra Ford). The supposedly sexually frigid Dr. Harris always seems to be wearing sunglasses and her aloof manner makes Agar suspicious. In a leap of logic that could only be played out with everyone in on the joke, Agar surmises that some type of genetic insect crossbreeding is involved and comes across proof just as Julie is about to become part of the town's deadly female breed. 

Here's a film that knows its dealing with a preposterous idea and just plays it straight hoping the audience is savvy enough to get the joke. Pure smutty fun from beginning to end, this flick revels in nudity, soft core sex, lesbianism and unapologetically chauvinistic behavior the likes of which we are likely never to see in film again. In Peckham every man, whether married or not, is looking to score with whoever he can and it seems that every woman in town was a sexual predator before they started getting their 'bee' on. Gloriously nasty with nearly no redeeming social values, Bee Girls is a wonderful early-Seventies time capsule. Where else are you going to see an amazing ugly man yell out in public that he will not abstain from sex just because he might die? Priceless! This movie has become my second favorite sci-fi/sex film of all time, right behind Barbarella but just ahead of Lifeforce. (Thank you Matilda May!) Indeed, there are only a couple of ladies in this movie that don't get naked at some point in the proceedings, but the real draw for fans of beautiful women has to be Anitra Ford.

The former Price Is Right model only made four theatrical films but my lust for her was kindled when I saw her as the evil Amazonian in the TV movie Wonder Woman. Cathy Lee Crosby had nothing on Miss Ford, and at my young age I could barely understand the strange emotions she sent running through my curious body. Anitra has an extended nude scene here that shows us just what was lurking beneath that game show smile. Add to that her completely unnecessary lesbian kiss later on and you have '70s sexploitation heaven! Of course the film does have its share of detriments... The plot is moved along more by chance and wild guesswork than anything else, and sloppier moments in the story are glossed over by obvious post-production dubbing. Some of the acting is less than convincing, but I find that just adds to the fun in an odd way. A fun movie for anyone with a love of campy science fiction or maybe just dirty minds!