I had always harboured fond memories of Dario Argento’s 1982 slasher flick, as it was the very first of his films I ever saw. I had not rewatched it until now, and must confess I remembered precious little about it save for John Saxon and the famous arm-slicing scene. The sad truth is that the […] Read more »
This late colour entry from Federico Fellini sees Marcello Mastroianni play a philandering womaniser who follows hs latest conquest off a train and into a dreamworld populated solely by women. What at first seems like the ultimate indulgent fantasy quickly turns against him and he is eventually brought to trial to answer for his perceived […] Read more »
Pasolini’s films are challenging but I like to challenge myself from time to time, and his body of work has become one of my go-to selections when I’m looking to push myself outside of my comfort zone. That said, his adaptation of Geoffrey Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales is probably the most fun and unreservedly entertaining […] Read more »
Of interest almost solely because of a rare acting performance from Alejandro Jodorowsky, this Italian psychodrama proves a baffling, underwhelming dud. As our heroine battles depression and an incredibly frustrating and overbearing boyfriend, she leaves their kinky S&M infused city life to stay with her aunt in a creepy old country house. There the ghosts […] Read more »
Typically ridiculous zombie movie from Lucio Fulci that is also the second part of his unofficial “Gates of Hell” trilogy. There isn’t much in the way of a plot – a young woman inherits a hotel in Louisiana, where a suspected warlock was murdered many decades before. His death opened a portal to Hell in […] Read more »
I continue my sporadic exploration of the films of Pier Paolo Pasolini with this first part of his Trilogy of Life. Lighter in tone yet no less subversive than the other films of his I’ve seen to-date, The Decameron adapts nine stories from Giovanni Boccaccio’s medieval text. These include randy nuns, duplicitous beauties, bountiful toilet […] Read more »
I only heard about this film from the special features on Arrow’s excellent Zombie Flesh Eaters disc, and it seemed the perfect late-night splatter flick. For large parts, Contamination seems to blend that earlier Ian McCulloch venture into Italian schlock with Ridley Scott’s Alien, which opened the previous year. In turn, Luigi Cozzi’s film seems […] Read more »
I recently picked up Arrow Video’s double pack of Lamberto Bava’s Demons, which also included the sequel. I had not seen either film before, but this second entry seemed to be resoundingly dismissed as weaker in almost every respect. Perhaps it was because my expectations were so low for this that I actually ended up […] Read more »
Lamberto Bava directs this ridiculous 80s giallo splatterfest, from a script co-written with Dario Argento. Two college girls in Berlin accept an invitation to a mysterious film screening, only for the audience to begin turning into zombie demons, just as is happening to those onscreen. That’s pretty much it plotwise. There’s lots of running down […] Read more »
I jumped at the chance to finally strike what is arguably Antonioni’s most famous film off my List of Shame, only to find the 2.5hr experience incredibly tedious. Sure, the film is beautifully shot and the performances are well executed. The story line of a missing fiancee and the relationship that develops betweeen her lover […] Read more »
One of my favourite films from last year stands up remarkably well to repeat viewing at home. This fetishised exploration of Italian giallo filmmaking, analogue sound recording and foley effects, as seen through the eyes of Toby Jones’ timid sound engineer is a gorgeous nightmare vision. Plot takes a back seat in favour of an […] Read more »
Recently released on Blu-ray in the UK as Black Sunday, this early horror offering from Italian maestro Mario Bava stars Barbara Steele as a 200-year old vampire witch, accidentally revivied from the dead and out for blood once more. A typically gothic affair that owes much to Bram Stoker’s Dracula, this is nevertheless a vivacious […] Read more »
My list of shame title for this month’s edition of Full Disclosure – an ongoing feature over at Twitch – was Giuseppe Tornatore’s Acedmy Award-winning love letter to the golden days of Cinema – as seen through the eyes of a precocious oyung boy in a small Sicilian village. You can check out what I […] Read more »
Terrible low-rent Psycho knock-off from Mario Bava featuring an array of beautiful brides being bumped off by poor, troubled Stephen Forsyth. Ridiculous fashions, pitiful acting and a lethargic narrative that inches towards a wholly predictable reveal made this an arduous watch. Read more »
Much derided at the time of its original release, Roberto Rossellini’s 1950 drama has been restored by Martin Scorsese’s film preservation initiative and is ripe for reassessment. I had never seen the film before, but it does appear that the reason the film failed on initial release was in large part due to the public’s […] Read more »
I was a big fan of Matteo Garrone’s Gomorrah and was very encouraged when his follow-up, Reality, also bagged him the Grand Prix at Cannes last year. The film just opened Hong Kong’s European Union Film Festival, and to be honest it’s a bizarre though intriguing affair. Aniello Arena is fantastic as Luciano, a modest […] Read more »
A notorious film for any number of reasons, from its numerous titles, spectacularly gruesome effects, ridiculous moments of action or inclusion on the Video Nasties list, Lucio Fulci’s Zombie Flesh Eaters stands up incredibly well since I first saw it on a ropey VHS bootleg back in he early 1990s. In large part the film […] Read more »
While I wouldn’t class myself as much of a fan of Michelangelo Antonioni, I have enjoyed all of his films that I have seen. However, until today that consists solely of his English language contributions Blow-Up, Zabriskie Point and The Passenger. Identification of a Woman sees the director return to his native Italy for the […] Read more »
Pier Paolo Pasolini’s retelling of Sophocles’ classical tragedy is a typically vivid and visually arresting affair, featuring bold performances from Franco Citti and Silvana Mangano, outrageous costumes and stunning photography. Read my full review here Read more »
Pier Paolo Pasolini is a fascinating, if challenging filmmaker, who I have only fairly recently begun to fully appreciate. As is probably the case with numerous other critics of my generation, my entry point to the Italian’s canon was his final film, the depraved Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom. Since then I have […] Read more »