Blu-ray Review: THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE (1972)

THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE
Directed by  Vicente Aranda
Distributed by Mondo Macabro / CAV Distributing

  I always look forward to new releases from Mondo Macabro.   They release some of the best, and lesser known horror films from all over the world.   THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE is one of their films that is a little more well known, I believe.  I actually saw this movie years ago, but I didn't remember much about it at all.   Here is the basic plot of the film from the CAV website:

  Susan, a young bride, travels with her husband to his family’s ancient manor house in the far north of Spain. Susan is a virgin and is very hesitant about her husband's sexual demands. She is also disturbed by her unfamiliar surroundings and wonders if she will ever come to terms with her new married life. She is shocked to discover that all the old portraits of female members of her husband’s family have been locked away in the basement. When she finds them, she discovers that one of the portraits shows a woman holding a strange dagger. The woman’s face has been cut out of the painting. Her name is Mircala Karstein.

  Overall, this is a great classic 70's shocker.   The film is a little slow in parts, and I feel at 102 minutes, it could have been trimmed down some to help with the film's pacing.   That is a very small complaint, though, as the film is great overall.   With a name like THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE, you would expect lots of blood, and the film does not disappoint when it comes to that.   There are some very brutal and bloody scenes, one in particular being a prolonged stabbing scene with copious amounts of spurting blood!  There are also a lot of beautiful and atmospheric scenes, comparable to a some of the vampire films of Jean Rollin.  

 THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE is available now on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro and CAV Distribution.  The Blu-ray contains the following special features:

- Brand new 4k transfer from film negative
- English/Spanish audio choice
- Newly created English subtitles
- Audio commentary by Samm Deighan and Kat Ellinger
- Interview with cinematographer Fernando Arribas
- Two part interview with actor Simón Andreu
- Interview with Euro Gothic author Jonathan Rigby
- Original trailers and radio spots
- Deleted and alternate scenes
- Mondo Macabro previews


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

 

 

 

Blu-ray Review: SPIDER (1991)

SPIDER
a.k.a. Zirneklis
Directed by  Vasili Mass
Distributed by Mondo Macabro / CAV Distributing

  I love when I come across films that I have never seen and better yet, even heard of!  Vasili Mass' SPIDER was this kind of film.   The film shows to be the only directing credit to Mass' resume.   Being released under the Mondo Macabro label, I knew I was in for a treat.   Mondo always puts out such rare and weird films!   Here is the basic plot of the film courtesy of the CAV website:

  Vita, a beautiful teenage girl, is asked by a controversial artist to pose as the Virgin Mary for a painting. She visits his studio and finds herself swept up into the bizarre world of the artist and his bohemian friends. She seems to see his paintings come to life and is pursued by strange shadowy figures. Later she has nightmarish visions of the artist visiting her at night in the form of a huge spider. The next morning she finds marks on her body that look like the bites of a large insect.
  Vita’s mother becomes worried about her and sends the girl off to stay with relatives in the countryside, believing that the change of environment will help her to recover. However, it seems the dark forces that threatened Vita in the city have followed her and an ancient evil is being awakened that feeds off Vita’s burgeoning sexuality.
  This Latvian shot, Russian language film was produced in the post Glasnost years of the former Soviet Union, when the barriers were down and previously unacceptable material was being explored for the first time. This is one of the very few sex-horror films to come out of that period and still stands today as a daring and unique production, packed with elaborate and astonishing visual sequences of morbid eroticism.

   I really don't know how to describe and/or review SPIDER.  I really liked the film, as I love weird cinema.  Usually the weirder the better for me.  I feel, though, that this is one you must actually see for yourself to come to a conclusion on.  I don't think you can take the opinion of a random online reviewer/blogger.  I have a felling a lot of people will love this film and a lot will hate it.   It seems to me to be one of those films that doesn't fall in the middle with most people.    I personally loved this film, but I can definitely understand those that don't care for it.   

  The plot seems simple enough when reading it, but the film doesn't make it that easy to understand.  There are also a couple of sections of the film that move really slow.   What I loved about this film was the crazy imagery of it.  I was shocked to see it was made in 1991, as this film looks much older than that to me.  It looks like a film from the 1970's and reminded me of the works of Jean Rollin.  It was very atmospheric and very visual.

  If you are a fan of weird films, this is one you don't want to  miss!  SPIDER is available now on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro.  This is the first time this film has been released in the U.S.  The Blu-ray contains the following Special Features:


- Newly created English subtitles
- Interview with director
- Rare on set footage
- Mondo Macabro previews
- Cover art from Gilles Vranckx


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

 

Blu-ray Review: INQUISITION (1976)

INQUISITION
Directed by Paul Naschy (as Jacinto Molina)
Distributed by Mondo Macabro / CAV Distributing

  Mondo Macabro has long been one of my most favorite video labels.  They are constantly putting out great products and films that I usually have never heard of, but always enjoy.  INQUISITION is a film that once again I had never heard of, but thoroughly enjoyed.   The film stars and was directed by Paul Naschy and centers around a 16th century witch-hunt in France.  Here is the full plot synopsis from the CAV website:

  In 16th century France, Inquisitor and magistrate Bernard de Fossey (Paul Naschy) travels to the plague-ridden region of Peyriac in search of witches and devil worshippers. Local beauty Catherine (Daniela Giordano) quickly catches his eye, tormenting him with impure thoughts, although her affections lie with her handsome fiancé Jean. Meanwhile, embittered one-eyed manservant Rénover (Antonio Iranzo) presents Bernard with his first group of torture victims when he accuses several sexy young things who spurned his advances of being witches responsible for the plague.
One by one beautiful women are tortured on the rack then burned at the stake. No-one seems able to halt the Inquisition's reign of terror or the baseless accusations that cause so many innocent deaths. When Jean dies in mysterious circumstances, Catherine allies herself with Satan to get revenge on her enemies - foremost among them, De Fossey himself.
  This was horror star Paul Naschy's directorial debut and one of his very best films. He plays three roles - Inquisitor De Fossey, the Devil, and the Grim Reaper. The film is a brutal and unrelenting portrait of a past when superstition and terror ruled the minds of men.

  I have always been fascinated by witch trail films.   There is a real horror to the thought of women being tortured and killed based on hysteria and accusations rather than fact and proof.  The fact this actually happened in multiple parts of the world is even more horrifying.  

  This film reminded me a lot of the 1970 film, MARK OF THE DEVIL, except I think I enjoyed this film even more.    There are some great torture scenes in this film, including one involving a woman's nipple that made me cringe!   Yet as grotesque as it was, I had to rewind and watch it again to see if I could figure out how they did the effect!  I am a huge fan of special effects (especially gore effects in horror films), so I was very impressed by this scene.   If you have seen the film, you will know exactly what scene I am talking about.  If you haven't seen this film, I won't say any more to keep from spoiling it for you!

  If you enjoyed MARK OF THE DEVIL and the early Hammer Films, I think you will really enjoy this one. 

  INQUISITION is available now on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro and CAV Distribution and contains the following special features:

*  Introduction by Paul Naschy
*  Interview with star Daniela Giordano
*  Audio commentary by Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn (the Naschycast)
*  Blood and Sand - documentary on Spanish horror films
*  English/Spanish audio choice .
*  Newly created English subtitles
*  Mondo Macabro previews


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

 

 

 

Blu-ray Review: SYMPTOMS (1974)

SYMPTOMS
Directed by José Ramón Larraz
Distributed by Mondo Macabro / CAV Distributing

  One of my favorite film labels is Mondo Macabro.  They have some of the best releases out there...most of which are very obscure films you might have never heard of before being released by Mondo.   Such is the case with one of their newest releases, SYMPTOMS.  I had never heard or seen anything of this film before getting this new Blu-ray.  I knew nothing about it going in, which is a good thing in my opinion.   Here is the basic plot of the film courtesy of the CAV Distributing website:

  A dark and haunting study in psychological horror, Symptoms takes us deep into the twisted mind of a damaged girl.
  Helen, who lives alone, invites her new friend Anne to stay with her in a lonely house, lost in the English countryside. The house, the woods that surround it and the figures fleetingly glimpsed through its windows, all seem imbued with a deep sense of mystery. Helen appears to be hiding a secret and the more Anne tries to uncover it, the deeper she is pulled into its dark heart.
  Symptoms was the official UK entry to the Cannes film festival in 1974 and was highly praised at the time. Subsequently the film sank into obscurity and was recently listed as one of the UK’s top 75 “lost films”. This release, taken from the original negative and fully restored, brings this quiet masterpiece back into view, where it can now be appreciated as one of the most under rated films of the 1970s.

  I have to start out by warning you that this is a very slow moving film.  It is not action packed by any means, and there is no gore or real violence.  SYMPTOMS is a very different horror film, one that a lot of people might not be used to.  It's more of an artsy, atmospheric film.  It is very eerie and moody, and just gives you a tense feeling throughout the entire film.  While I am usually blown away with most of Mondo Macabro's releases, I am on the fence with this one.  I didn't dislike it by any means, but it was definitely not one of my favorite films that they have released.  It's somewhere in the middle for me.

  Now, I do have to say that the special features that Mondo has included on this release is reason enough to own the Blu-ray.  The documentary on director Jose Larraz was very entertaining and informative, which was great considering I knew very little about this director before viewing this doc.    Check it out for yourself and see what you think.

SYMPTOMS is out now from Mondo Macabro and CAV Distributing and contains the following special features:

*  On Vampyres and Other Symptoms - documentary about Jose Larraz directed by Celia Novis;
*  Eurotika! - documentary about director Jose Larraz
*  Interview with Angela Pleasence
*  Interview with Lorna Heilbron.
*  Interview with editor Brian Smedley-Aston
*  Mondo Macabro previews
*  Specially commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx


CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

 

Blu-ray Review: A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN (1971)

A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN
Directe by:  Lucio Fulci
Distributed by Mondo Macabro / CAV Distributing

  Let me start by saying I am a huge fan of Luico Fulci.  I have loved every single film I have seen of his, from his classic zombie epics to his early giallo films.  While I have seen most of Fulci's popular films, A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN somehow never crossed my path.  I was super excited going into a Fulci film that I had never seen before.  I built this film up in my head and really hoped I was not setting myself up for a let-down.  Luckily, not only was I not let down, I was blown away by how good of a film this is.   Needless to say I was not disappointed.  

  Here is the basic plot synopsis from the official press release:

  Mondo Macabro is very proud to present A Lizard In A Women's Skin, released in HD on Blu-ray for the very first time in North America. Carol Hammond, the frustrated wife of a successful London lawyer, is having bizarre, erotic dreams about her uninhibited neighbor, Julia Durer, who presides over noisy, sex and drug filled parties in the house next door. One night, Carol's dreams culminate in violent death and she wakes to find her nightmares have become reality - Julia has been murdered and Carol is the main suspect. This frightening discovery is just the beginning of a labyrinthine psycho sexual shocker which takes the viewer on a wild ride through a series of frequently breathtaking set pieces that set new standards for the Italian thriller.
  This first US Blu-ray release of the film, taken from the original negative, is the longest, uncut version currently available and comes with a host of exclusive extras. Directed by controversial film maker Lucio Fulci (The New York Ripper, House by the Cemetery, Zombie), Lizard in a Woman's Skin is considered by many critics to be his finest achievement.

  While I would probably say that THE BEYOND is my favorite Fulci film, LIZARD ranks right up there near the top for sure.   This film is quite a bit different from Fulci's other films that focus on more gore and shock.   This one really doesn't have that much gore to speak of, but don't let that turn you off of this film.   While the film doesn't focus on the gore, there are still a few great scenes including one with some dissected dogs that was almost too disgusting to stomach!

  The film has some amazing imagery and some fantastic dream sequences.  While I won't pretend I understood everything that was happening at all times, I enjoyed seeing it happen non the less.   The dream sequences were very moody and atmospheric and felt like an arthouse style of film at some points.  

  This one was a lot different that a lot of his films, but I can't stress enough how much I enjoyed it.  This is a must see for any Fulci fans out there!

  A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN is available now from Mondo Macabro and CAV Distributing and contains the following special features:

*  Brand new HD transfer from film negative
*  Shedding the Skin - documentary
*  Dr Lucio Fulci's Day for Night - directed by Antonietta De Lillo - interview with Lucio Fulci
*  Interview with writer Stephen Thrower
*  Interview with actor Tony Adams
*  Audio commentary with Kris Gavin
*  Two original trailers
*  Radio spots
*  Italian/English Language/subtitle choices

CLICK HERE to watch the trailer
CLICK HERE to purchase the Blu-ray

 

 

 

DVD Review: THE WIFE KILLER (1976)

THE WIFE KILLER
Written by  Thanos Leivaditis
Directed by Kostas Karagiannis (as Dacosta Carayan)
Distributed by Mondo Macabro / CAV Distributing

  I am a big fan of foreign horror films, but one country's films I am not very familiar with is Greece.   In fact, the only Greek horror film I could name you was ISLAND OF DEATH.  Well, now I can add a 2nd film to my Greek knowledge.   The film is called THE WIFE KILLER, or DEATH KISS as it was originally known.  I honestly don't think I would classify this as a true horror film.  It is more of a Giallo type crime film in my opinion.  Here is the basic plot of the film from the CAV website: 

Penniless playboy Captain Jim is in hock to his rich older wife, Helen. She has even bought him the fancy yacht that now bears his name. But Jim does not want to be Helen’s toy boy any more. He wants to marry his lover, Laura. He pays a psychopathic killer of women to murder Helen so that he will inherit his wife’s millions. But the psycho killer has his own plans. Suspecting Jim will double cross him, he engineers a complex scheme that will give him the upper hand. Very much in the style of the violent and baroque “Giallo” thrillers from 1970s Italy, The Wife Killer is a twisted, shocking and brutal exploration of the devious male psyche. Previously only released to cinemas in a cut version, this is the first official DVD release of the film in the U.S., complete and uncensored.

 As I mentioned, this is not what I would really refer to as a true "horror" film, although there is a lot of killing and blood.  The film is a crime drama, and a very good one at that.  I must admit, when I first started watching this film, I was afraid it was going to be a very boring, dull film, as it starts off very slow.  Stick with it, though, and you will be rewarded with a very entertaining film, full of plot twists and some great double crossing by the likes of the killer.

 While this won't be for everyone, if you are a fan of crime dramas and particularly 70's Italian Giallo films, you will definitely want to give this film a watch.

THE WIFE KILLER will be available on DVD August 18th, and will contain the following special features:

- Brand new transfer from film negative
- Uncut Version
- Greek/English audio choices
- Newly created optional subtitles
- Extensive production notes
- Interview with producer
- Documentary on Greek Cult Cinema
- Trailers
- Mondo Macabro previews


CLICK HERE to pre-order the DVD