Check To The Queen (1969)

aka Scacco Alla Regina.

Highly stylized art exploitation movie from director Pasquale Festa Campanile.
 Young housewife Haydee Politoff agrees to be the personal maid to glamorous actress Rosanna Schiaffino while succumbing to increasingly frequent daydreams involving s&m/bondage.

 Becoming more and more submissive she eventually becomes a willing slave wanting nothing more from life than to serve her mistress.
 The two leads are both excellent in their sub/dom roles with Politoff managing to remain emotionless yet still conveying a sense of naive fragility, a complete opposite of the character she portrayed in Interrabang.
 All wrapped up in a suitably psychedelic lounge score from composer Piero Piccioni that is just fantastic this almost unknown film deserves to find a wider audienceand step out of the shadows of obscurity.



Street Law (1974)

Franco Nero is on top form here as a robbery victim frustrated with the inaction of the police who decides to take the law into his own hands.
 Obviously inspired by the success of Death Wish director Enzo G. Castellari has crafted an action packed thriller that gives Nero a chance to really go to town with his put upon character.

 Barbara Bach plays his long suffering girlfriend and Giancarlo Prete is the small time crook desperate to leave a life of crime and start his own garage, (you just know that's not going to end well).
 A fabulous score by the De Angelis brothers contains a couple of cracking songs
that are particularly memorable and will require another listen.
 Also released as Vigilante 2 but in no way connected to William (Maniac) Lustig's
Vigilante.

La Marca del Hombre Lobo (1968)

The film that made Paul Naschy a star and also introduced us to Waldemar Daninsky his tortured wolfman character.
 It has the look of a Hammer movie with gothic castles and dungeons although actually set in contemporary times, the photography is sumptuous and colourful and the music owes more than a nod to James Bernard's lush melodies.
 Spanish horror regular Rosanni Yanni has a small role as a gypsy but most of the cast were unknowns to me other than Naschy.
  Not an exceptional film but an important one nonetheless, modern Spanish horror really started with this and love him or hate him Paul Naschy became an icon as a result.

The Cursed Medallion (1975)

aka The Night Child.
  A very enjoyable horror film from director Massimo Dallamano obviously inspired by the demonic possession movies that flooded the market after the success of The Exorcist.
  Edmund Purdom is the  British professor who takes daughter Nicoletta Elmi and nanny Evelyn Stewart with him to Italy to film his documentary on demonic paintings for the BBC. Joanna Cassidy is his producer and love interest while Lila Kedrova is the eccentric countess that warns of the impending danger but is naturally ignored.
  There's some pretty supenseful moments especially among the ruins of the old mansion and Elmi is a quite exceptional child actress while Stelvio Cipriani provides a fantastic funky bass heavy score that has to be among his best work.
 It's proves again that Dallamano was one of the more consistently entertaining Italian
directors of the period, what with this and the two 'What Have' movies.
Will have to seek out more!!                                                           

Byleth - Il Demone Dell'Incesto (1972)

Mark Damon stars in this decidedly average Italian period horror movie as an unstable duke with incestuous feelings towards sister Claudia Gravy.
 Director Leopoldo Savona doesn't hold back on the flesh content with softcore fumblings abound, it's just a pity he didn't concentrate more on the suspense elements as it may well have made the movie
a lot more entertaining.
  To be honest i've never been a fan of Damon and this does nothing to change my opinion, a film i think that will be quickly forgotten.
 

The Case Of The Scorpion's Tail (1971)

Fantastic movie from director Sergio Martino that stands as one of the finest Itallian giallo's in my opinion.

 The plot itself is pretty standard, an insurance investigator looks into the death of a business man who's wife inherits a million dollars after his demise in a plane crash. What Martino manages to do though is create enough interesting characters, plot twists, red herrings and bloody murders to keep the viewer guessing right to the end as to who the knife wielding black gloved killer is this time around.

 The cast is a veritable who's who from the genre and includes:

                                  George Hilton

                                  Evelyn Stewart (Ida Galli)

                                  Anita Strindberg

                                  Janine Reynaud

                                  Luigi Pistilli

                                  Alberto Mendoza

                                  and the unmistakable Luis Barboo

A fantastic score from Bruno Nicolai helps crank up the tension and ranges from almost Goblin like guitar riffs at the beginning to his usual lush orchestral melodies towards the climax.

  The London and Greek locations are used to great effect and the cinematography is pretty stylish throughout, something Martino's movies always manage even when the plots have let him down in the past.
  Not sure that it could be called a classic but it IS essential viewing no doubt.

Seven Deaths In The Cat's Eye (1973)

A visually sumptuous old dark house gothic giallo from director Antonio Margheriti starring Jane Birkin, Anton Diffring and  Serge Gainsbourg.
  Somebody is killing off members of the MacGrieff clan in this Scottish set tale and suspicion falls on 'mad' son James (Hiram Keller) and his pet gorilla (strangely also called James).
  Gainsbourg plays a supporting role as the local police inspector with a great Scottish accent and Diffring plays his usual suave but unlikeable character he does so often in these movies.
 Riz Ortolani contributes an effect and atmospheric score that compliments Margheriti's stunningly composed camerawork.
 Can't recommend this one highly enough, a must see.

 

Diffring in a fantastically framed shot from Margheretti.

Gainsbourg questioning the cast in his best Scottish accent.

Thrilling Story (1975)

aka Giochi Erotici di una Famiglia Per Bene.
  Highly implausible and totally unbelievable giallo starring Donald O'Brien, Erica Blank and Malisa Longo.
 Written by Italian sleaze master Renato Polselli for director Francesco degli Espinosa (Enzo Matassi) it has everything you would expect  from one of Polselli's own movies, nightmares, drug induced hallucinations and the obligatory sapphic shenanigans.
  It has a certain charm in it's trashiness and at under 80 minutes doesn't overstay it's welcome but the end result is still a mess.
  On  more than one occasion scenes cut from day to night and back again for no apparent reason, continuity is not strong here.

Interrabang (1969)

Very stylishly shot Italian murder mystery from director Giuliano Biagetti with a great soundtrack
from Berto Pisano (supposedly a copy of the lp sold on ebay for $1000 before the CD re-release).
  Three models are stranded on an island when their boat breaks down just as a dangerous convict
escapes from police custody, is he the man they encounter on the shore or not?
  The plot sounds pretty standard but there are enough twists along the way to keep you hooked and an ending that i never saw coming at all.
The three leads are all incredibly photogenic and the scenery quite stunning, this is a beautiful film to look at no doubt.

The Glass Ceiling (1971)

El Techo De Cristal.
 This strange claustrophobic Spanish movie from Eloy de la Iglesia director of the notorious Cannibal Man is part kitchen sink melodrama and part giallo.
  Carmen Sevilla believes neighbour Patty Shepard (a Paul Naschy regular) has murdered her husband and fed the body to her landlords dogs, but has she really or is it all in her overactive imagination.
 A real slow burner that builds to a perfectly ambiguous ending this is a hugely underrated and virtually unknown Spanish movie that deserves to be equally as well known as the director's more famous 'video nasty'.

The Sister Of Ursula (1978)

An incredibly sleazy giallo from director Enzo Milioni starring Suspiria's Barbara Magnolfi that really doesn't have much to recommend it.
 The usual black gloved killer is on the loose in a coastal hotel with a choice of weapon that has to be seen to be believed.
 The flesh quota is cranked up to the level usually found in a Jess Franco flic and indeed a few of the shots around the hotel and coastal locations reminded me of any number of Franco's films. There's also a very Rollinesque (?!) scene in an underground cavern that while stylishly shot feels out of place and as a result just adds to the overall disjointed feel of the movie.
 Not a high point in Italian cinema that's for sure.

L'Isola Delle Svedesi (1969)

Also known as Twisted Girls and No Man's Island this rarely seen Silvio Amadio effort is a fairly enjoyable melodrama with thriller elements.
  Catherine Diamant and Ewa Green star as friends whose relationship becomes obsessive and deadly when an abusive boyfriend arrives on their ideal mediterranean island.
  Beautifully photographed by Joe D'Amato who started his career as a cinematographer before turning to directing and featuring a lightweight but effective score from Roberto Pregadio it's certainly not as an accomplished movie as Amadio's excellent Amuck but is definitely worth a watch.

Wolfguy: Enraged Lycanthrope (1975)

This Sonny Chiba flic finds our star playing Inugami, an investigative journalist who also happens to be the last living member of a clan of  werewolves.
 Director Kazuhiko Yamaguchi serves us yakuza gangs, shady government organisations, cursed singers and and gore by the bucket as victims are ripped apart by invisible tigers in what he police label 'spectral deaths'.
 Disappointingly we never see Chiba as a werewolf but do get to witness his super strength and healing powers alongside his usual fighting prowess.
  It's not a great film by any measure but is a diverting 90 minutes and an interesting curio in Chiba's body of work.