Inferno

The first of Dario Argento movies to become a video nasty in the 1984 UK cleaning up of the movie industry is the 1980 movie Inferno. The second part of a trio of movies that began with Suspiria and ended with Mother Of Tears (AKA Il Terza Madre – The Third Mother) ; the story is also Argento’s most disjointed, dull, and utterly beautiful movie of his career, all aspects meet like a terrible train crash, and despite the overall dullness you cannot help but keep watching.

On opposite sides of the world brother and sister Mark and Rose unearth a terrible secret based in a book called The Three Mothers, by coincidence they are both dangerously close to buildings that purport to be gateways to hell. While one will die, the other is left to pick up the pieces, solve a riddle and hopefully get away alive.

This Italian offering is like a who’s who of Italian movie stars, led by a couple of little known American movie stars in the form of Leigh McCloskey who plays Mark Elliot and Irene Miracle as his sister Rose. While most of the Italian cast are a little slapdash in their appearances being chucked in here, there and everywhere but with little actual use to the story. Gabriele Lavio appears and is quickly despatched to the other side, while Daria Nicolodi pops in and out of the story as she sees fit.

I’d like to say my confusion over Inferno was down to my ill-understanding of the movie but this is not the case, and sadly one I see raised in a number of reviews online. Even though the story is a little disjointed in both its cast use but in its general storytelling, the movie remains incredibly popular with Argento fans because there really is something about it.

The late great Lucio Fulci believed that actors were a secondary issue when it came to film making, he claimed their ability to act was not a key factor providing the suspense was right, and to a certain degree he was right from 1978-1983 he made a short run of some of the most infamous horror movies of all time, I can’t help that believe that when shooting began in 1980 Argento took part of this onboard, now I’m not saying that the actors in the movie are bad, simply that they are a secondary aspect in the movie, which is driven by incidents, lighting and special effects. When none of the previous aspects come raise their heads then Argento bangs in with a beautiful musical score. What is lacking in the movie is real depth, there are some great story ideas, like the book, and the two houses, both of which are surrounded by suspicious characters. But what fills in the gaps, what takes the movie forward? To be honest very little and it seems like Argento has become confused and caught on a split road between following Fulci and American director David Lynch.

There is another unusual factor about Inferno and that is in its music. Despite great collaborations with progressive rock band Goblin, and with the acclaimed composer Ennio Morricone Argento choose to go elsewhere for his music signing, heading instead this time to British rock band composer Keith Emerson of the band Emerson, Lake and Palmer. Emerson delivers a typically inspired piece of Argento music, jazzing up classical legends as well as injecting his own style to the movie. What is odd however is that of all the movies factors, the soundtrack is actually the biggest driving force.

Inferno was banned in the UK because of a scene in which a cat eats a mouse. Interestingly enough far gorier scenes were left in, including a scene in which a disable man drowns some cats, then having fallen over rats he is slowly devoured by them, calling for help a local roadside cafe owner comes running over, only to hack the disabled man’s head off with a knife.

Argento’s unique style is felt all over the movie, he choice of lighting, buildings and other structures make for a world you might never see in real life, it’s very 1970’s but also very good. Inferno rather like the previous chapter Suspria is like a moving work of art, the result being visually something that most popular directors aspire to.

Argento’s creepy characters like a disabled professor and his wacky nurse make for great viewing, but as I touched upon earlier all these characters were badly used. What is nice is the addition of Fulvio Mingozzi who was in most of Argento’s movies up until 1984’s Phenomena; like Suspiria here he plays albeit briefly a taxi driver, who like in most Argento movies never says a word.

New York Ripper

In the 1970's a director best associated with comedies and musicals began making horror movies, that director was Lucio Fulci who was and still is one of the most influential men in shaping modern horror. His successful movies The Beyond, Zombi, House By The Cemetery, and City Of The Living Dead were landmark zombie movies. But not content to rest on his laurels Fulci was pushing into new styles of horror, his intention to make horror possible in a realistic sense. The result of this was The Black Cat, and New York Ripper both the sort of horror we could encounter every day.

New York Ripper (Lo Squatatore Di New York)begins as it means to continue, an elderly man throwing sticks for his beloved dog is rather mortified to discover his dog returns not with a stick but with a hand, luckily or unluckily for the owner the hand is not attached to anyone.

Lt. Fred Williams (Jack Hedley) is called in to solve the case, but then a cyclist is found murdered on the Statten Island Ferry, killed in the most brutal of ways. The chief of police (a cunning cameo from director Lucio Fulci) insists that Williams gets to the bottom of the killings sooner rather than later "We don't want another Atlanta!" he warns, and with that seemingly gives Williams the keys to the New York Police's bank account.

Having hired the best genius around to help him solve the crime Williams has to literally wait for the killer to strike again. But when he does there is not much to go on except that the killer talks like a duck. Meanwhile a sexually liberated woman tours New York's most seedy dives looking for sex, a well to do woman with a reputable husband her need for sexual gratification take her closer and closer to the killer.

To help you build up an image we have a killer that talks like a duck, and as we later discover has two digits missing from his right hand; nice image?

I cannot say that New York Ripper is a real high point in horror history, its rather seedy reputation is actually far stronger than the menace it delivers; before I saw the movie some 8 years ago the film to some degree was almost like a myth. When you looked on the internet you could find pictures of graphic razorblade torture and sexual activity; website realmofhorror.co.uk gave me the best insight in the form of the trailer, which allowed for a certain feel to the movie. Sadly my eagerness to see the movie was met with a kind of cold and unworthy story, that sexually is incredibly risky compared to other movies, especially when death often occurs by things being forced into a certain part of a woman's body. This is not a movie that overly inspired me, however having watched it yesterday in its slightly edited form (for the first time I may add, always seeing it uncut before) I kind of had a greater appreciation for the film. The aspects that annoyed me no longer did and the story, which at times before I felt jutted in and out of context seemed far more fluid.

Before I go on I should say if you find movies like Jeepers Creepers, Scream, or the Freddy or Jason movies a little bit scary or graphic even in a cut form this is not a movie you should be seeing. Although the effects are not always so special, when a razor blade strikes you see it enter, cut and exit. You also see a rather painful finger slicing that is incredibly plausible and believably realistic.

Shot on the hoof so to speak in New York, the movie shows a pretty accurate view of New York back in the early 80's. It shows the classdifferences, the devastation and almost wasteland as industry has left the city for more rural locations. There is nothing clean looking about the majority of the movies locations. In case you wonder about my on the hoof comment as was commonplace with Italian horror movies no permission was gained from the places they filmed, certainly when out of the UK. Often filming took place by literally people jumping out of the car filming a few shots and then heading off before the police arrived; this is blatantly obvious here by the length of the outdoor scenes.

The cast is an interesting gathering Jack Hedley's name might ring a bell because not only was he in For Your Eyes Only, but he also played General Von Karzibrot in Allo Allo. Paulo Malco who plays Dr Paul Davis recently starred in the ITV's version of A Room With A View. While the movies toe pervert (you need to see it to believe it) is played by 24's Josh Cruze. Granted not names you might think "oh yeah I know" but certainly faces you will know.

The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue

When it comes to Euro Horror, Italy by far leads the way; a close second however is Spain. During the early 1970's their short lived victory paved the road ready for Italy to roll through. During this time movies like Tombs Of The Blind Dead were great success stories but in 1974 No profanar el sueño de los metros, or Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue as it was known in the UK became the best known of the Spanish/Italian  horror epics.

George is owns an antiques store in Manchester, for the weekend he plans a trip to Windermere to visit a new house he has purchased as a retreat from society. On his trip he encounters Edna who accidentally reverses her car over his motorbike. George insists that Edna takes him to Windermere being as the accident was her fault. However on the journey Edna persuades him to detour to a nearby town where she needs to visit her sister by a certain time.

Having arrived near the beautiful riverside home of her sister, George goes off in search of directions from a nearby farm in order to make the final short distance. But while he looks for directions Edna encounters Guthrie the local down and out, who not only terrifies her, he launches an violent attack on her. Having managed to escape Guthrie Edna is reunited with George and a local farmer, who identifies by description Edna's attacker; the only thing he finds difficult to comprehend is the fact that Guthrie has been dead for a week.

The Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue is a movie that is known by more alternative names than any other; alternative titles include Breakfast At The Manchester Morgue, Let Sleeping Corpses Lie, Don't Open The Window, and interestingly enough Zombie 3 (interesting as it received this title before Zombie 1 and 2 were even made). The movie was influential in the fact that a Zombie movie had never gone into such graphic detail before. There are lengthy scenes of organ eating and flesh being ripped open. But its most acclaimed special effect was a recently autopsied corpse complete with stitches falling open that turned the stomachs of audiences world wide. Even now 33 years after the movie was made the special effects can at times be very graphic, although you are fully aware that these contents were probably purchased that day down the local butchers.

While the special effects have stood the test of time the movie has not, it's a considerable time into the movie before things have kicked off, I'd say about 45 minutes. And unfortunately the movie has been dubbed into English and the accents and dialogue are hard to swallow. Having endured the terrible voices for 45 minutes by the time things have started you have almost lost all interest. Most annoyingly George, a Manchester Lad has a broad Michael Caine style East End accent.

The action is very drawn out, with periods of 20 minutes between incidents, culminating in a massive crescendo of blood and guts during the last 8 minutes of the movie.

One of the most annoying parts for me for the movie was the dramatically increasing size of the town they are staying in. What starts off as a 100+ dwelling location, soon develops into 500 and then 1000. The reason for this is down to the fact that like a lot of Euro Horror no permission was ever sought for filming locations. So the filmmakers would turn up in a location, film as much as they could before piling into their vans and running off before the police caught up. When of course the police caught up or got close they would have to move on to other locations in order to finish the movie. Luckily they had managed to film the lengthier scenes uninterrupted. The effect of this obviously made the picture look a bit dysfunctional. And this overall issue scars the movie heavily.

Another annoying issue is the fact that in this rural location Edna's sister is revealed to be a very popular drug abusing prostitute. But its obvious that it would be very difficult to peddle either of her vices in such a town. Its also odd that the town has such a massive police force, as most of us are aware most rural locations in the UK only have one or two police officers and historically always have, but this location has police officers, scenes of crime officers and CID. Not to mention the fact that they all bare arms.

Living Dead At The Manchester Morgue for me is one of the most boring of all Euro Horrors. While it wins some wars it fails on so many other fronts. It a real heavy going journey of a movie that will leave you cold for the most part; not cold from fear I should add, cold from boredom. Its poorly scripted, poorly cast, poorly acted, and incredibly poorly dubbed. If you're a completes freak that's into horror then it's a valuable addition to your collection, failing that it's a pile of pap that will sit on your shelf for a long time before seeing the light of day again.

Who Saw Her Die?

I absolutely adore Italian cult movies; I also rather enjoy the movies that UK based Shameless Screen Entertainment release, but imagine my delight when I discover that one of my all-time Italian thrillers Who Saw Her Die? Is getting a long overdue UK release, not just with a glossy print but with some long missing footage reinserted. It is like one of my greatest dreams come true, and luckily for me those nice guys over at Shameless sent me a copy of the movie to watch prior to its release on the 25^th August, enough to tide me over until the movie is out to buy.

 

Made all the way back in 1972 Who Saw Her Die? Starts with one of the most disturbing openings I have ever seen, nestled in the beautiful snow filled French mountains you see a young girl enjoying herself with her nanny and her sledge. From out of the trees looms a figure of a woman with a veil covering her face. Grabbing the young girl, the woman proceeds to smash her skull in with a stone before burying her rather carelessly under the snow. Moving forward 20 years, we are teleported to Venice in the 1970’s; and the arrival of Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi) who has come to stay with her father Franco (George Lazenby) is about to cause history to repeat itself.

 

The movie is a product of the great Aldo Lado the mastermind behind Night Train Murders, and The Short Night Of The Glass Dolls, Lado is not necessarily the best know of the Italian directors especially to the casual Italian movie viewer, but familiar or not you’d certainly agree Lado’s movies have a certain style about them. Here Lado shows a side of Venice that the Italian tourist board would not like you to see, looking dowdy and dirty you can almost smell the dirty Venetian water, add to this a vision of darkness, rain, fog, and cloud cover that you do not think of when Venice enters your mind. Everything about Lado’s outlook of Venice is dark and sinister and not the image you get with movies like The Talented Mr. Ripley or Nicholas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now even though this is hardly sun filled; on the subject of the Roeg masterpiece I’d go as far as to say that I suspect that Roeg took a little inspiration from this movie as you can easily spot similarities between the two movies, while Roeg painted a harsh image of Venice, Lado’s version is far more extreme and explicit. Now don’t get me wrong, Lado’s vision is not all dark, there are some most beautiful scenes in the movie, for those with a passion for travel, history, and architecture this movie will make you want to visit Venice even more, what is carefully delivered however is the thought “be careful what you cannot see”.

 

Lado scored well with his leading man acquiring the services of George Lazenby (former James Bond) for a song due to his incredibly high debts (caused due to his dramatic over the top spending while filming On Her Majesties Secret Service), and while Lazenby was criticised for his poor acting on Bond and his lack of sex appeal, he was still a big enough name to ensure that Who Saw Her Die? Got a few more bums on seats in cinemas across the world. I should add that if you thought Lazenby lacked sex appeal before, seeing him naked here is not going to improve your views. Sex appeal or not, this movie does prove that the world was wrong about Lazenby and certainly here he proves himself to be a very capable actor. There is a little more Bond-age here in the casting of Adolfo Celi who starred as Emile Largo in the James Bond movie Thunderball. Celi or rather his character of Serafian a sort of Mafioso boss manages to dominate the entire movie, as a shadowy and untouchable criminal mastermind, a man with fingers in many pies.  Fear not ladies it’s not a male dominated piece and the casting of enchanting Swedish actress Anita Strindberg with her devastatingly striking looks finishes the lead cast off perfectly, an actress who young in her career had already starred in two very successful Italian movies Lucio Fulci’s A Lizard In A Woman’s Skin, and Sergio Martino’s The Case Of The Scorpions Tail; few actresses have the powerful look of this actress, let alone the very capable acting skill as she plays a woman in mourning.

 

I have now seen Who Saw Her Die? A dozen times, and reviewed it now for the third time; what I love about the picture is that there is a wonderful power that the movie has, forget the horrible story of a child killer, and the further sideline of a depraved group of perverts; the movies great talent is that by the time I watch the movie again I have completely forgotten who the killer is, making Who Saw Her Die? A movie that you can watch again, and again. How many movies do you know that feel fresh with each repeated watching? And how many movies grow in power with repeated viewings? I won’t deny the first time I saw this movie I could take it or leave it, but now it makes its way to the top of my list for all-time favourite movies. From its gruelling story, its impressive visual delight by its director Aldo Lado, onto its rather impressive score by Ennio Morricone, this is an all round winner.

 

About The DVD

 

Shameless have again gone out of their way to preserve the movie well, it’s in my view a far superior print to the US Anchor Bay edition released some years ago, and greatly improved by the additional seconds of footage, and English subtitles over a couple of scenes previously un-dubbed and without text translation. At last I get to see what it is the creepy kids are singing about in an Italian variant of “Ring A Roses”.

As you progress through the movie there are a few things I had not noticed before, aided by what appears to be better framing. The movie boasts a 2.0 soundtrack, and a frame ratio of 2.35:1.

 

The cover features a front image of a hand holding a knife above a corpse the cover text reading “Before Don’t Look Now Came... Who Saw Her Die? But Who Will Survive To Tell The Tale?” As has become tradition with Shameless Screen Entertainment releases there is an alternate reverse cover featuring a child like picture with a photo of the character Roberta superimposed on it.

 

There are some trailers on the disc starting with The Designated Victim a release due on the 8^th of September and a movie that has never been seen in the UK before. Strip Nude For Your Killer is a classic Giallo thriller by the director of The Nights Of Terror, another future release is Umberto Lenzi’s long unseen Oasis Of Fear also due out with the other two titles in September. As well as a look at the future there are trailers for Night Train Murders, What Have They Done To Your Daughters, and The Black Cat.  There is also a trailer for Who Saw Her Die? That captures perfectly the magic of this spectacular film.

Of all the releases from Shameless this is by far my favourite, despite my love of The Frightened Woman, congratulations Shameless on bringing one of my all time favourites to DVD in the UK. You can purchase Who Saw Her Die? From the 25^th of August.