Reazione a Catena: a Bay of Blood

Even for slashers there's a first time.

2016 is proving to be a very sad year for fans of pop culture as they're seeing their precious childhood memories butchered by heartless Hollywood producers. Before I decided to review Rezione a Catena I watched Batman: The Killing Joke hoping to find a fantastic animated adaptation of Alan Moore & Bryan Azarello's groundbreaking graphic novel, I found nothing but a kitsch parody, just like our previous entry. 

You know who else butchers? Every character from today's review! Mario Bava's masterpiece, Reazione a Catena (Chain Reaction) AKA a Bay of Blood AKA Twitch of the Death Nerve is one of those films that deserve to wear the "unique" ribbon label from our humble blog. How many movies have you watched where every single character in it gets killed in the most brutal possible way? How many movies have you watched that hold the title of first slasher film ever? fasten your seat belts for  today's review!

A death rich lady.

an all-seeing eye.

The definition of a horror film hasn't been the same since Reazione a Catena premiered in 1971, and chances of its influence ever completely receding are next to nil. The first film to exploit its body-count as the main reason for viewing, the flick even hits the ground running (or wheeling rather), with the first two of its thirteen ghastly murders occurring in the first scene alone. Besides the high mortality rate of the characters, and Bava's diabolical tunnel vision of the carnage, another not so easily noticeable (yet perhaps most lasting) influence of this film reliance on set pieces to reach its sadistic goal. Every murder is methodically, systematically designed for optimum shock, and the film's cameraman (Bava himself), art director, actors, writers, editors, FX men, etc., all play their crucial and individual parts to perfection each time, thereby making each piece stand alone like masochistic movements in a sadistic symphony.

Said actors run the gamut from fallen icons of World Cinema (like Isa Miranda), and ex-Bond Girls (Thunderball's Claudine Auger), to Laura Betti, and a Brechtian spaghetti western star (Luigi Pistilli). The writers include none other than Dardano Sacchetti, who had just recently penned Argento's Cat O' Nine Tails, and would go on to give Lucio Fulci one of the finest scripts of his career – The Beyond. Carlo Rambaldi, who would go on to win two Oscars for Alien and E.T., created the then-state-of-the-art special effects. I suppose I should mention the story line, which is often attacked for being inconsequential, illogical, irrational, impossible to sort out, or simply the odious ex machina to simply get from one murder to another. I find it all pretty simple to explain myself – I don't see what's so difficult to understand. Bava's penchant for cynicism and his fascination with humanity's dark side has never been more apparent than on this film, whose plot concerns greed, real estate, the raping of the environment, and revenge.

I wanna buy that bay no matter the cost honey.

The smell of death is upon us, dear.

All the action transpires around a beautiful, undeveloped bay and its surrounding picturesque landscape/acreage, whose owner (Isa Miranda) has been murdered. Those who wish to convert the entire area into a fashionable resort now threaten the forests and natural life. But just who is the real heir to this potential fortune now? And who won't stop at nothing to own it all, or to preserve the land's natural state. Throw in some sex-crazed teenagers who stumble and wander where they shouldn't belong, and you've got the makings for wholesale slaughter. Beheadings, faces cleaved in two, necks gouged apart, bodies run through with spears & tridents, flying pots of boiling water, hangings, strangulations, bodies being blown to shotgun bits – Reazione a Catena's got it all! Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas said it best, "…the horror genre had seen nothing quite like it before – and it's seen very little unlike it ever since." Touché. As with his work on I Vampiri and Black Sunday, Bava likely had no idea that what he was making would change the course of horror film history. Reazione a Catena was a film for which Bava was especially proud – the body count, the blatantly offensive amorality, the over-indulgent carnality, and the ludicrous lump of unlikable characters.

All these things were purposeful commentary on Bava's part – to take a stab at the industry, the genre; to see what he could do with a little bit of money; to push the envelope; to push the buttons and watch people's reactions. Such are valid and fun reasons for doing what he did. Little did Bava know that this film's genius would be singularly responsible for a whole bevy of '80s crap, including Friday the 13th,Part II's blatant theft of two of Twitch's death scenes. Argento's Bird and Bava's Reazione a Catena were the nails in the coffin for the first half of Italian Horror's heyday. The dark, alluring fantasies were now gone. No longer would the plots be semi-innocent, or quasi-Victorian. No more wandering through fogged graveyards and abandoned castles. Though Bava continued to make some work of merit in the '70s (Baron Blood, Lisa and the Devil), never again would he find himself at the forefront of the genre he almost single-handedly created. The future belonged to perversion, degeneracy, gore, hysteria, cannibalism, Teutonic witches, zombies and Goblins…lots and lots of Goblins.

Death is here to stay.

The very first teens to be slashed on the big screen.

The story has it, legendary film maker Dario Argento loved the film so much, he had a friend (who was a projectionist) steal him a print of the film during its first run in Italy. The theater ended up showing Blood Brides (1970) to replace the stolen print for the remainder of the film's run there (about a week and a half according to Argento. He possesses the print to this day).  

The film not only had numerous release titles, but also several working titles throughout the production. Among them "The Stench of Flesh", "Thus Do We Live To Be Evil" and "That Will Teach Them To Be Bad". "Reazione a catena" was the final choice for the local release. 

One of the re-release titles for this film was "The Last House on the Left Part II", even though this film has nothing to do with Wes Craven's The Last House on the Left (1972). In fact it was made a year earlier than "Last House".

Splitting headache.

Together forever.

The origin of the film was Mario Bava's desire to work with Laura Betti again. Betti had previously appeared in Bava's Blood Brides (1970) and the two had gotten along so well they concocted the premise of this film for another project together.  

The film's low budget resulted in Mario Bava being his own cinematographer. He had to utilize a simple child's wagon for the film's many tracking shots. Due to the film's low budget, most of the locations in the film belonged to director Mario Bava or members of the crew. The interiors of Countess Federica's home was shot at a favorite villa of Bava's and the interiors of Frank Ventura's country house were shot at a summer home owned by the producer. 

The 1971 Avoriaz Film Festival jurors awarded the film the Best Makeup and Special Effects Award. Carlo Rambaldi's effects work also earned the film a "Special Mention" Award at the prestigious Sitges Festival in 1971.  

That's the biggest cock I've ever seen!

I better hurry to get some Vaseline to stick it in with ease.

Although nudity is one of the key elements in a slasher film, Reazione a Catena only features a single scene where we are able to see gorgeous men magazine model Brigitte Skay sporting nothing but her curves and blonde pubes. Coincidentally, her character is the first to witness something terribly wrong is going on near the abandon mansion  but just before she's able to tell her friends about it, she's bloodily terminated, and so will her friends. Brigitte passed away in 2012 at the age of 72. During the 70's she would star several Italian exploitation films such as Man of the Year (1971), San Babila 8 P.M.(1976) & La Bestia in Calore (1977)  among others.

According to IMDB, Reazione a Catena is probable the number one film of all time to have a lot of different international titles. Some of the titles are: A bay of Blood, Blood Bath, Bloodbath Bay of Death, The Antecedent, Blood Bay, Twitch of the Death Nerve, Carnage, The Last House on the Left II & Ecology of a Crime, not to mention titles in other languages!

Brigitte Skay, the blonde bombshell.

You got something on your sweater, let me get it for you.

Overall, Reazione a Catena is a film that goes straight to the point. With a very simple plot involving every character in one way or another, this film is a total murder feast that I'm sure slasher fans and connoisseurs in general have already watched many, many times. If you've never heard about this movie but enjoy watching Giallo movies and horror movies from the late 70's and early 80's this film is definitely for you. If you've never watched a slasher before (I doubt it in 2016 but...) This film would be a great appetizer to a very interesting genre. 

In case you're concerned about the murder scenes and how graphic they are, well, there are far worse than Reazion a Catena if you're faint of the heart.

Anyways, here's the movie trailer, and please make sure you watch it in Italian because the English dub isn't the best.

Ghostbusters 2016

Who you're not gonna call?

Alright, while our latest entries have all been about cult Italian cinema, We decided to take a break from the wonderful film makers from Pasta country and decided to give a try to Ghostbusters 2016. Hated even before its conception, this new take on the 80's nostalgia classic already has four Teen Choice Awards nominations: Best summer movie, best male movie star (Chris Hemsworth) and two best female movie star (Melissa MacCarthy & Kristen Wiig) meaning absolutely nothing, cause awards are just that, awards. Whether this film nails one or the four nominations, is irrelevant, and in words of legendary Grunge rocker Eddie Vedder "I don't know if this means anything" (referring to the one time Pearl Jam won a Grammy for the "Spin the Black Circle" single in 1994) Art shouldn't take part in a popularity contest but, is Ghostbusters 2016 art? Let's find out!

First of all, the troll rage this film suffered was out of this world! I mean, how can people criticize something they haven't seen before! Man! the world is crazy fucked! and not even the entertainment industry is safe from bigotry. The original Ghostbusters film are remembered as 80's cult items! people worship these films as if they were some kind of twisted religion, so you better not mess up with my original films! Honestly, what a bunch of crap! is it because there's four women in the lead roles? is it because there are no original characters returning from the  80's on their wheelchairs and adult diapers? is it just because? is it because fuck you? Seriously, nobody cares. Movies are a personal experience, just like sex or music, so despite the fact this blog posts opinions about films, we always encourage you, the viewer to take matters on your own and decide according to your enjoyment what's to like and what's not to like. 

Girl power.

You can't sit with us.

Anyways, here goes nothing Ghostbusters 2016 is the reboot nobody was asking for, and that is not because the movie is bad, it's just the same thing that is happening to other movies, series, cartoons & anime from the 70's, 80's or 90's: They happened in a very different world, with a very different kind of fandom. Most grown ups, would say "those were the days" when it comes to comparing what they had as growing kids, with what today's kids have now. Maybe this movie, is like the Ninja Turtles movies, or the Transformers movies: Not for everyone, specially not for those deeply infatuated by nostalgia and/or retro pop culture. If you want to see "the real thing" as hardcore fans would say, well, grab those DVDs and play them for the 100th time on your DVD player. Nevertheless, there are interesting cameos and great references to the original films (I won't spoil them for you here)

The movie opens with a quick explanation on who is who in this new film. Erin Gilbert (Kristen Wiig), quantum physics teacher is the new "Peter Venkman", she's written a paranormal activity book about her beliefs in Ghosts along with Abby Yates (Melissa MacCarthy) who is replacing the original "Ray Stanz" character. Some random meaningless character ask them out to check an apparently haunted mansion, and there they meet their first real life (or real dead?) ghost. Aided by do-it-yourself technology geek Jillian Holtzman (Kate McKinnon) who evidently pays homage to the cartoon version of "Egon Spengler" they embark on their quest to show the world ghosts are real. Later they're joined by Patty Tolan (Leslie Jones) who experienced paranormal activity in her former job and eventually resembles and fills "Winston Zeddemore" position in the team. Once they realize they will need extra help, they hire Kevin (Chris Hemsworth) a lazy as fuck secretary that resembles nothing the original Janine Melnitz. 

The new proton pack.

The new ECTO-1.

The plot is pretty straight forward: some wacko has built a device capable of creating a portal between the world of the living and the world of the dead, and the new Ghostbusters must find a way to stop him before it's too late and the world is taken over by ghosts. Now, if we talk retro Ghostbusters, whether is the two films or the cartoon, the plots didn't differ from this new take. The cartoon ended up being derivative but that didn't stop producers from trying new animated series. 

I think this reboot pays respectful homage to the original films in many ways, and the cameos with the original cast are really good too, so I don't see why there's a lot of butt hurt people all over the internet. However, what I do see is that the acting of the leads does seem forced to a point where the characters become parodies of themselves pretty quickly, so you can't take them seriously for too long. Also, the jokes. While some of them are funny, most of them are not as they cross the line between good and bad taste several times. You know, I'm not and old fashion fuck, we review a lot of dirtier stuff, it's just that some jokes either seem out of place or trying too hard. 

Hi, miss ghost.

I'm a DC Comics guy.

The special effects are standard CGI for this day and age, and although they're good, there's nothing new to say about this over rated technology. What I did like about this film, is how the team comes together. Unlike the original films, here there's more time spent seeing the group getting together, trying out their new toys and even not being able to afford the rent of a very familiar old firefighter's HQ. More time for developing characters is always a good thing for any kind of genre. The problem here is again, the excessive amount of unnecessary jokes, that does not allow the characters to stop being one dimensional. Even Chris Hemsworth's character is dull and one dimensional, despite the fact he is meant to be funny, we get the exact opposite due to the constant one dimension thing. These characters stay the same through the film from start to finish. 

Ghostbusters 2016 may be a great experience for newcomers, younger generations and people who have never seen the original movies (very unlikely) Having one dimensional characters strongly suggests this film was made for kids who are used to watching cartoons where the key characters have a single distinctive personality, that allows you to go to the fridge and back without getting lost in translation. If that is the intentional case of director Paul Feig, then this movie is definitely aimed at younger audiences that will crave the official merchandise after leaving the theater.

Rockstars? really?

Ghost orgy!

Is this reboot entertaining? Yes, it is. Is this reboot a masterpiece? No, it isn't and neither were the original films. Let's face it, these movies, the sci-fi genre, the super hero genre, the teen movies, all of these films have one thing in common: Marketing! these are 100% commercial films that will not only thank you for buying the theater tickets, but also will try hard to brain wash you enough to buy the home video version and lots of merchandise. I went window shopping with my wife today, and saw a pretty cool Slimer toy with sounds. See? these commercial films are not necessarily meant to be master pieces.  all these flicks work as a bridge between the film makers and your wallet. We're living a time where quality no longer applies to the film & music industry. I mean c'mon! Lorde? the only Lorde I like is the one from South Park which sarcastically criticizes the music industry as a farce.  The movie industry is no different, we're constantly told the same stories over and over with slightly minor changes, and we either don't care or don't tell.

The film industry is light years from what it once was. Reboots & remakes have been torturing us for too long now. If you can't come up with something new, try harder! we're tired of new old versions! If Ghostbusters 2016 was doomed from birth, it is merely because it is yet another remake/reboot nobody asked for. The movie industry has given us so much! there are so many great flicks that have trespassed the generational barrier for decades, so why a reboot? why a remake when the original is still fresh and as entertaining and groundbreaking as it was when it premiered years ago?

Slimer had to return!

Yes, the ghost from the Ghostbusters logo.

Now, if we try hard, and simulate the previous Ghostbusters films never happened, this reboot would make way more sense, and it would even be considered as very original horror comedy. Believe you me, this reboot is entertaining, the action scenes, the way the plot develops, some scary sequences, and a few jokes are actually very good, but as an overall experience, this is one of those films you'll forget about as soon as it's taken down from theaters worldwide. After all, a reboot cannot possibly offer anything that hasn't been done before. Had this film premiered in the late 90's, it would have been a better experience for sure. Today, in 2016 we're sick of remakes and reboots. On a yearly basis we're getting five to six films based upon something from the past with a 21st century cynical original twist. I'm not being overly critical here, I'm being realistic, and that's something I suggest we all do or sooner than later the movie industry will be all about reboots, remakes or rip-offs. Art is supposed to be creative, original and revolutionary and Ghostbusters 2016 is yet another mediocre attempt. Hollywood, please! stop investing in reboots and remakes! we're tired and want new stuff!

Oh, wait! Ghostbusters 2016 does have "new" stuff! um, well, not really, not in the original ideas department at least. Once our heroes are done, the credits feature after credit sequences, or more like within credit scenes that suggest a sequel could be on its way despite all good sense. Now don't get me wrong, the film has its moments, it's just that there are very few of them.

Here's the movie trailer:

And here's the awful as fuck updated Ghostbusters theme song by an even shittier band nobody gives a fuck about:

   

Buio Omega: Beyond the Darkness

Dark Dusk.

Following our Italian trend we give maestro Fulci a rest to allow  another maestro to delight us with one of his best movies: Buio Omega (Dark Dusk) AKA Beyond the Darkness, is a 1979 Joe D'amato horror film. Joe D'amato is a well known cult Italian film maker who's specialty is to imitate massive Hollywood blockbuster with his personal touch, of course. His filmography is so vast and varied that he has almost tried every genre you can think of. Horror, softcore, thriller, Giallo, porn, you name it!

Regarded as his tour de force movie, Buio Omega, tells the story of rich orphan Francesco Wyler, a spoiled kid who can't part ways with his recently demised girlfriend Anna Völk (Cinzia Monreale steals the show in a very special kind of role) In order to move on with his life, his nanny, Iris (Franca Stoppi) will do whatever it takes to help Francesco, and by "whatever it takes" she means doing all sorts of nasty things only perverted minds would enjoy. 

Death won't keep us apart.

Mr. Taxman.

D'Amato's notorious horror film is a glorious amalgam of Poe (The Premature Burial), Franju's Les yeux sans visage, Hitchock's Psycho and the furthest reaches of Freudian psychology, with the Oedipus complex finding its climax in an act of castration by the mother imago. It's a compelling and repellent film, an astonishing feat of visual storytelling and an overwhelming mesh of stunning cinematography, fierce editing and driving disco-infused score courtesy of The Goblin. D'Amato manages to both create one of the most punishing nasties in the horror cannon whilst at the same time leaving us with some truly visionary images of twisted love, obsession, death and decay.

The story, unlikely to the rational mind but with the clarity of a dream, tells of a young orphaned heir to a fortune, living in a mansion and spending his time at his favorite pursuit, taxidermy. His insane governess/surrogate mother colludes with an occultist to put the voodoo on the heir's fiancée, causing the beautiful girl's death, which coincides with a kiss he gives her on her hospital bed. Breastfeeding by his governess does little to console our hero, so he disinters his beloved's corpse, brings it home and stuffs it as he has been stuffing various animals. Yet, as so often in drama, one crime leads to another and another, as various young women have to be dispatched after they stumble on his secret. But this state of affairs can't continue, and society in the shape of a greedy mortician who witnessed the body stealing gradually catches up with him, but normality is only restored by the death of our hero and his mad "mother"; her last act is to castrate her errant son.

Are you happy now master Francesco?

I could do this all day.

The heir's predicament is visceral and in some ways universal. He wants rationality and normality but is thwarted by the governess, who represents dark forces and old magical ways (there's a touch of Medea about her). Her spell prevents him from being with his perfect love, but she aids and abets him in maintaining the embalmed corpse of that dream, at the same time as protecting him from the outside world. One extraordinary scene has the heir bringing a young woman into his bedroom and making love to her in the bed next to the stuffed cadaver of his betrothed – he ruts on top of the new girl whilst staying fixated on the old, and when the new girl notices the corpse in the bed, she screams and meets her end by being ravaged, bitten and partially devoured by the crazed young man.

The taxidermy sequence is stomach-churning in its explicitness, and was notorious at the time of release because of rumors D'Amato had used read corpses in the filming. Cuts are explicitly studied by the camera, entrails are unraveled from the stomach, the heart is removed, kissed and bitten into by the love-sick male. To love somebody is to love their body, but the implications of this when the body is deceased is a horrific extension of the loving instinct, and what gives the film its power. The film concentrates on the fate of the body after death, with burials, cremations, dismemberments, taxidermy, rendering in acid all shown in lurid detail. The film is partially about the sea changes that these processes wreak on the body. The most striking of these is the acid bath, where the fleshy corpse of a victim is submerged only for the head to rise again, just a pair of eyes in and a ragged mop on a grinning skull, the death's head. The rendered remains are finally poured into the garden, to disappear into the ground of an unconcerned nature. The film confronts the most terrible truths about death, the body, desire and warped human relationships, and shows us no way out other than death.

Aren't you tired of bringing teenage girls here, master?

Acid: better than soap.

Eventually, the dead fiancée's sister shows up at the mansion and things come to a head. The heir seems to realize that the living thing is better than the dead, but the governess won't allow this, emblematic guardian against life that she is, and she runs at the heir with a knife looking exactly like Norman Bates dressed as his mother. The knife cuts into the young man's sex, the fruition of that castration anxiety which Freud posited as a deep-seated fear in boys and young men. He and the crazy faux-mother rip and bite each other, bringing both of them to their doom. The mortician finds what he takes to be the stolen corpse, and returns it to its coffin, but it's the living sister (mortified into a state of paralytic shock), and she finally bursts from the grave, maddened with horror.

That crazed lady escaping from the jaws of death, reborn from the coffin, is the visual paradigm of the audience at the end of this stunning film – a movie which truly takes us beyond the darkness and brings to light the rotten, the warped, the weird and the dissolutions which we'd prefer not to be confronted with, except in the genre of horror, of which this is surely a masterpiece. 

an eye for an eye?

Jogging kills.

Buio Omega, premiered in the USA in 1984. The original VHS release came in two different editions, the Italian edition, which features extended plot scenes, while lacking several of the gory scenes. On the other hand the German VHS featured every gory scene but lacked the extended plot scenes, of course, both of this editions are long gone out of print. Fortunately, the film was re-released on DVD a few years ago and you can still obtain a copy of the fully uncensored edition. 

Despite the gory hype this film has, the graphic violence sequences are brief, and not as many as people tend to think, and that's where D'amato's creativity peaks because, each scene is carefully crafted to add to the perverted atmosphere in which Francesco & Iris spend their days and as matter of fact, Iris' complicity with Francesco seems to go back a long time  because every time they have to get rid of a dead girl, it seems like the most natural thing to do. Cinzia Monreale, steals the show as Anna. Although she's playing dead 90% of the movie, she does a tremendous effort to keep her eyes from blinking, and breaths very slowly to avoid her chest from being noticed, playing dead for as long as she does is trickier than it seems. Unfortunately, her career wouldn't last that long and clearly, this film along with The Beyond are her greatest parts.  

Death never looked this beautiful before.

Shit just got real!

Overall, a must watch just because it's the birth of the gore genre and its one of the finest Italian horror movies ever filmed. Nevertheless, do yourself a favor and try to watch it in its original language, since most of these Italian films were awfully dubbed to English, significantly diminishing the essence of the characters thus inevitably affecting the plot, because Buio Omega is a horror movie based upon the twisted minds of its characters, so nothing beats original language when it comes to captivating the viewer's mind.

Here's the movie trailer and be careful where you go jogging, you could be the next victim of a twisted couple...

Bonus video, "Goblin" the official theme song to the film:

Paura nella città dei morti viventi: City of the Living Dead

From the bowels of earth...

Having been one of the lucky bastards who spent his weekends browsing through several video rental stores, I'm talking 70's & 80's here, I can firmly state the VHS era allowed an entire generation to discover hidden gems that didn't make it to your local movie theater. Like the internet is today, these wonderful rental stores, where the go to when you wanted to feast on more obscure movies.

Paura nella città dei morti viventi, AKA City of the Living Dead, is a 1980 horror zombie slasher directed by the great Lucio Fulci. While, some people would think of him as a Giallo film maker, others, like me, discovered his 80's films first, so in a way you were under the impression of a single genre film maker. Luckily, I had some really good video stores back in the day. This movie is also known as The Gates of Hell. 

Deadly reflection.

Let's play hangman!

Starred by the beautiful Catriona Mccoll (who'd later collaborate with Fulci on The Beyond & The House by the Cemetery) City of the Living Dead  is a clever zombie horror film unlike what most casuals of the genre would think. One of the many themes Fulci explores on his films is Catholic/Christina religion, and how the stereotypical vision of it can be used fictionally to convey a deeper message: Religion is violent, vicious, misleading, dangerous, and more evil than Satan himself.

So, the story has it, a priest from the small village of Dunwich, has killed himself in the local cemetery in order to open a gate to hell so that the dead can rise again and, well, kill everybody to bring eternal darkness back to life once and for all. This sacrilege is foreseen by a group of Ouija enthusiasts, thus, enabling the movie plot to exist: Find the small village of Dunwich and close the gate from hell before it's too late. Mary Woodhouse (Mccoll) & Peter the journalist (Christopher George) head to the little town to save the day only to find a doomed village full of witchcraft stories and a scared to hell population. Obviously, evil unravels, people begin to die (in the most graphic way I might add) and the ultimate battle between good and evil will decide the fate of humanity for good.

a girl comes back to life.

She's crying for life.

Unlike The Beyond, where Fulci intentionally wanted a horror movie going straight to the point without too much explaining, City of the Living Dead, takes its time to develop the story, something that allows the characters to have a more consistent presence in the film ultimately leading to a more serious horror film. When it comes to the special effects department, Sergio Salvati did an excellent job as the director of photography. Although some scenes are too dark, due to the video limitations of those years, most of the film is still well photographed. The scenes with the camera moving around town are eerie with their light blue white fog and empty streets. The shots of the underground cemetery is one of the film's eeriest parts. The camera in this film, as in Fulci's other horror films, forces the audience to take a hard long look at the carnage occurring on the big screen.

The make up effects are done with flamboyance by Gino De Rossi as Gianetto De Rossi was not available to do the effects. 

The most awesome scenes I can think of, on this film, are four. First, the accurate scene where a woman pukes out her guts (I read somewhere Fulci once studied to be a doctor before turning into his passion, hence the careful work put into the death scenes) . Second, the drill through the head scene (no further explanation needed). Third, Mary's claustrophobic burial scene and last but not least, the rising of the dead in the underground cemetery, which sort of, makes you feel how empowered the dead are and how miserable our heroes are.

 

You still like blonde girls?

Someone's got a headache.

Catriona MacColl's debut in a Lucio Fulci film is splendid, she's a natural scream queen. City of the Living Dead brings back a few elements from Don't Torture a Duckling. One, the murderers in the two films are priests (yeah! mindfuck Church Fulci's style). Two, Bob, the special needs workshop kid, is wrongfully accused of murder and brutally assassinated, just like what happened to the equivalent character in the Duckling movie. Three, the film takes place in a desolated and isolated town. Four, in both films a reporter and a blonde woman are the main characters, the more you know! haha!

Overall, City of the Living Dead is one hour and twenty minutes of pure classic horror, like the one only the 80's could deliver. No CGI, no dead teens, no viral trends, just pure gory horror with great music and just the exact amount of story telling, and if you live in a small foggy town, be careful! Go watch it now!

Here's the movie trailer:

  

E tu vivrai nel terrore! L'aldilà AKA, The Beyond

This movie screams Satan!

E Tu Vivrai nel terrore! L'Aldila (And you will live in terror: The Beyond) AKA The Beyond is a 1981 slasher made by the always versatile, Italian maestro Lucio Fulci. In the late  60's & 70's he gave birth to an interesting collection of films in the likes of the Giallo genre but, once he felt he was done with it, he embraced is darkest most creative side by filming some of the most disgusting, bloody horror flicks of all time. In The Beyond, and I'm sure fans will agree, Fulci goes full slasher with a story that is so well written and acted, you'll believe the seven gates of hell are real! 

Unofficially, fans place The Beyond as the second movie in the seven gates of hell trilogy which began with 1980's City of the Living Dead, followed by today's entry and concluded in The House by the Cemetery. However, each of the three films are standalone features that neither work as prequels nor as sequels, the thing is, hardcore fans, see these films as a part of a bigger universe because they have similar plots pertaining to the "seven gates of hell" concept.

a mysterious satanic book (I want one!)

a gorgeous blind bombshell & her best friend.

The 80's spawned a lot of horror films featuring graphic brutality, the special effects that were once state of the art production, today may seem blatantly dated but, still there is a sense of disgust that remains when watching this flicks despite noticing the falseness of the rather crude and modest molds used to emulate people dying. Watching these kind of films today, diminish the author's intention due to the massive CGI overload of recent years in cinema but, only an idiot would watch a movie just because of the special effects. Nevertheless, The make up effects are very good. Despite the low budget, Giannetto De Rossi's work delivers. The effects are done with flair and pizazz. Giannetto De Rossi did his best when working with Fulci.

The cinematography is spliced with atmosphere and style. Sergio Salvalti contributes to the film's gothic flavour. The cinematography contains a dreamish flow that makes the film beautiful. The score is one of my favourites for a horror film. The score fits perfectly with the scenes in the film. As good as anything done for Argento by Goblin. Actually, I dare to say, the music within the film is the best work you can listen to in a horror movie. The dark baritone voices with the synthesizers deliver true Satanic sounds that are nowhere near being your typical horror film score. The music message in this film is a celebration of the darkness, a tribute to satanic rites and Satan himself. I'd definitely say the soundtrack is a close contender to that heard in the Omen's trilogy (why we haven't reviewed those classic films yet is beyond our understanding) 

"Hush little girl, you're dead anyways"

it's time for the dead to rise!

The Beyond according to Fulci himself, is "a movie with all the horrors in the world. Its a plotless film, there's no logic to it, just a succession of images". He also said, "In Italy we make films based on pure themes, without a plot and The Beyond like Inferno refuses conventions...people who blame The Beyond for its lack of story don't understand that it's a film of images, which must be received without any reflection" and that's exactly what makes this film a fantastic one hour and thirty minutes thrill ride through the gates of hell, I mean, do you not like the fact that you're watching a film that is an allegory of evils, demons & satanic rites? this is a fucking masterpiece! Nevertheless, there is a plot within. 

Blond New Yorker Liza Merrill (Catriona MacColl, a usual collaborator of the Fulci's universe)  inherits a defunct hotel in Lousiana and plans to bring it back to life in order to make some money out of it. As soon as she sets foot in the hotel, people begin to die for the most awkward reasons. Later, she meets Emily (Cinzia Monreale, my god! so beautiful! why are all Italian actresses so beautiful!) a blind girl who seems to know what's behind the mysterious deaths in the hotel. Obviously, some time must pass until Liza realizes the awful truth: the hotel is one of the seven gates to hell, and everyone that stays in it long enough, will suffer a brutal death in the hands of Satan's minions just because!
And what could be more evil than pure evil for no reason? Well, nothing!

I can feel your presence you demonic schizo!

Liza, you have to get out of the hotel before it's too late.

Chilling Italian terror flick full of screams, chills, thrills and lots of blood and guts. Gory, gruesome , pretty repellent , and ghastly gore feast in which the stumbling stiff dead are reanimated and committing astonishing murders . This is a classic excruciatingly splatter film in which the intrigue,tension, suspense appears threatening and lurking in every room, corridors , cellar , hospital , morgue and many other places . 

Reviewers are divided over both the morals and talents of Fulci, who sometimes directed under the alias ¨Louis Fuller¨. For some critics many of his movies are cruel and shockingly violent, yet their gory surface often conceals religious, social commentaries or intelligent issues. Usually, film makers instead of telling in your face what they think about the current state of the world, rely on other cinematic and artistic elements to state their personal beliefs on a big chunk of human issues. 

Don't worry, these fuckers can eat lead anytime now!

My god! that acid you gave me sure was powerful!

Now, let's take a look at some of the trivia for The Beyond:

-'The Book Of Eibon', featured prominently throughout the film, is the creation of American pulp fiction author, poet and fine artist Clark Ashton Smith and is a recurring text associated with the so-called "Cthulhu Mythos" cycle of literature. The book, which deals with various arcane subjects including the resurrection of the dead, demonic magic, parallel dimensions and other black magic subjects is alleged to have been imparted to the infamous necromancer Eibon by the ancient devil-god Tsathoggua in a remote prehistoric epoch. 

 
-Swedish shitty glam rock band Europe based the song 'Seven Doors Hotel' from their first album on this film. The lyrics are a basic retelling of the plot of the film. The song became a big hit in Japan, and is still a popular track at their live shows.  

-This film was never seen in America in its uncut form until 1998, when Grindhouse Releasing tracked down the original master and restored the film, playing it at midnight shows at selected cities. Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures released the restored DVD.

Gorgeous Cinzia Monreale.

Beauty in the nude.

Overall, The Beyond, is one of those must watch films for any serious horror/giallo/Italian fan. Watching the film today, 34 years after it's original release, will take you back to the time horror films were meant to scare and disgust at the same time. The man-made special effects give the film a crude vibe that works for the better despite the dated techniques. Go watch it now, and be careful! next time you may be spending a night at one of the seven gates of hell!

Here's the movie trailer:

And here's the brutally good "Voci Dal Nulla" theme: