Horrors and (a little) more smut

Closing out the month of July is this quick tally of new reviews and additions to the archive. In the categories of erotica, sexploitation, and smut we have:

- Anita / Anita - ur en tonårsflickas dagbok (1973), Torgny Wickman’s Swedish pseudo-docudrama of a nymphomaniac (Christina Lindberg) going head-to-head with a sympathetic psych student (Stellan Skarsgard!)

- The Nightcomers (1971), Michael Winner’s long unavailable prequel to Henry James’ classic novel The Turn of the Screw, starring Marlon Brando and Stephanie Beacham as two naughty lovers manipulated by two rotten children. From Lionsgate.

- Song of Love / Un chant d’amour (1950), Jean Genet’s sole directorial effort, released in a splendid 2-disc limited edition from Cult Epics.

And for horror fans, we’ve added the following:

- Grimm Love (aka Rohtenburg) (2006), Martin Weisz’ auspicious and controversial feature film debut (available in Region 2 and 4 DVDs), along with his unfortunate American debut, The Hills Have Eyes 2 (unrated 2007 edition) from Fox Atomic.

- The Hills Have Eyes Part 2 (1985), Wes Cravens’ own self-mocking (I hope) poke at the slasher genre with amazingly daft villains and victims. (Yes, this is the one with flashback to the first film by a German Shepherd.) From Image Entertainment.

- Primeval (2007), a good B-flick that stumbles into total idiocy. Features a lad named Jojo who wants to go America. From Buena Vista, who haven’t had much luck in jumping in on the horror bandwagon.

Into the archives, we’ve added a film review of The Caller (1987), a more successful two-character thriller starring Malcolm McDowell and Madolyn Smith that achieves more mood and plotting than Nacho Cerda’s gorgeously lensed but completely shallow The Abandoned (2006).

For film music fans, there’s also reviews of two new titles from Italy’s DigitMovies: Nico Fidenco’s La Ragazzina (1974), and La Tigre è ancora viva: Sandokan alla riscossa! (1977) by Guido and Maurizio De Angelis. And from MovieScore Media, there’s the gorgeous soundtrack to The Rocket Post (2004), by Nigel Clark and Michael Csányi-Wills.




- MRH


Technorati Tags: DVD Reviews

The Deep Dark Woods

This week's main theme is the evil that lies within the woods, previously exploited in giddy, gory detail by Sam Raimi in the first two Evil Dead films, and recently in Dante Tomaselli's Satan's Playground, and J.S. Cardone's Wicked Little Things - the latter part of Maple/Lionsgate's After Dark horrorfest series.

The last entry in After Dark's shocker octet is The Abandoned, Nacho Cerda's musty supernatural thriller set in rustic Russia, which kicks into gear when a woman visits the house she's been bequeathed, nestled in the damp forest on a gloomy, circular island. Also from Maple/Lionsgate is Haunted Forest, a feature film by Mauro Borrelli (perhaps best-known as an illustrator on several Tim Burton films), about a group of treasure hunters slowly being picked off by a vengeful Indian spirit in a mountainous region of the U.S.

To round off the woodsy theme is Lucky McKee's ill-fated studio debut, The Woods, which remained unreleased for several years after the sale of MGM/UA, and an executive shuffle just didn't know what to do with the picture. (Coming soon will be an interview with McKee's longtime composer, Jaye Barnes Luckett, and a review of her new compilation CD which features a suite of unreleased and demo cues from The Woods.)

Also new to the site is a review of Peter Yates' play-drama, John & Mary, starrring then-newcomers Dustin Hoffman and Mia Farrow, and a review of The Spaghetti West, a short but memorable chronicle of the spaghetti western genre that's enjoying a resurgence on DVD.

We've also added two film reviews into the archives: Bluebeard / Barbe-Bleue (1951), and Henri-Georges Clouzot's Manon (1949) - two films starring Cecile Aubry, the waifish French actress imported by Hollywood to appear in Fox' The Black Rose (1950) with Tyrone Power.

Coming next are a series of space documentaries & jazz concerts from MVD Visual, new soundtrack reviews, and an interview with Murray Gold, the composer of the BBC's brilliantly giddy Doctor Who series.

- MRH