UNTIL DEATH aka The Changeling 2

(Lamberto Bava, 1987)

It's a pity Lamberto is known mainly for his Demons movies, as his other horror efforts are quite entertaining and underrated. His Gialli are some of the most brutal (yet stylish), his psychological horrors effective, and his slasher movies...well, you know. Until Death, originally made for Italian TV, falls into the realm of psychological horror with a dash of the supernatural.

Linda and her abusive partner Carlo murdered Linda's husband eight years ago and have been running a bed and breakfast ever since. One stormy night, a handsome young drifter named Marco stops by and asks for a room. Linda is smitten and invites him in, to Carlo's dismay. Instead of leaving the next morning, Marco stays on and helps Linda around the house to pay his keep. Though attracted to him, Linda is also repulsed and frightened as he seems to know a lot of details about her former husband. Her son, plagued routinely by nightmares of his father's rotting corpse, also takes a liking to Marco. The question is, of course, who or what is Marco, and why does he know so much about her husband? Watch and find out!

This is one of Bava's finest films, derivative as it may be. There's decent acting, effects, soundtrack by Simon Boswell, and snazzy camerawork. The tension/ violence between Carlo and Linda, as well as the sexual tension between Linda and Marco, keep things interesting and add some dimension to what would otherwise be a standard tale of ghostly revenge. The scare scenes, though incredibly tame and relatively blood-free, are still fairly effective. It's Bava's use of lighting and music to create a dreadful atmosphere that provides the real chills, and anyone who puts him down in comparison to his father Mario might do well to see this, Macabre, and A Blade in the Dark to see how deftly Lamberto manipulates these elements.

Definitely a Must-See, even for late 80s Italian horror, and available on DVD thanks to MYA Communications. Go get it!

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SPECTERS aka Spettri

(Marcello Avallone, 1987)



Here's another entry in the pantheon of late 80s Italian horror. It is one of the two horror films ever directed by Avallone, the other being 1989's Maya. In brief, it's about the discovery of a set of sealed-off passages in the catacombs below Rome that lead to an ancient sarcophagus that contains an old Horned God. We'll forgive them, because the good people of 1987 probably didn't know that you shouldn't just go traipsing about the burial place of an elder god. They get angry and such.



This one is most definitely a guilty pleasure. Even during the opening credits it felt like I was watching some lost, forbidden gem. It has Donald Pleasance. It has eerie synthesizer music and eerie 80s hair. It has wind and fog machines up the wazoo, and even has a monster in a rubber suit!



Oh, and the dub job...oi! Other than Pleasance, everyone is a chore to listen to. When one girl gets stuck in a windy tunnel with rats she Gag-Scream_moan-things for about an hour. And then nothing happens to her! At least she could have died after making all that racket!



The one thing Marcello Avallone did manage to accomplish with Specters and Maya was to create a genuinely creepy atmosphere and some oddly stunning visuals. Don't get me wrong, these films are PURE style over substance, and are hampered by the usual shoestring budget and lousy acting. But they're funny when they fail and engrossing when they work.



Recommended, though you may have trouble locating it. I admit I bought a secondhand PAL and PRAYED it would play all the way over here in Canada...and it did! Best of luck to you diehards!

TENEBRE aka Unsane

(Dario Argento, 1982)

Oh, how does one review Tenebre and do it the justice it so very well deserves? Keep the words short and let the pictures do the talking!

American writer Peter Neal (Anthony Franciosa) is in Rome to promote his latest novel, Tenebre. An insane fan has begun killing off what he refers to as "perverts", "thieves", and "spies" in manners described in Tenebre, and soon threatens Neal himself. The police, as usual, are little help, so Peter, his agent Bullmer (John Saxon), secretary Anne (Daria Nicolodi), and his assistant Gianni take up an investigation of their own.

Sounds cute, right? Some consider this Argento's response to the American slasher film, which means it has some VERY gory set-pieces and still feels distinctly Italian. The story is quite clever, though some may feel that it takes too long to get through certain scenes, or that Dario injected too much humor into it. I am of the opinion that the slow pacing actually works, as it gives more impact to the rapid bursts of excessive violence.

Argento went in a new direction visually with Tenebre. It is a very bright film, with white or neutral interiors, wardrobes, and lighting...really just a big canvas onto which he splatters a lot of red! A very early 80s look.

Finally, about the soundtrack...Though it's not performed by the WHOLE Goblin lineup, I would have to say the Tenebre soundtrack is actually quite enjoyable in an early 80s drum-machine-and-vocoder kind of way. I actually bought it. SOOoo worth it. Ya, the movie's worth a watch too!

Buy It