FRANKENSTEIN '80

(Mario Mancini, 1972)



Professor Schwartz has just perfected a serum that will significantly delay or even eradicate the rejection of transplanted organs. He keeps it in the fridge. The night before he is to perform a heart transplant on a young lady, the serum is stolen; as a result, she dies. Her brother, reporter Karl Schein, begins an investigation into the theft. A comparison of notes with the police tie the theft to a recent string of murders in which the victims have had internal organs removed. Strange, but it plays out more like a Jack The Ripper giallo than a Frankie flick to start.



Already known to the viewer is that Dr Otto Frankenstein is responsible for the missing organs and serum. His creation, Mosaic, requires regular transplants as his new organs are always rejected. Mosaic's brain is also in the process of decomposition, which results (apparently) in bursts of murderous rage directed mostly at strippers, hookers, and the homeless. Karl and the police are first led to Otto's niece Sonia (Dalila Di Lazzaro), then to Frankenstein himself.



Even with a reporter, the police, and the other doctors getting too close for comfort, Frankenstein continues to patch up his creation... only to have it turn on him and run amok for the last bit of the film! How's that for gratitude?



This is a tasty little nug, with gore aplenty and enough necrophilia to raise the dead (haw..get it? ya, I know...) In what other Frankenstein movie does the monster rape someone? Ok, I'm sure there are others, but...Don't even pretend to throw your hands up in horror! You should know how tasteful and subtle these films REALLY are! The cast, though woefully unattractive (with the exception of Ms Di Lazzaro, who was later cast in Flesh for Frankenstein and The Pyjama Girl Case), provide even acting throughout. Far from a perfect film, but it's already become another of my favorites. It's also easily obtained online, on Amazon anyway.



Buy It

STAGEFRIGHT aka Aquarius aka Deliria

(Michele Soavi, 1987)



Here we have a true horror classic, Italian or otherwise. Produced by Joe D'Amato, partly written by George Eastman, directed by Michele Soavi, and starring Barbara Cupisti, David Brandon, and Giovanni Lombardo Radice...can't go wrong!



The story goes something like this: A group of youngish actor/dancers are rehearsing for an amateur production (and by amateur I mean...just watch the opening dance number!) The leading lady (Cupisti) sprains her ankle and sneaks out with the wardrobe mistress to get it looked at...which takes them to a psych ward, the nearest medical facility. A particularly deranged inmate escapes, hitches a ride back to the theater with them, and kills the wardrobe girl. Her body is discovered, and after the police have left the troupe are coerced into continuing with the play in an effort to cash in on the murder. The coked-out director (Brandon) gets a notion that no one should leave the theater until the morning, and has one actress lock the doors and hide the key. Guess which actress is the next to be murdered?



The film doesn't get going until well into the second third, but when it does, it doesn't let up. The poor crew get stabbed, chainsawed, drilled, cut in two, and beheaded by our owl-masked friend! One unfortunate soul gets a pick-axe through the mouth! So what makes this a more effective film than say, Friday the 13th (any of them)? For one, the characters aren't just two-dimensional fodder. Care was taken to create realistic, sympathetic individuals. That's not to say that they are all likeable, though! They actually think too, and take care to arm themselves and stick together. It's a pity it doesn't work out for them.



The other thing I really appreciate about Stagefright, or any of Soavi's films, is the photography and editing. His films are slick and frightening at the same time, and there are genuinely tense scenes that will leave you holding your breath. He, like his mentor Dario Argento, has the ability to make death a thing of beauty. There are a few rather tongue-in-cheek scenes, my favorite being when one character is being drilled through a door. A bottle of bright red stage blood shatters on the floor, creating a pool of artificial gore onto which drips the much darker real thing. Also humorous is the ending, but I won't give that much away. I highly recommend this as one of the first films you should watch if debating whether Italian horror is for you.



Buy It

A WHISPER IN THE DARK

(Marcello Aliprandi, 1976)



This beautifully shot film tells the tale of a Camilla, whose son Martino has an imaginary friend named Luca. What bothers her is that Luca was the name she gave to a child lost during pregnancy, and "Luca" seems rather protective of her. It's a rather basic premise that would be stretched to the point of tedium were it not for the moody soft-focus camerawork by Claudio Cirillo.



As a slightly dry ghost story, A Whisper In The Dark works. True, there are some rather cheesy and NOT frightening moments (the frog in the tub is a hoot!). On the other hand, a few scenes are tense or...haunting? The small noise made when Camilla and the nanny are home alone raised the hairs on the back of my neck! And somehow they managed to capture that empty, creepy feeling left behind after a great (and bizarre!) celebration.



The story may seem a bit simplistic, but upon closer inspection (with consideration paid to the symbolism) it takes on darker notes. It pretty much boils down to the fact that kids are creepy, and jealously possessive undead ones are worse! What I like most about this film is that we never actually see a ghost, and most of the bizarre occurrences can be rationalized.



This film won't be for everyone. As I previously mentioned, it is rather slow, with very little action. I believe all the action is pretty much captured in the screen shots posted here! There isn't a big payoff for the long wait, either. If you are, however, fond of dark, atmospheric mood-movies, then check it out. I don't believe it's been re-released yet, but used copies seem to be abundant on Amazon and Ebay.

MADNESS aka Gli Occhi Dentro

(Bruno Mattei, 1994)



Too little, too late, Bruno! This might have been groundbreaking if it had been released in 1981, before Tenebre, but alas... Tenebre came first! Why do I keep mentioning Dario Argento's beloved Giallo Tenebre? Probably because that's exactly what Mattei rips off almost in its entirety here!



Giovanna is a successful comic strip writer, creator of the immensely popular Doctor Dark series. An insane fan starts killing people the same way as the Doctor Dark character, leaving their eyeballs for Giovanna to find. The media are quick to condemn her work, and the police question her about the deaths (to which she replies, "If they kill someone with an electric drill, do you take it out on Black & Decker?"!!) Like I said, if you've seen Tenebre, you know EXACTLY who the killer is in the first 5 minutes!



That being said, Madness is still a guilty little pleasure. It retains that naive 80s low budget charm, though filmed in '93. It's a little sad that Bruno hadn't made more Gialli, as he clearly did have an eye for color and imagery. The deaths are nice and bloody, and we get to see a few eyeballs first pulled from the socket, then sliced out with broken glass! The soundtrack, also obviously Tenebre-inspired, isn't half bad either. Sadly, this doesn't amount to much when you KNOW HOW IT ENDS 5 MINUTES IN!! And the killer's motive for the murders is absolutely ridiculous!



This is recommended for completists only, and it's just as well as this title is extremely difficult to track down. Mine's an old VHS rip I managed to dl a while back; still waiting for an official release!