Nero veneziano (1978)

... aka: Blind Offer
... aka: Black Venice
... aka: Damned in Venice
... aka: Venetian Black

Directed by:
Ugo Liberatore

Damned (which was never officially released in America) joins the ranks of WHO SAW HER DIE? (1972), Don't Look Now (1973) and GIALLO IN VENICE (1979) as 70s genre pics taking advantage of Venice locations. Despite how scenic the city is, it's also apparently a very rainy and overcast city, which effectively influses all of the aforementioned films with an oppressive and dreary atmosphere. Young Mark (Renato Cestiè), a blind orphan, has been having scary visions / premonitions of a stoic man (Yorgo Voyagis) lurking around carrying a cane (with a retractable blade hidden inside) and a beautiful, mysterious woman (Olga Karlatos) who seems to be stalking him. Mark and his frustrated sister Christine (Rena Niehaus), who's dating struggling artist / tour guide Giorgio (Fabio Gamma), are currently in the custody of their grandmother (Bettina Milne), but when she dies in a freak accident in church involving a candle, they learn they have other relatives in Venice and travel there to meet them. Both their Aunt Madeleie (Karlatos again) and Uncle Martin (Tom Felleghy), who currently owe a run-down boarding house, behave strangely and are clearly hiding something from their niece and nephew. But what?

Mark's visions of phantoms soon escalate into visions of murder. He sees the strange man stab his aunt in the chest. She later dies of a heart attack. After their uncle hangs himself, Mark and Christine inherit the boarding house and she begins renovating it. Their first customer is Dan, the same man from Mark's visions. He wastes no time nuzzling up to Christine, but takes off before things can get too heated. Even though the two never actually have sex, the virginal Christine ends up pregnant anyway. A priest (José Quaglio) convinces her to keep the child, marry Giorgio and go on with their lives. Christine refuses to have sex with her new husband, but a slew of her new female friends who are suddenly always around are glad to offer up their services any time he's in the mood. Still, Mark's prophetic visions of death, which seem to always come true, prompts Giorgio to investigate the bizarre goings-on. He finda parallels to the strange events in the bible and begins to think the baby he's helping to raise may be the antiChrist.

Clearly this Italian production, originally released as Nero veneziano ("Venetian Black"), borrows much from American genre films like ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968) and THE OMEN (1976), to name just a few sources. That said, it's well-made, has some effective scenes and deserve credit for adding a few new twists to the formula. One interesting touch is a well located in the basement, which is rumored to have healing waters that can cure the crippled or sick... or blind. When it's first opened, rats and snakes come crawling out. People Mark see being killed sometimes turn up later on living, but they may just be an illusion. Worms come out of the sink, wine tastes like blood and there's gore (a priest getting decapitated by a boat propellor, a maggot-infested dead dog, a nail hammered into a head...), nudity and lots of boat rides through the canals and funerals. Damned also boasts a great score from Pino Donaggio, which alternates elegant classical compositions with distorted and abrupt sounds.

It's not all great. The film has some pacing problems. It starts out rather slow, then tries to cram a lot in at the very end. The mid-section is also highly repetitive; annoyingly so at times. There are too many set-ups to mention that follow the same exact trajectory. Mark has a vision. No one believe him. Mark wanders off somewhere by himself. Sister (who is peculiarly awful to her poor brother throughout and doesn't seem to mind doing sexual things in the same room with him) later finds him and bitches that she's sick of having to chase him around all over the place. Mark's vision is disproved by a 'victim' turning up or something he claims to have seen not being there. Still, the premonition scenes themselves are adeptly handled by the director and cinematographer (Alfio Contini), who flood the room with bright light to signal each of Martin's visions / hallucinations as to avoid confusion.

Co-star Karlatos gets to play no less than five different enigmatic roles here. Aside from the aunt (in aged makeup) and the mysterious beauty Mark keeps seeing, she also plays the mother of a neighboring girl who may have been murdered (or may be a ghost), a nun who sits by the death bed (of one of her own characters!) and a midwife who helps to deliver Christine's baby aboard a boat. Also in the cast are a few familiar female faces for anyone who's seen their fair share of European exploitation movies. Some of the sister's female friends are played by Angela Covello (TORSO), Ely Galleani (Bava's Five Dolls for an August Moon) and Lorraine De Selle (from CANNIBAL FEROX and The House on the Edge of the Park), and several of them (along with the leading lady) provide some nudity.

As mentioned earlier, this film has failed to get a U.S. VHS or DVD release. Still, it was dubbed into English at some point. Versions available online and through bootleg outlets are often sourced from a European release of the film (a German release I believe). Some are in Italian with English subtitles (which is what I viewed) and others have the English audio track.

★★★

Strangler, The (1964)

... aka: Boston Strangler, The

Directed by:
Burt Topper

In an age when you have to be picture perfect to make it as a star, it's always great to flash back to a time when talent and screen presence were more important than having six pack abs and a pretty smile. 300+ pound character actor Victor Buono was one of those great little Hollywood success stories of yesteryear that you seldom see anymore. Right out of the gate, Buono managed to hold his own against none other than Bette Davis in the classic WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO BABY JANE? (1962) and ended up with an Oscar nomination for his work. From there on out, quality roles came few and far between for the bulky actor, but he did manage to snag some memorable supporting parts (particularly on the small screen with villainous turns on both Batman and The Wild Wild West) as well as this starring vehicle. Loosely based on the crimes of The Boston Strangler, which were going on at the time this was filmed, this seedy little thriller perfectly captures the essence of its star and what was so wonderful about him; capitalizing on Buono's ability to look soft and harmless one minute and sleazy and sinister the next.

This is no mystery film. It's unveiled in the very first scene that Buono's Leo Kroll is the strangler. A maladjusted loner of a mama's boy, Leo gets his kicks sneaking into women's homes late at night and strangling them because he can't make love to them. He also has a peculiar doll fetish and gets worked up into a jittery, sweaty frenzy undressing and stroking his plastic love substitutes. Leo's mother (perfectly played by Ellen Corby) is a horrendous, domineering old hypochondriac who has royally screwed up her son over the years with her passive aggressive digs at him and her incessant clinginess. Mrs. Kroll is currently living in a nursing home, but demands Leo come visit her every single night, criticizes the way he kisses her on the forehead and says things like "You're not good-looking, you're fat!," "You haven't any money." and "Even as a little boy, nobody liked you!" to try to keep him from straying. Dealing with her all these years means Leo hasn't been able to form any kind of relationship or even a close friendship with anyone else.

With eight victims already claimed with several more still to come, police lieutenant Frank Benson (David McLean), sergeant Mack Clyde (Baynes Barron) and detective Mel Posner (Michael Ryan) are all on the case, with additional help from shrink Dr. Clarence Sanford (Russ Bender). Because the latest victim is a nurse who worked at Leo's hospital, he instantly becomes a suspect. Since his next victim (Jeanne Bates) is Leo's mother's nurse, whom he kills simply to give his ailing mother a heart attack (!), the police start taking even more interest in him. Leo's able to throw them off by passing a polygraph test, giving himself enough time to try to cozy up to the sweet and pretty Tally (Davey Davison), who works at a Toss-A-Ring booth with her flirtatious friend Barbara (Diane Sayer). Leo's been watching her from afar for a long time and even has his recently departed mama's engagement ring on hand so he can awkwardly pop the question.

Buono is terrific playing a character who's smarmy, egotistical and pretty unlikable on the outside, yet retains enough childish vulnerability that he's also somewhat sympathetic. The supporting cast (particularly Corby and Sayer) is quite good, as well, and the supporting characters are all reasonably well-drawn and entertaining. Hell, even the standard police investigation scenes - usually a bore in these kind of films - are better than usual and done with both competence and a sense of humor. Low in budget, director Topper does some creative things to try to spice things up. The scene transitions are smooth and there are some stylish, noir-like touches thrown in here; such as a victim reflected in the killer's eye. By 1963 standards, it's also pretty sleazy, with most of the victims stripping down to their bras, panties and slips before getting attacked.

Certainly not an 'A' Picture, this is still much better than your usual 'B.' We'll give it a B+. Sadly, it hasn't been well-serviced on home video. 20th Century Fox released it to VHS in 1991 but I don't think it's ever been released on DVD.

★★★

Dark Night of the Scarecrow (1981) (TV)

Directed by:
Frank De Felitta

Mentally-retarded Bubba Ritter (Larry Drake) is ridiculed and bullied by many in the small farming community in which he lives. A 36-year-old with the mind of a child, Bubba's best friend is Marylee (Tonya Crowe), a little girl whom he plays with. That innocent friendship is looked down upon my many in their community despite being sweet and completely harmless. One day after playing in a field, Marylee sneaks into someone's yard to look at their water fountain and garden gnomes and gets attacked by a dog. Reactionary (and incorrect) small town gossip quickly spreads around, prompting short-tempered mailman Otis Hazelrigg (Charles Durning), who hates (and spies on) Bubba anyway and may be projecting because of his own unhealthy attraction to little girls, to take justice into his own hands. Along with greasy mechanic Skeeter (Robert F. Lyons), obese mill owner Philby (Claude Earl Jones) and redneck farmer Harless (Lane Smith), Otis hops in his pickup truck with a couple of dogs and decides to hunt Bubba down and punish him for "killing" little Marylee.

Bubba returns home in a panic, where his protective mother (Jocelyn Brando) encourages him to play "the hiding game" until everything blows over. Bubba goes out into the field and hides inside a scarecrow. When Otis and company discover where he is, they shoot him over 20 times. Immediately after, the men get a call on the CB telling them that Marylee is OK and that Bubba had actually saved her life. Oops. Things go to court, but the four killers, who'd placed a pitchfork in the unarmed Bubba's hands after they gunned him down, are acquitted of all charges and allowed to walk free. Bubba's ma reminds them that "there's other justice in this world besides the law." And she's right. Someone or something starts stalking and killing the men responsible for Bubba's death. Before each murder a straw-killed scarecrow appears near their homes as a calling card that their time is up.

After Harless is ground up by his brush machine, the other three start to panic and try to place a human face on the killer. Is it Mrs. Ritter wanting revenge for her son's death? Or Marylee, who claims to still see and talk to Bubba long after his passing? There's district attorney Sam Willock (Tom Taylor), who is assured of their guilt and promised that if he found a single shred of evidence he'd make sure they were all put on death row. Or perhaps somehow, some way Bubba himself has managed to return from the grave to settle the score. The film saves the big reveal for the end but, in the meantime there's death by pitchfork, shovel and, during the film's most memorable bit, a man is trapped in a silo and suffocated by corn.

Dark Night of the Scarecrow managed to scare a whole generation of kiddies when it debuted on TV around Halloweentime in 1981. There's a certain nostalgia value here for some of us, as well as some genuinely creepy moments if you don't mind something slower-paced, quiet, atmospheric and somewhat ambiguous. A few of the actors overdo it a little but for the most part the acting is fine. Durning turns in a truly loathsome character (Strother Martin was originally cast in the role but died before production began) and Drake would go on to play another sweet-natured mentally-challenged man on the hit TV series L.A. Law (which netted him two Emmy Awards and three Golden Globe nominations). John Steadman (from THE HILLS HAVE EYES) and Alice Nunn (FANGS) both have small roles. The eerie music score is from Glenn Paxton. Director De Felitta is best known as a screenwriter: AUDREY ROSE (1977), THE ENTITY (1981), etc.

Front Row and Key both released this on VHS back in the 80s. A belated DVD and blu-ray release came from VCI Entertainment in 2010. It comes with a documentary short on the production. I'm sure you can tell from my screencaps that I watched the video version.

★★★

100 Most Popular Reviews - November

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving and didn't get stampeded over by 50 rabid housewives on Black Friday. Me? I opted to lock myself inside my home yesterday until it was safe to come outside.

I decided to make our most-viewed reviews list a quarterly thing to keep tabs on what brings people here in the first place as well as highlight some films which may have gotten buried. Since the last update (see the August list RIGHT HERE), 14 new films have managed to get enough hits to make the Top 100. Of those, I was surprised to see the hit count on Sex Ritual of the Occult (1970) go through the roof in no time. In just a few months, Ritual has managed to crack the Top 5 thanks to thousands of clicks. If it keeps moving at that rate, it may eventually overtake Evil in the Woods (1986), which has been the #1 most viewed review here by a wide margin since I started paying attention. Naked Obsession (1990) has risen 57 spots; the most of the films that did make the August list. The popularity of films with "sex" and "naked" in the title isn't lost on me, so expect more of the same in the future.

Naked Obsession's Maria Ford would like to thank you for your patronage.

With six films in the Top 100, Jess Franco remains the most clicked director around these parts and with 2 films in the Top 20, Donald Farmer remains the only director to get two films into the Top 20. Most of the movies that made the list are lesser-known films made outside of Hollywood (low-budget, obscure, regional...) or non-American ones (over thirty different countries are represented below), which is something I truly enjoy seeing.

The list below is divided into three sections; the Top 20, the rest of the Top 100 and the films which got kicked out of the Top 100 since the last update. Next to each title is its amount of movement since the last update (green = increase in popularity; red = decrease in popularity). *NEW* denotes the film didn't make the list last time, but has this time. No number means the film has retained its spot.

TOP 20:

001. - Evil in the Woods (1986; William J. Oates)
002. - Brides of Blood (1968; Gerardo de Leon and Eddie Romero)
003. - Wrong Way (1972; Ray Williams)
004. - Heavy Metal Massacre (1989; David DeFalco)
005. - Sex Ritual of the Occult (1970; Robert Caramico) *NEW*
006. - War Victims (1983; Jopi Burnama) +3
007. - Cannibal Hookers (1987; Donald Farmer) -2
008. - Ghost Story of the Snow Witch (1968; Tokuzo Tanaka) -2
009. - Psycho Lover, The (1969; Robert Vincent O'Neill) -2
010. - Sweet Movie (1974; Dusan Makavejev) +2
011. - Attack of the Killer Refrigerator (1984; Michael Savino) -3
012. - Bride's Initiation, The (1972; Duncan Stewart) -2
013. - Burning Hell, The (1974; Ron Ormond) +4
014. - Geek, The (1971; none credited) +1
015. - Hollywood Meatcleaver Massacre (1975; Evan Lee) -4
016. - Eugenie de Sade (1970; Jesus Franco) -2
017. - Hereafter, The (1983; Michael J. Murphy) -4
018. - Brutal Storm (1985; Kadir Akgun) +1
019. - Scream Dream (1989; Donald Farmer) -3
020. - Dream a Little Evil (1990; Royce Mathew) -2

THE REST:

021. - Dressed to Kill (1980; Brian De Palma) +11
022. - Murder Secret, The (1989; Mario Bianchi) -2
023. - Superstition (1982; Joseph W. Roberson) *NEW*
024. - Cemetery of Terror (1985; Rubén Galindo Jr.) -2
025. - Jungle Heat (1988; Ratno Timoer) -2
026. - Escape from the Insane Asylum (1986; Felix Girard) -2
027. - Devil's Kiss (1975; Georges Gigó) -6
028. - Sex Psycho (1970; Walt Davis) -3
029. - Requiem for a Vampire (1973; Jean Rollin) +1
030. - Eugenie... the Story of Her Journey Into Perversion (1969; Jesus Franco) -2
031. - Demons, The (1972; Jesus Franco) -5
032. - Kill Barbara with Panic (1974; Celso Ad. Castillo) +15
033. - Marquis de Sade's "Justine" (1968; Jesus Franco) +6
034. - Chunk Blower (1990; Jim Van Bebber) -7
035. - Naked Obsession (1990; Dan Golden) +57
036. - Sex Wish (1976; Victor Milt) *NEW*
037. - Demon Rage (1980; James Polakof) *NEW*
038. - Bad Blood (1989; Chuck Vincent) -7
039. - Sex and the Single Vampire (1970; Modunk Phreezer) *NEW*
040. - Demented Death Farm Massacre... The Movie (1986; Donn Davison and Fred Olen Ray) -7
041. - Nazareno Cruz and the Wolf (1975; Leonardo Favio) +32
042. - Driller (1984; Joyce James) -13
043. - Women in Cellblock 9 (1977; Jesus Franco) -8
044. - Ghostess with the Mostess, The (1988; Alex de Renzy) -2
045. - Breeders (1986; Tim Kincaid)
046. - Entrails of a Beautiful Woman (1986; Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu) -12
047. - Cannibal Mercenary (1983; Hong Lu Wong) -7
048. - Mad Mutilator (1983; Norbert Georges Mount) -12
049. - Night of the Comet (1984; Thom Eberhardt) +2
050. - Blood Diner (1987; Jackie Kong) +4
051. - Hackers, The (1987; John Duncan) -13
052. - Night of the Walking Dead (1977; León Klimovsky) -11
053. - Killing of Satan, The (1983; Efren C. Piñon) -16
054. - Creepozoids (1987; David DeCoteau) *NEW*
055. - Gestapo's Last Orgy, The (1977; Cesare Canevari) +34
056. - Urge to Kill, The (1989; Derek Ford) -8
057. - Ilsa, She Wolf of the SS (1974; Don Edmonds) *NEW*
058. - SS Girls (1977; Bruno Mattei) -15
059. - Gorgasm (1990; Hugh Gallagher) -3
060. - Beast of Hollow Mountain, The (1956; Edward Nassour and Ismael Rodríguez) +35
061. - Adoration (1986; Olivier Smolders) +7
062. - Rush Week (1989; Bob Bralver) -16
063. - Joy of Torture, The (1968; Teruo Ishii) *NEW*
064. - Lake of the Dead (1958; Kåre Bergstrøm) -15
065. - Murder Weapon (1989; David DeCoteau) -5
066. - Panther Women, The (1966; Rene Cardona) -11
067. - Cape Canaveral Monsters, The (1960; Phil Tucker) -5
068. - Torture Dungeon (1970; Andy Milligan) -11
069. - Beyond Erotica (1974; José María Forqué) -5
070. - Dracula (The Dirty Old Man) (1969; William Edwards) *NEW*
071. - Night of the Living Babes (1987; Jon Valentine) +7
072. - Scarlet Scorpion, The (1990; Ivan Cardoso) -22
073, - Killer is Not Alone, The (1975; Jesús García de Dueñas) -10
074. - Zodiac Killer, The (1971; Tom Harrison) -30
075. - Gakidama (1985; Masayoshi Sukida) +5
076. - Dreamaniac (1986; David DeCoteau) -24
077. - Doctor Bloodbath (1987; Nick Millard) -12
078. - Black Magic, Part II (1976; Meng Hua Ho) +13
079. - Joy of Torture 2: Oxen-Split Torturing, The (1976; Yûji Makiguchi) *NEW*
080. - Glass Ceiling, The (1971; Eloy de la Iglesia) -27
081. - Night Ripper! (1986; Jeff Hathcock) -9
082. - Sister of Ursula, The (1978; Enzo Milioni) -11
083. - Escape from Coral Cove (1986; Terrance Cheung Ga-Jan) -17
084. - Torso (1973; Sergio Martino) +16
085. - Witch Story (1989; Alessandro Capone) +14
086. - Faces of Death IV (1990; John Alan Schwartz) -9
087. - Who Can Kill a Child? (1975; Narciso Ibáñez Serrador) *NEW*
088. - Daughter of Dracula (1972; Jesus Franco) -1
089. - Entrails of a Virgin (1986; Kazuo 'Gaira' Komizu) -28
090. - Victims! (1985; Jeff Hathcock) *NEW*
091. - Ants! (1977; Robert Scheerer) *NEW*
092. - Bloodlust (1976; Marijan David Vajda) -7
093. - Possessed (1983; David Lai) *NEW*
094. - Rape (1976; Miguel Iglesias) -20
095. - Doriana Grey (1976; Jesus Franco) -25
096. - House of the Black Death (1965; Harold Daniels, Reginald Le Borg and Jerry Warren) -37
097. - Night Beast (1982; Don Dohler) -28
098. - Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977; Joe D'Amato) *NEW*
099. - Look What's Happened to Rosemary's Baby (1976; Sam O'Steen) -41
100. - Bamboo House of Dolls, The (1973; Chih-Hung Kuei) -22

GONE:

101. - Dinosaurus! (1960; Irvin S. Yeaworth Jr.) [formerly 88] -13
102. - Cellar Dweller (1987; John Carl Buechler) [formerly 93] -9
103. - Giallo in Venice (1979; Mario Landi) [formerly 81] -22
104. - La cabina (1972; Antonio Mercero) [formerly 70] -44
110. - Suffer, Little Children (1983; Alan Briggs) [formerly 90] -20
111. - Death Weekend (1976; William Fruet) [formerly 75] -36
116. - Witchery (1988; Fabrizio Laurenti) [formerly 82] -34
117. - Chase from Beyond (1990; Patrick Yeung) [formerly 84] -33
121. - Blacker Than the Night (1975; Carlos Enrique Taboada) [formerly 83] -38
122. - Dark Echoes (1977; Goerge Robotham) [formerly 97] -25
123. - Dead Mate (1988; Straw Weisman) [formerly 76] -47
124. - Gorgon Video Magazine, Volume 2 (1989; Stuart S. Shapiro and others) [formerly 86] -38
128. - Black Candles (1980; José Ramón Larraz) [formerly 96] -32
129. - Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie (1984; Myron C. Gold) [formerly 94] -35
134. - Mad Butcher, The (1971; Guido Zurli) [formerly 98] -36

As of November 1.