Última señora Anderson, La (1971)

...aka: Death at the Deep End of the Swimming Pool
...aka: Fourth Mrs. Anderson, The
...aka: Fourth Victim, The
...aka: In fondo alla piscina
...aka: Last Mrs. Anderson, The

Directed by:
Eugenio Martín

Watchable, though tame, bland and ultimately forgettable, little Italian/ Spanish mystery, or "giallo" if you prefer, from the director of HORROR EXPRESS (1972) and IT HAPPENED AT NIGHTMARE INN (1973). Handsome, reclusive, middle-aged British playboy Arthur Anderson (Michael Craig) is having a hard time keeping a wife. In fact, he's lost no less than three in recent years, all in tragic "accidents." His first wife died in a car crash ("faulty breaks"), his second fell to her death at a construction site and his most recent wife, Gladys, is found floating face up in the swimming pool as the film opens. A later autopsy on wife #3 reveals that she was loaded down with a fatal dose of barbituates before taking her fatal swim. The fact Arthur has collected over 160 thousand pounds of insurance money on his three former wives raises suspicions, so he's brought to trial for murder. Thanks to lack of evidence and testimony from Arthur's faithful maid Felicity Downing (Miranda Campa), that sheds light on Gladys' drug addiction and suicidal tendencies, Arthur is acquitted of all charges. Inspector Dunphy (José Luis López Vázquez) of Scotland Yard isn't so convinced and decides to investigate.

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The same night he returns home from the trial, Arthur finds his curiously friendly and aggressive neighbor Julie Spencer (Carroll Baker), who he's never met before this evening, taking a dip in his pool. He shoos her off, but the two eventually find themselves drawn to one another, become romantically involved and go through with a quickie marriage ceremony. Is this going to spell death for the fourth Mrs. Anderson? And what gives with the bizarre woman in sunglasses and a black cape (played by Marina Malfatti) who's been lurking around outside? I could easily reveal the obvious false identity of Baker's character, what she's really up to and the third reel twists, because you've probably already seen all of them before, but I won't go into too much detail because that would spoil whatever pleasures the film has to offer, minor as they may be.

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Silly, though competently done, this film takes over an hour to generate much interest and even then it doesn't offer up too much in the way of mystery or excitement. The score isn't bad, though, and the cast acquit themselves fairly well. Baker had been a major Hollywood star after her Oscar nominated turn in the controversial BABY DOLL (1956), but her career took a nosedive after the failure of the biopic HARLOW (1965), so she ended up in Europe in the late 60s and early 70s starring in giallo thrillers, some of which were X-rated at the time of release but are mild by today's standards. Other titles starring her include PARANOIA (1968), THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH (1968), A QUIET PLACE TO KILL (1969), SO SWEET... SO PERVERSE (1969), the deadly dull KNIFE OF ICE (1972) and others. Though Baker does well enough here, the biggest surprise is Malfatti in what might be her best role in one of these films. She failed to make much of an impression in either lead roles (such as in THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE, a film that was all-but-stolen by Erika Blanc) or supporting ones (in SEVEN BLOOD-STAINED ORCHIDS she was asked to do nothing but disrobe and die), but here she's given the more interesting part and does an effective job playing a psycho.

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So it's not really worth seeking out unless you're a giallo completist, though it is extremely rare. This film was never released in the U.S. on either video or DVD. In fact, the only country that saw a legit home video release was Greece. About twenty years ago it was released on the Master Home Video label and came in a misleading box that seemed to promise titilation when in fact the film has no nudity and almost no violence to speak of.

★★

Dementia (1955)

...aka: Daughter of Horror

Directed by:

John Parker

Review coming soon.

★★1/2

Diaboliques, Les (1955)

...aka: Devils, The

...aka: Diabolique

...aka: Fiends, The

Directed by:

Henri-Georges Clouzot

Review coming soon.

★★★★

Body Count (1986) (TV)

... aka: Bodycount

Directed by:

Lionel Shenken

After leaving a bar (where a band called The Razor Blades sing the hilarious “Body Count” theme song), a young couple end up getting gunned down on a playground. The serial killer responsible for that double murder has been leaving numbered cards with each victim, which keeps track of his overall body count. The top suspect in the murders is taxi driver Mark Stephens (James Lukie), who seems to always be at the wrong place at the wrong time. A red taxi looking just like Mark’s was seen near the location of the first murder, he’s emdebted to a black thug named Charley (Lance K. McIntyre) who lent him money to buy his car and is saddled with temperamental model girlfriend Nanette (Sherry Lee), who’s always bitching about money. After dropping off a weird old woman at a cemetery, Mark runs across Laurie (Christine Manning) – the sister of the last victim, who came all the way from Vancouver and now doesn’t have a place to stay. Or so she claims. Mark invites her to come over to his place, they have sex and then she disappears the next day. Investigators, led by police sergeant Corey Jackman (Jonathan Knapp) and his partner Al Vinetti (Paul Amato), keep harassing Mark, but they’ve got the wrong man tagged. Radio reporter Kirby (James Patrick Knapp), who has been covering the murders, also lends them a hand.

The real killer (revealed early on so I’m not giving anything away here) is Paul Carter (Jonathan Potts), a clean-cut, virginal college student lashing out at a world that has fucked him over. He claims to have no family, rents a room from kindly Mrs. Potts (Ilene Cummings), finds out he has inoperable cancer during a doctor’s check up (blaming it on growing up near a factory called “Diamond Chemicals”) and lashes out by going out and shooting down random people with his magnum. In one scene he shoots another taxi driver in the back of the head. In another, he perches outside a public zoo and aims his scope at babies and little kids running around. Despite his odd behavior, Paul finds himself an understanding girlfriend in Jennifer (Cynthia Kereluk), whose parents abuse her. She doesn't mind that Paul can’t “perform” and wants to skip town with him.

It was filmed around Ontario, Canada. It was shot on video. It’s nearly impossible to find. I do have to give these people credit for at least trying to come up with something decent on a nonexistent budget. There’s some level of competence here when it comes to story structure. However, everyone is defeated by a talky, cliché-ridden script where there’s absolutely nothing interesting or original about either the characters or the situations they find themselves in. The excitement quotient is nil, the videography is flat and most of the actors are mediocre, while a few others are flat out terrible. In other words, not many people are going to want to watch this one, let alone seek it out. It also seems to "borrow" many of its ideas from the highly superior Targets (1968). Watch that one instead.

Released on VHS by AVEC Video, this was one of at least fifteen extremely cheap, extremely talky shot-on-video productions from Emmeritus Productions, a "film" branch of the Canadian TV station CHCH-TV. Other titles from them include the awful anthology Greedy Terror (1985), Blue Murder (1985; which was given the more exploitative title The Porn Murders for the American video release), SURVIVAL EARTH (1985) and Mark of the Beast (1986).

Strangely, there were no less than three horror films titled (or re-titled) Body Count that were made within a year of one another. Other than this one, there was the Italian campground slasher from 1986 directed by Ruggero Deodato (which was originally titled Camping del terror) and Paul Leder’s murders-for-the-inheritance flick (which was also called The Eleventh Commandment).

★1/2

Angst (1983)

...aka: Fear

...aka: Schizophrenia

Directed by:

Gerald Kargl

There are some things in life I'll probably never understand. Why does anyone watch Big Brother, a TV "reality show" where people basically sit around doing absolutely nothing, and why is it going into its 11th season? Who would pay ten dollars to watch a spoof movie in a theater? Why would anyone feel compelled to defend the "legacy" of George W. Bush? And why the hell hasn't ANGST been released to video or DVD in America? Over the years several different companies have announced they were finally going to do it. Barrel Entertainment said they were... about three years ago. And that never happened. Maybe it'll never be released. I was able to find an excellent copy online, which I believe was sourced from the 2005 German DVD release (from Epix Media) and thankfully came with custom English subs made by a fan of the film that seem to be accurate. Though I do on occasion watch films in their original language when there's no other alternative, this is one film where dialogue is crucial. I'll be doing a more in-depth review of this one once I get a chance. Definitely a must see if you can find it. It'll be debuting as #2 on my Top 10 list for 1983.

★★★1/2

Chunk Blower (1990)

Directed by:
Jim Van Bebber

Van Bebber had started production on what was to be a feature-length horror/gore film about a killer tow truck driver/junkyard owner (Bruce Paisley) and the production fell through at some point after they’d already shot enough to assemble a promo reel for it. What remains was then edited into a 3 ½ minute narrated trailer, and that’s what we have here. Based on what’s shown, it’s a shame the full feature never happened. Looks like it could have been fun. The photography (with a slick blue/purple look for the night scenes) and camerawork seem very good and there’s some gore (a body split open with a hook; two guys handcuffed to the steering wheel and people burned alive in their car). It was co-scripted by Chas. Balun and features appearances from musicians Bill Leeb (from Frontline Assembly) and Dwayne Goettel (from Skinny Puppy). It can be found on either Google Video or Youtube. Ohio native Van Bebber also made DEADBEAT AT DAWN (1988), the short MY SWEET SATAN (1994) and the highly-regarded (by some) THE MANSON FAMILY (which began production in 1988 but wasn't completed until 2003).

★★1/2

Love Me Deadly (1972)

...aka: Secrets of the Death Room

Directed by:

Jacques Lacerte

Lindsay Finch (Mary Wilcox), who was sexually molested by her father as a child, has grown into a rather disturbed young woman. She’s first seen at a funeral making out with a corpse, and next browsing through the obituaries for men who’ve died recently, looking for just one brief intimate moment once backs are turned or the room is empty. During one such trip she gets carried away and crushes the nose of a corpse, not realizing the face she was feeling was of a man whose face had to be reconstructed for the viewing. As she’s fleeing the mortuary, she bumps into the dead man’s brother Alex (Lyle Waggoner), briefly introduces herself and leaves. Meanwhile, Fred McSweeney (Timothy Scott), a mortician who runs his own funeral parlor, is out cruising the gay district of the city. He picks up a young street hustler named Billy-Jo (I. William Quinn) and gives him 10 extra bucks if he’ll accompany him to where he work for sex. When they get there, he talks Billy-Jo into getting up on a slab naked, then quickly straps him down, jabs needles into him and embalms him alive!

Lindsay, trying to force a “normal” relationship, goes on a date with a pushy, womanizing jerk named Wade (Christopher Stone) and begins spying on art gallery owner Alex because he resembles her dead father. Fred notices Lindsay’s been hanging around at funeal services and is getting touchy feely with the bodies and lets her know, “You are not alone.” Turns out Fred’s the leader of a secret society of hooded necrophiliacs who meet together and share their hobby late at night at his establishment. After going to pick up another prostitute (female this time), he sends Lindsay an invite. She goes, walks in on room full of nude necros getting down with a corpse and runs away in disgust. Fred promises to let her have a “private session”with a corpse to help ease her into this new and exciting (?) lifestyle.

Lindsay begins spending more and more time with Alex and the two eventually get married, but Alex is frustrated because his new bride sleeps in a different bedroom and won’t have sex with him. He becomes even more suspicious when she’s caught lying about sneaking off to the funeral home. The fact she's been receiving priority letters from McSweeney Funeral Home on a regular basis doesn't look good either. The bad news for him, and for anyone else who happens to stumble upon the secret society, is that they’re immediately killed.

There have been many other movies made before this one with a discreet hint of necrophilia, but this is one of the earliest I can think of that completely revolves around it and seems to be trying to maturely delve into psychological aspects instead of using the subject matter simply to shock. Lindsay is shown as a woman who desperately wants to be normal, but can’t. She’s far too overwhelmed by her urge to be with the dead to have a healthy relationship with a consenting adult. What most would deem sick and immoral is normal and comforting to her... and a select few others. Frequent flashbacks (some sepia toned) to Lindsay’s youth try to shed some light on why she is the way she is.

The performances here are very uneven; sometimes downright wooden. And to an extent, making the mortuary owner/necro cult leader a psychotic killer compromises the more serious-minded portrayal of the necro lifestyle as seen through the Lindsay character. However, the cast and crew both deserve some credit for taking on this subject matter and at least attempting to give an unthinkable lifestyle a human face. I'm sure this was considered pretty strong stuff back in 1972, though it might seem pretty tame to modern audiences. Kit Fuller sings the title theme song and it was produced by H.B. Halicki, who went on to direct the original version of GONE IN 60 SECONDS (1974). He also has a cameo here as a racecar driver.

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Code Red and Media Blasters have both announced they were going to release the film as a special edition DVD, but Anime Works beat both to the punch with their 2008 release of the film. Something Weird also offers the film on DVD-R (which is sourced from a 35mm print) and it was also released to VHS back in the 80s by Video Gems.

★★1/2