El Charro de las Calaveras (1965)

... aka: Rider of the Skulls, The

Directed by:
Alfredo Salazar

Not entirely sure of the origins of this one. It seems like either a serial or a proposed television program that was later edited into a feature film. Our hero is The Rider of the Skulls, a Zorro-like, horseback-riding crime fighter who wears a huge sombrero and an all black outfit with skull emblems (which change positions on his shirt depending on the segment). Just like Mexico's wrestling stars, he opts to keep his face covered the majority of the time. The origin of the character is laid out just like many other famous super heroes. After his parents were murdered by bandits, The Rider swore on their grave to spend the rest of his life fighting the forces of evil. He says he covers his face because he represents justice and his identity is not important. Or as he tells a young boy; "Justice... does not have a face." In this episodic 80-minute release, the Rider faces off against three different monster foes; a werewolf, a vampire and the headless horseman. It doesn't work smoothly as a feature because the continuity is off, including shifts in costume, character history and even actors playing the same role!

Our werewolf tale opens with a farmer getting out a quick prayer before a werewolf goes for the jugular (and rips his face off). Similar attacks have helped to cause those in a small village to haul ass out of town. A financially-strapped family; headed by stressed-out, sleeping-pill-popping sheriff Don Luis Salvatierra (David Silva), simply cannot afford to leave. His wife Lupe (Alicia Caro) and stepson Perico, the latter ill ever since he himself spotted the monster, allow The Rider (Dagoberto Rodríguez) to come stay in their home until the creature can be killed. A cackling witch who lives in a graveyard raises a faceless corpse from the dead, which informs The Rider that Don Luis is the werewolf. This leads to a fist fight and a tumble down a rocky embankment. This segment has a fun enough cut rate werewolf design and cheap-o three-edit dissolves (man to skeleton to werewolf) to illustate transformation. At the end, The Rider decides to adopt young Perico and take a sidekick in the cowardly and thoroughly obnoxious Cleofas (Pascual García Peña) - typically annoying 'comic relief' - and allow them to come along on his other adventures. He also removes his mask and shows the two of them his face.

As tale #2 begins, you'll notice something different right away. For starters, the Rider of the Skulls' costume has changed. His skull emblems have moved from the back and sleeves to the front of his shirt. Instead of a black handkerchief with the eyes cut out, he now wears a black hood over his entire head. And it wouldn't surprise me if it were a completely different actor underneath the costume. In fact, I'm sure of it since the character's physique has changed. Even more strangely, "Perico" has miraculously transformed into "Juanito" and is played by a different child actor. Unfortunately, Cleofas is the same actor doing the same schtick.

Numero dos centers around a caped, ugly-faced vampire, who transforms into a rubber-bat-on-a-string. The vampire has been busy feasting on villagers, and sets his sights on a young señorita named Maria after killing her father. At the end of the first segment, the Rider had removed his mask so that his travelling companions (and we, the audience) could see his face. In this segment, the kid tells Maria that no one has ever seen his face. And the inconsistencies between the segments don't end there. Hell, discounting the first story, there are even inconsistencies within just this segment. Maria tells The Rider that she wants to avenge the death of her parentS, and yet her mom was safely in bed last we saw. The vampire's lair starts as a crumbling old hacienda, but five minutes later he's suddenly living in a graveyard...

Finally, we get to the very strange sight of the Headless Horseman galloping down a dirt trail on his horse. Just as in the other two tales, he's first seen laying waste to a poor fella walking down the road. His buddies, a pair of robed, skull-faced Grim Reapers, tell him his day of vengeance is coming soon. Meanwhile, a young woman named Gloria opens a box that belonged to her deceased grandfather and finds a living head inside! It instructs her to re-attach it to its body. She tries to bury it, but it miraculously reappears in her room. Gloria learns that the head belongs to a bandit who was executed years earlier and, to finally get rid of the damn thing, she decides to trace it back to its owner and reunite it with the body. One thing leads to another and The Rider, Cleofas and Gloria find themselves tied up and being threatened with a sword by the Horseman (who finally gets his head back on). Young Juanito unties them, The Rider and The Horseman get into a sword fight where one (hmmm... guess who?) ends up slain and a sudden thunderstorm strikes the skull dudes down.

In tone and execution, the whole thing seems like a children's matinee movie... but what other kiddie movies can you think of with faceless zombies, talking severed heads, werewolves ripping out throats and drunken bums stumbling into ladies bedrooms for some lovin'? The film is also notable for containing more fainting than a Justin Bieber concert. Considering the wide variety of papier-mâché creations on display, it can't help but to provide some entertainment (looking over these screen caps I realize just how amazingly nutty this whole thing must look), though well-executed it is not.

Never released theatrically in the U.S., in 2010 this was finally released on a double DVD by Lion's Gate, who have paired it with the non-horror El asesino enmascarado (1962).

★★

Fortress of the Dead (1965)

Directed by:
Ferde Grofé Jr.

American Frank Moore (John Hackett) returns to Manila for the first time in over two decades. When he was just 17 years old, he'd served as an army private during World War II, when allied Filipino and U.S. forces were fighting the Japanese on the island of Corregidor. The battle turned out to be a bloodbath and all these years later Frank is still tormented by something that occurred there. He and thirty-six other soldiers were in the midst of battle when everyone became trapped in an underground tunnel after a bomb reduced their fortress into a pile of steel and rubble. Well... everyone except for Frank. Because of the chaos and destruction surrounding him, the scared 17-year-old sat outside the steel door while his fellow soldiers suffocated to death. Because of their pleading, Frank had lied to them and said help was on the way, but it wasn't. Several days later, the traumatized young soldier was found sitting outside the tunnel still babbling to himself incoherently, with all of his platoon found dead inside. Years of therapy haven't help alleviate Frank's guilt or nightmares, so his former army buddy, Joe Rodriguez (Conrad Parham), decides he needs to face his fears head on...

Since the war, the island of Corregidor (now partially hidden amongst the overgrown jungle) has been turned into a popular tourist attraction. Joe's friend Jupee Francisco (Eddie Infante), an army major who prefers to be called Pete, works there and agrees to take Frank back to the site of the battle that traumatized him. Once they arrive and Frank recounts his tale, Jupee tells him things couldn't have went down the way he recalls. He says the tunnel is closed off because its full of rock, steel and debris and all inside died instantly after the bomb hit. So how was Frank able to talk to them for hours while they were trapped? Was he out of his mind by that point, or was he speaking to their ghosts? Frank is skeptical of Jupee's story (a lie, as it turns out), especially after he decides to take a pretty native girl named Lita ("Ana Corita" / Helen Thompson) back to show her "the big guns." Believe the place is haunted by restless spirits, Frank goes back that night all by himself to face his demons once and for all.

All but completely forgotten, this low key, mediocre ghost story (which isn't even listed as a horror film on IMDb, though it certainly qualifies) does one thing exceptionally well, and that's exploiting its setting. The giant, rusted batteries, pieces of schrapnel and weaponry peaking out through the overgrown jungle and crumbling shells of huge, abandoned buildings destroyed in the war acting as silent tombstones to the atrocities committed there make for a pretty haunting backdrop. The film has no special effects; elements of the supernatural are conveyed simply through the sounds of footsteps, voices, creaking doors and digging from beneath the ground. The performances are passable, the writing is mediocre and the production values are low. It's also a visually flat piece, and there's really not really enough content here to sustain a feature length film. Still, it's worth a look just for the scenery.

Director Grofé (who also wrote and produced) was the son of award-winning composer and song writer Ferde Grofé. He was a World War II historian who worked on many war documentaries and magazine articles. In addition, he wrote several westerns, including THE DAY OF THE WOLVES with John Wayne. To horror buffs, if Ferde Jr. is known for anything, it's probably for directing the atmospheric but middling Satanism tale JUDGEMENT DAY, which received a decent VHS release (in an eye-catching video box) by Magnum in 1989. Fortress on the other hand is seldom-seen, seldom-discussed and didn't receive much of a release despite being in the public domain. It's available on DVD-R from Sinister Cinema, but their print is soft and has both print and audio damage (plus several bad jumps - possibly to remove damaged frames). Since Sinister's packaging is atrocious to put it mildly, the ad art shown above is from the RetroFlix DVD.

Some sources claim this was made for television, but I have my doubts about that. A scene with the lone female cast member coming out of the water in a revealing wet t-shirt never would have been filmed for a television production.

★★

Il castello dalle porte di fuoco (1970)

... aka: Altar of Blood
... aka: Blood Castle
... aka: Castle of Blood
... aka: Castle of Frankenstein, The
... aka: Ivanna
... aka: Killers in the Castle of Blood
... aka: Scream of the Demon Lover

Directed by:
José Luis Merino

A drunk discovers the bloodied body of a young maiden... the sixth such victim in less than a year. While the funeral procession is going on through the village the next day, Dr. Ivanna Rakovsky (Erna Schürer), a biochemist fresh from her university studies, arrives by coach. When she mentions she's there to take up a position at Castle Xenia, the villagers snub her and walk away. She does finally manage to find someone to take her there; the sleazy Fedor (Ezio Sancrotti). On the way, he tells her about how the murders began shortly after the death of the castle's previous owner, a scientist named Igor Dalmar, who was killed in a lab explosion. He also claims the new owner she's there to work for, Igor's brother Janos ("Charles Quinney" / Carlos Quiney), is a madman just like the rest of his family and warns she'll be the next victim if she stays. After narrowly avoiding getting raped by her transport, Ivanna makes her way to the castle, only to get a chilly reception from the housemaid, Olga (Cristiana Galloni). The baron finally shows up and demands that Ivanna leave. Since the weather's bad out, he allows her to stay one night.

Another young lady working there - a beautiful young maid named Cristiana (Agostina Belli) - draws a bath for our heroine, after which someone peeps on her as she's changing clothes. At dinner, Ivanna notices lashes on the baron's prized dogs and that her employer and the nubile Cristina don't even try to conceal their attraction for one another. Olga - the Baron's former mistress - is catty, bitter, nosy and jealous of any woman making eyes at Janos. Eventually the baron has a change of heart about Ivanna, and decides to convince her to stay. He shows her around the lab (including a bubbling bathtub full of muck which contains his dead brother's remains), claims he's experimenting on the origin of life and on the regeneration of carbonized matter and hands her a book with research from four generations of his family for study. His wish is to revive his brother, and he can only do so with Ivanna's knowledge of chemistry.

After drinking some milk, Ivanna passes out, wakes tied up topless to a rack and is threatened by someone brandishing a red hot fire poker. The same thing happens yet again the following night, but this time someone pumps fumes into her room. When she awakens the voice tells her to "stay pure" or else she will die. Yes, Ivanna is unsullied, and as it turns out all the young women who've been recently murdered (with a spiked glove) were killed immediately after losing their virginity. In fact, each had fallen in love with the tall, dark and handsome Janos right before getting it. The rest plays out as a mystery as to who the killer is. Could it be Olga, whose first inclination after seeing the Baron flirt with his new assistant is to whip out a knife? Or Cristina, who's in love with Janos herself, and says "I'll laugh at your funeral" under her breath at Ivanna. Or Janos, who is rumored to be mad anyway... And what gives with the books about lycanthropy in the library? How about the presumably dead Igor? Is he really dead, or has his vengeful ghost returned to prevent his brother from having a normal, healthy relationship? Whoever it is, they want to make sure the Baron never falls in love.

You could go down a checklist of the expected Euro Gothic horror trappings (castle, secret room, torture chamber, scientist, lovely damsel in distress, etc.) and this would check almost all of the boxes. Set sometime during the 19th Century, it's technically well-made, with a decent score, above average English-dubbing and effective art direction, lighting and photography. It's about average on nudity (with all three lead actresses going topless) and low on violence (with just a smattering of blood). This one benefits somewhat from having a spunkier, smarter, stronger-willed central female than what you'll usually find in these films, though the actress playing her still has to compromise. Sure she's educated and bookish... but who's to say she can't lie in bed studying chemical formulas... with her breasts hanging out of her nightgown! The first hour is fairly strong, but the final half hour becomes ridiculously convoluted. The revelation of the killer also isn't much of a surprise.

Director Merino also made the difficult-to-find The Five Warnings of Satan (1970) and the Paul Naschy vehicle THE HANGING WOMAN (1972; which also featured Quiney). The cast includes Antonio Jiménez Escribano as Fritz the butler (he's also Cristina's father and doesn't want her daughter getting involved with Janos) and Mariano Vidal Molina as the obligatory police inspector.

An Italian / Spanish co-production, this was released as Il castello dalle Porte di Fuoco ("The Castle with Doors of Fire") in Italy and as Ivanna in Spain. Alternate "clothed" scenes were shot for more restrictive markets (Spain, the U.S., etc.). It was first released in America - sometimes double billed with Stephanie Rothman's The Velvet Vampire - by New World Pictures under the somewhat misleading moniker Scream of the Demon Lover. Fake Anglacized credits (starring "Jeffrey Chase" and "Jennifer Harvey") were added. Elsewhere it was given the even more misleading title The Castle of Frankenstein.

To my knowledge, all of the legit American releases (the VHS from Charter, the DVD from Retromedia...) are of substandard quality, and some of them are censored. I was lucky enough to see the remastered, uncut version released by the German company E-M-S, which is an decent (though full screen) print and uncut.

★★

Fée sanguinaire, La (1968)

... aka: Bloodthirsty Fairy, The 

Directed by: Roland Lethem An interesting 25-minute short, shot in grainy 16mm and in black-and-white; almost dialogue-free and full of "shocking" images and student film-esque button pushing (and, ultimately, some sort of political message). Two mysterious men dressed in black and with cigarettes dangling from their mouths drop a large, presumably heavy (since it takes two to carry it) package off on a doorstep and walk away. When the home's owner (Pierre Lampe) returns he drags the package inside, then goes about doing a few more activities before deciding to finally open it. Upon removing the paper, he notices it's a large steel barrel. Using a blowtorch, he gets the lid off and sees it's full of oily water... but rising out of the water is a nude, voluptuous, smiling woman (To Katinaki), who immediately starts to entice the man by massaging her breasts. Naturally, being in a barrel for who knows how long, she needs to get cleaned off and hops into a bubble bath. While she's lounging in the tub, the man gets into bed, lights a cigarette and starts to remove him clothes in anticipation. We get to see fantasies from both the man and "the fairy."

His fantasies are completely sex driven, but despite her smiling face and joyous demeanor, the woman's are a little on the sick side. She first goes up to a policeman and beats him to death with his Billy club. Next up, she goes up to a nun on a park bench, starts feeling her up and strangles her to death with her rosary. She pokes a little boys eyes out with her fingers and then has sex with a black man in a public park. After finishing up in the tub, the woman then joins the man in bed, where his pleasure quickly turns into pain as the woman whips out a straight razor and cuts off his penis (all of this is cut with a chicken getting its head cut off and two men dribbling the blood on themselves). The man then dies a bloody death on the floor.

 

The woman then drops the penis into a jar. Seems she has a whole collection of penises... and they're of some rather famous people. Some jars have penises in them, some do not. Amongst the jars with dicks are "Luther-King," "Diem" (the first president of South Vietnam), "Kennedy," "Rockwell," "Verwoede" (a South African prime minister) and "Strobel." Amongst the ones without dicks: "Franco," "Kossygine" (Soviet premiere Aleksei Kosygin), "Waldeck-Rochet" (a French communist), "Johnson," "Paul VI," "De Gaulle," "Salazar" and "Kiesinger." So the "fairy" has been neutering famous political leaders (we can assume her latest victim is one, as well). What does it all mean? I'm sure the "neutering" of various political figures is pretty self-explanatory, especially considering that all of the emasculated figures had been assassinated before this was made. The short ends with the delivery guys dropping the package off at some gated military facility and then a picture of a swastika with Nixon's face in the middle.

The director did some acting (he appeared in the horror-comedy Mama Dracula in 1980) and directed other short films; many of them horror-themed (or just gory). Jean-Pierre Bouyxou (who plays one of the package deliverers) later went on to appear in a half dozen films for Jean Rollin and several for Jesus Franco.

★★1/2