WHO KILLED THE PROSECUTOR AND WHY?

TERZA IPOTESI SU UN CASO DI PERFETTA STRATEGIA CRIMINALE

WHO KILLED THE PROSECUTOR AND WHY?

Director: Joseph Warren (Giuseppe Vari). Sc: Thomas Lang.

Music: Mario Bertolazzi. Cast: Lou Castel, Beba

Loncar, Adolfo Celi, Massimo Serrato.

               

A local prosecuting attorney is killed and the murderous act is witnessed and even more importantly, photographed by Carlo and his girlfriend, Olga. They take the photos to Marco Cecarelli, alias Ivan Smirnov, alias Uncle "Fifi". Marco is confined to a wheelchair and makes his living filming nude models for magazines. He advises them to contact local Mafia Capo Don Salvatore (one of his minions was arrested as a suspect) to see if he would pay for the pix. When they are snubbed by the Godfather they decide to go to the local tabloid for a quick sale. From here on, everyone Carlo comes in contact with, including "Fifi" and Olga are killed by a mysterious assassin, out to get the negatives. In the finale, we learn who the killer was and why he was involved in a drug ring that the prosecuting attorney had uncovered.

The obvious failing of this film, besides Vari's utter lack of talent, is the uneven mixture of genres. Just when you think it's about to become a full-fledged thriller, the Mafia subplot intrudes, and vice versa. Giuseppe Vari has proven himself, with this and many other films of his I've seen, to be the Andy Warhol of the Italian film industry. He takes the simplest action, and drags it out ad infinitum. For example, do we really need to see a man, getting in his car, roll down his window, look around to see if there is any oncoming traffic, put the car into reverse and slowly back his car down the driveway. I think not. Vari at times seems obsessed with minutia. If he ever starts filming endless parades of walking feet, WATCH OUT DORIS WISHMAN!! Oh yeah, the score belongs in a Ron Ormond opus.

Movie #1

One of my favorite film magazines from the 60s was MOVIE. British based, it was edited by Ian Cameron and featured the writings of Paul Mayersberg, Peter Bogdanovich, Gavin Millar and many others. Below is a link to download the rare first issue. Enjoy!

http://www.mediafire.com/download/5t1xadja65w6369/MovieNo1_copy.pdf

ETC Soundtrack Round Up #3 by Rob Talbot

ETC Soundtrack Round-Up

The fabulous Death Waltz Recording Company kicked off 2016 in serious style with 'The Poliziotteschi Files 2xLP', being Franco Micalizzi's scores for Rome Armed to the Teeth and The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist presented for the first time on vinyl. Limited to 500 pieces, and only available from Mondo's website as far as I can see, these suckers probably won't be around for long. One imagines that the same will be true of their release of The Bloodstained Shadow OST that dropped in February. Composed by Stelvio Cipriani and performed by Goblin,  this great score is available in either 'Tri-Color' (red, blue & black) or 'Dual Stripe' (black with red and blue Stripes), although the latter is limited to 50 copies!

One Way Static also have some Stelvio goodness up their sleeves with a lavish release of Papaya, Love Goddess of the Cannibals coming out on March 25. These will come on clear with pink haze or pink/green split vinyl, along with a cassette version, limited to 200 and containing seven bonus tracks.

Four Flies Records have an equally enticing proposition for us with two vinyl compilations, Esterno Notte and Esterno Giorno, released back in January. These contain jazz, psych and lounge cuts from Gianfranco Reverberi, Nico Fidenco, Savina, Piccioni, Trovajoli and more, all plundered from the vaults of RCA Italy. Perfect for those of us who miss the days of the old Easy Tempo and Beat at Cinecitta releases.

Italy's Rustblade Records have a new Morricone comp, Paura, coming out on Record Store Day. As the title suggests, it showcases the Maestro's dark experimental material, with tracks from Cat O' Nine Tails, Il serpente (one of my favourites), Devil in the Brain and more. Just 499 of these are being issued, on transparent vinyl.

Goblin devotees are going to cause a line to form outside of their local indie record emporium on the morning of April 16 when Cinevox gives their fantastic La via della droga (Heroin Busters) score its vinyl debut; on white vinyl with some neat new artwork and an extra track not included on the previous CD version. April also sees Cinevox release Magnetic Systems, a mouth-watering collection of mid-70s rarities from the Bixio-Frizzi-Tempera team, and the same month brings a swanky new edition of Cipriani's Tentacoli / Tentacles from Dagored, a double LP on clear vinyl.

If all these expensive records are getting a bit much, never fear as there's plenty of new (and rarer) stuff out on CD, although to be fair, the damage doesn't end up being massively different when one considers import costs, etc! Stella Edizioni Musicali have released Detto Mariano's score for Enzo Castellari actioner Striker, while the ever reliable Beat Records offer new discs of Vince Tempera's The Paganini Horror and Bruno Zambrini's Fracchia contro Dracula (an obscure 1985 horror comedy by director Neri Parenti).

DigitMovies also continue to serve up the rarities with Carlo Rustichelli's Il terribile ispettore, Carlo Savina's Contronatura (The Unnaturals) and Angelo F. Lavagnino's Samoa regina della giungla, while Penta Music have Trovajoli's score for 1967 Giuliano Gemma western Days of Vengeance with a 12 page color booklet.

Quartet Records have unleashed Cipriani's Quel pomeriggio maledetto (AKA The Perfect Killer, a 1977 Eurocrimer starring Lee Van Cleef), Nora Orlandi's lovely The Sweet Body of Deborah, a split CD of Mario Nascimbene's Estate violenta and La prima notte di quiete, and Nicola Piovani's always wonderful The Perfume of the Lady in Black.

Okay, so now I have you all whipped up into a mindless consumerist frenzy, all that remains is to run away cackling like Diabolik as I bid you adieu for another couple of months; within which I'm sure there'll be plenty more exciting new releases to salivate over. Happy listening!

by Rob Talbot

Soundtrack blog : http://italiansoundtrackodyssey.blogspot.co.uk/

Movie blog:  http://robtalbotcultandworld.blogspot.co.uk/

Tenebrae

TENEBRAE

UNSANE

Italy 1982

Director: Dario Argento. Sc: Dario Argento, George Kemp.

Music: Simonetti, Pignatelli, Norante. Cast: Anthony Franciosa, Daria Nicolodi, John Saxon, Giuliano Gemma, Eva Robins/Roberto Coatti, Mirella D'Angelo, John Steiner, Ania Pieroni, Lara Wendel.

Peter Neal comes to Italy to promote his latest work, a violent thriller. He is criticized for the violence in his novels and in fact, right before he arrived in Rome, a woman was brutally murdered with pages from Neal's latest work, stuffed in her mouth. The killer contacts Neal and tells him how much he admires his work. As more killings occur, Neal and a police detective work together to try and uncover who the killer might be. When the assassin begins to knock off those closest to Neal, he decides to track down a fan whose obsessions with his books troubles him. Sure enough he has located the killer but when he's is murdered and the deaths continues, he and the police realize that there may be a second murderer.

This is my favorite Argento Giallo. It contains perfection in every element seen on the screen: photography, music, acting, special effects, you name it. When you consider that Lamberto Bava was the first assistant director and Michele Soavi was the second assistant, it's no wonder the film is a s good as it is. Franciosa is usually given to hamming it up, but here, he keeps it under control and gains audience sympathy in the process. Steiner had gained a world of experience playing psychos in crime films during the seventies, so his part here is not much of a stretch, still you can't wait for him to bite the bullet (or in this case, get an axe to the skull). With a strong narrative (for a change) you're able to concentrate on the characters more and you have to applaud Argento for concocting a storyline that admits, violent material could possibly influence people to commit violence. Of course in this case, the person was nuts to begin with, otherwise this would just be a piece of Christian coalition propaganda. The film was butchered for its US release (a typical reaction by distributors to Argento's early work) as UNSANE. Needless to say, avoid that version like the plague.

ETC Soundtrack Round Up #2 by Rob Talbot

It may have taken me far longer than I anticipated to darken Craig's inbox with this latest round-up (hey, last year was a tough one), but the various purveyors of Italo-score goodness have certainly been no slouches; the amazing proliferation of new releases continues unabated. And no sooner had I hit 'send' on the last column than I received a mailout announcing the emergence of some new kids on the block in the form of Rome-based Four Flies Records.

The outfit's two tasty inaugural releases in September were Gianni Ferrio's work for Steno opus La poliziotta and Franco Micalizzi's for Emmanuelle's 'spiritual sequel' Laure, both originally released by RCA in 1975. Although both have been long available on CD from DigitMovies, the return of these two gorgeous scores to vinyl is welcome indeed and it's great to see someone giving lesser known gems like these the treatment they deserve. November and December saw the outfit keeping up the good work with releases of Sandro Brugnolini's Fantabulous and Lallo Gori's never-before-released score for Franchi & Ingrassia / Lucio Fulci caper How we Robbed the Bank of Italy, making these guys definitely, as they say, ones to watch.

The UK's estimable Death Waltz Recording Company have also kept the flag flying with a string of characteristically great releases. Seemingly moments after I submitted the last column they dropped Nico Fidenco's electro soundtrack for that grungy old chestnut Zombi Holocaust on two different multicoloured double vinyl editions with some great new Corlen Kruger cover art – wherein it must be said that those zombies look a hell of a lot better than they did in the actual movie! October saw another 80s love-it-or-hate-it affair – The New Barbarians (AKA Warriors of the Wasteland) – get similar loving treatment, with Claudio Simonetti's abrasive score adorned with supercool new art from American heavy metal artist Wes Benscoter.

However, beating both of these hands down as an object of desire is Death Waltz's recent vinyl reissue of maestro Morricone's Black Belly of the Tarantula score as a gatefold double disc edition with a beautiful photo montage sleeve by Eric Adrian Lee. Obviously a must-have for any Morricone or Euro soundtrack devotee, the only possible downside being that it's even more on the pricey side than usual. And that's saying something.

As you may have heard, the Death Waltz imprint was bought by US company Mondo Tees at the back end of 2014, although thankfully DW head honcho Spencer Hickman remains at the helm. However, Mondo have been up to some pretty damn sexy business of their own with an eye-poppingly gorgeous double vinyl re-issue of  Morricone's The Big Gundown. You don't need me to tell you what a sublime score this is – here it's lavished with new art by comics legend Geoff Darrow.

Speaking of Morricone – and what the hell kind of Euroscore round-up would this be if we didn't? - Milan's AMS Records have been busy trying to fill some gaps in your vinyl collection with new editions of Metti, una Sera a Cena (AKA Love Circle), Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion and Duck, You Sucker! The resurgent Dagored also continue to come up with the goods, with handsome re-issues of The Humanoid, Violent City, Revolver and Fists in the Pocket. The double LP of the spellbinding Veruschka that they released in 2014 has also had another repress, becoming available again this month. The Florentine outfit has also recently put out Peppino DeLuca's ultra-cool score for La Ragazza con la pistola (Girl with a Gun), along with an edition of Bruno Nicolai's Eyeball that has to be eyeballed to be believed!

Returning to il maestro, Australia's Omni Recording Corporation have reissued his rare  experimental library music LP Controfase on vinyl, its first in any format (as far I can ascertain) since its original release on Gemelli records in1973. Old hands GDM have also released his score for 1966 German spy malarkey Agent 505: Death Trap Beirut (under its Italian moniker of La trappola scatta a Beirut) in October on CD and 10” vinyl editions. Meanwhile, their friends at Beat Records have put out CDs of Claudio Simonetti's Nightmare Beach and, much more interestingly, Armando Trovajoli's 1962 sci-fi stylings for I pianeti contro di noi (AKA The Man with the Yellow Eyes).

September saw the release of a trio of vinyl gothic horror slabs from Italy's Contempo

Records; namely Riz Ortolani's La danza macabra (Castle of Blood), Aldo Piga's Le strage dei vampiri (Slaughter of the Vampires) and Armando Trovajoli's Seddok l'erede di Satana. This marks the vinyl debut of all three, although La danza and Seddok have long been available on CD from DigitMovies. The same month also saw Milan's Schema label reissue Piero Umiliani's fabulous musical journey around the world of witchcraft that is Angeli Bianchi.... Angeli Neri (Witchcraft '70) on LP, bearing its original Omicron cover and label art from 1969. Just as well, too, as those old Easy Tempo CD and LP editions are pretty damn scarce these days. 

Meanwhile, DigitMovies continue to serve up even rarer gems on CD, as they have for the past 14 years. Recent additions to their vast catalogue include Bruno Canfora's Il vostro super agent Flit, Romolo Grano's Arcana, Gianni Ferrio's Milano... difendersi o morire (AKA Blazing Flowers) and Adios California, and Nico Fidenco's La Ragazinna (AKA Monika). With all the flashy vinyl releases on offer at present it can be easy to overlook the fine work these guys are doing - don't make that mistake, as the service they provide to the Euroscore aficionado is absolutely invaluable. Show them some love today and tell them ETC sent ya.  

Plenty to get your teeth into there, and who knows what 2016 will bring? To find out the answer to that, simply watch this space - I promise that the next round-up won't take as long to surface as this one did!

by Rob Talbot

Soundtrack blog : http://italiansoundtrackodyssey.blogspot.co.uk/

Movie blog:  http://robtalbotcultandworld.blogspot.co.uk/

Killer Nun

Suor Omicidi

The Killer Nun

Italy

D: Giulio Berruti

P: Enzo Gallo for Cinesud Produzioni//St & Sc: Giulio Berruti & Alberto Tarallo//DP: Tonino Maccoppi//E: Mario Giacco//M: Alessandro Alessandroni//Art D: Franco Vanorio//Makeup: Mauro Gavazzi.

Cast: Anita Ekberg, Alidi Valli, Massimo Serato, Daniele Dublino, Laura Nucci, Alice Gherardi, Aeede Barriault, Antonietta Patriarca, Sofia Lusy, Nerini Montagnani, Franco Caracciolo, Lou Castel & Joe Dallasandro.

A nun confesses to a priest that, because she was raped as a child, she wants revenge on all men. Meanwhile, Sister Gertrude works at the hospital where she cares for the elderly and sick. She thinks she has cancer and has already survived a brain tumor. She becomes more and more violent as she crushes a patient's dentures and slaps others around. When some of her charges begin turning up dead, she's afraid she may have killed them during one of her blackouts. The film builds to a depressing conclusion where the guilty are punished and the innocent set free.

This may be a bad film, but it's bad in a very entertaining way. Anita Ekberg was far too overweight and old to play Sister Gertrude, yet director Giulio Berruti (KILLER NUN was his second and last film) allows her to dress like a hooker and try and seduce a man in a bar. Didn't he realize what a hideous mistake he was making? No doubt such judgement led him to miscast Ex-Warhol protege Joe Dallasandro as a concerned doctor who works at the hospital. Then there's poor Lou Castel, who is so contemptful of his part he appears to be drunk (watch him trip over objects such as his crutches and tables for no apparent reason).Paola Morra, who plays Sister Matill is a real looker and her nude scenes certainly help a woefully inept production such as this. The murders are quite nasty which helps contribute to the overall trashy mood. A movie for when you want to wash away that "arthouse" experience from your pallette.

Exciting new Eurocrime film book by Matt Blake!

To quote the talented Mr Blake:

"It’s been a while, but I’m finally ready to announce that a new WildEye publication is on the way! In the Name of the Law – Italian Crime Films from 1945 to 1969 is the third WildEye book, followingGiorgio Ardisson: The Italian Jame Bond and the now out-of-print Fantastikal Diabolikal Supermen. Here’s the blurb…

During the 1970s Italian cinema discovered crime. Inspired by the likes of Dirty Harry and The French Connection, numerous producers and directors rushed rushed their own cop and gangster movies (or poliziotteschi, as they became known) into production. But it wasn’t a phenomena that emerged out of nowhere and it wasn’t entirely due to trans-Atlantic influence. Indeed, crime (or criminality) had already been an important feature of hundreds of Italian films, from the neo-realist classics of the 1940s to neo-noirs made two decades later.

This book is an exploration of this murky area; a look at films either respected or forgotten which can authentically claim to be antecedents of the poliziotteschi. In doing so it charts the progress of the genre while it was still in the process of discovering its ideal form. So buckle up your seat-belts and get ready to meet the assorted delinquents, bandits and mafiosi who were to be found in Italian films between 1945 and 1969.

A bit of context: I started working on this book about four years ago, when it was initially intended to be the first in a three part examination of the poliziotteschi genre. At around the time I finished this first section, Roberto Curti released his Italian Crime Filmography, 1968-1980. Damn you Roberto! No, seriously, Roberto’s book is really excellent, and it made doing the second and third part of the trilogy rather redundant, at least for the moment. However, I think this part, which largely covers the period before Roberto’s book, is still very worthwhile in it’s own right: you can think of it as a prequel, but by a different director. In fact, I find a lot of the films covered here just as – if not more – interesting as the more familiar seventies crime films; and where else would you find essays on the likes of Passport For A Corpse, Barriers of the Law and Gente d’onore (as well as more acclaimed but sadly oft-forgotten gems such as Bandits of Orgosolo and Bitter Rice).

Anyway, I’m hoping to have it available early in the New Year (i.e. late January). It’s 224 pages long, Royal size (234mm x 156mm), with a nice glossy cover and 8 pages in colour. As usual, it’s packed with rare artworks, trivia about the films and…. well, all the usual. More news as it comes…http://www.thewildeye.co.uk/blog/wp-content/uploads/in-the-name-of-the-law.jpg "