anyone intrested in european/westerner b-movies?? (Corman, Fulci, Hooper, H.G. Lewis etc…?)
love 'em. tell us more. esp FULLER
well, actually i love very much indipendent (aka low-budget) movies from 60’s and 70’s expecially the old italian movies. Stuff almost impossible to find here, due to the graphic violence, the nasty and political uncorrect topics. Personally, i love very much some italian directors such as Mario Bava (“The whip and the Body”, “Bay of Blood” “Blood and Black Lace”), Lucio Fulci (“House by the cemetery” “The New York Ripper”…) or Fernando Di Leo (“Caliber 9” “The Boss” “La mala Ordina” which are in my hopinion, some of the BEST noir/crime movies of all the times).
I love their ability to shock the audience, making worldwide (in)famous movies with a very low budget, breaking the moral prejudices or taboos.
Directors such Quentin Tarantino owe much to the old italian (and europeans) directors. All of his movies are full of references to the early 70’s european cinema (including the soundtracks… for example, almost 60% of the soundtrax of Kill Bill is stolen by old italian/european movies)
This kind of cinema died around 1980-82, due to the increasing pressure of private televisions, and the enormous power of american mainstream movie’s industry. Genres such as “giallos”, “horrors” “cannibal movies”, “erotic” “Mondo movies” (a sort of documentary with scenes of TRUE death) literally vanished, and all the artisians of cinema (including other european directors like Jesus -Jess- Franco, Jean Rollin, Terence Fisher…) literally vanished from the memories of many fans.
Maybe, nowadays, these kind of movies looks very old fashioned, primitive, naive… but they had such a great impact to the society of their time (expecially a very infamous movie like “Cannibal Holocaust” still banned in 31 countries, or “Salo’” by Pier paolo Pasolini), analyzing and de-constructing the enviroment, the society, the taboos, the issues of the italian/european lifestyle of that time.
Many “movies fanatics” of nowadays knows only the mainstream blockbuster american movies, and that’s a pity, because they tend to forget or to ignore that also America used to have a very fertile and innovative cinema during the 60s and 70s.
Recently i have seen -here in Taipei- the remake of “Texas Chainsaw Massacre”. I’ve been a bit disappointed because the original one by Tobe Hooper, was a SHOCKING movie, altough naive or without any digital s/f.
Society is changed, we are going toward a globalization and a standardizations of habits and tastes. It’s almost impossible to shock the audience with a movie like “Texas…” (the original version) or “Last House on The Left” or “Easy Rider”. We are get used to see almost everything, internet show us whatever we want to know, big blockbusters like “Lord Of The Rings” fulfill the theater thanks to their awesome special effects made by pc… Westerner peoples passed thru several cultural revolutions, youth changed radically the basis of our society, we’ve got more and more freedom of speech and expressions, so, these old movies have no more meanings, they can not shock anymore, they can not be compared to the new american blockbusters.
Violence, blood, erotism, politic, naive sense-of-wonder are already disappeared from the modern theater’s screens.
I still love these old movies just because they are witness of an old society, old tastes, old ways to make cinema and entertain audience.
A time where cinema was not only entertainment, but also political, cultural and philosophical involvement.
So, anybody who want to have more infos? anybody intrested to talk with me about their tastes or their knowledges?
About Fuller, well, Fuller was one of the most important directors, it’s almost impossible to make a summary of his filmography coz he covered all the genres, from tv serials, to drama, to comedy, to western… personally i have a great feeling for 2 of his movies: “The Klansman” (aka “KKK”) about the racial isuues in the southern states of USA, and “Shock Corridor”…
Anyway, here is a link of the Internet Movies Database, where you can find many (almost all) informations about genres, directors, actors, movies etc:
www.imdb.com
A suggestion to all the european fans (or to all those who likes weird-strange movies): Try to find (downloading from E-Mule.com or elsewhere) an old movie by Jesus Franco called “Las Vampiras” aka “Vampyros Lesbos” aka “Lesbian Vampires”. One of the most weird, amazing indipendent movies of all the times
There is one Italian movie from the 1970s I watched many years ago and would like to buy on DVD. However, I can’t remember the title. :x
Basically, it involves a working class man and a very rich woman who are accidently left on a deserted island together with little hope of being rescued. They both hate each other instantly. He can’t stand her haughtiness, and she is repulsed by his peasant manners. However, as the movie progresses they fall in love and engage in a lot of sweaty, pig sex all over the island.
At the end of the movie, a helicopter comes and rescues the woman (although she hesitates briefly in leaving). The end of the movie has the man shouting obscenities at the woman and saying he will never trust a rich person again. The movie definitely had a Marxist interpretation to it, but it was enjoyable nontheless, and I would like to watch it again. Do you know the name of it?
Chewy
i am pretty sure that the movie is “Travolti da un insolito destino nell’azzurro mare d’agosto” directed by Lina Wertmuller in 1974, starring Giancarlo Giannini (the marxist sailorman) and Mariangela Melato (the rich woman). In USA this movie is known as “Swept Away”. Beware!!! Recently (in 2002), Guy Ritchie has directed a remake with the same title (Slept Away), starring Madonna (the rich woman) and Adriano Giannini (son of the original actor Giancarlo, in the role of the marxist sailorman). This new version is a total crap, lacking of the ironical political uncorrectness and the latin sex charge of the original one. Americans tried to copy the italian movie, failed, because in the last 25 years society (and communism) changed a lot. The original italian movie is also based on the contrasts between the rich northen woman and the rude, unpolite poor southern man. During the 70s, northen italians were VERY racists toward the southern italians, and the movie show these contrasts, these differences of political ideas, habits and traditions between northen and southern. So, the new american movie failed his purpose because it didn’t focused deeply on these contrasts. Read the comments on:
us.imdb.com/title/tt0291502/usercomments
I think that the original italian movie it’s not easy to find here in Taiwan. In Italy this movie has not released on dvd, and it’s rarely broadcasted on tv. The italian vhs, not easy to find, is almost complete (censorship censored some dialogues considered too much “political uncorrect”) You can try to download it on E-Mule, the sharing web site. There is an american dvd released by Fox Lorber, almost complete, easy to find on Amazon.com.
ftattini,
I’m a fan of those flicks though I think I’m probably not as immersed in the genre as yourself. Seen a few of Fulci, Bava and Argentos films… I always referred to that stuff as shlock cinema (don’t know why). Love the music in those movies. Sadli missed Cannibal Holocaust when it was playing at film festival back home, as seeing those movies in a theater is always more fun.
Vampyros Lesbos sounds great… (damn! gotta get a computer)
I’ve been wanting to see more movies by Alex de la Iglesia since I saw saw El Dia de la Bestia (Day of the Beast) a while back. Have you seen any of his stuff? Good, Great, Ho-hum, not-yer-thing?
hey, Alex de la Iglesia is one of the most innovative spanish directors… i think that spanish cinema got a new direction thanks to him… in my hopinion some of his movies like Accion Mutante or perdida Durango are true cult movies… Accion Mutante: weird, anarchist, nihilist, tons of gore, sex, black humor… definitively one of the best movies of the last decade.
Perdida Durango has a touch of class more, basically is a nasty road movie, setted in Mexico, but the story is still awesome crazy, mixing crazied religious fanatism, pedophilia, satanism, gore, sex… The storyboard is very naive and weak, but who says that a good movie shall have a solid storyboard?
basically El Dia de La Bestia is more introspective, philosophical and “sociologic” than Perdida Durango, it has more visual creativity, and more camera experimentations…
Perdida Durango could be be considered as a “step back” into A D la Iglesia career, but it’s still enjoyable.
Hard to find a strong uncut copy, because this movie suffered of many cuts by censorship… (expecially about sex and gore). The german dvd seems to be the most complete, (germans are famous for their… “rough” tastes), as well as the spanish dvd. Other anglo-saxons releases (expecially the UK’s ones) are heavily cuts.
About shock movies… well, yes, it’s a correct definition… some labels like Grindhouse (the label of Sage Stallone, son of Sylvester), Something Weird or Blue Underground are specialized in releasing this kind of movies… bizarre, weird, shocking or simply disgusting and unbearables… There is an italian edition of cannibal Holocaust that seems to be the most complete, (it has the english soundtrack too). I love the soundtrack of that movie, romantic, sweet, in contrast with the violent nature of the movie.
Jess Franco used to compose the soundtrax of his movies, and in Vampyros Lesbos there is a COOL free jazz sountrx, very 70s.
the german label Lucertola Media or the italian one Intermezzo are specialized in releasing cds and vynils (in limited editions) of old 60s and 70s movies soundtrax, with a very cool and arty graphic. A true pleasure for the ears and eyes.
Check out a cool american movies magazine called Bizarre Sinema (or Bizarre Cinema). It’s the BIBLE of all shocking movies!
the name of the magazine/book is Bizarre Sinema!
a cool link where u can find many infos and dvds of shocking movies:
[quote=“ftattini”]the name of the magazine/book is Bizarre Sinema!
a cool link where u can find many infos and dvds of shocking movies:
www.lfvw.com[/quote]
Yo Funk500, check out that link.
I’m pretty sure you’ll dig it. 
Cheers my man :bravo: I’ll have a proper look later, got some good SW on there…
there is a badass low budget TW movie called “shiao nian ni an na” that is awesome. if you wanna see how the hei dao REALLY fights up in this bitch, this is the film for you.
taiwan used to make great movies. some of the gouh pien are still awesome. there is an old style movie theater/museum in che chen that is really great.
love those roger corman movies. i read his whole book and i wish we could go back to movies like that and old movie theaters with GOOD HEART STOPPING COCONUT OIL COOKED POPCORN WITH REAL BUTTER!!!
in the US, they’re tearing those theaters down left and right if any are still standing. i’m for breaking into those things(if the short sighted landlord won’t give you permission) and taking everything of value before they get the wrecking ball. it’s a civic duty to preserve historic treasures.