Directors Act!

 

 

 

 (imdb)

VIOLENT SHIT: THE MOVIE-2015-This is a kind of Italian remake/sequel to a German series of movies by Andreas Schnaas (who has a small role in this). An Italian cop (director Enzo G. Castellari) and a German cop (Steve Aquilina) investigate the ritual killings that seem to be tied to tectonic serial killer Karl the butcher. Meanwhile the bald pasty-faced Prof. Vassago (Giovanni Lombardo Radice) talks about Attila the Hun. Occasionally a guy in a metal mask kills people. Directors Lucio Fulci and Luigi Cozzi also have small roles. 

 Radice under the name John Morghen is better known for his roles in Italian cannibal films like CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD (1980) and CANNIBAL FEROX (1981). This is drawn out garbage with lots of talk and excessively gory in spots. The music is by Claudio Simonetti. This Italian/Germany production was directed by Luigi Pastore.

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Eat It

 

 (imdb)

I EAT YOUR SKIN-1971-After a voodoo ceremony where a woman is decapitated, a publisher named Fairchild (Dan Stapleton) goes to "Voodoo Island" with his wise cracking wife Coral (Betty Wyatt Linton) and an arrogant womanizing playboy writer Tom Harris (William Joyce). After an encounter with a bug-eyed zombie, they meet Bentley (Walter Coy), the overseer of a plantation. Later they meet Doctor Biladeau (Robert Stanton) who is working on a cure for cancer and his daughter Jeannie (Heather Hewitt) who Harris tries to put the moves on. The doctor tells them about a local plant that the natives use "like we use alcohol". After dinner when Harris and Jeannie get romantic, they are attacked by some zombies who try to kidnap Jeannie but Harris thwarts them. 

There's another wild voodoo dance ritual and after Harris and Jeannie have sex, they find a shack full of deformed comatose zombies. Later they discover her dad turning people into zombies with radiation bombarded snake venom. It turns out the forgotten about Bentley is behind it all trying to create enough zombies to rule the world. 

Low budget horror that really isn't as bad as its reputation. Writer/director Del Tenney had made HORROR OF PARTY BEACH and CURSE OF THE LIVING CORPSE in the '60's.

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Friend of the Devil?

 

 (imdb)

THE DEVIL'S PARTNER-1960-An old man is killed when sacrificing a goat in a supernatural ritual. Then Nick Richards (Ed Nelson) comes to a small town looking for his uncle Pete. He's informed by the sheriff (Spencer Carlisle) that his uncle is dead and it could be murder. Local girl Nell (Jean Allison) befriends him. Her boyfriend David (Richard Crane) owns a gas station and her father (Edgar Buchanan) is the town doctor. Later Frank, another local drinks goat's milk and dies. Nick seems nice but he obviously has a sinister ulterior motive. At night Nick, using a pentagram his uncle made, makes David's dog turn on him. He survives by killing the dog and hires Nick to run the station while he recovers. Later Nick kills the plastic surgeon who's coming to check out David's scars by making his car crash. For some reason Nick pays the town drunk Papers (Byron Foulger) to help him in another ritual where Nick transforms into his uncle Pete! Papers runs away and is trampled by a mysterious black horse. Later Nick turns into a snake and tries to kill David but is shot. He turns into the black horse but is shot and killed by the Sheriff. The horse turns into Nick who turns into Uncle Pete. 

There seems to be a few holes in this story or the version I saw was edited. This is only one of two feature length films made by busy TV director Charles Rondeau and both in 1960 (the other was the dreary THE GIRL IN LOVER'S LANE). The screenplay was co-written by ex-Bowery Boys actor Stanley Clements.

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1960

THE LEECH WOMAN-1960-A stuck up scientist Paul Talbott (Phillip Terry) insults his alcoholic wife June (Coleen Gray; still alive at this writing) at his clinic where he's trying to reverse the aging process. An ancient woman named Malla (Estelle Hemsley) visits him and claims to be 142 years old. She says that her tribe in Africa holds the secret to eternal youth. After some tests, Talbott decides to take a journey there and convinces June to come along. He acts very cheerful and nice but only wants to use her. They hire a European guide (John Van Dreelan) and are eventually captured by the tribe where they meet Maila who promises to show them the eternal youth ceremony but then they must die! Malla does turn young (and into actress Kim Hamilton who just passed away in September) but the secret ingredient is human fluid found at the base of the skull. So a life has to be sacrificed when doing it. When June is offered the "treatment" she gets her revenge on hubby by picking him as her victim/sacrifice. She turns young and hightails with the guide to civilization but not before June starts to turn old again and kills the guide. 

Back home she's beautiful and youthful (and bitchy) and posing as her own niece where she seemingly mesmerizes her lawyer Neil Foster (Grant Williams; THE INCREDIBLE SHRINKING MAN), much to the irritation of his fiance' Sally (Gloria Talbott with a terrible hairstyle). When she gets old again June (now posing as herself) puts on her finest jewelry and lures an unsuspecting robber/gigolo (familiar TV actor Arthur Batanides, who had an un-billed role in SPARTACUS the same year!) to his death.

Just when June thinks she has everything going her way (she kills Sally for her vital fluid and plans to have Neil all to herself) the injections fail to work, she turns permanently old and falls out a window to her death.

Director Edward Dein (SHACK OUT ON 101) moves the episodic story along quickly (maybe too quickly!) giving it  a "Corman" type of feel. Producer Joseph Gershenson (also a music supervisor on many films) work on lots of things including MONSTER ON THE CAMPUS and several Abbott & Costello comedies.

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