More Naschy

 

 (imdb)

THE DEVIL'S POSSESSED-1974-Baron Gilles de Lancre (Paul Naschy) hires Simon (Eduardo Calvo) the alchemist to teach him how to make gold from glass. At first Gilles is reluctant to help the alchemist because it requires a human sacrifice. However, with some urging from his consort Georgelle (Norma Sebre), he overcomes his misgivings, and a local cutie is killed. Later Gaston Malebranche (Guillermo Bredeston) returns from the war and has a fight with some hooligans in a bar. The Baron uses murder and torture to keep everyone in check while searching for the philosopher's stone. His Georgella says the devil will talk to him through a severed head, so he has a local boy decapitated. The head does talk to him and tells him to sacrifice some virgins but the voice is actually that of the alchemist who is obviously in cahoots with Georgelle. 

Later Gaston, who once saved the Baron's life, is more than welcomed in the Baron's castle but Georgelle doesn't like him and says he should be killed. When an assassination fails, Gaston joins the underground peasants who oppose the Baron. After losing a jousting match to Gaston and killing the alchemist because he failed to produce the philosopher's stone, the Baron and his army go on a killing spree. Later he thinks he's invulnerable, but his enemies prove him wrong. 

This great historical bloody horror film was written by star Naschy under his real name Jacinto Molina as he once again teamed the director Leon Klimovsky (THE WEREWOLF VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMAN, DR. JEKYLL VS. THE WEREWOLF). The story is loosely an adaptation of the life of Gilles de Rais, a 15-century notorious French serial killer who had serves under Joan of Arc. Read about him here:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gilles_de_Rais

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A Hot Bed of Low Budget Actors!

A BULLET FOR PRETTY BOY-1970-Low budget maven Larry Buchanan's supposed true story of the infamous outlaw (also immortalized in a Woody Guthrie song). 

At his wedding Charles Floyd (one time Elvis wannabe Fabian) beats up party crasher Jack, also the former beau of Charles' wife Ruby (Astrid Warner; HELLES BELLES). When Jack tries to shoot Charles he kills Mr. Floyd by accident. Later when Jack attacks Charles with an ax, Charles kills him. A newspaper headline tells us that Charles received a 6 year sentence on a work farm. 4 years later, Charles (not looking the worst for wear) decides to escape with lifer Huddy (Buchanan regular Bill Thurman) who gets shot and stays behind (and is killed off-screen) while Charles gets away. He's taken in by Beryl (Anne MacAdams, another Buchanan regular; later in DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT), a madame and her two sons Wallace (Jeff Alexander) and William (Gene Ross; also in DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT) and two hookers Helen (Carmilla Carr; also in DON'T LOOK IN THE BASEMENT) and Betty (Joslyn Lane, a former model, also in HELL'S BELLES in her last role) who has weird sex scene in a bathtub with Charles. Bo and Harvey, two eastern gangsters join Charles to rob a bank. 

After a few more robberies he's caught but when the train he's on goes through his hometown he kills the escorting sheriff and escapes. Later he's joined by his friend Preacher (Adam Roarke; guess what? Also in HELL'S BELLES) but Beryl's brothers try to kill him. He machine guns them instead. More robberies follow(with Betty and Helen helping out) and a new guy named Ned (Michael Haynes) joins them.. Somehow they escape a police ambush but Ned is killed and Helen is arrested. 

This low budget crime drama is pretty slow going despite some shootouts, idolizing Floyd yet depicting him as a ruthless killer. Filmed in Texas by conspiracy king Buchanan and scripted (from a story by Buchanan and actor Tony Huston) by Henry Rosenbaum who wrote the film version of THE DUNWICH HORROR for AIP the same year. He later wrote the Gene Wilder vehicle team-up HANkY PANKY. Buchanan also made STRAWBERRIES NEED RAIN the same year. 

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