Thursday Guilty Pleasure: Week Two

Well, kids, it's The Vault of Horror's third anniversary today--and what better way to celebrate than to regale you with my love for cheesy Japanese monsters and little boys in ridiculous shorts? That's right, it's time for another edition of Thursday Guilty Pleasure, brought to by yours truly and Missy Yearian of Chickapin Parish, the poor misguided soul who seems to derive joy from the nadir of Dario Argento's career. Read on...

Godzilla's Revenge (1968)

Speaking of nadirs, this happens to be, by everyone's estimation, the ultimate lowpoint of the entire classic Showa series of Godzilla films from Toho. To that I say, pshaw. That's right! Pshaw. Because Godzilla's Revenge--as you would know if you listened to my recent Vaultcast with Miguel Rodriguez--brings me, and has always brought me, a disproportionate amount of pleasure.

By the late 1960s, Toho had completely given in to the fact that the main fans of the Godzilla series were little children. And so, instead of trying to make truly excellent films like Ishiro Honda's original Gojira, they started cranking out blatant kiddie fare, created without any intention of being anything but fluff. But once you accept that this isn't Gojira...well, Godzilla's Revenge can be a whole lot of fun.

You've got the little boy Ichiro, who aroused more jealousy in me than any other cinematic boy aside from possibly Elliot in E.T. You see, Ichiro had a magical machine that could transport him to Monster Island to hang out Big G and the rest of the gang. OK, so he was only dreaming, but that didn't make it any less awesome to me. I wanted to be that boy, and I wanted to chill with Anguirus, Gorosaurus and the rest of the kaiju crew.

Then, of course, there's Minya. That's right, I was the world's biggest Minya fan. Godzilla's little son (although paternity was never incontrovertibly established) completely captured my imagination, with his Don Knotts-like voice and classic smoke-ring blowing abilities. Yes, he may be the most maligned member of the Japanese movie monster fraternity, but I'm not too much of a snob to admit I loved the goofy-looking guy--and somewhere, in my grown-up heart, I still do. So take that, purists!

Godzilla's Revenge is a whole lot fun--not to mention the perfect gateway Godzilla film for little kids. So let's all get off the high horse, kick back and enjoy it's silly goodness, shall we? After all, what better way to learn a lesson about how to deal with bullying than by watching Godzilla duke it out with something that looks like a cross between a giraffe and a cat?



And now, I toss it over to Ms. Yearian, and her Guilty Pleasure for this week...

Mother of Tears (2007)

There is something special about Italian horror, no? All of us genre fans have a little place in our heart for those crazy Italians—mostly Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento. They make what we like to call “style over substance” movies. Hell, I’ve never seen a Lucio Fulci movie make much sense. Argento, however, is somehow a master at this particular kind of filmmaking. His movies are generally among the most visually beautiful you’ll ever see (see Suspiria or Tenebre).

This is why I was so surprised to discover that he’d botched Mother of Tears so badly. Holy hell, is that movie a mess or what? I mean, the acting is abysmal. The visuals are absurd. The story makes no sense. It should be the greatest cinematic disappointment of the decade.

But for some reason, it just isn’t. Don’t get me wrong. This is one of the worst horror movies I have ever seen. It’s an absolute disaster. But I’ve got such a girl boner for it that I can hardly believe it. That’s right, folks. I love Mother of Tears.

What makes the movie such a treat is the absolute shamelessness with which Argento made it. From the beginning, wherein a woman is strangled with her own intestines, the film is an experiment in absurdity. If I were to give you a highlight reel, it would look like the worst films of the eighties (a decade Argento seems to still be stuck in). A good example of this is the monkey (is it really a monkey? A baboon? Who knows?) that chases Sarah all over Italy. One could also cite the people chasing her on the train, what with their decidedly Duran Duran hairdos and makeup stylings.

But the real treat of Mother of Tears is the titular witch. Sporting a big, bouncy hairdo and the glossiest red lips you’ve ever seen, she’s no more terrifying than your average glance at your family photo albums. Upon first seeing her, I thought, “What? This is the worst of the three mothers? But she’s so eighties!”

All right, all right, truth be told, when I first saw Mother of Tears, I thought it was awful. I thought it was the worst possible ending to a fantastic trilogy. But then I saw it again. And, I don’t know, folks. You’ve got to admire Argento’s moxy. He made one atrociously bad movie (and yes, a bad ending to the trilogy), but it’s sure got style, doesn’t it?



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Yes, you read correctly up there at the top. Today is the third birthday of The Vault of Horror--which began here, if you'd care to check out the very first, completely unimpressive post. So to just keep it brief, I'd like to thank everyone, both colleagues and readers alike, for supporting this blog and helping it grow into what it is today. I can assure you... you ain't seen nothing yet.

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VAULTCAST: Conversations in the Dark... w/Christine Hadden

I'm thrilled about this week's edition of Conversations in the Dark, because Italian horror is one of my favorite topics to discuss. And if there's anyone whose name is synonymous with Italian horror, it would be Dario Argento. Suspiria is one of my all-time favorite horror films, and Argento's signature style in other movies like Deep Red and Tenebrae have long fascinated me.

So of course, I had to bring in one of my favorite Argento fanatics, Ms. Christine Hadden of Fascination with Fear. Christine is more well-versed in Argento than myself--and so, seeking, as always, to make myself look good by surrounding myself with talented individuals, I invited Christine to join me this week. By listening in on the embedded player below, you can hear us wistfully sing the praises of Italy's ambassador of terror, as well as veer into Hitchcock, Deodato and all points in between.

You can also proceed directly to the official Vaultcast page and download the audio!



Fascination with Fear: http://fascinationwithfear.blogspot.com/
Twitter: http://twitter.com/slewfan77
Blood Sprayer: http://www.bloodsprayer.com/author/christine/

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TRAILER TRASH: Giallo Edition!

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A Quarter-Century of Krueger: The All-American, Bullet-Headed, Saxon Mother's Son

John Saxon is better than you. Let's just get that out of the way right now. My favorite of all the Elm Street actors (besides Robert Englund, of course), the great John Saxon is a legend of genre and exploitation cinema. And as far I'm concerned, a hero. To this day, this swarthy gentleman remains one of my favorite B-movie actors of all time.

One look at John Saxon would reveal to anyone with a couple of brain cells to rub together that his name is not really John Saxon. No, he was born Carmine Orrico, and in my very own neighborhood in Brooklyn, New York. In fact, there was an old lady on my block growing up who constantly claimed to have babysat him frequently when he was just a kid. Pretty cool, if you ask me.

Oddly enough, my first exposure to the greatness of Saxon was thanks to his recurring role on the '80s prime time soap Falcon Crest, one of my mom's favorites. It was a bit later that I discovered he was also Nancy's father in A Nightmare on Elm Street. But the story goes back way further than that...

Saxon originally left Brooklyn in the early 1950s to become a model. It was in this capacity, appearing on the cover of True Romance magazine, that he was spotted by a Hollywood agent. In those days of studio control and contract players, matinee idol looks were prized even more than they are today--in fact an actor could get away with average ability if he looked the way Saxon looked. Not to say that he was a hack or anything, but I don't think anyone would confuse him with Paul Newman or Marlon Brando...

He started out with a few walk-on parts, including a blink-and-you-miss-it appearance in A Star Is Born (1954). In 1958, he captured a Golden Globe for "Most Promising Newcomer", an award he shared with James Garner.

But the coming decade brought change to the American movie industry. The studio system was collapsing, and the age of the auteur was coming in. It became more difficult for an actor to trade mainly on his looks. However, this led to some interesting detours in Saxon's career path. Firstly, he began finding work in his ancestral homeland of Italy, where looks were still as prized in leading men and women as they were in Hollywood's heyday.

After a decidedly mainstream turn in the acclaimed western The Appaloosa alongside Brando, for which he was nominated for a Golden Globe in 1967, the second interesting twist in Saxon's career began to occur. The burgeoning world of underground, grindhouse and exploitation cinema that rose following the vacuum left by the demise of the studios, embraced him with open arms.

The true highlight here would have to be Enter the Dragon (1973), which put Saxon on the map as a grindhouse icon. A real-life black belt, he had no trouble at all playing the token American, Roper, in this classic Bruce Lee vehicle. From there, he became a bankable name within a certain realm of moviemaking. His fans remember him from films like the original Black Christmas (1974), as well as other low-budget horror cult faves like The Bees (1978), Beyond Evil (1980) and Battle Beyond the Stars (1980).

Combining his horror experience with his longtime connection to Italian cinema, Saxon was brought on board in 1982 to be a part of Dario Argento's Tenebre, arguably the director's finest giallo effort. Saxon plays Bullmer, the hat-obsessed literary agent to Anthony Franciosa's main character Peter Neal. Aside from NOES, this is without doubt his highest profile horror appearance--and one of the reasons Robert Rodriguez remembered him some 14 years later when casting for From Dusk Till Dawn.

It was in 1984, however, that Saxon appeared in the movie for which he is most likely best remembered to this day, particularly by horror fans. As Nancy's dad, the unflappable Lt. Donald Thompson, Saxon plays a commanding supporting role. While in part your typical "ineffectual grown-up authority figure" trope so common in slasher flicks, Saxon's impressive screen presence took it to another level, and made Thompson an especially memorable character.

I don't know about you, but I shed a little tear every time I watch him get killed by the skeletal Freddy in A Nightmare on Elm Street 3, the sequel in which he reprised the role three years later. He also holds the distinction of being one of the only non-teenagers killed by Freddy in the series.

Saxon continued to work regularly in Italy, on American TV, and in low-budget horror throughout the 1980s, 1990s, and right up to the present day. This year alone, he starred in the comedy Old Dogs, the Sci-Fi Channel original War Wolves with Adrienne Barbeau, and the yet-to-be-released comic mystery City of Shoulders and Noses alongside the likes of Lou Ferrigno, David Proval, Sybil Danning, Ruth Buzzi and Nick Turturro.

After just turning 74 earlier this month, John Saxon continues to go strong, making regular convention appearances to meet fans of NOES and his many other films. For someone who's tangled with both Bruce Lee and Freddy Krueger, that's not bad at all...

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Retro Review: Suspiria

Apparently, I'm in some kind of an Italian horror mood, as can be evidenced by the Catriona MacColl edition of Woman of the Week I contributed to Day of the Woman earlier today. Now, I'm continuing that theme with a special look at a movie which I strongly feel is one of the absolute modern masterpieces of the genre, Dario Argento's shining jewel, Suspiria (1977).

Argento can be a frustratingly erratic director, but generally speaking, he is one of the modern masters, and Suspiria is Argento at the very height of his powers. It's definitely the closest he comes to being the Italian Alfred Hitchcock, which I've always felt was his goal. The levels of genuine suspense, the ebb and flow of tension that he is able to create here is truly staggering.

Based loosely on Thomas de Quincey's 19th century novel Suspiria de Profundis, the movie tells the story of an innocent new student at a ballet academy who makes the terrifying discover that the school is merely a front for a bizarre coven of witches. But you know what? I'm tempted not to say it, since it sounds like a knock, but Suspiria is the kind of a movie where the plot points are somewhat irrelevant.

In fact, this is a property of many of the best Italian horrors. And in the case of Suspiria, it really is all about the sensory feast Argento and his crew have cooked up for us. Luciano Tovoli, who in later years would shoot such American films as Reversal of Fortune, Single White Female, and Kiss of Death, offers up some truly sumptuous cinematography that epitomizes Argento's philosophy that horror can actually be beautiful. The lighting is intriguing throughout, with some truly breathtaking use of color--red being the theme, of course.

There are shots in this film, for example much of those making up the stunning opening murder sequence, that really should be studied by film students everywhere. I'd say it's the kind of movie you could totally watch and enjoy with the sound off, but then you'd be missing out on another major reason the movie works so well--the insistent, profound and off-putting score by Italian progressive rock band Goblin. Their music washes over the film, bathing it in atmosphere.

This is a rich, textured film, and I find I take away something new from it every time I watch it. I enjoyed it from the very first time I saw it, about 12 years ago, but I don't think I fully appreciated it until I started rewatching it. There's just so much being thrown at you, that I think first-time viewers can be a bit overwhelmed by it all. But this film is like a fine wine that ages wonderfully, and provides greater and greater pleasure over time.

In addition to that classic opening sequence, with its unforgettable heart stabbing, there are so many moments that stay with me. The strongest one for me has always been the sequence involving the one unfortunate student who flees frantically from her pursuer, only to find herself plunged into a room filled with razor wire. This is among the most memorable scenes I have witnessed in any horror movie, and I find myself referencing it often. A truly nightmarish scenario brought brilliantly to life by Argento, Tovoli, and Argento's favorite editor, Franco Fraticelli.

Some point to the surrealistically bright red blood employed by special effects director Germano Natali as a negative, but I think those who grasp what Argento is doing know that realism is never what he's going for. The blood itself is beautiful in a strange way, adding to the aesthetically appealing brutality that is Argento's stock-in-trade.

For as much as I love Lucio Fulci, and as underrated as he was in his ability to create a mood, nothing he ever did rivaled the masterful work accomplished here by Dario Argento. As horror films go, Suspiria is an absolute gem, and a true pleasure to watch, in a way that few horror movies are.

Suspiria is also a perfect example of technique over content. It's a true filmmaker's film. While the script and acting arer all adequate, that's not what keeps me coming back to this film over and over. Rather, it's Argento's enthralling style, the deft manner in which he crafted this gorgeous, gorgeous film. Some may say it's a self-conscious style, but I eat up with a spoon every time. I never find it overbearing or pretentious--rather, I only wish all of Argento's work could live up to the quality of this picture. Although I also love films of his like Deep Red and Tenebre, there is only one Suspiria...

In addition to being a filmmaker's film, Suspiria is also a horror fanatic's horror film. It might not be the best to show someone who's only a casual fright flick fan, but for those more discriminating lovers of the cinematic macabre, Suspiria remains a titan of the genre. As a horror film, it is all but perfect.

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The Ultimate Argento Rarity Finally Hits Video After 37 Years

It's a tortuous and bizarre story, as much as most of Argento's films themselves are. In 1971, the Italian auteur completed his third film, 4 Mosche di Velluto Grigio, or Four Flies on Grey Velvet. Due to the violent nature of the giallo, he was unable to obtain distribution in his own country. Paramount Pictures picked up the U.S. distribution the following year, but when it hit American theaters in the summer of 1972, it was in edited form.

Since then, unless you were lucky enough to catch a rare theatrical screening, the film has been all but impossible to see, especially in uncut form. Argento himself was reportedly unhappy with the movie. On top of that, the rights are owned by a single anonymous individual, and with the original, uncut print stored in Rome, it was never a priority for Paramount Home Video to pursue. Allegedly, a bootlegged version popped up on VHS in France during the 1990s, but that had been made using the edited American print. Swedish distributor DMEG put out a low-quality VHS in 2004 in Sweden, one of more than 200 horror movies the company released that year. This version was later translated to an equally crappy German bootleg DVD.

But at the end of 2008, at long last, after failed attempts by genre distributors like Blue Underground, Mya Communication somehow secured the rights and got their hands on that print. And so, Four Flies on Grey Velvet receives its first official video release today, making this the first time anyone has ever seen it in its original, uncut form. It isn't often that fans get to witness an early, completely lost work from an acclaimed director. This is one such opportunity.

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Dario Argento's Unlikely New Project

Electronic Arts has pulled off quite a coupe, announcing on Friday that they've enlisted none other than acclaimed cult director Dario Argento to do voice work on the Italian version of their new game Dead Space.

Argento--best known for films like Suspiria, Tenebre and Phenomena--is doing the voice of Dr. Terrence Kyne in the game, in which players find themselves trapped in an abandoned space station crawling with murderous genetic mutations. According to EA's press release, Argento has had a great deal of input into his character and into his voice acting.

"Dead Space truly captures the essence of fear in an entertainment medium," the director predictably says in the press release. "Not only is it the most terrifying game I've ever played, but it's also one that all fans of horror will appreciate."

Longtime Argento aficionados will tell you that the horror maestro has been known to contribute the narration for the original Italian versions of his own movies, including Suspiria, Opera and Inferno.

The American version of Dead Space (for PlayStation 3, XBox 360 and PC) ships in late October. In that version, the voice of Dr. Kynes is provided by long-time video game voice actor Keith Szarabajka, who recently appeared in The Dark Knight as the detective taunted by the Joker at the police precinct.

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Suspiria Remake May Not Suck

I've sometimes been criticized for being overly optimistic when it comes to movies, but something I read today about the impending remake of Dario Argento's Suspiria (yes, it's happening) has me in a hopeful mood. Or, it could just be the Effexor.

Anyways, ShockTillYouDrop managed to corner the remake's director David Gordon Green at Comic-Con today, and what he had to say makes it sound like maybe, just maybe, we can expect a little more out of the new Suspiria than, say, the myriad soulless reboots currently being spit out by Michael Bay's Platinum Dunes company:

"The script is finished. We're out trying to find the right supportive financial institution who wants to take a risk and make a really bold, distinctive and unique horror film. It's not the obvious... it doesn't slip naturally into the niche market of contemporary horror movies. It's something that I think has the potential to be classic and a lot more artistically-inclined than a lot of the contemporary horror stuff."

In other words, it sounds like Green has some genuine respect for the original, and is actually trying to craft a remake that at least attempts to recapture what made it so good in the first place, instead of trying to fit a square peg into a round hole (of course, that begs the question of why do you need to remake it in the first place--but then the obvious answer is, as it always has been, money.)

Interestingly, Green also notes that it's an Italian production company that's spearheading the project, so at least it isn't a case of an American company trying to cash in on a foreign classic it doesn't understand (ie. Godzilla or The Wicker Man). An American distributor will be found once the film is complete.

Maybe it's that optimistic streak, but count me in on this one. True, the horror remakes have gotten out of hand and need to stop. But this one and The Wolf Man could wind up being for this decade what The Thing and The Fly were in the 1980s.

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Rare Argento Gems Come to DVD

Hardcore fans of Italian horror maestro Dario Argento have long had the devil's own time collecting the director's entire body of work, mainly because some of the titles were simply unavailable on DVD. But now, fan-favorite distributor Anchor Bay has taken measures to rectify the situation, releasing two of Argento's finest to disc.

This one slipped under the radar a few weeks ago, but both the 1982 giallo classic Tenebrae and the 1985 supernatural chiller Phenomena (a.k.a. Creepers) are now officially obtainable. The latter is particularly notable for featuring the very first starring role of 15-year-old Jennifer Connelly (pre-eyebrow waxing), recommended to Argento by his long-time friend and one-time collaborator Sergio Leone, who had used her the year before in Once Upon a Time in America.

I'll admit I'm not as familiar with Argento's work as I should be, although I'm crazy about Suspiria (who isn't?). But this is definitely a reason for fans of Italian horror to be happy. Now all we need is a boxed set release for Lucio Fulci's Gates of Hell/The Beyond/House by the Cemetery trilogy.

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First Pix from Dario Argento's Giallo

ShockTillYouDrop scored the following shots today, from the set of Italian legend Dario Argento's new serial killer flick, appropriately titled Giallo (the term for the Italian slasher sub-genre, for all you newbies.):

The pics show Argento himself, as well as Adrien Brody and French actress Emmanuelle Seigner, who play a detective and a flight attendant on the trail of a murderer who's kidnapped the attendant's sister. The film hits theaters next year, and is not Argento's first English-language effort, despite erroneous reports.

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Dario Argento to Make First English-Language Movie in 15 Years

Acclaimed Italian horror auteur Dario Argento will next be directing an English-language film, according to a story posted to The Hollywood Reporter yesterday.

Contrary to the report, however--and to oft-repeated accounts elsewhere on the 'net--it is not his first. That would be 1985's Phenomena, which helped launch the career of my beloved Jennifer Connelly. Argento also helmed the full-on Hollywood production Trauma in 1993.

The film will be appropriately entitled Giallo, a reference to the Italian thriller/slasher movie genre of the same name. The tale of a serial killer and the detective who is desperate to stop him, it will star Ray Liotta, Vincent Gallo and Dario's lovely daughter Asia, pictured here (Madonna mia!)

Argento's star has been on the rise in the U.S. lately thanks to Jenifer and Pelts, two episodes he made for the Showtime Masters of Horror TV series. He is best known for the 1977 blood-soaked classic Suspiria, featuring the hardest-to-watch death scene in horror history (two words: razor wire).

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