Severin follows up their 2023 collection of Italian gothic titles with an essential second volume that brings together three films and a miniseries. Each work takes a very different approach to the gothic as both a visual aesthetic and a set of thematic preoccupations. The results range from virtually archetypal to resolutely revisionist. For this well-appointed set, Severin provides a veritable bounty of bonus materials: new restorations, alternate cuts, commentary tracks, cast and crew interviews, visual essays, even a soundtrack CD.
Antonio Margheriti’s Danza Macabra, from 1964, is one of the very best Italian gothic films. It simply oozes with atmosphere courtesy of Riccardo Pallottini’s moody monochrome cinematography, and, while the violence remains relatively restrained, Margheriti brazenly pushes the envelope when it comes to nudity and some suggestive sexual content. Likely as a bid to cash in on Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle, Danza Macabra not only claims to be...
Antonio Margheriti’s Danza Macabra, from 1964, is one of the very best Italian gothic films. It simply oozes with atmosphere courtesy of Riccardo Pallottini’s moody monochrome cinematography, and, while the violence remains relatively restrained, Margheriti brazenly pushes the envelope when it comes to nudity and some suggestive sexual content. Likely as a bid to cash in on Roger Corman’s Poe Cycle, Danza Macabra not only claims to be...
- 2/7/2024
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Gothic Fantastico-Four Italian Tales of Terror
Blu-ray
Arrow Video
Starring Barbara Nelli, Helga Liné, Franco Nero, Erica Blanc
Written by Giovanni Grimaldi, Bruno Corbucci
Directed by Massimo Pupillo, Alberto De Martino, Mino Guerrini, Damiano Damiani
The success of 1957’s I Vampiri, a grimly beautiful fantasy directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava, provoked an unexpected trend in the country known for neo-realism; Italian horror films began to embrace the classical romanticism of Rebecca over the modernistic shocks of Psycho. Elegant nightmares like Bava’s Black Sunday cast their spell and soon this new breed of gothics—united by sumptuous black and white photography—dominated movie theaters with tbeir come-hither promise of seductive spirits and strategically lit negligees.
A few of these thrillers were more brazen in their approach—flaunting their teasing nudity and blood-soaked denouements, exploitation fare like Atom Age Vampire and The Playgirls and the Vampire took aim at...
Blu-ray
Arrow Video
Starring Barbara Nelli, Helga Liné, Franco Nero, Erica Blanc
Written by Giovanni Grimaldi, Bruno Corbucci
Directed by Massimo Pupillo, Alberto De Martino, Mino Guerrini, Damiano Damiani
The success of 1957’s I Vampiri, a grimly beautiful fantasy directed by Riccardo Freda and Mario Bava, provoked an unexpected trend in the country known for neo-realism; Italian horror films began to embrace the classical romanticism of Rebecca over the modernistic shocks of Psycho. Elegant nightmares like Bava’s Black Sunday cast their spell and soon this new breed of gothics—united by sumptuous black and white photography—dominated movie theaters with tbeir come-hither promise of seductive spirits and strategically lit negligees.
A few of these thrillers were more brazen in their approach—flaunting their teasing nudity and blood-soaked denouements, exploitation fare like Atom Age Vampire and The Playgirls and the Vampire took aim at...
- 10/25/2022
- by Charlie Largent
- Trailers from Hell
December is Tarantino Month here at Sos, and in the week leading up our January month-long theme of westerns, I thought it would be best to whip up an article spotlighting some films that influenced Tarantino’s long awaited take on the western, Django Unchained. For my money, all of the films listed below are essential viewing for fans of Django Unchained. I’ll be diving deeper into these films come January, but in the meantime, this should hopefully whet your appetite. Enjoy!
Note: I’m not including any Sergio Leone Spaghetti westerns as they should be essential viewing for anyone, regardless if you like or dislike Tarantino’s film.
****
Django
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Written by Bruco Corbucci and Sergio Corbucci
1966, Italy / Spain
The most obvious influence for Django Unchained was of course critic-turned-director Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 masterpiece Django. The film features the Belgian actor Franco Nero playing the...
Note: I’m not including any Sergio Leone Spaghetti westerns as they should be essential viewing for anyone, regardless if you like or dislike Tarantino’s film.
****
Django
Directed by Sergio Corbucci
Written by Bruco Corbucci and Sergio Corbucci
1966, Italy / Spain
The most obvious influence for Django Unchained was of course critic-turned-director Sergio Corbucci’s 1966 masterpiece Django. The film features the Belgian actor Franco Nero playing the...
- 12/26/2012
- by Ricky
- SoundOnSight
San Diego police are investigating the death of 58-year-old Caligula actress Anneka Di Lorenzo (aka Anneka Vasta), whose body was found Jan. 4 by joggers on a military training beach in San Diego County. Di Lorenzo appeared in a handful of "exploitation" movies of the '70s, most notably as Roman Empress Messalina in both Tinto Brass' Caligula and Bruno Corbucci's Messalina, Empress of Rome. Investigators are trying to figure out how Di Lorenzo/Vasta, a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of Sherman Oaks, ended up in the water. Her car and belongings were found atop a bluff; had she jumped, investigators say that her body wouldn't have landed in the water because the tide doesn't come up that far. In Caligula, the beautiful, sculptural Di Lorenzo was featured in a memorable lesbian sex scene with Lori Wagner. Other credits, film and otherwise, include (with her last name...
- 11/2/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
'In Germany they call all my movies Django': Franco Nero tells how everywhere he goes, even today, people shout Django, the name of the 1966 film he credits with giving him a great career
Everyone has a first love and mine was the western. When I was a child and dreamed of the movies, it was always as a cowboy on a white horse. Every actor wants to make a western. But when I was offered Django, I didn't want to do it. It was movies. I studied at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano: I was a theatre actor. I had done a few films – I was actually discovered by John Huston, who made me Abel in his movie of The Bible.
But I agreed. Django was a fast shoot. We started in December 1965; it was out by March 1966. There was no real script: in the Christmas break Bruno Corbucci,...
Everyone has a first love and mine was the western. When I was a child and dreamed of the movies, it was always as a cowboy on a white horse. Every actor wants to make a western. But when I was offered Django, I didn't want to do it. It was movies. I studied at the Piccolo Teatro di Milano: I was a theatre actor. I had done a few films – I was actually discovered by John Huston, who made me Abel in his movie of The Bible.
But I agreed. Django was a fast shoot. We started in December 1965; it was out by March 1966. There was no real script: in the Christmas break Bruno Corbucci,...
- 5/26/2011
- by Phelim O'Neill
- The Guardian - Film News
Chicago – The great cult movie studio Blue Underground continues their pattern of excellent Blu-ray releases for unheralded horror gems with the recent releases of the Lucio Fulci zombie film “City of the Living Dead” and one of the most underrated westerns ever made in “Django”. While they don’t have much in common outside of studio and cult status, both are worth a look.
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
“City of the Living Dead”
Even though I admire some of his technique and willingness to do whatever inspired him, I was never a huge Lucio Fulci fan. The man has often been called the Italian Herschell Gordon Lewis and is probably most well-known for “Zombi II” and “The Beyond,” two films from the late-’70s and ’80s that earned Fulci a reputation for extreme gore. A large number of his films have been banned around the world and his “The New York Ripper...
Blu-Ray Rating: 3.0/5.0
“City of the Living Dead”
Even though I admire some of his technique and willingness to do whatever inspired him, I was never a huge Lucio Fulci fan. The man has often been called the Italian Herschell Gordon Lewis and is probably most well-known for “Zombi II” and “The Beyond,” two films from the late-’70s and ’80s that earned Fulci a reputation for extreme gore. A large number of his films have been banned around the world and his “The New York Ripper...
- 6/1/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Sergio Corbucci's Django revolutionised the Spaghetti Western genre in many ways. The low-budget retelling of Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars – itself a remake of Akira Kurosawa's Yojimbo – ramped up the violence, the amorality, the bloodletting and the insanity factor to an unprecedented scale, spawning a glut of rip-offs, cash-ins and unofficial sequels of varying degrees of quality. It also, quite unintentionally, began a trend for titular heroes whose names ended in the letter 'o' and when said quickly enough could possibly be mistaken for Django.
There was Anthony Steffen - the Spaghetti Western standard-bearer, himself no stranger to playing Django - starring as the main man in both Garringo and Shango. 'Sword and Sandal' star Brad Harris as the fast gun in Durango is Coming, Pay or Die. Montgomery Clark (Dante Posani) as the gambling gunslinger in Djurado and Ivan Rassimov in this, 1967's Cjamango.
There was Anthony Steffen - the Spaghetti Western standard-bearer, himself no stranger to playing Django - starring as the main man in both Garringo and Shango. 'Sword and Sandal' star Brad Harris as the fast gun in Durango is Coming, Pay or Die. Montgomery Clark (Dante Posani) as the gambling gunslinger in Djurado and Ivan Rassimov in this, 1967's Cjamango.
- 8/15/2009
- by Nick
- Latemag.com/film
Before you bury your talons in this week's Blood Spattered Blog, be sure to read the first installment of my interview with cinema legend Mark Damon…
For those of you who were left hanging on a cliff anticipating my Italian terror tinged follow-up, here it is.
The Many Lives of Mark Damon, Part Two:
In The Devils Wedding Night, you worked with an Italian actress who pretty much helped define femininity for me as a kid…I'm talking about Rosalba Neri, or as she's known in anglicized prints, Sarah Bay. Tell me about her…
Ah yes, Rosalba. When I did my first picture with her - I think it was Johnny Yuma - I'd flirt with her like mad and laugh so much and we really became great, great friends. She was a bit like Barbara (Steele) really, she had that same vivacious energy. I put her in The Devils...
For those of you who were left hanging on a cliff anticipating my Italian terror tinged follow-up, here it is.
The Many Lives of Mark Damon, Part Two:
In The Devils Wedding Night, you worked with an Italian actress who pretty much helped define femininity for me as a kid…I'm talking about Rosalba Neri, or as she's known in anglicized prints, Sarah Bay. Tell me about her…
Ah yes, Rosalba. When I did my first picture with her - I think it was Johnny Yuma - I'd flirt with her like mad and laugh so much and we really became great, great friends. She was a bit like Barbara (Steele) really, she had that same vivacious energy. I put her in The Devils...
- 2/1/2009
- Fangoria
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Thursday 3:00 p.m. For the Spaghetti Western posse, the day started with a press conference for the official launch of Spaghetti Western: The Secret History of Italian Cinema 4, overseen by Festival chairman, Davide Croff, and the co-curators, Marco Giusti and Manlio Gomarasca. The guest line-up was comprised of Franco Nero, Sergio Donati, and Tonino Valerii, with American director Eli Roth, and New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, also on hand. After Manlio had described the Spaghetti Western as, “the Italian genre which most contributed to change in worldwide cinema,” Nero spoke with passion about the Western and its continuing importance: “No male actor in the world doesn’t want to play in Westerns. Westerns were often A-movies in America, but B-movies in Italy. But these B-movies paid for all the auteur films. When I travelled to Japan and South America, in the hotel registers,...
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Thursday 3:00 p.m. For the Spaghetti Western posse, the day started with a press conference for the official launch of Spaghetti Western: The Secret History of Italian Cinema 4, overseen by Festival chairman, Davide Croff, and the co-curators, Marco Giusti and Manlio Gomarasca. The guest line-up was comprised of Franco Nero, Sergio Donati, and Tonino Valerii, with American director Eli Roth, and New York Times film critic Elvis Mitchell, also on hand. After Manlio had described the Spaghetti Western as, “the Italian genre which most contributed to change in worldwide cinema,” Nero spoke with passion about the Western and its continuing importance: “No male actor in the world doesn’t want to play in Westerns. Westerns were often A-movies in America, but B-movies in Italy. But these B-movies paid for all the auteur films. When I travelled to Japan and South America, in the hotel registers,...
- 9/4/2007
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
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