Reviews

Listen, I am totally chill with legalization of certain, lighter "substances". I don't consume them but I am totally OK with other people enjoying themselves as long as they don't harm the others. So, you go mushrooms !!!

However...... to have a quasi-scientific rant of a newly enlightened freshmen student (who has just discovered biology and wants the world to know) presented as a documentary, with flashy dramatizations and idiotic reenactments (think of Space Odyssey but with a mushroom instead of monolith!), and this nonsense receiving a praise and promotion and high IMDb scores and so on????? Spare me!!!!

This is 50% basic scientific facts (that you should know if you are not a completely uneducated) + 50% Scientology/Jehovah Witness style platitudes and manipulative conclusions drawn from that 50% of scientific facts.

But honestly, Brie Larson claiming she is a mushroom is worth the price of admission alone !

A lesser remake of Margheriti's own Castle of Blood. Film is inferior to the original in every respect but still not without its charms. Anthony Franciosa is quite likable as the male lead, and so is Michelle Mercier who took up the role originally played by Barbara Steele. For a short period in mid 1960's Mercier was one of the main box-office attractions in France and she had appeared in numerous Italian movies as well, including Bava's classic Black Sabbath (1963). However, by 1971 her carrier was in decline and soon she would go into semi-retirement. Just like Barbara Steele was typecast into playing the same mysterious dead/ghost//supernatural ladies, so was Michelle Mercier condemned to play variations of her Huge Success - Angélique (1964) series that made her a household name in France as well as in many countries of eastern block and USSR. Actually, in many territories she is the main selling point of this film, while in others, including most English language countries, her name doesn't mean much and it is Klaus Kinski who is the main attraction - even if here he plays actually a supporting character. To be completely honest, it is Antony Franciosa who deserves most most compliments here - he is quite good, not a "wooden imported american star" like it is often the case in Italian genre films of the time.

This is a fine B movie with a great cast : Yul Brynner, Massimo Ranieri, Barbara Bouchet, Martin Balsam! Bouchet is underused (but undressed a lot as well) This film and the Squize, both seem to be inspired by The Mechanic (1972) and it is interesting to see different solutions/variations of the main themes that Margheriti comes up with. This film is also close to typical Poliziotteschi however, despite all the violence, it doesn't have the mean streak that is common in that genre and that is a good thing in my book.

This is unofficial remake of the original (1924) Thief of Bagdad - not the better known Korda version from 1940 (that has quite a different plot), but the original one with Douglas Fairbanks. Both of those films are masterpieces and The Golden Arrow is definitely not quite up there, but even if it is not perfect, the colors are lavish, real Egyptian settings are magnificent and if you can get past Tub Hunters platinum blond hair and some uneven special effects - this is quite a delightful fantasy movie. But, again not for those who expect only grind-house movies from Margheriti. Watch only a high quality wide screen version!

Io Ti Amo is a deliriously camp musical with Iconic Italo-French-Egyptian pop-star Dalida, a cross between Italian musicarello, a Douglas Sirk and Bollywood, deserves to get late night screenings a'la The Rocky Horror Picture Show, if only the foreign audiences could bother to sing along songs in Italian!

This film is often seen as anomaly in Margheriti's career - however it is not that unusual in the general context of Italian B cinema of the time. At the very core - this is a Musicarello - a very Italian variation of Musical comedy or melodrama, featuring pop stars in the main parts and usually built around a hit song or songs it has to promote - pretty much like the music videos. In fact musical numbers here could be easily cut and used as music videos for Dalida's songs. Unsurprisingly many of these were featured on her Italian language album released in 1968 and Italian song compilation album released in 1969. So in a way the film is one long promotional video!

Actually many crazy camera angles and tricks would work much better in the music video then in a feature film but then, when this was made, music videos hadn't been invented yet. Instead, they had Musicarelli.

Many Italian exploitation directors made Musicarelli - actually I think even Lucio Fulci made much more of these than the horror films but the fans of his gory works simply ignore the other part of his career, and the same is true for many other B-movie directors from Italy, including Margheriti.

However it is worth remembering this was the only film that Margheriti signed off with his own name and not as Antony Dawson or Antony Daisies.

Many fans of the "Exploitation" cinema tend to focus more on violence/sex type of exploitation, conveniently forgetting other enormous slice of exploitation cinema - tearjerkers. And while admittedly this type of overblown melodramas nowadays are mostly relegated to soap operas on TV, but even mainstream Hollywood keeps churning them out: after all every Nicholas Sparks adaptation or every remake of Endless Love (as well as every variation of twilight) are basically the same old good melodrama, tacky and simple, and yet very appealing to its target audience.

But there is more to IoTi Amo.

Apart from showcasing Dalida's songs (Lupo also has two songs - but these are nothing more than him just talking over a musical accompaniment and background singers), the film also works as travelogue with a picture postcard perfect views of Rome, Naples and environs...

But what makes this film even more interesting that it actually ties in with the best film of Margheriti - Gothic horror Danza macabre/Castle of blood (1964) with Barbara Steele (that he would remake with Michelle Mercier, Antony Franciosa and Klaus Kinski in just two years after the release of Io ti amo).

Story does start as a Bollywood melodrama set in picturesque italian settings, but as it goes on, things get darker, more "gothic" with volcano, abandoned house, all the dusty furniture and candelabras... and then... but I won't spoil it for you here, you have to see the film to know what I mean.

However, this doesn't mean that you HAVE TO SEE IT. It is a very, VERY acquired taste. For me it is a hilariously uber-camp Musical Melodrama that can be quite rewarding if you are in the right mood, if you like melodramas or camp, but I am afraid everybody else would simply hate it.

Ursus, il terrore dei kirghisi is the proper name of the film and it is pretty unusual mishmash of peplum, horror, geography and ethnicities. Suspiciously Mediterranean looking Kirghiz somehow manage to oppress unusually Nordic looking Cirkassians who seem to be living just across the hill from each other (it's like horse riding from Canada to Mexico!!!). The main hero - Ursus (not Hercules! Though all names have been altered for american edit) is played by Muscle man Reg Park was a mentor and inspiration for Arnold Schwarzenegger both in terms of over-exaggerated physique (of cartoon superhero/"bullied kids dream variety" and nowhere near as objectively beautiful like that of Steve Reeves) but also in wooden acting department (again making Reeves look almost method actor in comparison). Most other characters (in original Italian version) seem to have Georgian names for some reason - Ilo, Kato, Aniko (who became Amico in american version because...?) and finally Prince Zereteli - who would be happy to know that there is a street and a Metro station named after him in downtown Tbilisi, Georgia :)))