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Les gommes (1969)
For fans of Alain Robbe-Grillet
LES GOMMES (1969) aka THE ERASERS. Director : Lucien Deroisy. Cast: Francoise Brion, Claude Titra, Georges Genicot. Based on the first novel by Alain Robbe-Grillet.
A man arrives and heads to a seedy, abandoned building. There he meets an even seedier looking gentleman whereupon he receives instructions to kill a Mr. Dupont. As the instructions are given, we see the actual murder taking place. However there is a big problem as the murderer only wounds his victim in the hand. The killer escapes but the next day's newspaper headlines details the fact that Mr. Dupont was shot in the heart and died later of heart failure. The corpse has mysteriously disappeared (the police commissioner alludes to the fact that this the ninth such occurrence to take place), but he believes it was suicide. Dupont is hiding out at the clinic of doctor Juard where he believes he was set up to be assassinated because of his affiliation with THE GROUP! Enter Wallas, an investigator sent in to uncover the truth. He discovers Dupont was married to the mysterious Helene who calls someone as soon as Wallas finishes talking to her. Is she in on this conspiracy, did she have him killed, and why does a friend of Dupont named Marchat, think he is going to be killed next at the exact same location and time as Dupont? Needless to say, Wallas has been sent to solve a murder that hasn't even happened, yet he's suspected of being the killer of the man who isn't dead. True, a murder will take place, just as it was laid out in the film's beginning. The only difference will be the identity of the killer.
There's no doubt this is a film based on the work of Alain Robbe-Grillet (his very first novel). If you have seen any of his early black and white films, this one fits like a glove. This is the director's only fictional film (which is a damn shame), as he died a few years later. The black and white cinematography is a knockout and the city this was filmed in seems to be composed of nothing but stone steps that lead to infinity in any direction. It wore my ass out just watching everyone go up and down the steps as they travelled around the city. There are numerous filmic eccentricities throughout, people just miss seeing each other, gazing out windows lead to flashbacks or forwards, driving down a city street and an advertising poster with a young boy is repeated ad Infinitum. Claude Titra does a good job as Wallas, a cypher like character who is seemingly unaware of the major part he is going to play in the murder. Francoise Brion as Dupont's wife plays the part two ways, as someone who seems to know what is going on behind the scenes, but then again, maybe not. Ironically the police commissioner (wonderfully played by Andre Gevrey), has the "murder" all figured out at the 70 minute mark, but never follows through on it! The score by Georges Delerue is minimalistic to the point of nonexistent. If you are a fan of Robbe-Grillet's work, you really must see this.
Delitto in Via Teulada (1980)
Better than usual made for TV giallo
CRIME ON TEULADA STREET (1980)-Director: Aldo Lado, Cast: Auretta Gay, Pietro Brambilla, Aldo Sassi, Attilio Duse. Music: Fabio Frizzi. The film opens with a movie within a movie: specifically a Giallo is being made. All the tropes are there: lightning on a darkened night, a killer stalking his victim with a pair of scissors, culminating in the stabbing death of a young woman. The director shows up, ranting and raving over all the imperfections he noticed. A female behind the scenes technician named Ely has to chase her cat throughout the studios (the film was made at the RAI television network) as we see all types of ongoing productions taking place with actors like Renato Rascal and Corrine Clery appearing on a talk show, a variety show, newscast and others. When she finally locates her cat in a remote part of the studio, she also finds a dead actress who was in an earlier scene shown being shot in the head. Of course by the time she returns to the scene with co-workers, the body has disappeared. No one believes her and we get to see all types of weirdness such as a camel traipsing through the studio, a costume designer ironing her hand because the heat helps her arthritis (the 3rd degree burns are apparently just a nuisance!) and a blind switchboard operator who we see walking around seemingly without a problem, in fact it's almost 15 minutes in before we realize she's blind! She and her friend Sandro decide to take the lead on discovering who the murderer is and notice that when the killer strangled his second victim, he was injured during the killing. They go to the set of the production taking place at the time (ZORRO'S REVENGE) and EVERYONE on the set has some type of injury!! More people are killed until the film reaches it's conclusion. The reveal of the killer has to be one of the most absurd things I have ever seen.
Director Aldo Lado was mainly known for his 2 contributions to the Giallo genre, SHORT NIGHT OF THE GLASS DOLLS and WHO SAW HER DIE? This film has a definite tie-in to WHO SAW HER DIE and then completely reverses course at the end. Even though this was made for the RAI TV network, Lado got in some brief TnA and one of the murders was on the gruesome side. He was also able to create some very effective Argento-like stalking sequences inside the different studios with rotating full length mirrors and drapes that billow effectively through atmospheric lighting effects. He also beat George Lucas to the punch when it comes to carbon freezing Hans Solo in THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK!! A scene that you won't believe till you see it. The lead is played by Auretta Gay whose main claim to fame was swimming topless with a hungry shark and living dead guy nearby (Fulci's ZOMBIE). A word about the score by Fabio Frizzi. It is mainly reused from Lucio Fulci's GATES OF HELL but it's used well here. Lado employs a lot of closeups involving eyes and when you add in the Frizzi score, it gives off a definite Fulci vibe.
Los escondites (1969)
Spooky and atmospheric
Recently orphaned Jorge goes to live with his Grandmother in the country. He kisses his parents grave and claims to have absorbed their spirits. The Grandmother is a tyrant who loved her dead son (a little too much it seems)and feels that Jorge is him, reincarnated. The woman is a tyrant and rules the place with an iron fist. The house is full of strangeness as her other son lives there and fools around with the maid (whom he beats because she fools around with a local), the Grandfather who reveals why he actually married the spiteful harridan, and finally Grandmother's daughter who has been locked up in her bedroom because her lover was killed 8 years ago in a political assassination. Jorge soon learns from the locked away Aunt, that the spirits of his dead parents are available to him as children that only he can see and play with. As the adult world continues to intrude into Jorge's, he starts to lose the ability to be in touch with the spirits of his dead parents until, at films' end, he admits his Aunt disappeared (most likely from suicide) and with that, his ability to communicate with the dead.
This film pretty much disappeared off the face of the earth until it resurfaced at Spain's Sitges Film Festival in 2016. It is a perfect example of quiet horror as every thing that occurs could just be Jorge's yearning for his dead parents (we never learn how they died). The performances here are everything. Ana Maria Noe as the Grandmother is both hated and pitied. She played a Rosa Kleb type killer in the James Bond parody, Operation Kid Brother and has a face that would stop a clock. Francisco Ruiz as Jorge seems natural and encompasses all the emotions an 8 year old might have. The belief in spirits, magic and other worldly accouterments seem natural to him. Terele Pavez as the maid introduces an element of sexual tension that occurs whenever she enters a room. It was because of her, that Sitges resurrected the film as a tribute to her long career. It may just be the quality of the print, but browns dominate both interior and exterior shot scenes. It accentuates the feeling of the past, especially when the children appear. Not for everyone, but if you yearn for a creepy, nostalgic well acted genre film, this one may just be the ticket.
La muerte del escorpión (1976)
Riveting Spanish style thriller!
The producer (Antonio Casas) of a series of thrillers is having marital issues with his younger wife (Teresa Gimpera), a former actress who quit to be a contented housewife. She is having several affairs, one with the scriptwriter (Eusebio Poncela) of her husband's current film, and the other a lawyer (Miquel Narros) who was once a former boyfriend before she married her husband. Into this lurid quadrangle comes a blackmailer who knows all about her sordid love life and wants to extort her for large sums of money. At the same time, her husband is working on a new film with his wife's scriptwriter lover which eerily mirrors what is taking place in the producer's current life. He even wants to use his wife for the role of the philandering spouse. This eventually plays out in a double murder, twists and turns of the plot and finally a suicide.
This was the debut film of Gonzalo Herralde and it's a shame he never entered genre territory again. It would fit right into Alfred Hitchcock's filmography with ease. The mirroring of the film's plot with the film within a film story line is executed brilliantly. Teresa Gimpera was a veteran of Spanish genre films by this time and at age 40, she was still quite attractive and even consented to several brief flashes of nudity. She is the catalyst to all that happens here and she performs her role in spectacular fashion. Antonio Casas as the older husband plays the part well and when the need for him to be violent arises, he does so convincingly. He was well known for his many roles in Spaghetti Westerns such as THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY along with THE BIG GUNDOWN. Eusebio Poncela may not be a name you know but he had a small but pivotal role in Eloy De La Iglesias' THE CANNIBAL MAN. The score by Juan Pineada is nothing special and his filmography reveals nothing else that might warrant further attention. The film offers glimpses of being behind the scenes of a murder sequence (that of course plays out eventually in the real film) with all the secrets of the work of a sound effects foley artist revealed. A very enjoyable Spanish film that does not deserve its seemingly obscure status.
Cerco de terror (1970)
Libertad about the only interesting part.
SIEGE OF TERROR (1968)-The date given for this film is usually 1972, but while watching it, it's obviously late sixties. The color of the film stock, the fashions, cars and a dead give away is a scene filmed on 42nd street, there is a film marquee playing ROSEMARY'S BABY. The final word comes as the end credits role and a date of 1968 is given. The film opens in an arty farty style as a woman accidentally shoots her lover. Freeze frames and quick editing cuts makes you realize early on, this film is trying to hide the fact that it is nothing more than a series of cliches. Her physician husband shows up, cleans up the mess and they both high tail it to Miami. Once there, she's on the brink of a nervous breakdown, so her husband (a famous neurosurgeon and lecturer) tries and keep her in isolation, but she insists her lover Nick is still alive and haunting her. Tony Kendall plays a detective that notices her distress and being the hound dog he is, gives her the once over and eyes her as a future conquest. She used to be a stripper and Nick was her pimp. They decide to let her seduce the good doctor so they can kill him and inherit his money. He discovers their plan and comes up with a scheme of his own to use his scientific theories on brainwashing to turn the tables.
This was directed by Luis Marquina who got his start in the late 30s. It was his next to last film and he brings nothing special to it. The choppy beginning soon leads to such scenes as driving around Miami for 10 minutes or being on an air boat rampaging through the everglades. Carlo Savina contributes a score that consists of previously used tracks from much better films. Because the film was made in the late 60s, there is no nudity and violence is held to a minimum. Yet another thriller that owes a lot to DIABOLIQUE, this was made just as Umberto Lenzi was starting to crank out films of a similar ilk with Caroll Baker. They even introduce an LSD sequence that's laughable as Hell. It seems Kendall ended up with a bottle of pills that belonged to the former stripper. When Kendall's girlfriend becomes upset because he's spending so much time with the good doctor's wife, Kendall decides to give his girlfriend a pill from the bottle. Now, these are marked as a tranquilizer and the girlfriend's dad, who is also doctor, says go ahead, give my daughter this pill from a stranger's prescription. Turns out to be LSD instead, can you say medical malpractice! The lead actress Libertad Leblanc was an Argentinian actress who was a rival to Isabel Sarli (Sarli however had 2 big advantages over her if you know what I mean). She is mainly known here for the films, THE PINK PUSSY: WHERE SIN LIVES (1964) and THE POSSESSED WOMAN (1968) which stole the hammering mask sequence from Bava's THE MASK OF SATAN. Tony Kendall plays his usual part, a guy who has trouble keeping it in his pants whenever he meets a beautiful woman. In a nice twist, his ass gets saved by a woman this time instead of the other way around. As a summary of this film's style, wit, and overall direction, imagine a scene where you are in an elevator and you watch it go up 18 floors. One more thing, don't miss the cameo by a very famous TV star of the sixties. Here's a hint, he isn't human!
Tom Dollar (1967)
Excellent Eurospy film
TOM DOLLAR (1967). Director Marcello Ciorciolini, Cast: Maurice Poli Georgia Moll , Erika Blanc, Franco Ressel and in his one and only film appearance Sojiro Kikukawa! Tom Dollar works for the CIA and is called into service to protect the daughter of a recently assassinated Prince (the assassination is filmed just like the Kennedy assassination, complete with a woman dressed like a Jackie O clone). The daughter inherits the responsibility of signing over the rights of a uranium supply to the US. A local fanatical sect, the Sihgs, don;'t want that to happen and so plan on kidnapping the Princess, thus causing the deal to fall through. The CIA enlists the help of a scientist to create a perfect double for the Princess so she can be the one in danger instead. That way, if she gets killed, the Princess can still sign the treaty. Lots of twists and turns follow, plenty of action sequences (Sojiro is an expert at kung fu fighting as is Poli, who does all his own stunts here). It all works out in the end as the US gets the deal done, the Princess who falls in love with Dollar realizes it will never work, and Dollar gets to slap his girlfriend around at the finale in the best Italian Eurospy macho tradition.
Ciorciolini also directed THE BLACK BOX AFFAIR a year later with Craig Hill. Somewhere down the road he must have pissed somebody off because he ended up directing Franco and Ciccio films. Maurice Poli actually played the character Tom Dollar two years before in a picture book fotoromanzo. The assistant director was Giuliano Carnimeo who went on to direct a lot of good Sartana westerns and also a Fenech/Hilton Giallo. Jacques Herlin plays his usual nutty type as the scientist who creates the Princess' double. He is pissed at Dollar for never recognizing his genius (his dream is to give President Lyndon Johnson the face of Mao Tse-tung! ). Erika Blanc plays Dollar's girlfriend (in a role that has more meat on the bone than usual for this type of character). Whenever you see the character actor Franco Ressel in a part, do yourself a favor, realize he is going to be the bad guy behind the scenes pulling all the strings. Like George Hilton turning out to be the bad guy in a Giallo, you can't go wrong suspecting Ressel. Georgia Moll (that's the way it's spelled in the credits) actually has the thankless role here as the Princess and her double. She has the charisma of a wax figure, showing little emotion other than fright or indifference to those around her.The score by Giosafa and Mario Capuano (2 FACES OF THE DOLLAR and CARCRASH) is full of blaring brass and wah wah guitar solos, just what I want! Too bad a rare 45 is the only soundtrack release available and good luck finding that piece of vinyl. There are a lot of extended chase scenes where Capuano can really strut his stuff. All in all, while it's not gadget laden like most other Eurospy films of the time, Poli is quite convincing in the lead, a world of difference from all those crappy parts he played in 80s horror films.