Aug 29, 2020
Aug 25, 2020
Leave Me Four (1981)
(Original Title: Me Deixa de Quatro) A Brazilian comedy/drama which would definitely be considered wildly homophobic today. A father finds out his son is gay and does everything he can to turn him back to heterosexuality. Starring two prolific and sexy stars of Brazilian pornochada - Helena Ramos and Rossana Ghessa.
Swap Meet at the Love Shack (1973)
Originally called Liebesmarkt but re-titled for UK and American consumption. This really falls under the Schulmädchen-Report style film where it's comprised of a series of vignettes which are linked to a central framing story. (It doesn't quite have the faux-documentary basis, so maybe doesn't belong in that category.) It stars three prolific German sexploitation actresses: Monica Marc, Britt Corvin and everyone's favorite, Ingrid Steeger.
Aug 23, 2020
Panic Beats (1983)
This film follows Horror from the Tomb (1973) which is one of my favorite horror flicks, and one of the few films to get a 10/10 on VZ1. Ten years after the first film, Alaric De Marnais returns to wreak havoc upon mortals who venture to his ancestral estate.
Aug 21, 2020
Moments of Pleasure and Agony (1983)
(Original Title: Momentos de Prazer e Agonia) A Brazilian giallo about... well, it's about what all giallos are about: women are getting killed by a mysterious slasher. The main differences between the traditional Italian giallo and the Brazilian giallo: more gore, less clothing. Which is fine adjustment in my humble opinion.
Aug 20, 2020
Un macho y sus puchachas (2001)
This is a weird one, however. It's actually a remake of a 1982 film of the same title (and most of the same cast). So, while the "Macho" films usually feature a laundry list of familiar Mexican actresses getting naked; this one just has Diana Herrera for the "old guard" and far inferior.
Aug 18, 2020
Aug 17, 2020
Rumbera, Caliente (1989)
These Mexican comedies had a weird tendency to mix morality with vulgarity - at least it seems weird compared to traditional American cinema. So, you might have a touching wholesome story worthy of showing to a Sunday school class... but it contains tons of full frontal nudity. It's fucking jarring. This story involves a woman making money to help a group of orphans - and yes there's also gobs of nudity.
Aug 16, 2020
Vermin (1977)
(Original Title: Las alimañas) From Amando de Ossorio, the man who gave us the Blind Dead series, comes a very different type of film involving a suitcase of money. There has to be a name for this type of movie, right? There are so many films about this subject, from No Country for Old Men to Shallow Grave and on and on.
A Male in a Girl's Reformatory (1989)
(Original Title: Un macho en el reformatorio de señoritas) Our third Rojas Macho film. So far, we've covered Un macho en el salón de belleza (1987) and Un macho en la cárcel de mujeres (1986).
To Make It Last, Don't Hurry (1988)
(Original Title: Para que dure no se apure) A Mexican comedy about a sad sack office worker (Manuel 'Flaco' Ibáñez) who falls for one of his boss' conquests.
Los verduleros 3 (1992)
I can't help it, I'm a sucker for these Mexican flicks featuring Alfonso Zayas and Alberto Rojas. They are so full of energy and exuberant sleaze. I suspect it's because I'm so weary of the American jaded lazy irony in every comedy, or aren't-I-just-so-fucking-clever dirty humor, that it's refreshing, therapeutic even, to just see joyfully simple ribald comedy.
Aug 14, 2020
Eros Hotel (1980)
Features Vanessa Hidalgo who ended her 10-movie filmography with Black Candles (1982) so automatically deserves a look. Of course, this is really Violeta Cela's jam, where she delivers quite a performance as the boppy, energetic and oft-nude niece in this film about an aphrodisiac unleashed at a Turkish hotel.
Stela's Erotic Vacation (1978)
(Original Title: Las eróticas vacaciones de Stela) Azucena Hernández's first film; a Spanish erotic romp about a girl returning home from boarding school for the Christmas holidays, where she sets the household on fire with her hyperactive libido.
Aug 13, 2020
The Manosanta Is Loaded (1987)
(Original Title: El manosanta está cargado) The great Argentinian comedic actor Alberto Olmedo in one of his last films. A Manosanta is a healer (specifically using hands to heal).
Aug 8, 2020
The New Marilyn (1976)
This is a Spanish take on the Marilyn story. I'm not sure why we had so many films around this time about girls who become sex stars only to crash and burn Marilyn Monroe style. Star 80 (1983) based on Dorothy Stratten; also see "Death of a Centerfold" (1981) TV, Marilyn the Untold Story (1980), etc. Dig a little deeper and you find a tone more movies like Unholy Rollers (1972) which followed the template.
Trauma (1978)
There's been endless talk about the origins of the slasher film; whether it's Black Christmas or a Mario Bava flick, it doesn't matter - it was definitely an American progression of the giallo, with other influences intermixed. The giallos were always a bit too serious, while the slasher was pure entertainment. Trauma, stands right at the nexus in 1978, the year of Halloween, with all manner of gialo tropes (black gloves, etc.) yet it plays out like a slasher - with a backstory, ten-little-indians style killing, and a lack of forced gravitas as the Italian giallos tried so hard to convey. All that's missing is the "cool" boogeyman - instead, director León Klimovsky opts for a Norman Bates scenario. Still, a fun look at the slasher-giallo crossroads.
Witch, More Than Witch! (1977)
(Original Title: ¡Bruja, más que bruja! ) A bizarre Spanish film directed by Fernando Fernán Gómez (also starring) about a woman who makes the mistake of marrying a rich man instead of her true lover. They work with a witch to get rid of the man so that the lovers can be united. Sounds pretty basic, right? Well, they fucked it up all to hell by making this a musical... but not just any type of musical, like an opera (zarzuela).
Fernando Fernán Gómez said he wanted to make a film completely unlike anything in North America, and he certainly achieved it. This is a cult film that can only be appreciated by the Spanish, pretty much the rest of the planet will be left out in the cold. Everybody loves Emma Cohen, and she does show boobs and cleavage galore, but aside from that - a miserable experience.
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