Notícias

Castle of the Creeping Flesh

Blu ray

Severin

1968 / 77 Min. / 1.66:1

Starring Howard Vernon, Janine Reynaud, Michel Lemoine

Cinematography by Jorge Herrero

Directed by Adrian Hoven

Just in time for the holidays, it’s Castle of the Creeping Flesh. The film’s director, Adrian Hoven, helmed a mere seven films but one of them made grindhouse history. The movie was Mark of the Devil and the campaign for that 1970 stomach-churner was a perfect compliment to the degenerate nature of the product—for once there was truth in advertising. Hallmark Releasing made their name with bottom-feeding fare like Last House on the Left and Slaughter Hotel and if a film wasn’t truly debauched they could make it appear so—in 1972 they retitled Mario Bava’s Bay of Blood to Twitch of the Death Nerve—incomprehensible but portentous. For Mark of the Devil they arranged a give-away—a sack that could double...

Review by Roger Carpenter

If Mario Bava can be credited as the Grandfather of the Giallo, with his early The Girl Who Knew Too Much (1963), and Dario Argento can be credited as the Father of the Giallo with his seminal The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), then Sergio Martino should rightly be credited as, perhaps, the finest director of gialli. While Bava did some excellent work, including Blood and Black Lace and Twitch of the Death Nerve (Aka A Bay of Blood) and Argento also is renowned for his gialli like Profondo Rosso (Aka Deep Red), The Cat O’ Nine Tails, and Tenebrae, perhaps no director other than Martino was able to reel off a string of five—that’s right, five—expertly crafted gialli in a row. So, while Bava and Argento have become synonymous with gialli, and rightly so, fans of the genre include Martino’s name in...

By Tim Greaves

The name Sergio Martino will strike a chord with anyone who has even a passing interest in Italian exploitation pictures of the 70s and 80s. Once seen, who can forget The Great Alligator or The Island of Fishmen – both of which are favourites of this writer in their showcasing of Barbara Bach at her most radiant – or premium Suzy Kendall giallo Torso, or for that matter once ‘video nasty’ and Ursula Andress headliner The Mountain of the Cannibal God? Marking Martino’s second giallo, The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail (o.t. La coda della scorpione), was released in 1971, sandwiched between a couple of his most highly regarded titles, The Strange Vice of Mrs Wardh and All the Colours of the Dark. Scorpion’s Tail isn’t quite on a par with either of those, but it’s still a respectable entry in the sub-genre.

When...

Tuesday, July 17th looks to be another busy day for home media releases, as we have a rather interesting blend of titles, both new and old. As far as recent flicks go, Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare, The Housemaid, Rampage, and You Were Never Really Here are the big highlights of this week’s Blu-ray and DVD debuts. And for those of you who are looking to expand your cult cinema collections, Arrow Video is keeping busy with new HD releases of The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail and Doom Asylum.

Other notable releases for July 17th include the new EndoArm edition of Terminator 2 in 4K, the Church of the Damned/Bad Magic double feature Blu-ray, Amityville Prison, and The Antithesis.

Blumhouse’s Truth or Dare

Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) and Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) lead the cast of Blumhouse's Truth or Dare, a supernatural thriller from Blumhouse Productions.

One of the major consequences of Western Europe s post-war Economic Miracle was the proliferation of international travel. Eager to tap into audiences desire to experience the glamor of the jet set lifestyle, the popular filmmakers of the day rushed to make the most of the exotic locales at their disposal.

Arguably no other giallo captured this trend as vividly as The Case of the Scorpion s Tail. The film begins in London, where Lisa Baumer learns that her husband has died in a freak plane accident. Summoned to Athens to collect his generous life insurance policy, she soon discovers that others besides herself are keen to get their hands on the money and are willing to kill for it. Meanwhile, private detective Peter Lynch arrives to investigate irregularities in the insurance claim. Teaming up with a beautiful reporter, Cléo Dupont, Lynch resolves to unearth the truth… before he too...