The Woman in the Coffin - 8mm - Jess Franco

This is the third, and I presume final, Mountain 8mm silent film taken from Jess Franco's GRITOS EN LA NOCHE. The catalog number is T220. If you notice, the other Mountain catalog numbers for this series were T217 and T218. So what was T219? Possibly a fourth Franco 8mm sourced from GRITOS?

In the past, I may have come across a complete, or fairly complete, listing of Mountain Films' titles, and I believe that T219 was not a Franco-related film. Can't be certain at this point, and I've not come across this list online again. (There are other Mountain lists out there, but incomplete.) My investigation continues.

The side description of THE WOMAN IN THE COFFIN: "Can a man mould and create his own beautiful mistress? Can flesh and bone be put together to form a female Venus? What mad schemes are unfolded in the heart of the dark country?"

In the original Franco film, this "mistress" was Dr. Orlof's daughter, whose beauty he wanted to restore. But there have been many incestuous currents running through Franco's work. Was Mountain Films picking up on this?

Lust for Blood - 8mm - Jess Franco

Here is the second Mountain Films' 8mm silent taken from Jess Franco's GRITOS EN LA NOCHE (American title: THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF). Catalog number T218. Side description: "MORPO--is he man or monster? A blood sucker who continually seeks the fresh blood of lovely young women and lures them to a fate worse than death." The character's name should be spelled Morpho, and unless I'm missing an element of the original film, there's no bloodsucking done by him, but it's good ballyhoo anyway.

The cover hints at what "the fate worse than death" may be.

The Demon Doctor - 8mm - Jess Franco

Mountain Films of Great Britain released three (as far as I know) 8mm silent films from Jess Franco's GRITOS EN LA NOCHE. The British title of this film was THE DEMON DOCTOR, the American--THE AWFUL DR. ORLOF.

The first Franco offering from Mountain was titled, like the British version, THE DEMON DOCTOR, catalog number T217. The description on the side of the box: "Foul murders have been committed and the police are baffled. The inspector's girlfriend volunteers to act as bait. Can she help trap the Demon Doctor!"

Love the gaudy cover and the "Terror more horrifying than DEATH" tag.

At some future date, I'd like to uncover whatever treasures these 8mm films contain and could see using them for some weird horror project (with permission from the rights owner, of course!)

I'll be showing the remaining Franco releases from Mountain in the next blog entries.

The Perverse Faces of Victor Israel

One of Spain's most recognized character actors, Victor Israel, who passed away in 2009, is the subject of a Spanish documentary--LOS PERVERSOS ROSTROS DE VICTOR ISRAEL--with commentary from many well-known contemporaries.

Here is a sample:



So far, no distribution is set for an English friendly release.

The Skin I Live In - A New Shocker from Spain

Noted director Pedro Almodovar steps firmly into horror territory with THE SKIN I LIVE IN (LA PIEL QUE HABITO). Based on Thierry Jonquet's TARANTULA (MYGALE), the film so horrified certain audience members at its Cannes Film Festival premier that groups left the showing before it was over. But it also received a five minute standing ovation from those hardy audience members who stayed and viewed the entire film.

SPOILERS AHEAD... Starring Antonio Banderas and Elena Anaya, the horror thriller concerns a plastic surgeon who seeks vengeance on the person who raped his daughter. The daughter kills herself after the brutal violation. The Banderas character, Dr. Robert Ledgard, kidnaps the rapist and performs a sex change operation on him, transplanting his daughter's face onto the rapist. He then rapes the rapist!

Strong sexually violent scenes and abundant nudity are sure to make this a controversial film that will be seen and talked about by many aficionados of shocking horror. The film should arrive in the United States in November.

Motorzombies - THE CURSE OF SPANISH HORROR MOVIES

Not sure when this was released, but within the last couple of years, if not recently. It's a special vinyl album, a tribute to Paul Naschy, that contains the following numbers:

Horror Express
La Llorona
La Marca Del Hombre Lobo
El Espanto Surge De La Tumba

Only the last two numbers concern Naschy films, of course.

Motorzombies labels itself a "psychobilly band."

DIE VAMPIRE DES DR. DRACULA

The German title. Otherwise known as LA MARCA DEL HOMBRE LOBO, in Spain, and FRANKENSTEIN'S BLOODY TERROR, in the United States. The Germans had a thing for adding "Dracula" to their retitled foreign horror films.

"Alaric de Marnac" -- Darkmoor's Naschy Homage

ANCESTRAL ROMANCE, the latest CD from the Spanish metal group, Darkmoor, has been out for a while, but it was only recently, through a gift from the Molina family, that I was able to listen to it. The third cut, "Alaric de Marnac," is a Naschy tribute song based on the master's famous other alter ego character (Waldemar Daninsky being the first), who appeared in HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB and PANIC BEATS. The lyric page is above.

EMPUSA trailer

The last film directed by Paul Naschy...EMPUSA. But when, oh when, will we be able to finally see this film?

Juan Piquer Simon (1935-2011)

Spanish horror/fantasy/sci-fi director Juan Piquer Simon died on 1/7/2011 after a battle with lung cancer. Simon directed over a dozen films, but it was PIECES that made him famous worldwide and in the United States, where the film was a theatrical hit and, later, a popular video rental. Simon crafted the film with an American sensibility (and using several American actors), so that few were aware that it was, in fact, a Spanish film.

I had the opportunity to interview Juan Piquer, via e-mail, several good years ago, and he was very gracious in answering my questions and provided me with photos to illustrate my interview. I had intentions of contacting him again for my Spanish horror book project.

Here are highlights from his most notorious film, a perfect Times Square movie during that district's last decade or so of double-bill showings:

THE BLIND DEAD Comic

Well, almost. David Zuzelo's "Ascension of the Blind Dead," rendered by artist Billy George, is now part of the ZOMBIE TERRORS collection from Asylum Press. Available at your favorite comic book store or, at 32% off, from Amazon.com.