Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)

Welcome to a brand new B-Movie Enema review!

This week, we’re going back to the world of Italian cinema and, for the first time in quite a while, the horror subgenre of said Italian cinema – giallo. Not only are we going back to those realms but this week is for something kind of new too. This week’s feature, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, was made by Italian horror/thriller/giallo master Dario Argento.

Now, true, I did cover a couple movies he produced, namely Demons and Demons 2. I also talked about him tangentially when I looked at Shock because it starred his ex-wife, Daria Nicolodi, as well as his daughter, Asia Argento, when she appeared in xXx. However, for nearly 60 years, Argento has been known for being a writer, director, and producer of mostly horror films. But… that’s not exactly where he started. When he was working his way up the ladder, he began as a writer. In the mid-60s, Argento worked on scripts for several different movies of different genres. The biggest film he worked on the script for, without a doubt, was 1968’s Once Upon a Time in the West.

Continue reading “Four Flies on Grey Velvet (1971)”

Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983)

We had ourselves a rough one last week, my dear Enemaniacs. The only way to make up for that? Reb Brown.

Oh yes, save us all, Reb! We need salvation from shitty robot ladies who weren’t robots but also maybe brainwashed but weren’t brainwashed. We need something Italian. We need something French. We need something Turkish. We need Yor, the Hunter from the Future!

Welcome to this looooong overdue review for B-Movie Enema. I picked up this Blu-Ray when it was released several years ago with the intention for this to be covered here. I don’t know what kept me from fulfilling that promise the day it arrived, but here we are.

This movie is, indeed, an Italian-French-Turkish co-production. I’ve only once before delved into the world of Turkish cinema, but know they like making movies. They really like making movies that look and play out like American films. But you know the Italians like doing that too. With the Italian side of the production comes director Antonio Margheriti. Margheriti did a lot of lower-budget stuff and was mostly doing the typical Italian genres of crime action films, science fiction, spaghetti westerns, and horror. Notably, Margheriti made films like Castle of Blood starring Barbara Steele, Cannibal Apocalypse starring John Saxon, Death Rage starring Yul Brynner in his final role, and several action movies with David Warbeck.

Continue reading “Yor, the Hunter from the Future (1983)”

Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972)

Welcome to B-Movie Enema – the blog that likes to review movies that either have really iffy content, yikesy poster art, or titles that make you cringe into oblivion.

And, with that, this is my review of the 1972 Italian gothic horror flick Byleth: The Demon of Incest. Sigh… Now, I hear this is a very bad movie. I’m not too unaccustomed to that. I mean, this is a blog named B-Movie Enema. I’m not entirely sure what made me want to buy Byleth when it was released by our friends over at Severin Films. I definitely recognized it was Italian, so that was a plus. I probably saw the cool artwork that adorns the poster/cover of the blu ray. I guess that was enough for me to want to get into it.

I don’t think I saw that subtitle. I probably didn’t see it until I opened my package with it inside. And then, I was, like, “Oh boy. I might have made a mistake.” I shouldn’t be so high and mighty over this. After all, I have dedicated an entire month to the Ilsa series and wrote about The Beast in Heat – both featured a whole lotta Nazis (the latter even included sort of bestiality). There is something about this movie that gives me a little bit of trepidation before diving in.

Continue reading “Byleth: The Demon of Incest (1972)”

Zombie 5: Killing Birds (1988)

Oh boy… One I’ve long been leaving on the back burner finally flies into the forefront…

Welcome to this week’s B-Movie Enema review. This time around, I check back in with the goofy Zombie series, and leave it to the Italians to be weird. Well… sort of. The weirdness of this is not entirely their fault. It’s partially, for once, our fault. Stupid Americans.

Allow me to explain. If you’re reading this blog, you already basically know that Zombi is the Italian title for George Romero’s masterpiece Dawn of the Dead (dollars-for-donuts my pick as the best horror film ever made). Not willing to let any time pass them by without taking full advantage of a possible ripoff of that greatness that is Dawn, in comes Lucio Fulci and his Zombi 2 (aka Zombie here in America, as it is not a sequel here but a different movie altogether). Nine whole years later, Fulci would start in on another entry that doesn’t seem to have anything related to either Dawn or Zombie, but would continue the whole zombie apocalypse thing and also have a flying head that comes out of a fridge to bite someone. That would be 1988’s Zombi 3. Zombie 3 is a bit of a mess, but it’s also got some fun with the inconsistency of how the zombies operate. One thing that is unfair about Zombie 3 is that Fulci should not get full credit as he got very ill and the film had to basically be mostly shot by Claudio Fragasso (of Troll 2 fame) and Bruno Mattei (of Shocking Dark fame).

Alas… Zombi 3 is the final chapter of a VERY loose trilogy for the Italians.

Continue reading “Zombie 5: Killing Birds (1988)”

The House on the Edge of the Park (1980)

This article was written, edited, scheduled, and completed prior to the unfortunate passing of supporting star Giovanni Lombardo Radice.

Welcome back for another B-Movie Enema review. This week, I’m taking a look at 1980’s The House on the Edge of the Park.

This is one, and let me know if you’ve heard this line before, that I remember catching a part of on Bizarre TV. I don’t remember anything that I saw, but I remember this movie’s lead star, David Hess. Hess is quite the recognizable guy if you’ve seen Wes Craven’s The Last House on the Left. Let’s face it, most of you reading this blog have seen that one. But Hess would basically go down in “infamy” as Krug, the leader of a group of nogoodniks who kill two innocent girls just looking to score some weed before going to a rock concert.

Beyond that, Hess also would become best known for playing scuzzy villains. In House on the Edge of the Park and Hitch-Hike, he plays guys who either murder people or take them hostage… or, well, both. Most of the other movies that he appeared in just had him play bit parts as in the case of his reunion with Wes Craven in Swamp Thing. But he actually had other talents as well. He directed the Christmas slasher To All a Goodnight. Despite being recognizable for being the leader of a horrific gang of rapists and murders in The Last House on the Left, Hess actually was quite the singer and songwriter.

Continue reading “The House on the Edge of the Park (1980)”

Escape from Women’s Prison (1978)

Well, well, well… Last week I did one of those rape revenge exploitation films from the 70s. The week before, I revisited a horror film I once saw on Bizarre TV. Now, I’m looking at a good ol’ fashioned women in prison films. It’s like I’m on a greatest hits of B-Movie Enema tour.

Yes, it’s time to take a look at 1978’s Escape from Women’s Prison. You know what other box this movie ticks? Oh yeah… It’s Italian, baby! This movie was written and directed by Italian actor Giovanni Brusadori. In the director credit, he’s actually credited as Conrad Brueghel, but whatever. Brusadori was best known for appearing in the Laura Gemser Emanuelle: Queen of the Desert in 1982. For whatever reason, he decided to make a movie this time around. Now, supposedly, George Eastman, star of Anthropophagus, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, and Porno Holocaust, co-wrote this movie on (though without credit).

I guess what I’m getting at is that these types of late 70s and early 80s Italian sleazefest movies were all made by a small group of people so it shouldn’t surprise anyone to see George Eastman involved in some way.

Continue reading “Escape from Women’s Prison (1978)”

The House by the Cemetery (1981)

Alrighty, here we are, dear Enemaniacs – the end of B-Movie Enema’s trip through Lucio Fulci’s Gates of Hell trilogy.

The House by the Cemetery is a peculiar flick. It is the type of movie that either you love it or you hate it. However, here’s the thing… You could say that about all of Fulci’s stuff. A lot of his films are very stream of consciousness or dreamlike in structure. The House by the Cemetery is one that I think that love/hate kind of reaction is quite severe.

There aren’t many people in the middle who kind of shrug and say, “It’s alright.”

Continue reading “The House by the Cemetery (1981)”