Spirits Of The Dead (1968)

Following Lewis Rice O’Donnell’s recommendation, I watched Spirits Of The Dead (1968; Italian: Tre passi nel delirio, French: Histoires extraordinaires), a omnibus film of three stories based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe by different directors. The first starring Jane Fonda and directed by her then-husband Roger Vadim is about a debauched countess who becomes obsessed […]

Blood And Black Lace (1964)

Continuing the exploration of Italian director Mario Bava’s films, I watched Blood and Black Lace (1964), which really impressed upon me how creepy red mannequins are. A stylish murder mystery set in a fashion house where models are killed one by one. The use of bold colours, wind effects and shadows is pretty great, definitely […]

Day Of Anger (1967)

Riz Ortolani’s jazzy, bombastic, memorable score to Day Of Anger (1967; I giorni dell’ira) was used in a key sequence of Tarantino’s Django Unchained and is known from the soundtrack. Sitting down to watch this Lee Van Cleef spaghetti western, there’s also a similar plot to Django with an older, experienced gun fighter Talby (Van […]

The Devil Rides Out (1968)

Exploring the world of Hammer Horror, which I only know through the doco compilation series that was on SBS growing up, I haven’t seen many of the British studio’s horror films. The Devil Rides Out (1968) was a good place to start (and shout out to Joe Kapiteyn’s band whose name I presume is taken […]

Death Rides A Horse (1967)

The spaghetti western, Death Rides A Horse (1967; Da uomo a uomo), starts off with a gold-robbing gang who brutalises and murders a whole family. Except for the sole surviving boy who grows up to be John Phillip Law out for revenge. His path crosses with cowboy Lee Van Cleef, recently released from prison with […]