Blastfighter (1984)

One golden rule about Italian genre flicks if you can’t get Franco Nero as the lead, then get a guy who looks him. Maurizio Merli was busy, so for the motion picture titled Blastfighter (1984) Michael Sopkiw steps in with an effective moustache, playing the role of “Tiger” Sharp, an ex-cop released from prison for […]

The Psychic (1977)

Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci’s giallo thriller, The Psychic (1977; aka Seven Notes In Black, Sette Note In Nero, Murder To The Tune Of Seven Black Notes), received attention awhile back due to its great soundtrack by Franco Bixo, Fabio Frizzi, and Vince Tempera (listed as Bixo-Frizzi-Tempera); it was another score cannibalised by Quentin Tarantino […]

The Beyond (1981)

The main thing I remembered about seeing The Beyond (1981; E tu vivrai nel terrore! L’aldilà) a long time ago was the eerie ending and several scenes of ultra violence (the sequence with the spiders is the first that comes to mind). Rewatching it again for Halloween in an effort to watch all of director […]

City Of The Living Dead (1980)

I’m familiar with Italian horror maestro Lucio Fulci, having seen Zombi 2 and The Beyond (though a long time ago; I mainly remember the eerie ending), but have never seen his complete ‘Gates Of Hell’ trilogy (The Beyond is the middle film). Maybe I was reluctant because I knew how gross and violent these films […]