Nest of Vipers (1969)

AKA Night of the Serpent,  Nest of Vipers – Ringo Kill     

Directed by Giulio Petroni 

Starring Luke Askew, Luigi Pistilli and Magda Knopka

106 Minutes

Italy

This is an interesting little Spaghetti Western from Giulio Petroni, the director of Death Rides a Horse (1967). Lieutenant Hernandez (Luigi Pistilli) is the commander of a faction of troops stationed in a small village during the Mexican revolution. Together with a group of the town’s outcats, they hatch the plan to rob orphan Manuel (Luciano Casamonica) of inheritance. Harnandez  gets in contact with his old friend, the revolutionary Pancho (Benito Stefanelli), who sets up for Luke (Luke Askew) to be the one to kill Manuel. Luke is an alcoholic former gunslinger with a traumatic past, who somehow has come into the care of Pancho and his revolutionary. Flashbacks reveal that he once killed a child by accident, so when he discovers that the person he was sent out to kill is a child, he is forced to confront his demons head end as he gets his act back together and goes after the conspirators.

Just like Petroni’s terrific Death Rides a Horse, the movie starts off with terrifically atmospheric scene in the pouring rain, as one of the conspirators accidentally murders a dispatcher. However, familiatires to that prior film don’t really extent beyond that opening scene (Petroni is known for having really strong opening scenes in his Westerns, such as the  one in A Sky Full of Stars for a Roof which several critics described as one of the best in the whole Spaghetti Western genre). Nest of Vipers plays out much more like a political thriller in some ways, with not much gunplay for the first half of the film and lots of scenes of the conspirators meeting to discuss their plot to snatch the inheritance (the titular ‘Nest of Vipers’ I guess). They’re all good characters though, especially the always welcome Luigi Pistilli as the slimy Hernandez. The fact that all these characters are planning to murder a child just makes then that  much more delightfully hateable.

The real stand out however and what made the movie so interesting for me however, was our hero Luke, played by the american actor Luke Askew. Annoyingly he doesn’t turn up until about a good 20 minutes into the movie, but when he does he really makes an impression for being a completely unique Spaghetti Western hero. Self loathing, alcoholic and with a traumatic past, that while told through the traditional Spaghetti Western flashbacks, is different to  other characters in the genre as here it is his own fault for the trauma he deals with. Characters like Harmonica in Once Upon a Time in the West and Bill in Death Rides A Horse experienced flashbacks that signified their life was ruined when the villains killed members of their family, but here Luke ruined his own life through his own foolish pride. It’s extremely rare for the protagonist of any film to have committed such a repugnant action as the murder of a child, but still I found myself rooting for Luke when he realized that he had been sent to kill a child and saw it as a chance at redemption. The scene were he sees the innocent Manuel for the first time and it is intercut with his flashback is a extremely effective moment and demonstrates the character Luke as the films biggest strength.

Nest of Vipers is an overlooked entry in the Spaghetti Western cannon. Petroni directs with style and the plot has enough substance and character to hold your attention for the just under two hour running time. Check it out if you’re a fan of this genre.

Nest of Vipers is available on a region free DVD from Wild East in the USA which also includes Tails You Lose.

(Originally published at https://tornfromthetomb.wordpress.com/2016/01/06/nest-of-vipers-1969/)

Top 10 Albums of 2015

For my last post of the year I’m going to do something a bit different to what I normally do here on Torn From The Tomb, and list my top 10 favourite albums of 2015. Until now I haven’t dedicated any posts to my other passion in life aside from films; music. Music and cinema are to me like food and water; you need both. However, having a similar taste in films as someone doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to like the same types of music too. There is so much music out there, and what’s good and what’s bad isn’t as black and white as it is with film. For example, whilst almost everybody can agree that Adam Sandler’s ‘The Ridiculous Six’ is a terrible film, with music some may regard Lady Gaga as an important and highly entertaining pop culture treasure, others might not be able to even tolerate her or her music. Personally, though I like to claim I listen to all styles of music, and usually more of the metal head persuasion, so that’s my list will generally reflect. Though I’ve found it’s pretty common for lovers of cult horror cinema etc. to have this same taste, some of my regular readers possibly won’t find this article very interesting. If you don’t, that’s fine! I’ll be back with a new eurocult review sometime in the new year, but for now, here’s my top 10 albums of 2015.

10. Slayer – Repentless

Pretty much everyone in the metal world knows a new Slayer album isn’t going to be anything groundbreaking, but this time around the expectations were lower. Their first album since the death of guitarist Jeff Hanneman, the general feeling was that Slayer was never going to be the same again, a feeling made even worse by the unamicle departure of human drum machine Dave Lombardo and the return of Paul Bostaph, who played on some of the bands lesser regarded albums. Thankfully, while the end result is no Reign In Blood , its definitely thrash, and so Slayer! Exodus axe man Gary Holt proves to be a worthy stand-in for Hanneman, holding his own on tracks like ‘Take Control’ and ‘Chasing Death’, which have the breakneck speed and catchiness which make traditional Thrash Metal so fun.

Best Tracks – ‘Take Control’ , ‘Chasing Death’ , ‘Piano Wire’

9. Danzig – Skeletons

Here’s an album that everyone seems to hate, and I can’t really put my finger on exactly why. Danzig’s long delayed collection of covers, ranging from songs by Elvis Presley, Black Sabbath and ZZ Top, boosts a sloppy production and raw sound that admittedly may be off putting. Personally I didn’t mind this very much, the sheer power of Glenn Danzig’s voice still shining at 60 years old on songs like ‘Satan’ and ‘saved the best til last’ closing ballad ‘Crying in the Rain’.

Best Tracks – ‘Satan’, ‘Lord of the Thighs’, ‘Crying in the Rain’

8. Soulfly – Archangel

The legendary Max Cavalera’s unique brand of music might be best termed ‘Metal comfort food’. Always catchy and accessible but never sacrificing speed or heaviness in the process. His passion for his genre has never been more clear than on album opener ‘We Sold Our Souls To Metal’, a hardcore punk styled expression of unity for all metal heads around the world. The rest of the album utilizes exotic sounds and biblical themes to great effect, with sonically dense songs like ‘Sodomites’ and ‘Bethlehem’s Blood’. Admittedly it dips a bit in the second half, but nevertheless Archangel demonstrates the work of an veteran metalhead still at the top of his game after 30 years.

Best Tracks – ‘We Sold Our Souls To Metal’, ‘Sodomites’, ‘Live Life Hard’

7. Goblin Rebirth – Goblin Rebirth

Goblin Rebirth, is one of many, many projects to have resulted from Italian Prog rock and Horror movie score legends Goblin’s numerous line ups through the years. This one features the original bands rhythm section, Fabio Pignatelli and Agostino Marangolo. Goblin themselves also released a new album this year, ‘Four of a Kind’, but I found Goblin Rebirth to much more dynamic and listenable. Not only does it have style with catchy and atmospheric snyths, but also substance, with its linear notes explaining the story of the titular Goblin’s ‘rebirth’ that the instrumental songs are meant to reflect.

Best Tracks – ‘Requiem For X’, ‘Book of Skulls’, ‘Forest’

6. Gruesome – Savage Land

Never before has the old adage that ‘imitation is the sincerest form of flattery’ rang more true. Gruesome are a band that exists for no other reason than to recreate the sound of the early Death records, Death being probably the most influential and legendary band in the Death Metal genre, whose sole constant member Chuck Schuldiner passed away in 2001. With so much pretension in the Extreme Metal world these days a release which wallows in cliches as much as this actually feels like a breath of fresh air. There’s also the fact that these guys sound SO much like Death. Like scarily similar. Usually I would highlight some stand out tracks but here the whole album is an essentially sounds like outtakes from Death’s ‘Leprosy’, one of my favorite albums of all time. Now if only bands come could come along who could as successfully emulate the sound of early Slayer and Metallica records.

Best Tracks – ‘Savage Land’, ‘Trapped In Hell’, ‘Gruesome’

5. Faith No More – Sol Invictus

The absolute mad men have returned. A full 18 (!!!!) years after their previous album Faith No More have given this glorious collection of demented Rock N’ Roll which defies any genre labeling. Here’s hoping we won’t have to wait as long for more from this truly unique band.

Best Tracks – ‘Sunny Side Up’, ‘Black Friday’, ‘From The Dead’

4. Iron Maiden – The Book of Souls

It’s definitely been the year of Eddie. Not only did Bruce Dickinson give cancer the middle finger, but in the same year Maiden unleashed the longest and most ambitious album of their 30 year plus career. After 5 year break from the studio the band sound utterly revitalized, and songs like jaw dropping opener ‘If Eternity Should Fail’ can easily stand alongside anything from their 80’s heyday.

Best Tracks – ‘If Eternity Should Fail’, ‘The Great Unknown’ , ‘Empire of the Clouds’

3. The Black Dahlia Murder – Abysmal

I LOVE this band. The Black Dahlia Murder’s sublime brand of Melodic Death Metal, descended from Carcass and At The Gates, has made them one of the most successful and relevant bands in extreme music today. Rippers like ‘Receipt’ and ‘Threat Level No.3’ give an incredible cathartic release, and songs like John Carpenter inspired ‘The Fog’ prove they can do slower material as well.

Best Tracks – ‘Receipt’, ‘Threat Level No.3’, ‘The Fog’

2. Lucifer – Lucifer I

Every once in awhile you discover a new band and it feels like you’ve discovered Jesus. That’s what Lucifer was like for me. I never listened to front woman Johanna Sadonis’s previous band, The Oath, but Lucifer really made a big impact on me. Their doomy Sabbath inspired music has a haunting, almost magical quality to it, and Sadonis’ ethereal vocals have led me to consider her the Beauty to Ozzy’s Beast.

Best Tracks – ‘Purple Pyramid’, ‘Izarael’, ‘Morning Star’

1. Cattle Decapitation – The Anthropocene Extinction

This fucking band. The misanthropic, melody tinged death-grind sound of Cattle Decapitation was another instance in which discovering new music felt like a divine revelation. Those put off by the bands vegan stand point should know this; these guys will make you see they know exactly what they’re talking about. They hate humans and want everyone to know it, and it’s pretty impressive. The Anthropocene Extinction deals principally with man’s destructive influence on our planet’s environment, and it’s a sad, apocalyptic funeral dirge, a soundtrack for the end of the world.

Best Tracks – ‘The Prophets of Loss’, ‘Plaugeborne’, ‘Pacific Grim’

That’s it for 2015. Everyone have a safe and Happy New Year. Here’s to another year of good times and awesome cinema!

 (Originally published at https://tornfromthetomb.wordpress.com/2015/12/31/top-10-albums-of-2015/)

Black Christmas (1974) and Christmas Evil (1980)

1974’s Black Christmas is often acknowledged as an important film in the Horror Genre for being one of the earliest examples of the Slasher sub-genre and an influence on John Carpenter’s Halloween which would define the genre. It was independently produced and directed by Canadian Bob Clark, who astonishingly enough went on to direct another, very different Christmas film, 1983’s A Christmas Story. Early in his career he made low budget horror films such as Children Shouldn’t Play With Dead Things, but went on to direct massively successful films such as the frat comedy Porky’s and the aforementioned A Christmas Story. His later career saw him making low budget and poorly received children’s films such as The Karate Dog and Superbabies: Baby Geniuses 2. This makes him probably the only director in history to have had films on both the IMDB Top 250 and Bottom 100. He was tragically killed in car crash in 2007.

Black Christmas follows a group of college girls who are stalked and murdered during the Christmas season by a killer hiding in their sorority house. He makes obscene phone calls and and he creeps about the place in POV shots. The influence on Halloween is obvious in these shots, and the way that Clark shoots the sorority house from a distance with Gothic lighting is similar to Carpenter’s shooting of house in his film. The influence of the Bates residence in Hitchcock’s Psycho on both films should not be forgotten. The film surprisingly features a number of well known actors in the cast, not big A listers, but distinguished enough to be known to film fans. Keir Dullea, best know for playing David Bowman in 2001: A Space Odyssey, appears here as our leading man. It’s a little surreal to see someone who worked with Kubrick on such a legendary film appear in a sleazy Grindhouse flick like this. Olivia Hussey is our leading lady and final girl, best known for Romeo and Juliet, but her performance here is unmemorable and I have to say I much preferred Margot Kidder, best known for Lois Lane in the 70’s Superman movies. Her character is just so enjoyable, swearing and drinking and not taking any crap from the killer when he’s on the phone. Sadly she’s killed off half way through and we are left with the much less fun Hussey, who maybe wasn’t that comfortable appearing in a film like this. Special mention must go to the always enjoyable John Saxon, known for his role in Enter The Dragon and appearing in countless B and Horror movies.

For horror fans Black Christmas should be an essential movie, not just because it’s an important one, but also because it’s enjoyable in it’s own right. Clark directs the film with style and suspense that lifts it above standard grindhouse fare and makes it obvious why it was so influential to Carpenter and others. There’s also a remake, made in 2006, but I haven’t seen it.

Something that dawned on me whilst I was watching Black Christmas was that the Christmas setting itself was largely inconsequential. There’s one scene near the beginning where one of the characters is working as a Santa Claus, but overall the film could have taken place at any time of year with the same story (though the original script was apparently based on a series of murders that occurred over Christmas in Quebec). One film that really takes the Christmas season and runs with its horror film potentials however, is 1980’s Christmas Evil, also known as You Better Watch Out and Terror In Toyland. The film was directed by Lewis Jackson, who has never made another film since, and stars Brandon Maggart, who the same year appeared in Brian DePalma’s Dressed To Kill and since has worked mainly in Television. However the most well known face in the cast to a modern audience will be Jeffrey DeMunn who recently had a recurring role in The Walking Dead.

Brandon plays a man named Harry Stadling. This guy takes Christmas spirit deadly seriously. In the opening scene, we see how as a young boy he witnessed Santa, or what we presume was his dad dressed up as Santa, sexually groping his mother. This obviously had a damning effect on his psyche and as we flash forward to the present day we see how he has taken it upon himself to become the next true Santa, he sleeps in the costume, and his flat is covered in Christmas toys and decorations. He spies on the children in his neighborhood to see it they’ve been bad or good and writes their names in his “Bad Boys & Girls” book. Like I said, this is a man who takes Christmas spirit seriously. As the film goes on, his mental state deteriorates. We see how he works a lowly job at a local toy factory and clashes with his superiors, who are more concerned with profit than giving children a good Christmas. Harry sets off on a “roaring rampage of revenge” against those he feels have poisoned the spirit of Christmas.

Christmas Evil is less of a slasher film and more a psychological character study, a sort of Christmas Taxi Driver. Viewers can symphasise with Harry because what he wants is ultimately pure and admirable. The guy wants to be Santa Claus and give kids who deserve it a good Christmas, and most of the adult characters around him are so horrible we can actually see his point of view despite him plainly being as mad as a hatter. I actually found myself cheering when he started to take down the suits. The film ultimately doesn’t feature much that much gore or violence, like I said, it’s more psychological than slasher, and it has an ending that leaves you thinking, “what the hell just happened?”. I highly recommend all cult film and horror fans check Christmas Evil out, even more so than Black Christmas, simply because it’s so off the wall and entertaining in its concept. The film is well directed by Jackson, who really gives us a sense of Harry’s isolation, and it’s a shame he hasn’t gone on to direct any other films. Brandon Maggart also does a good job at selling the lead (though some of the other performances leave a lot to be desired). Christmas Evil might be the ultimate cult Christmas film, and deserves to be a yearly tradition for people who enjoy this sort of thing. You go in expecting a sleazy Christmas slasher film, but get a whole lot more than you bargained for.

Oh and incidentally, a very Merry Christmas to all at you at home from Torn From The Tomb!

(Originally published at https://tornfromthetomb.wordpress.com/2015/12/24/black-christmas-1974-and-christmas-evil-1980/)

Star Wars: The Force Awakens (2015)

Directed by J.J. Abrams                                                                                                             Starring Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, Harrion Ford and Carrie Fisher                              2hours 15 minutes                                                                   US

No film should ever be hyped up the way Star Wars: The Force Awakens has been. The only result can be disappointment. Suffice to say, if you see Star Wars: The Force Awakens you will not see the face of god, nor will you see something which is as good as the original trilogy. What you will see however, is an extraordinarily well made and entertaining Sci-Fi adventure with injects a healthy dose of nostalgia whilst still moving forward into a brave new world.

I don’t really want to give away too much so I’ll give only a brief explanation of the plot. The film revolves around two new characters, Rey (Daisy Ridley), a scavenger from the planet Jakku, and Finn (John Boyega) a stormtrooper who gives up on being a stormtrooper after experiencing a crisis of conscience. Along the way they meet old favorites Han Solo (Harrison Ford), Chewbacca (Peter Mayhew), and General (no longer Princess) Leia (Carrie Fisher). Together they must take on the sinister First Order, an evil force risen from the ashes of the empire that includes among its upper ranks Kylo Ren (Adam Driver), an inverted crucifix light-saber wielding Darth Vader fanboy who’s rather unlike any villain seen in the series thus far.

Where Abrams has really succeeded here is in putting the joy and innocence back into the Star Wars experience. After the melodramatic misery porn that was Revenge of The Sith, its extremely welcome to see a Star Wars film that makes you feel like a child again. Having the plot follow the two newcomers, Rey and Finn was exactly the right thing to do, as it puts the audience in the shoes of the identifiable characters, something which the prequels failed at spectacularly. Another place in which this sense of classic Star Wars joy is accomplished is in the character of the new droid BB-8. BB-8 is adorable as fuck. It’s character alone has more charm and actual CHARACTER than anything in the entire prequel trilogy. Proof that you can have comic relief characters in these films without making them as pandering, obnoxious and racist as Jar Jar Binks.

Some might say The Force Awakens might owe even a little TOO much to the original trilogy. This is basically A New Hope 2015, and many of that films story beats are recycled here (at several points I could guess what was going to happen before it did because of this). It is debatable to what extent this is a good or bad thing. Personally, what I find most disappointing about this is the limited pool of influences it gives the film. The original Star Wars was a collage of a bunch of different influences from throughout film and history, from fairy tales and mythology, to the eastern cinema of Akira Kurosawa, western cinema of John Ford and the Spaghetti Westerns of Sergio Leone. It would have been nice to see Abrams dig a little deeper into sources like this for a Star Wars as seeped in culture as the original was, rather than just being influenced by past films in the series.

As a starting point to a new series of films however, its hard to regard The Force Awakens as anything other than a triumph. It recaptures the energy and joy that made Star Wars so great a long time ago and has been so sorely missing for a while night. I can’t wait to see more of these films.

(Originally published at https://tornfromthetomb.wordpress.com/2015/12/19/star-wars-the-force-awakens-2015/)

Dracula: Prince of Darkness (1966)

AKA Disciple of Dracula, Dracula 3, Revenge of Dracula,The Bloody Scream of Dracula                                                            Directed by Terrence Fisher                                                                                       Starring Christopher Lee, Barbara Shelley, Andrew Keir, Francis Matthews                  90 Minutes                                                                                                                     United Kingdom

Dracula: Prince of Darkness is the third entry in Hammer’s Dracula series. The original entry, from 1958, reintroduced the count to a new generation of movie goers in the guise of the late, legendary Christopher Lee, updating the precedent set by Universal and James Whale with vivid Technicolor, vivid blood, and a more explicit focus on the sexual aspects of the story than before. A bone-fide Horror classic from Hammer’s go to Gothic auteur Terrence Fisher, it was followed two years later by The Brides of Dracula. Fisher was again in the director’s chair, however, Christopher Lee’s Dracula was nowhere to be seen in the film, with Peter Cushing’s Van Helsing this time going up against David Peel’s Baron Meinster, described in the film as a ‘disciple’ of Dracula. Though an entertaining film in it’s own right and a worthy entry in the series, it sticks out like a sore thumb due to it’s absence of the titular Count. Christopher Lee was reluctant to reprise the role due to fear of typecasting, which had cursed previous Dracula, Bela Lugosi, to roles primarily in the ‘exotic villain’ mold. Finally, six years later, Hammer convinced Lee to return in Dracula: Prince of Darkness. This time, it’s Cushing’s Van Helsing who is the absent party, and though he’s a loss, the film makes up for it with it’s tight Gothic atmosphere courtesy of Fisher, and some interesting additions to the vampire mythology which help keep the story feel fresh.                                   

The plot this time involves a group of British tourists traveling in the Transylvanian mountains, where Dracula has been considered dead for the past ten years. When holed up in a tavern they meet the emphatic Father Sandor (Andrew Keir) who warns them not to travel to Karlsbad. Naturally, they ignore his advice, and as night approaches find themselves thrown to the side of the road by their coach driver who refuses to travel any further. A coach without a driver then appears in front of them, and upon boarding it they are taken to a castle, wherein they find the dining table already set out and ready for them. Seemingly the only occupant of the castle is Klove (Philip Latham), who explains that his deceased master Count Dracula left orders that any weary travelers be put up in his abode. Later that night, one of the travelers hears a noise from somewhere within the dwelling and goes to investigate, only to be lead to Dracula’s crypt by Klove, who then proceeds to kill him and mix his blood with the ashes of Count Dracula, resurrecting the count and leading him on hungry rampage, picking off the holiday makers one by one.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness comes at an interesting time in Hammer’s history. They had already rebooted and revitalized many of the famous Horror icons in the late 50’s and early 60’s, and their subsequent success led to the revival of the Horror genre and arise of many usurpers to Hammer’s throne. Over in America, Roger Corman had began his extremely successful series of Edgar Allen Poe adaptations, which added a distinctly psychedelic flavor to the Gothic sensibility of the Hammer pictures. In Italy, directors like Mario Bava and Riccardo Freda were imbuing the Gothic Horror genre with a distinctly Italian operatic style, and more liberal approach to graphic violence and sexual perversity. Clearly the cinematic landscape was already a darker and bloodier place, and Hammer needed to up the ante in order to stay relevant. You certainly get a sense watching Dracula: Prince of Darkness that Terrence Fisher was aware of this. Dracula’s resurrection scene in particular, with it’s graphic bloodlet and vivid metamorphosis of Dracula’s remains, is one of the more grisly scenes of Hammer’s cannon up to this time.                                          

In addition, the film adds some new elements to the Vampire Mythology which help keep the age old Count interesting. The whole business with the driver-less carriage, the tourists arriving at the castle with the table already set out and the lone servant, feel more like something out of a Grimm fairy tale than anything Stoker ever wrote. Almost a Dracula version of Hansel and Gretel. In addition, the fact the focus is on a group of initially happy go lucky, young tourists whose fates vary from bad to worse, seems to be an omen of the Slasher film format which would emerge over the coming decades. Then there is the fact that Dracula is a completely silent character in this version. Depending on who you believe, this is either a result of Christopher Lee’s refusal to speak dialogue which he thought terrible, or a genuine creative decision on the part of writer Jimmy Sangster. What is does in effect, is move Dracula even further away from the charismatic portrayal of Bela Lugosi, and more into animal, predatory territory. More reminiscent of Max Schreck’s work in the classic Nosferatu while retaining Lugosi’s sexuality. There’s also the addition of water as a new addition to the list of a vampire’s weaknesses. This comes seemingly out of nowhere, and is little more than a set up to the way that Dracula is dispatched in the film’s climax. I feel the climax could have worked just as effectively without the need for them to bring a new vampire weakness which makes little sense.

Dracula: Prince of Darkness is quintessential Hammer Horror. Though not the best of these films, it’s iconography of Lee in the Dracula role and the tight confidence of Fisher’s direction make it both essential viewing for fans of the genre and a perfect starting point for those looking to get into it. 

(Originally published at https://tornfromthetomb.wordpress.com/2015/09/11/dracula-prince-of-darkness-1966/)