What I've watched and other stuff

Goodbye

2006-06-28T12:12:00.000-07:00

Hello and good bye! I don't think I'll be putting stuff up here again or for a very long time. I can't put images up and life's too short now that we have moved into our smashing new home...

We've exchanged!

2006-05-31T11:33:00.000-07:00

Well, we've exchanged and get the keys to our new home this Friday (at long last). Moving day is Monday when we'll be running around like blue-arsed flies.

Had a nice weekend just gone, had fish and chips somewhere east, Wanstead I think. Then looked around Curry's deciding what fridges and washing machines we want. On Saturday night we met up with Jess and David and went on a mini pub-crawl. Awoke in the living room at 4am then went to bed with the annoying dawn chorus. Spent Sunday tidying the flat more and boxing more junk.

Almost finished reading 'My Way of Life' by Joan Crawford. I'm almost complete in the knowledge of how to dress and behave in front of my husband and society people.

Watched possibly the campiest episode of 'Wonder Woman' ever, with John Carradine voicing his amputated brain (with one eye) in an story titled 'Gault's Brain'. He needs a new body to live in so his much younger wife goes in search of a hunky muscle boy to fit the bill. Diana Prince gets put into a barrel and thrown into a little river (which has a depth of about 50 metres!) before miraculously turning into Wonder Woman, in my favourite outfit too, the blue swimming one. Daft and hilarious yes but brilliant too.

As for films we've been viewing:

'Killer Vs. Killers' ('Killer Contro Killers') Directed by Fernando Di Leo 1985
I actually quite enjoyed this, especially seeing Dalila Di Lazzaro ('The Pyjama Girl Case') cut off a security guards hand using some wire cutters (no matter how unconvincing). Henry Silva plays another stoney faced character who owns a personal zoo (probably because no one could get to know him). The film itself looks like a TV movie and the music was quite dreadful. Hilarious bits include nude women dancing for the old professional safe cracker and when Dalila sings in a club.

'Der Hexer' ('The Mysterious Magician') Directed by Alfred Vohrer 1964
Found this rather dull, in fact it put me to sleep about three times. The ending is cool however in that the bad guys get away.

'Crucible Of Horror' ('The Corpse') Directed by Viktors Ritelis 1970
How I managed to stay awake through this snooze-fest is nothing short of a miracle. Michael Gough plays a sadistic head of a family who regularly beats his daughter (when he's not fantasising about her) and bosses his meek wife (Yvonne Mitchell, star of 'Demons of the Mind') around. They decide it's time for Daddy to go and plan and execute his murder but he won't stay dead, sadly, as this would have been the end of the film. As a rule I almost always love British horror and mystery films of the seventies but this was just SO dull and don't get me started on the dvd (released by Trinity Home Entertainment) - it was like watching a film wearing thick tan tights over my eyes, and muddy ones at that.

'The Abominable Snowman' Directed by Val Guest 1957
Fantastic and genuinely creepy early Hammer film about an expedition to find the Yeti of the Himalayas. Cushing is fantastic as always and I fell in love with Michael Brill (McNee), who carries an air of melancholy since he saw the Yeti on a previous expedition. The Americans are portrayed as brash heartless hunters and the English as gentlemen who care! The German DVD (Anolis Entertainment) was superb - gorgeous picture quality and sound with trailers, a gallery and audio commentary by Val Guest himself, which I shall save for a rainy day.

'Humoresque' Directed by Jean Negulesco 1946
Yay! A Joan Crawford film. I always feel guilty making Matt watch some old (camp) movie but Joan's got quite a few noir-esque titles out on DVD now and he enjoyed 'Sudden Fear' and 'Possessed' so there! Joan plays Helen Wright a neurotic society woman married to a man she no longer loves and surrounds herself with eager young males and has a taste for alcohol (that's an understatement, she's got a glass in her hand in almost every scene). Anyway one evening she meets an up and coming violinist Paul Boray (played brilliantly by John Garfield) and falls for him. That's it really, their on-off relationship - her wanting more from him and him being more into his damn violin (which you hear an awful lot). Joan doesn't show up for about forty minutes, the beginning of the film is about Paul's upbringing in a poor-ish neighbourhood by his humble parents. The film is quite unique in that the music is the main component. God, am I sounding like a jerk? Anyway. it was a cool film, Joan was great and gets to say "I'd love to slap you" before hurling her martini glass at the wall.

'The Heat's On' Directed by Gregory Ratoff 1943
It was good to see Mae West again but this film was a bit rubbish and Mae isn't in half of it and when she is she's given little to do. I'm hoping that 'Every Day's a Holiday' will get a DVD release soon, I need to see Peaches!

Christ, that's way too much typing for one day. See you...

'My Way Of Life'

2006-05-21T04:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday today and it's raining. Matt has gone to a christening and Max is out looking at possible rooms to rent. I think I have tonsillitis as I can't swallow very easily - that said, I've just downed two huge espresso's. Yesterday we went to the model shop in Clapham to look at Ultraman, Gamera and Godzilla toys, but I couldn't find anything I wanted. That shop is so dusty and there's no room to move. I did buy a hat and three saucepans in tkmaxx though. We didn't go out last night, which was unusual - too knackered I think, still, I did finish off my bottle of Gin and put too many bids on ebay. We also watched...

'The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave' ('La Notte che Evelyn uscì dalla tomba' Directed by Emilio Miraglia 1971)
Having previously sat through the grotty Sinema Diablo release, this glorious print (NoShame's Killer Queen edition) was fantastic. I'd forgotten Erika Blanc's coffin strip (watching her interview I find that actress scary!). Marina Malfatti is in it too, I always get her confused with the fun Nieves Navarro. Oh and those identical maids, hilarious. Great soundtrack from Bruno Nicolai which I've got on CD (along with the other 'Nicolai in Giallo' releases.).

And we've seen:

Ang Lee's 'Hulk' (2003)
I (surprisingly) really enjoyed this. I've never seen anything with Eric Bana or Jennifer Connelly in it. Sam Elliott was in 'The Legacy' ('78) which I love and 'Frogs' ('72) so I reckon he's pretty cool. Anyway the Hulk is SO cute, he's kind of like a green King Kong - I so hope a follow up gets made. Nice to see Stan Lee and Lou Ferrigno make cameo's - though it was way too short.

'Il Boss' ('The Boss' Directed by Fernando Di Leo 1973)
Great mafia story starring a stony faced and emotionless Henry Silva, Euro 'hard-man' regular Richard Conte and a whole host of recognisable faces from Italian crime and giallo films. The film gets off to a great start with Silva's character (Lanzetta) firing some kind of flame bombs through a cinema screen at guys watching a porno movie! Chunky Howard Ross is in it too as a bad guy. Brilliant score from Luis Enriquez Bacalov that doesn't get on your nerves like some can. Oh and a nice interview with the director and cast.

I've also listened to the audio commentary on 'Doctor Who - The Ark In Space' with Tom Baker, Elizabeth Sladen and Philip Hinchcliffe which was great and at times hilarious. I've really got into Doctor Who again and have just ordered two DVD's, though these are with Jon Pertwee ('Claws Of Axos' and 'Spearhead From Space').

Oh and I'm currently reading 'My Way Of Life' by Joan Crawford, which is the campiest thing ever; "never put a red vegetable next to a yellow one"...

Voodoo Island

2006-05-08T09:55:00.000-07:00

Goodness me! It seems like ages again since I was here last. Nothing much to tell...

Our house move to Mitcham is taking longer than we had imagined, we've been given a date for the end of the month for completion. Fingers crossed. I'm getting desperate to leave as it's horrible living here amongst boxes. I'm still buying far too much stuff for the new place, spending hours browsing ebay in the hope of finding something weird. I've been very lucky though and have amassed quite a lot of vintage items. Yesterday I won a hideously kitch lamp full of crabs and shells...

Last Friday I was at the tattooists for four hours, getting my 'voodoo island' theme shaded. It's bloody huge! I'm booked in again for another four hours next month. This tattoo is going to cost me a fortune. Have also seen a ring that I must possess, it's a silver and black ace of spades - going to save up for that.

I've been doing a database for all my DVD's as I'm starting to loose track on what I've got. Last count I had 655 films on DVD. Bloody hell (!) I dread to think how much I've spent. From now on I'm just going to concentrate on getting Italian crime thrillers and giallo's (yeah, right).

Last night we watched the Japanese preview DVD of the new Gamera film ('Gamera: Chiisaki yusha-tachi' Directed by Ryuta Tazaki 2006). It looks really cool but very cute and seems to feature more about the story of a young (orphan?) boy who finds an egg that hatches into a tortoise ('Toto') then grows rapidly into Gamera. There is a new monster however that looks brilliant and certainly kicks Gamera's ass (boo). Can't wait to see the film but it will probably be months (even years) before an English subtitled edition comes out. Actually, that said all the Daiei Gamera DVD releases have them. On the disc there's also a ten minute long trailer for the very expensive box set, comprising all of the giant turtle's films - they do know how to tease!

Anyway here's some we watched earlier:

'Cry-Baby' (Directed by John Waters 1990)
Watched or rather listened to the feature-commentary by John Waters as he's always hilarious. Only saw this at the Prince Charles cinema in Leicester Square last year, so didn't really need to watch it again so soon. Really loved the deleted scenes especially the sleazy photographer (Waters regular Alan Wendl) who kidnaps Wanda Woodward (Traci Lords) and forces her to model in a giant champagne glass in a dingy studio. DVD also has a great featurette "It Came from Baltimore" that includes interviews with cast and crew.

'The Big Racket' ('Il Grande racket' Directed by Enzo G. Castellari 1976)
This was bloody excellent, one of my favourite Fabio Testi films ('Revolver' being my number one). He stars as Inspector Nico Palmieri hell bent on delivering justice to a nasty protection racket terrorising Rome. The gang are disgusting in their cruelty and some of the scenes are really disturbing but you need to see them in order for you to want to see them all dead! The unobtrusive soundtrack from the De Angelis brothers is cool too. No special features on the DVD except a trailer.

'Street Law' ('Il Cittadino si ribella' Directed by Enzo G. Castellari 1974)
Starring Franco Nero as an ordinary guy who gets a vicious beating from some thugs during a bank robbery. He decides to take the law into his own hands when the (rather rubbish) Police drop the case. Barbara Bach stars as his girlfriend but her role is totally wasted. The score, again by the De Angelis brothers is brilliant. DVD has a featurette with Director and Nero.

'Scars Of Dracula' ('Directed by Roy Ward Baker 1970)
Hmm, seen this a few times but never on DVD. It's not one of my favourite Hammer's as it's really missing Peter Cushing, but it does have it's moments and does star Christopher Lee, Patrick Troughton (in a Joan Crawford frightwig) and the gorgeously named Anouska Hempel. Dennis Waterman (who goes in search of his brother, trapped in the Count's castle) looks really out of place and his acting abilities are dubious. That said it was fun to view a Hammer film again as it's been a while...

'Das Indische Tuch' ('The Indian Scarf' Directed by Alfred Vohrer 1963)
Another Edgar Wallace film! Enjoyed this one a lot, it's the familiar story of the death of the head of a rich family and after the reading of the will family members are forced to stay at the ancestral mansion for six days, if they leave they'll forfeit their inheritance. Of course, one by one they are murdered by a killer wearing black gloves and using an Indian scarf (touches of giallo?!). Along the way we're treated to Klaus Kinski as a diabetic artist, a stuffed horse, a killer tarantula and a fabulous if shocking death of the mother (aged but glamorous Elisabeth Flickenschildt). The film has strange comedic touches like Eddi Arent's (the butler) magic hostess trolley that follows him around and a daft conclusion, but that didn't put me off.

'Hercules' ('Le Fatiche di Ercole' Directed by Pietro Francisci 1958)
Seen this a few times before too, but not on DVD. I won a great double feature from Germany (coupled with 'Hercules Unchained') and the picture quality was far superior than I was expecting. The film was a lot more exciting than I remembered too. Is this the film that started the whole 'Sword & Sandal' genre? I think so. Steve Reeves is our hero this time and plays it with 'no nonsense' gusto - going in search of the golden fleece with Jason and the Argonauts while putting right a corrupt Kingdom and falling in love with Princess Iole (Sylva Koscina with lots of red lippy). The hairy ape men are fun, as is the fight Hercules has with a rampaging bull and an angry lion.

Well that's far too much typing for one day. See ya

Grape Hyacynth

2006-05-01T06:51:00.000-07:00

Here I am again! Matt's gone in to work, even though it is Bank Holiday Monday so I've got some time to get down what we've been doing:

Went to Salisbury to stay with my Grandparents (cleaned their windows, Gran thrashed us playing Newmarket), had coffee with my mother, lunch with our friend Fay and her cute little baby 'Archie', went to loads of charity shops (bought some 'Poole' pottery for £10).

Went out on Saturday night to Will's 30th Birthday piss up. Ended up at some sad late night cocktail bar - woke up with bad head and spasms.

Saw 'An evening with Joan Collins' at the Fairfield Halls in sophisticated Croydon with Matt, Peter and Jess. What a night that was (!) sat in the bar while the support (4 Poof and a piano) was on, had 4 gins before entering. I love JC but this really was quite appalling for all the wrong reasons, we were just dying to explode with laughter all the way through (which is what we did when we left). I wish she would talk about her work in horror during the seventies, I know she was only doing it for the paycheque but she must have some happy memories.

...and what we've watched:

'Son Of Samson' ('Maciste nella valle dei re' Directed by Carlo Campogalliani 1960)
Mark Forest (as Maciste) and Chelo Alonso (as evil Queen Smedes). Pit of crocodiles, exotic belly dancing, Egyptian style sets and costumes. Possibly the goriest sword and sandal film ever - almost every scene has someone getting speared! Passable picture quality from Retromedia (why does Amazon always list DVD's under the wrong company of release?) - DVD also features 'Son Of Cleopatra', which I've yet to watch.

'Atlas In The Land Of The Cyclops' ('Maciste nella terra dei ciclopi' Directed by Antonio Leonviola 1961)
Superior peplum film with Gordon Mitchell as Maciste and Chelo Alonso back again playing an evil queen (though this time under duress thanks to an old curse). Appalling picture quality (el cheapo 'Alpha Video' release), virtually no colour (sepia) and hilarious dubbing but a good film.

'Strip Nude For Your Killer' ('Nude per l'assassino' Directed by Andrea Bianchi 1975)
Second viewing of this (initially watched the X-Rated Kult edition, this time it's the Blue Underground one). Stars Edwige Fenech, Femi Benussi and Nino Castelnuovo. A great lurid giallo. Almost everyone gets nekkid at some point. Great apartments too oh and the bisexual owner of fashion studio wears ahead-of -its-time stick on gem beauty spot. Superb score from Berto Pisano, who I'm not familiar with. DVD has a trailer and an interview with actress Solvi Stubing and co-writer Massimo Felisatti.

'Appleseed' ('Appurushîdo' Directed by Shinji Aramaki 2004)
Cool Sci-Fi / Action / Animation which I can't remember much about!

'The Thousand Eyes of Dr. Mabuse' ('Die Tausend Augen des Dr. Mabuse' Directed by Fritz Lang 1960)
Similar in a way to the German Edgar Wallace films and although directed by Lang, I found this quite dull. Stars Dawn Addams, Peter van Eyck, Gert Fröbe and Wolfgang Preiss as the criminal mastermind Mabuse. DVD has some great features including trailers for other Mabuse films (although these are the American dubbed versions and not great quality) and a 35 minute featurette "The Eyes of Fritz Lang".

'The Testament of Dr. Mabuse' ('Das Testament des Dr. Mabuse' Directed by Werner Klingler 1962)
This action packed film (a remake of Lang's '32 original) was way better than the previous film (for me anyway). Cool DVD again with similar features plus 'The Crimes of Dr. Mabuse," the 90 minute English-dubbed alternate version of Fritz Lang's 1932 original.

'Divine Trash' Directed by Steve Yeager 1998
Oh my god! This was just brilliant! My 'sister in crime' friend Pete gave me this (amongst 'Dirty Shame' and 'Cry Baby") as a Birthday gift. It's basically a documentary about the Dreamland cast and crew, with interviews from around the time of 'Pink Flamingos' until now. Cookie Mueller seemed to be absent though, yes I know she passed away in '89 but there must be more material out there on her contribution...

Anyway I'm off, need a cup of tea. Lucky me, I made a flask earlier.

DVD update...

2006-04-08T12:57:00.000-07:00

I haven't been here a while, busy doing nothing much. Have either won or bought loads of DVD's recently, must have about 20 to sit through. Anyway, here are some we've watched:

'Die Bande des Schreckens' ('The Terrible People' Directed by Harald Reinl 1960)
Ok Edgar Wallace story, but sadly quite forgettable. Well, except for Karin Dor. Superb DVD from Germany (Tobis), although the subtitles occasionally don't make sense.

'Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion' ('Le Foto proibite di una signora per bene' Directed by Luciano Ercoli 1970)
Ercoli is becoming one of my favourite giallo directors. This was great! Fantastic score from Ennio Morricone and starring Susan Scott and Dagmar Lassander. DVD features a trailer.

'Django Kill - If You Live, Shoot!' ('Se sei vivo spara' Directed by Giulio Questi 1967)
Don't know why this movie gets such bad reviews, we really enjoyed it. After all there is Tomas Milian, cute Ray Lovelock and gay cowboys dressed in black. DVD has a wonderful print as usual from Blue Underground and an interview with director/co-writer Giulio Questi, Tomas Milian and Ray Lovelock.

'La Morte ha fatto l'uovo' ('Death Laid an Egg' Directed by Giulio Questi 1968)
Decided to view this giallo again after watching Questi's 'If You Live, Shoot!'. Cool, but weird and has mutant chicken monsters, Ewa Aulin, Gina Lollobrigida in a flame red wig, oh and a great opening. Lovely Japanese DVD. I expect this will get an American release soon.

'Totò contro Maciste' ('Toto vs. Maciste' Directed by Fernando Cerchio 1962)
Sort of carry on Hercules. Samson Burke as Maciste the blockhead and Totò in his usual role. Italian Language only DVD, but nice print and also the first time I've watched Samson Burke in a peplum, next stop 'The Three Stooges Meet Hercules'.

'Ursus nella valle dei leoni' ('Ursus in the Valley of the Lions' Directed by Carlo Ludovico Bragaglia 1961)
Ed fury is Ursus, brought up by lions after his family are murdered (lucky). Fantastic and garish Moira Orfei stars as a bad girl turns good. DVD has a featurette about peplum films including Brad Harris, Gordon Mitchell and Moira Orfei (who looks bizarre but excellent!) sadly this is only in German language, as was the movie, but I managed to watch it all.

'A Dirty Shame' (Directed by John Waters 2004)
The latest movie from constant funny man Waters. Mink Stole has some great lines, as usual, Jean Hill is in it (don't blink!) and Mary Vivian Pearce (momentarily) looking very ill.
DVD features an excellent (and funny) featurette that is only four minutes shorter than the film itself.

'Dogora' ('Uchu daikaijû Dogora' Directed by Ishirô Honda 1964)
Yet another great Toho 'alien monster attacks Japan' film, though sadly too much of the film is about the diamond thieves and not enough about said giant flying jellyfish (Dogora only comes in about 50 minutes into the film). Loved the sound effects when he does, it's like an amplified heart beating. Spooky. Wish to god my 'Yog: Monster from Space' would hurry up and get despatched.

Phew! Too much typing and not enough watching of DVD's. I'm off...

Brad Harris double-bill part 2

2006-04-04T11:46:00.000-07:00

'Zambo' ('Zambo, il dominatore della foresta' Directed by Bitto Albertini 1972)
I won this video on ebay from Germany, so it is difficult for me to rate as I don't understand German too well, that said - it does star Brad Harris (yay!) and is an exciting (if slightly campy) jungle adventure. Brad plays a prisoner, wrongly convicted (if my translation is correct) who escapes along with another convict into the African jungle. The two of them battle the elements until the other guy dies, Brad (Zambo) luckily adjusts himself to life in the danger-filled jungle, taming the wildlife, making friends with local tribes and in particular a small boy. An expedition of evil baddies go in search of Zambo for reasons I'm not too sure and along with them is blonde Gisela Hahn, who plays the love interest of Zambo. Brad gets to show off his stuntman fighting skills here and there and looks rather fetching in his Tarzan-like costume, though I can't picture him running that up on a sewing machine in the jungle (or anywhere else for that matter). The film ends on a kind of sad note as he waves goodbye to his love interest on board a ship, preferring to stay in the wilds.

Bitto Albertini directed '6000 km di paura' ('Safari Rally'), with Joe Dallesandro which I really want to get my hands on. Oh and 'Il Ritorno del gladiatore più forte del mondo' - again with Brad Harris. In fact he's behind loads of films I love or want...

'Challenge of the Tiger' ('Gymkata Killer' Directed by Bruce Le 1980)
This was the second billing on Mondo Macabro's DVD 'For Your Height Only' and sadly I wasn't impressed at all. It's a martial arts action drama. Playing a bad guy this time, Brad doesn't get to do much except look scary in a pair of black sunglasses and black leather gloves. The main actor is handsome Richard Harrison who runs around with lots of topless women and fights men wearing only a ridiculous beach thong! Won't be watching this again anytime soon, though I'm looking forward to seeing tiny Weng Weng in 'For Your Height Only'. I'd love to know how Brad and Richard got on together and if they talked about their time making sword and sandal films.

Seeya.

Friday

2006-03-31T09:20:00.000-08:00

I'm home alone.

Matt's going to the pub, someone's leaving party. I'm working tomorrow so I'm not meeting him as I can't be trusted and I haven't had any grog for over three weeks now and would probably cause a scene! Going out on the lash tomorrow night, so will have a monster hang-over all day Sunday.

Our house buying is going to plan, the searches aren't finished but I've boxed up nearly everything I own (left out a stack of unwatched DVD's though). I'm so excited about moving and have got so many ideas for the rooms in the house. Think it's going to look very retro but not in a cheap, repro, lava-lamp kind of way. I've even been buying stuff off of ebay, items which aren't film related for a change.

Is Pete Burns really ill? After hearing stories of him running about in his knickers and his fight with a hotel leaving him in a mental state, I certainly hope not. I tried to listen to the interview he had (so I gather) on Capital FM (with Richard Bacon) but couldn't find it. I can't wait to get my hands on his book; 'Freak Unique', hope there's loads of 'never seen before' photos. My mate Julie sent some of hers to the DOA web site and I hope they publish them.

Aarrgghhh there's a whole load more DVD's and CD's been released that I must have. Lots of Peplum films have come out now in Europe, the majority of them with great picture quality, but only in the 'country of release' language. I've managed to get my hands on quite a few, thanks to ebay but wish that America would source these films and give them legitimate releases. I'm half way through watching Ed Fury in 'Ursus in the Valley of the Lions'...

Cooker's just broken, bloody hell. I bought some fat oven chips too.

Sundays indoors

2006-03-19T13:52:00.000-08:00

Well, I haven't been here for a while. Been kind of busy doing nothing really.
Yesterday we hired a van and David drove us a hundred miles to Norfolk to pick up a kitchen seating unit and table we'd won on ebay. Our van was enormous and way too big for what we wanted, but better to be safe than sorry. Stopped off in Newmarket to get fish and chips (yay!) on our way back. The unit is so brilliant and was so worth all that effort, it's going to look great.
I've been boxing more and more stuff up for our eventual move, which I've enjoyed for some reason, maybe because I can't wait to leave this flat.

Stuff we've watched:

The first season of 'Department S' - totally in love with this show and I love all the characters, though how Jason King was ever considered a sex symbol is beyond me.

'Godzilla Vs. Mechagodzilla 2' ('Gojira VS Mekagojira' Directed by Takao Okawara 1993)
Brilliant except for 'Baby Godzilla', who was annoying (was he meant to be Godzuki?). Enjoyed seeing a Godzilla film again, as it's been a while. Rodan's there too and goes all glittery helping Godzilla after an attack from Mechagodzilla.

'Klondike Annie' (Directed by Raoul Walsh 1936)
Another Mae West film. Usual campery and fun. Love watching her walk and her facial expressions, she's hilarious.

'Superman 2' (Directed by Richard Lester 1980)
I love Ursa (Sarah Douglas) in this film, shame she doesn't get to scrag Lois Lane more often.

'To The Devil A Daughter' (Directed by Peter Sykes 1976)
I've seen this Hammer film a number of times, years ago but this was the first time I've viewed it on DVD. It's cool, yeah the ending is slightly rubbish, but you do get Honor Blackman (in a weird cloth headband), baby sacrifice, talk of witchcraft, evil Christopher Lee (as a deranged Satan worshipping ex priest), a quivering Denholm Elliott as the father of Nastassja Kinski (who gets her kit off), gorgeous Anthony Valentine oh and exploding pregnant women. DVD features a nice interview with most of those involved.

'Spartacus & Die Zehn Gladiatoren' ('Gli Invincibili dieci gladiatori', 'Spartacus and the Ten Gladiators' Directed by Nick Nostro 1964)
Possibly the most homoerotic sword and sandal I've ever seen with Dan Vadis and his nine merry men (fellow gladiators). Nice picture on the German language only DVD.

'Zimmer 13' (Directed by Harald Reinl 1964)
Okay-ish Edgar Wallace tale, usual stuff... with a very cool soundtrack though.

'...e tanta paura' (Directed by Paolo Cavara 1976)
With Corinne Clery and Michele Placido. Lots of nudity but little standard giallo stuff.

'Death Walks In High Heels' ('La Morte cammina con i tacchi alti' Directed by Luciano Ercoli 1971)
Watched this before but that was a dodgy bootleg with a real crappy picture, so it was a real treat to see it and it stars one of my favourite euro ladies, Nieves Navarro (as a stripper no less!). Great imagery, sets, costumes, scenery and a wonderful score. DVD released by NoShame (US) in a gorgeous box-set along with Ercoli's 'La Morte accarezza a mezzanotte' and a CD of superb tracks by Stelvio Ciipriani.

Victoria Wood's omnibus edition of 'Acorn Antiques'
Which I think is possibly, still, one of the funniest things ever.

"...all's well that ends well"

Well yes, that's me, I need another cup of my delicious home made tea...

DVD's

2006-03-08T10:26:00.000-08:00

Thought it was about time I typed something here...

I'm busy at work and have had lots of laughs this week with David. Someone tried to break-in last night at the shop, it was quite exciting this morning - seeing all that broken glass everywhere. What could they possibly steal that anybody would want?
Emma is in town, I called her while she was in a changing cubicle, probably trying on warmer clothing than the clothes she's been used to in Abuja, the weather in London has been putrid this week.
Pete Burns autobiography gets published next month (yay!), I hope it's full of rare photo's and bitchy comments from Pete. (That's a safe bet).

Anyway stuff we (or I) have watched recently:

'Colpo in canna' ('Loaded Guns' Directed by Fernando Di Leo 1975)
Certainly one of the weirdest Italian crime films I've yet to see. It's a comedy really, but a pretty unfunny one. It starts off okay but gets more and more comedic. I had to fast forward the long drawn-out fight section at the fun fair and the plinky-plonky happy soundtrack grates (surprisingly for me) on your nerves. That said, you do get to see Ursula Andress fight, scheme and look foxy. Marc Porel is there too, looking cute but his role is wasted, he's a boxer turned acrobat and has a great apartment with a trampoline for a bed. DVD has a featurette with the director, who loved Andress, while the other technicians didn't.

'Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso' ('Seven Blood-Stained Orchids' Directed by Umberto Lenzi 1972)
Have seen this before, but not the German DVD edition (in the Edgar Wallace collection 8). What a fantastic giallo this is! It's got all the trademarks you want including a gorgeous soundtrack. Stars a fantastic looking Marisa Mell as twins, Uschi Glas and hunky Antonio Sabato who frowns a lot.

'Belle Of The Nineties' (Directed by Leo McCarey 1934)
God! This film is old. Very camp Mae West vehicle which sees her as a singer (guffaw) moving to New Orleans to perform. The usual gags and drag costumes but always a treat to see Ms West and her famous smutty lines.

'Hercules and the Princess of Troy' (Directed for TV by Albert Band 1965)
Another peplum I hadn't seen before. It was weird watching this as it's filmed in English rather than Italian and dubbed badly. Anyway it was a pilot for a show that never took off (well, it never started), starring more than capable Gordon Scott as our hero Hercules, this time involved in saving Troy (and it's Princess) from a make-and-do sea monster and some evil guys. Forgettable. Well, apart from the monster.

Mixed bag

2006-03-01T09:36:00.000-08:00

Things seem to be ticking along nicely with regards to the house buying. Going to visit it again and check out their 'white goods' they want to sell to us.

Our friend Emma is back in the country soon after her stint in Nigeria (she's being posted to Delhi in a month). No doubt we will have evenings of drunken nonsense and catch up with her tales. Our other friend Bex (who was in Nigeria with Emma) is off to Azerbaijan for a year, which will be sad as we don't get to see her that often anyway...

I've got to extend my tattoo voucher as I'm not going to get inked in time, before it runs out. Aaarrrgghhh! Have decided I'm going to get Ursus done on my shoulder with some more cheese plant leaves, a skull with a bowler hat, some more wasps and possibly Guiron (of Gamera fame). Of course, this could all change. I am fickle after all.

Have won more great stuff on ebay, namely two Italian Brad Harris posters ('Gangsters per un Massacro' and 'Zambo'), plus a set of four large Italian lobbies for 'Ursus Gladiatore Ribelle' starring Dan Vadis. It's about time I wasn't outbid on some peplum stuff! Also have some DVD's, resin paperweights and more posters to come. Yippee!

Last night we watched the fantastic 'Horror Express' (Directed by Eugenio Martín in 1973) Have seen this plenty of times before, but not on DVD, the copy of which I picked up in Germany last year. I love this film! Christopher Lee, Peter Cushing, Helga Liné, Georges Rigaud and Telly Savalas and a defrosted alien caveman monster - what more could you want?

Moving house?

2006-02-27T10:37:00.000-08:00

Spent Saturday with Matt's parents driving us around the Mitcham area to look at houses. One out of the six we saw, we really liked and this morning we put in an offer which was accepted, yay! It's tiny, but cute and does need some work done on it, namely the kitchen area, but that should be easy to sort out and it's way cheaper than the one we almost bought last year.

Saturday night we met up with Bex in Farringdon and got quite drunk. Came home and drank more gin, then Jack Daniels, played some old hi energy records and collapsed. I had a nasty hang-over on Sunday and suffered from the horrors and horizontigo, which forced me to sit in front of the TV all day, which wasn't all that bad. Managed to watch these (amongst others we watched during the week):

'The Giant of Marathon' ('La Battaglia di Maratona' Directed by Jacques Tourneur 1959)
Quite good peplum film starring Steve Reeves as Phillipides involved in the fight for Athens against an invading Persian army. There's a great actress (Daniela Rocca) who plays Karis, she's in love with Phillipides, but he's in love with the blond Andromeda, anyway she has the most excellent eyebrows. Reeves isn't my favourite sword and sandal actor, I think it's because he seems to have no humour about himself. The DVD (Gods of War double feature) was one of those cheapo American releases and had a really crappy picture, as most of them do. I'll try to watch the other one - 'The Last Glory of Troy' if it doesn't put me to sleep again.

'Crucible of Terror' (Directed by Ted Hooker 1971)
Jack Davies (James Bolam) goes to see a crazy artist, who lives in a creepy house on the Cornish coast to get some of his work, he takes with him his timid girlfriend Millie (Mary Maude) who works in a boutique selling Victorian clothes...
Seen this at least twice before I got the DVD. It's excellent! Although it doesn't have any real 'stars' (Mike Raven and James Bolam are the only recognisable names) it's a good British 70's horror film and I don't care what anybody else says. It's almost as good as 'Tower of Evil' (Directed by Jim O'Connolly), especially the camp value. I mean, there's a middle aged woman (husband Mike Raven calls her a senile old hag) who wears pig-tails, a 'baby jane' dress and carries dolls and toys around, a foxy artists model, lots of bad acting and some unbelievably funny dialogue - especially between the model and Millie who's been stranded at the isolated artists house when her boyfriend Jack returns to London for more cash.
Director Ted Hooker doesn't seem to have done anything other than this film which is a shame. The DVD was okay, good picture, no features at all though, no chapters or even a menu, still, can't complain - it was only £2 or something.

'Milano calibro 9' (Directed by Fernando Di Leo 1972)
Another great but downbeat action/crime thriller from Di Leo, featuring a cool cast of actors, namely Gastone Moschin, Barbara Bouchet, Mario Adorf, Philippe Leroy and Luigi Pistilli (who's role is a little wasted). Barbara Bouchet plays the unflatteringly named Nelly Bordon, the girlfriend of Ugo Piazza (Gastone Moschin) who's just been released from prison. Lionel Stander plays 'the Americano' the head of a mafia gang, who believes Ugo has his stolen 300,000 dollars hidden away somewhere. Lionel Stander ('Max' from 'Hart To Hart') sounds like Papa Lazarou from 'The League of Gentlemen'. Nice soundtrack and great shots of Milan. The extra disc has three featurettes, but sadly all of them are without English subtitles. Need to get Di Leo's 'La Mala ordina' next...

Salon: Retro Chic

2006-02-22T09:38:00.000-08:00

Hmm, hello. Got some great CD's in the post today thanks to the wonder of ebay. The best of the bunch has to be 'Salon: Retro Chic' a Japanese import featuring loads of tracks from the likes of Guido & Maurizio De Angelis, Ennio Morricone, Stelvio Cipriani, Carlo Savina, Riz Ortolani, Armando Trovaioli, Piero Piccioni and others. There's one track with vocals by Grace Jones that I've never even heard of from the soundtrack of 'Nightmare City'. Nice!

As for stuff we (or rather I) have seen:

'Devil's Kiss' ('La Perversa caricia de Satán' Directed by Georges Gigo 1975)
Utterly, utterly dull film about a clairvoyant Claire Grandier (played by the great Silvia Solar) and a Professor Gruber (Oliver Matthau) who go to live in Grandier's brother-in-law's chateau to experiment on reviving the dead (actually a plot so she can get revenge on the person who caused her grief). They do revive a dead person, who looks like a skinny Tor Johnson with heavy blue eye-shadow and the movie does get off to a good start with a fashion show being held in the chateau - most of the models are very chunky and their dance moves are hilarious, especially the blond woman's. That said, I won't be watching this again in a hurry. Oh and the soundtrack is appalling, when used in between the very long gaps of no dialogue.

'Gamera vs. Gaos' ('Daikaijû kuchu kessan: Gamera tai Gyaosu' Directed by Noriaki Yuasa 1967)
Now this was lots of fun and great to watch on a weekend afternoon. I finally bit the bullet and bought the Japanese DVD, which cost a fortune but was well worth it (I'm no longer buying dodgy bootleg copies). Gamera returns to fight evil bat/bird creature Gaos, who's been awakened from his long slumber thanks to construction workers. There's an annoying boy (again) who knows all about our giant turtle and even gets to ride on his back when Gamera rescues him from the clutches of Gaos's claws - when he does rescue him, he leans against a Ferris wheel so he can escape to safety. My favourite part is when the government trick Gaos into drinking artificial human blood on a spinning platform to make him dizzy (!) cool! I love Gamera films and only wish I could afford one of the few Japanese DVD box-sets on the market, the newest one has such a cool figurine of the turtle hero. Ah well, just have to get the single issues, if and when I'm flush.

There are SO many DVD's out there at the moment that I must have. Italy has released two of the 'Kommissar X' films (featuring my current hero Brad Harris) along with all the 'Three Supermen' movies, but sadly these are all in Italian language, not that that has ever stopped me from buying and watching them - I've just won on ebay two Peplum films in German language only. There's the 'Luciano Ercoli's The Death Box Set', 'The Gardener' with gorgeous Joe Dallesandro (still haven't watched 'Vacanze per un massacro' yet), 'Space Ameoba - Yog' and the forthcoming 'Emilio Miraglia Killer Queen Box Set' (with action figure, how bizarre is that?). And then there's all the issues by Blue Underground of more giallo's (all but one I have already, but will need to get again for better picture quality and extras). Aaarrrggghhhh I need more money!

Saturday the 18th

2006-02-14T10:02:00.000-08:00

Stuff we've seen so far...

The first seven episodes of the second series of 'Lost' - which has been really brilliant, 'Smallville' and 'Desperate Housewives'.

As for DVD's:

'Uomini si nasce poliziotti si muore' ('Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man' Directed by Ruggero Deodato 1976)
Bloody excellent film with two lead roles from gorgeous Ray Lovelock and Marc Porel. Typical Italian crime film but this time with a duo. Cool bike chases, lots of violence and with Euro regular Adolfo Celi as their boss. Oh and Silvia Dionisio ('Andy Warhol's Dracula') as the quick talking secertary, her sister is in it too (Sofia Dionisio) as a nymphomaniac!
DVD comes with an interesting 40 minute long interview with all involved, except Porel, who sadly died in 1983.

'Atragon' ('Kaitei gunkan' Directed by Ishirô Honda 1963)
Ok Toho film about a lost civilisation living under the sea who plan to take over the world, using their powers and their snake monster (Manda - probably my least favourite 'Japanese film' monster, maybe it's because his movement is limited). Still, it was fun. Can't wait to see 'Yog: Monster from Space' - that cuttlefish monster is SO cute.

'Eroticofollia' ('Evil Eye' Directed by Mario Siciliano 1974)
Weird supernatural type giallo. Stars hunky Mexican actor Jorge Rivero as a rich playboy (Peter Crane) who suffers from nightmares that he is killing people, only the murders are real. It was difficult watching this as it was only in dubbed German language with English subtitles and the print is pretty wretched (worst I've ever seen on an X-rated Kult DVD release), lots of jumps and scratches and the soundtrack occasionally goes warped. Anyway, I'd waited quite a while to see this, as I'm a fan of Rivero and it wasn't that bad, there are some cool (bad) scenes: the nasty butler spewing up a frog, cigarette butts dancing in an ashtray, a sinister doctor (Richard Conte), a soundtrack by the genius Stelvio Cipriani (where's the CD?) and you do get to see Jorge topless and in a shower (when he's not wearing some fabulous 70's fashions - loved the floral shirt and the front-split flares!).
The DVD come with two trailers for the film (well, sort of) and a whole bunch of giallo trailers for other releases from X-rated Kult DVD. There is also a cute 3" disc with forty minutes of trailers for their other releases, but I wasn't into most of them.

'Der Rote Kreis' ('The Red Circle' Directed by Jürgen Roland 1960)
I found this Edgar Wallace crime thriller really dull, it put both me and Matt to sleep on the first viewing. The only thing that was good to watch was the icy but fun Renate Ewert as Thalia Drummond. Eddi Arent's character isn't as annoying as usual either. Maybe I wasn't in the mood? I hope the other Edgar Wallace films we have left to watch are more exciting...

Brad Harris double-bill

2006-02-13T11:49:00.000-08:00

Hooray! Finally got my hands on some more Brad Harris movies recently, both directed by Gianfranco Parolini:

'Cave of Diamonds' ('Die Diamantenhölle am Mekong' 1964)
Usual undercover cops/agents against bad guys, this one set in Thailand. Lots of familiar faces (Marianne Hold, Horst Frank, Dorothee Parker, Gianni Rizzo, Paul Hubschmid etc) oh and Brad Harris, who for once doesn't take his top off but does get down to some serious fight scenes. It's all about a cave of diamonds hidden somewhere in the jungle (really?) and the chase to get them. It's more violent than I thought it would be and camp in places too, the night-club dancer is great as is Dorothee Parker's character (Gloria Pickerstone), an upper class English woman travelling in the Orient who hires Brad (Joe Warren) to be her body guard on her journey through the jungle with her clichéd butler/man servant 'Smokie' (Chris Howland). Not one of my favourite Brad films, but certainly not the worst.

'I Fantastici tre supermen' 1967
Now this was much more up my street. Sadly I was only able to watch it in Italian language (bought the DVD in Turin), but the picture quality was superb and the story was easy to follow. Brad Harris, Tony Kendall and Nick Jordan star as the three fantastic supermen (Brad, Tony and Nick, no less) who fight bad guys, using their wits, acrobatic skills and a fast sports car. There's lots of great typical 'euro' type scenes and bad sixties comedy. The females of the film are great too, both good characters and bad. The soundtrack is cool too and you get to see Brad in a pair of swimming trunks! The DVD comes with a trailer too. Wish I'd picked up the sequels on release in Italy too, now they look especially bad.

80's week

2006-02-10T13:23:00.000-08:00

Wow! Got the Eurythmics 'boxed' set this week and bloody hell, was it worth it? Oh yes. The extra tracks on 'In The Garden' are so excellent and worth the price alone. Shame all the 'b' sides weren't on there, but you can't have everything (actually yes you can). I've been in 80's heaven since I got it...

Pete Burns was on 'Richard and Judy' which I've yet to watch and tonight he was on 'London Tonight' (how bizarre) looking totally fantastic as usual. Somebody please, give him his own show! And Pete, give us some new tracks.

Last week my sister gave me a few of my old 7" records and two of them were by the Techno Twins (who I'd totally forgotten about), the 'b' side of 'Can't Help Falling In Love' ('Kings & Queens of Pleasure') is so lush! I'm desperate to get their album now.

Wish Haysi Fantayzee's album 'Battle Hymns For Children Singing' would get another CD release - I need that too.

I've had too many beers and no supper, so I'm off before I type anything stupid.

'Castle of the Walking Dead'

2006-02-07T12:02:00.000-08:00

'Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel' ('Castle of the Walking Dead' Directed by Harald Reinl 1967)
Superb German gothic 60's horror starring Lex Barker, Karin Dor and Christopher Lee. Lee is actually only in the film for about twenty minutes but his screen presence is brilliant - he plays Count Frederic Regula, a man sentenced to death by being drawn and quartered (limbs pulled apart by horses in a town square) - his crime? murdering twelve young maidens in the search for eternal youth. Before his said death penalty he swears to get revenge on the man who sentenced him and the woman who trapped him (gorgeous eurostar Karin Dor)... Thirty years later (to cut a long story short) Roger von Marienberg (Lex Barker), Baroness Lilian von Brabant (Karin Dor), her servant 'Babette' and a thief masquerading as a priest are travelling through a forest towards the Count's castle... (On their journey the trees in the forest are covered in body parts!). At the castle all manner of fiendish traps await them, set by the Count's assistant 'Anathol'. A lot of the scenes are reminiscent of Mario Bava films. Some of the jolly soundtrack is so out of place, but kind of works with the film. I loved the snake-pit scene, the Count's return to life in a glass coffin and the corridor of skulls. The German DVD which I had won on ebay (second time lucky) was lovely, superb picture quality (E.M.S. releasing) and had a whole bunch of extras including a vintage interview with the cast ( Christopher Lee's dubbed in German). Director Harald Reinl did a whole bunch of Edgar Wallace films that I look forward to viewing...

Ultraman Hydra Cyclone

2006-02-05T08:40:00.000-08:00

Aarrgghhhh! Feeling a little worse for wear this morning. Last night we got monumentally drunk with Jess's friends, went to a pub then back to theirs for more beer. During the day, I blew a fortune on stuff, got another pair of trainers and some god-awful towels from tkmaxx (bright pink/orange/green/brue/yellow roses) and I bought an Ultraman Bandai figure because I liked the look of him, the guy in the shop said his name was 'Peguila', but it isn't, it's 'Hydra'. Me and Matt spent ages trying to find a photo of the figure and some info on the internet but we only found one small photo! Anyway, he's cute and will join my Godzilla and Gamera figures.

Friday night we watched:

'Cyclone' (Directed by René Cardona Jr. 1978)
God how dull was that? Matt was continually falling asleep and I couldn't blame him as the pace was more than a little slow. Hunky Andrés García is back riding the waves on a tour boat when a cyclone storm hits them (High powered water jets and buckets), meanwhile nearby a plane lands in the sea and a trawler ship sinks, leaving lots of people-soup. Eventually everyone ends up on the tour boat, where they squabble for the limited water supply and engage in cannibalism. There's a pregnant woman onboard who luckily for her, goes into labour for about one minute, before giving birth to a healthy boy, who is then bizarrely passed around all the passengers for a cuddle in a sentimental manner. Fellow passenger Shiela (Carroll Baker) later asks the mother if she can kiss the child. Oh yeah there's one hilarious bit where Shiela's much loved dog 'Christmas' (!) is flung into the sea, rescued, has his throat slit, is skinned and used as bait for fishing - all done in front of it's owners eyes. I won't be watching this again in a hurry. It's similar to Cardona Jr.'s 'Encounters In The Deep' which was equally as boring. Sadly, it's hard to like any of the characters and you couldn't care less if they all died, never to be rescued. Well - with the exception of Andrés García, of course, who, unusually keeps his trousers on in this film.

Celeriac

2006-02-02T09:30:00.000-08:00

Some more DVD's we've sat through:

'Der Frosch mit der Maske' ('Fellowship of the Frog' Directed by Harald Reinl 1959)
The first film in the Edgar Wallace box-set series. So-so story about a gang hired by a guy who dons an odd outfit with a mask and googley eyes. All the members of his gang have to have a tattoo done of a frog on their right wrist. Some bird in a Soho night-club sings about enjoying love near the river Thames (as if!) - she gets some nasty bullet holes towards the end of the picture. At one point Richard Gordon (a young looking Joachim Fuchsberger) - an amateur detective and his servant James (the annoying Eddi Arent) get locked in a cellar for a couple of days where they grow massive beards. Enjoyable hokum. DVD features five trailers and a (vintage) interview with the director.

'Stay Hungry' Directed by Bob Rafelson 1976
Bought this thinking it was going to be a comedy, it isn't.

'Last Round' ('Il Conto è chiuso' Directed by Stelvio Massi 1976)
Another cool Italian crime film with Luc Merenda, this time playing a bad guy but looking snappy as ever. The story is a basic reworking of 'A Fistful of Dollars' set in contemporary 70's Rome. Marco Russo (Carlos Monzón - a real life boxing champion) plays the part Clint Eastwood did as Joe - Marco's fighting skills are fantastic, he's superhuman! When the soundtrack started it was all panpipes and I thought it was going to be awful (rare for an Italian crime thriller) but it turned out to be great - loved Marco's music box he carries around with him. There is a very unpleasant rape scene, that I knew would happen the minute I saw the character Nina. Yet another great release from NoShame, with an odd 35 minute interview with Luc Merenda at his antique shop.

Cooked celeriac last night for the first time ever. Won't buy that again.

Italian Film DVD's again

2006-01-31T10:33:00.000-08:00

Well it's Tuesday already, yay! So far this week we have seen (apart from Smallville - the episode with Aquaman, oooh hi fishy):

'Knife of Ice' ('Il Coltello di ghiaccio' Directed by Umberto Lenzi 1972)
Finally got around to watching the Japanese DVD I've been wanting for ages and ages. Was it worth the wait? Well, not really, I mean it's a good enough giallo but it's not very fizzy. Carroll Baker plays a mute (caused by witnessing the death of both of her parents) which I found frustrating, you just know at some point she's going to scream. Familiar player Evelyn Stewart is in it too as Baker's singer cousin, but her role is wasted and she looks bored. There are some nice touches though, like the inclusion of a gang of devil worshippers, an English drug addict with gorgeous contact lenses, three funerals (yes, three! all with the same congregation that keeps getting smaller) a black gloved killer with a knife, a wind-up Donald Duck and a hoard of red herrings.

'The Cursed Medallion' ('Il Medaglione insanguinato' Directed by Massimo Dallamano ('What Have They Done to Solange?' & 'What Have They Done to Your Daughters?') 1975)
Picked this DVD up in Turin, minutes after we had booked into our hotel! Really, really loved this. Superb opening shots and a fantastic score from Stelvio Cipriani (who's becoming my favourite composer, even after my obsession with Bruno Nicolai). A young girl 'Emily' (scary Nicoletta Elmi), who's mother died burning to death, slowly becomes possessed when she wears a satanic looking medallion. She lives with her father and nanny (lovely Evelyn Stewart in the drabbest outfits ever) in London, so you get to see loads of typical shots of it in the 70's - you know, London Bridge, Houses of Parliament etc. Anyway her father is doing a documentary film for the BBC on the depiction of Satan in old paintings. He goes to Spoleto (middle of Italy) to research some paintings and track down one that he saw on a slide that a certain Contessa Cappelli (Lila Kedrova) has mistakenly sent him. The painting is hung on a wall in a creepy abandoned house and the Contessa warns him to leave Spoleto as there is a force of evil that comes from contact with it. Of course he doesn't believe her...
The Contessa was fantastic (!), she looks like she belongs in a Dario Argento movie from the 70's. Emily (Nicoletta Elmi) just needs a bloody good slap. Joanna Cassidy ('Six Feet Under') is in it too, as the love interest looking very foxy.
The DVD has some trailers as a special feature: 'What Have They Done to Solange?', 'Planet of the Vampires', 'The Cursed Medallion' and one other I've forgotten (already).

Right, I'm off. More DVD's to watch.

What we have watched...

2006-01-29T09:15:00.000-08:00

Mmm, not a lot really thanks to Pete being on Celebrity Big Brother. Have seen a number of episodes of 'Department S', which is fast becoming one of my favourite sixties TV shows (although nothing could knock 'The Avengers' off of the number one slot). Jason King's character is hilarious and it's great that the show has some humour to it, unlike, say 'The Champions'.

Did however manage to watch 'A Man Called Magnum' ('Napoli si ribella' Directed by Michele Massimo Tarantini 1977) which was cool (well it does star Luc Merenda). 'NoShame' films have done themselves proud once again with this release.

And 'Contraband' ('Luca il contrabbandiere' Directed by Lucio Fulci 1980). This was great too and thanks to Fulci, very gory. As always, great to see Fabio Testi.

I've amassed quite a collection of DVD's now that need to get watched! I had some great presents for Christmas and my Birthday, including the Amando de Ossorio 'Blind Dead' box-set, two X-rated 'Italo-Giallo' releases: 'The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave' & 'Eroticofollia', Gamera vs. Gaos, 'Il Medaglione insanguinato' and the Joe Dallesandro/Fernando Di Leo movie 'Vacanze per un massacro'. Really, really hope some of Joe's other European films get a release, especially 'L' Ambizioso', 'Il Tempo degli assassini' and 'Fango bollente'. I see that 'Seeds Of Evil' is getting a DVD release with Joe's first audio commentary next month, so that's on my pre-order wish list along with the Luciano Ercoli triple disc set.

Birthdays

2006-01-29T08:48:00.000-08:00

Oh yeah! I had my 35th Birthday on the 18th. We went to Turin for a few days which was lots of fun. It was very cold but sunny. Went to some nice bars, especially the one on our last night. The shops weren't that brilliant but I did manage to pick up a few DVD's I've been after for a while.

Back in London we went to the 'Three Kings' in Clerkenwell on the Saturday night to celebrate my horrifying old age. It was great to catch up with friends, but sad that my sister and David weren't there (Jess was introducing David to Mom!).

Last Friday was Justine's Birthday and we went out with her in North London. Had a few beers in a grotty pub, went for a pizza, then ended up in a bar/club called 'N10', which was quite hideous. Justine didn't stay long (!) and we got talking to an odd couple who kept buying us drinks. Got home about 5am, played some Abba and went to bed.

Pete's gone!

2006-01-29T08:41:00.000-08:00

God! It's been ages since I was last here. I've been glued to the TV since Pete Burns went into the Big Brother house - he's had us in stitches and awe, that man could make an outfit out of a carrot. He got a monumental booing when he came out (not surprised really!) but carried his interview with Davina very calmly. Hope we get to see a lot more of him now. Wonder if the forthcoming re-release of 'You Spin Me Round' will dent the charts? I read somewhere that there's a possible TV show being offered to him, now that would be hilarious.

Pete Burns

2006-01-08T16:45:00.000-08:00

What better way to start the new year than to have Mr Pete Burns on Big Brother almost 24 hours a day? I won't be here much until he goes from the house. So what if he wears a gorilla fur coat? I have been vegetarian for 22 years and couldn't give a shit if he walked around chewing the heads off of bunnies. The man is a brilliant!

New Year

2006-01-02T05:24:00.000-08:00

Phew, Christmas is well and truly over.

Had Christmas day here in Hackney, stayed at Matt's parents on Boxing day then went to Salisbury to stay with my Grandparents for one night. Played Newmarket for over 4 hours with them! My Grandfather commented on how much I have put on weight (and he's going blind!) so I will be dieting as of tomorrow.

Got loads of great presents, including an ipod... mmm spoilt huh? I've been putting most of my Italian soundtrack CD's onto itunes for the last week or so. My boss gave my a Blythe doll and she is great! Got Junko Mizuno's newest book 'Pure Trance' which I've almost finished, Ed Wood box-set, Joan Crawford box-set, a plush Godzilla, Edgar Wallace box-sets, Japanese sweets, Wonder Woman hip flask (!), 'My Little Pony' bathroom set, an Alessi night light, Habitat voucher, Brad Harris lobbies, Cher picture disc, Dead Or Alive picture disc, John Waters' Christmas CD, 'Kiss Kiss... Bang Bang' CD soundtrack (1966), 'Il Trono di fuoco' CD soundtrack and loads of other great stuff I can't remember.

New Years eve we met up with Max, Peter, Jess and David in some pub in Waterloo. Drank lots. Jess and David are going to be moving in together soon, somewhere in Clapham.

We've watched loads of stuff on our massive new TV: 'Superman', 'Santo vs. las lobas', 'Hustler Squad' plus episodes of 'Mirage Of Blaze', 'Kyo Kara Maoh!' and 'Wonder Woman'. We have seen more than that (!) but I can't remember everything, it's all been a bit foggy.

I have the horrors today (still), I think it's because of my lack of interaction over the last week or so and the fact I've been drinking every single day.

Right, that's all for now. See-ya