Tuesday, August 1, 2023

70's Italian Horror Part Nine

THE BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA
(1971)
Dir - Paolo Cavara
Overall: MEH

Amongst the horde of giallos made in the sub-genre's heyday, The Black Belly of the Tarantula, (La tarantola dal ventre nero, Strele otrovnog pauka), is not a memorable one, despite the fact that it has one or two differentiating characteristics.  First, the killer trades in black gloves for brown rubber ones and does not die during the final confrontation of the film, but simply gets apprehended off camera with a Psycho-esque expository explanation given as to his perverse motivation.  He still has a specific weapon quirk of course, being an acupuncture needle in this case which, (like a tarantula, hence the title), paralyzes his victims so that they are fully conscious yet immobile during their murder.  The music by Ennio Morricone, (who also supplied the soundtrack for all three in Dario Argento's Animal Trilogy, as well as countless others), is lovely though repetitive, plus director Paolo Cavara goes for a less flashy approach to the material, which is problematic in the fact that the story is lame and could use more of that patented, exploitative Italian ridiculousness to plus it.  For pure, unintended hysterics though, this may very well have the least convincing "prop dummy getting thrown off of a roof" scene in cinema history.

MADELEINE: ANATOMY OF A NIGHTMARE
(1974)
Dir - Roberto Mauri
Overall: MEH

Near the end of his directorial career, filmmaker Roberto Mauri made Madeleine: Anatomy of a Nightmare, (Madeleine, anatomia di un incubo), a dull psychological drama with vague horror elements, plus Camille Keaton in the lead which is the only thing present that would truly appease genre fans.  The story sets up a series of  mundane events involving Keaton's title character who seems to be some sort of traumatized nymphomaniac, at least on the surface.  As the title would suggest, she is haunted by nightmares involving colorful, afro-haired witches, a car accident, and her miscarried child, so she naturally beds several people who are not her wealthy, twice-her-age husband.  Scenes involving disturbing and/or odd imagery are few and far between and the film is mostly dedicated to Keaton socializing, being upset, being naked, or just going about her business in her luxurious home where she falls in love, falls in lust, or just plain ole seems to be enjoying herself.  In other words, none of the stuff that suspense-laden horror films are made of.  Nitpicking non-existent genre attributes aside, it is an aimless film with a quasi-arthouse tone and lots of dated music to give it a then-contemporary, European slant that proves instantly forgettable as soon as the "it was all in her mind" finale is revealed.

WEREWOLF WOMAN
(1976)
Dir - Rino Di Silvestro
Overall: MEH

On paper at least, Euro-trash maestro Rino Di Silvestro's Werewolf Woman, (La lupa mannara, Daughter of a Werewolf, Naked Werewolf Woman, She-Wolf, Terror of the She-Wolf, Legend of the Wolf Man), is an interesting mess of conventional lycanthropian film, psychological/supernatural possession horror, police procedural, rape and revenge movie, and low-budget sleaze.  Di Silvestro's intention was allegedly to make a "serious" lycanthropy movie, showcasing the severity of a woman's violent outbursts and mental breakdown being linked to past and repeated trauma, namely rape from almost every male that she encounters.  In execution though, the script comes off as utterly absurd.  As every European exploitation movie from the time period grievously indulged in, camera zooms are everywhere, the horrid dubbing makes already goofy dialog even more hilarious, and the pacing is rendered comatose at regular intervals from flat cinematography and boring exposition sequences.  Several of the performances are scenery-chewing as well, especially that of Annik Borel in the lead, though that one is certainly supposed to be over-the-top at least.  Character's regularly summarize what has already happened in the movie, with information at their disposal that they could never actually have unless they read the script.  A mess in every respect from a filmmaker with hardly any of the chops at his disposal to pull off something so ambitious, but that in effect is a large part of the fun.

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