Victor Israel
Born June 13th, 1929 – Died Sept. 19th, 2009
If you’ve watched any Spanish horror films of the ’70s, then I’m pretty sure you’ve seen Victor Israel before. This guy is like the Spanish version of England’s Michael Ripper. Making well over 150 films, he usually was cast as little bit parts, but was always so recognizable, that it would always make you think “hey…I’ve seen that guy before”. He played in several different genres, like appearing alongside Lee Van Cleef in Sergio Leone’s The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly (1966). Of course, for us, it was the countless horror movies that he appeared in that had us remembering that face of his. With his pudgy appearance, balding and strange eyes, he was always easy to spot. It is actors like this, that never make it as a top-billing star, but are the ones that fill out the colorful pallet of the movie, making it so much more interesting to watch. I know that is definitely the case for me when it comes to horror films.
Some of his most noteworthy appearances were in films like The House that Screamed (1969), or Graveyard of Horror (1971), Paul Naschy’s Night of the Howling Beast (1975), and of course as the baggage clerk in Horror Express (1972). He even appeared in Bruno Mattei’s Hell of the Living Dead (1980).
Fans of the Italian Giallo films has lost another actress that graced the screen in more than a few films in the early ’70s. Marina Malfatti passed away on June 8th, at the age of 76. She appeared in titles like The Fourth Victim (1971), The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave (1971), All the Colors of the Dark (1972), Seven Blood-Stained Orchids (1972), and The Red Queen Kills Seven Times (1972).
Okay, let me just say that I really hate when someone asks me for my top ten horror films, simply because it is pretty much impossible for me to narrow down such a huge list of films that I love to just ten titles. This list may change and change again, depending on my mood, the time of day, the weather, and any other number of factors. That being said, one title that would always be on that list, no matter what, would be John Carpenter’s version of the John W. Campbell’s story, Who Goes There?….more commonly known as simply The Thing.
