Yes, we all know of the giallo films from the likes of Dario Argento, Mario Bava, and Sergio Martino, but there are so many other names out there that need to be remembered. One of them is Luciano Ercoli, who just happened to pass away exactly one year ago today.
While he only directed a little over a dozen film, his last two are usually what makes the biggest impression on viewers. And now, thanks to Arrow Video, these two titles, Death Walks at Midnight and Death Walks on High Heels, are being released on blu-ray in double feature box set. Both starring Ercoli’s wife, the lovely Nieves Navarro (or Susan Scott, as she is usually billed as), these films are great examples of the giallo genre. Filled with twists and turns, beautiful women, amazing shots, and glorious color, they are not to be missed.
As we all know, it is very hard for a sequel to top the original, or even come close. And when you’re talking about the original Re-Animator, it would seem to be an impossible task even to think about. But producer turned director Brian Yuzna did just that with his 1989 film Bride of Re-Animator. And you know what…it’s actually pretty damn entertaining!
Actually, it has. Last February is when we moved the Krypt to this new location, saying goodbye to the Front Page based website to the Word Press blog format. There are times when I miss the old way, but I have to admit this new format is much easier to work with. I know there is still a ton of stuff I still need to import from the old site, like reviews, interviews, etc., which I’ve slowly been doing. It is a long process, but I’m working through it.
While José Ramón Larraz is most known for his 1974 blood thirsty picture Vampyres, he also made another film that same year (actually a few in 1974) that starred the daughter of the immortal Donald Pleasence, Angela, who gives us a very creepy performance here. I don’t believe this film has never gotten an actual video release here in the states other than in the bootleg market, but it is one that should be seen, if only because of Pleasence’s performance. The film has such a strange and eerie look and quality to it, with a good and slow burn, but worth seeing.
Sometimes I am just amazed at not only some of the titles that get released on blu-ray, but in the huge special editions that they come out with. Case in point, a title that Arrow Video just announced. At the end of May, they will be releasing a special edition of the 1966 film Blood Bath. But this isn’t just any ordinary film that was made under the Roger Corman umbrella. In fact, it started as a film being made in Yugoslavia by someone named Rados Novakovic and called Operation Titan. But it didn’t really fit Corman’s approval, so he hired Jack Hill to take the film and see if he could make something out of it, which he did, and would be later called Blood Bath. But for various reasons, such as the film stock from the original footage and what Hill shot didn’t match up that too well. So because Hill went on to make Spider Baby, the film was set aside. Then Corman came back to the picture and hired Stephanie Rothman to see what she could do with it. She changed the title to Track of the Vampire and made it more of a vampire film! According to Hill, about 80 % of the film is what he shot, but I have to say that it is kind of a mess of a picture, even though it has one of the best posters from that era!
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