Reviews

In Symphony in Blood Red (Come una Crisalide), the Killer kills and kills and kills once more... stop for a pause... and then He kills again and again and once more, from the beginning to the end of the film. This is the basic story of the film.

In the beginning I thought that the killings had a purpose. He was killing those that had mistreated him as a child, but after a while I noticed that he was not particular, he could kill any human being (not animals, rejoice animal lovers!) that walked on earth.

Sure thing, "Come una Crisalide" shows some stylish pieces of cinema, the girls are pretty and plenty, the Killer wears something like white plastic gloves, and there are some obvious Dario Argento homages (from the eye close up to whole scenes), but in spite of everything I couldn't connect and feel interested about the film and its characters, mainly because there are no characters in the film, just images and images, not connected to any living reality.Maybe later I'll appreciate more the film, but I doubt it.

"La Polizia brancola nel Buio" (The Police are blundering in the Dark) occupies a place of honor among the bizarre gialli. Even for a Giallo, "La Polizia brancola nel Buio" is quite strange: the film begins with a bang; a girl is driving on a road and suddenly a flat tire forces her to stop by the road. She looks around and sees someone nearby, and she asks him to help her in changing tires. He promptly goes there to help her and the girl says: "molto gentile" (that could be translated as - very nice of you). Suddenly the face of the girl changes from a smile to an expression of terror; the stranger had a pair of scissors in his hands, and starts running after her with murderous intentions. She runs through a forest, hitting branches, and losing one by one her upper clothes, till her tits are bare, it's then that the killer reaches her and slashes her throat. Sex and violence!

After a while, there's another girl on a road, and she's forced to stop her car in front of an inn, her car must be fixed, and to crown it all, rain starts to fall, a heavy rain. Will this girl survive the inn? Well, anyway, this girl is wet, she wants to get dry, so she warms herself by the fireplace, but not before taking all her clothes off. It seems that there's someone in the room, or is it just imagination? These two girls and other ones had been going to a villa nearby to make photo shoots. This villa is inhabited by odd characters; many film scenes are filmed inside its walls, the characters do nothing much, they dine, talk, play cards, and there is the owner of the villa that invented a camera that photographs thoughts… and so on. There are many people who think that this part of the film is boring, but I haven't felt this way – the dialogues are completely over-the-top, and things are weird and ridiculous. And just don't forget – there's a killer on the loose.

This film could be cool, if the director had some sense of style, but no, the death scenes and everything is kind of pedestrian. I think that the only way of breaking the limits of a low budget is through the imagination, and this (in a way) is something the filmmaker lacks, but the film is so uneven, incoherent and amateurish, that it has some strange kind of charm. Why? I don't know. I've seen this film twice already.

"Los Violadores" (Mad Foxes) is a funny and entertaining film, but those seeking for a non-stop actioner will be disappointed, because "Mad Foxes" mixes rape, lots of killings (decapitations and so on) and blood, with scenes of idyllic family life that remind us old Hollywood movies, erotic scenes etc. On the erotic side - two girls: the lovely Andrea Albani, she is Babsy in the film. Babsy is the fiancée of the protagonist, she doesn't show much (but what she shows is good enough), except when she's raped. The other girl who will come later and show it all. As to the protagonist, he, in reality, is a philanderer. He has called the attention of a gang of nazi bikers. Rape is their first move, and the protagonist will strike back, the rivalry will grow more and more till… BLOOD!

The way I'm writing it almost seems that I'm speaking about a serious film, but no – the fight scenes are so bad that they are hilarious and the killings, together with the music, transform "Mad Foxes" into a Weird Slapstick Violent Comedy. The same goes for the scenes of idyllic family life, that are so cliché that is hard not to smile when you see them.

"Mad Foxes" is recommended for those who really love trash, because "Mad Foxes" is uneven and poorly done, but it's a lot of fun.

"Terror" by Norman J. Warren is a film full of surprises. It starts in the 17th century with the persecution of a witch - she tries to escape but is caught and burnt at the stake. While she was burning, some people died. One death looked like an accident caused by carelessness, but the others had clearly been caused by supernatural forces. This is the beginning of the dying spree, and three centuries later…

Three centuries later, the killings will come with double force. Many people are killed. Is it the witch or a human agent? The clues seem to point to one character in particular, but some killings are so "fantastic" that we are led to think about a supernatural agent.

Anyway, I was not concerned about the plot. The film is quite inventive, and in some ways almost resembles a giallo. The preliminaries of each murder are stylish and dynamic; there are many pretty girls in the film (sure thing, Norman has really a good taste in what refers to feminine beauty), and the soundtrack is inspired and helps to enhance the film. In short, fast cameras, a good soundtrack and a bizarre and interesting way of telling the story. But one thing the film lacks – Nudity. We only once see a woman performing a show almost naked. She's ugly. And there were so many pretty girls in this film, and not even one of them…

Anyway, even so, I think that "Terror" is an enjoyable film, one can say that Norman J. Warren has a very personal way of making films. Whatever you say about his films you can't deny his creativity. I've only seen three of Norman J. Warren's films – This one called "Terror", "Inseminoid" and "Prey", and all of them share this common trait – they are bizarre and addictive, so if you're looking for something different in films, check out his films.

I started seeing the film "Shock: Diversão Diabólica" expecting almost nothing of it. The story goes like this: Samur invites his friends to his isolated house in the woods. Just a road connects this house to civilization. Samur wants to offer his friends a night of rock, sex and drugs,surrounded by the peace of nature. The party goes on through the night. The hours pass by and the guests begin to leave... till just some couples remain. Silence descends. One last couple decides to leave, no people around anymore and then... There's a killer lurking outside, and after his first victims, inside.

As I said before, I was expecting next to nothing of this film, and the beginning of the film, in which we are forced to hear a very uninspired, generic rock music, made me expect the worst. But it doesn't take long for "Shock: Diversão Diabólica" to take off - after the rock music is silenced and most of the guests have left, the film becomes tense and claustrophobic. The killings make the surviving people gather together. But they can't fight against the conflicts, suspicions, that begin to haunt them. And the fear grows,... and the anguish... Will there be survivors left?

"Shock: Diversão Diabólica" was inspired by the American slashers, but it has its own personality. It's far away from being a highlight of the genre, but it's recommended for slasher buffs that are looking for something different.