INQUISITION 1976 (MONDO MACABRO) BLU-RAY

Yes, I have reviewed this movie twice before, but finally have the definitive version from Mondo Macabro.

Paul Naschy directed and stars in this Spanish horror gem as a witch hunter who comes to a small village with his two companions to seek out witches and destroy them. Most of the area around them has been devastated with plague. The time is 16th century France.

Bernard de Fossey (Naschy) immediately starts seeking witches but his heart is captured by a beautiful woman who is the daughter of a dignitary. Catherine is her name and she is going to marry a local man whom Fossey has killed so he can have her.

Catherine is obsessed with finding her lover's killer that she aligns with Satan and discovers that it was Fossey behind the crime.

In the meantime Fossey and his helpers are torturing women on racks, whipping them and pulling off nipples in order to get confessions. Catherine has a special fate in store for Fossey and that is to burn at the stake.

I have seen many different versions of this film of varying quality and up until now the very best came from Sinister Cinema, but Mondo Macabro has changed all of that with this simply gorgeous Blu-ray.

The disc has an introduction by the late, great Naschy, new English subtitles, an interview with Daniela Giorano who plays Catherine, and a documentary on Spanish horror entitled Blood And Sand which is very good.

Now I wish someone would do a documentary of Spanish horror actresses!! Anyhow, I cannot recommend this Blu-ray enough. Naschy fans should not miss this one.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Judy Pace is 75, Joy Bang is 72, Pamela Martinez is 28, and Anthony Carbone is 92.

RAMBLINGS.....

Well work has interfered with movie life and this blog.

I have to work so many hours I will not be around here for about three days. Hopefully after that I can be adding some reviews here as I have a lot of things to catch up on when I am not working.

Also wanted to let everyone know that Aug. 29th is the date Kino has set for their Blu-ray release of "Legend Of Hillbilly John" which is easily a top release of the year.

THE GREAT FLAMARION 1945 (VCI)

I hadn't seen this film noir gem in years.

I wrote a review of this film back in 2012 after seeing a print off of a Mill Creek set, and now I have seen a better print from VCI and it really helps the film.

Erich Von Stroheim is Flamarion, an expert trick shooter whose partners in the act are Connie (Mary Beth Hughes) and Al Wallace (Dan Duryea).

Al drinks a lot and Connie is a manipulative bitch out for her own gain at the expense of everyone else. Connie wants Al out of her life and she decides to use Flamarion to get the job done.

Stroheim is perfect in the role as a sap who will do anything for the love of a woman which he has not had in 15 years. Connie has Al shot by Flamarion, then runs off to join another man.

Directed by Anthony Mann, this is a perfect example of what film noir should be. There is no happy ending for anyone and the more the film runs, the darker it gets.

I always get the idea this film isn't as well known as it should be nor has it been seen by nearly enough people. This film is stolen by Mary Beth Hughes who captures exactly what a film noir "dame" is all about. She destroys the lives if three men in an attempt to better her life.

If you get a chance, I highly recommend you check this little gem out.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Malcolm McDowell is 74.

DICK TRACY 1937 (VCI)

Action packed serial from Republic.

Ralph Byrd stars as Dick Tracy who is working for the FBI and fighting a crime ring run by a mysterious man known only as The Spider.

The Spider is a villain with a gimp foot that kills anyone who even questions his motives. He captures Tracy's brother and turns him into a mindless criminal with the help of his sidekick Moloch.

Every chapter finds Tracy and his men going up against some evil plot of the Spider and it is a lot of fun. There were four Tracy serials made and soon the other three will be reviewed here.

If you're a serial fan I cannot recommend this enough. Byrd is perfect in the role of Tracy and after the serials ended he starred in a short lived TV show as the heroic detective.

The print from VCI is damn near flawless and looks better than I have ever seen this before. Check it out. VCI has the entire Tracy serial collection available in one set for a great price.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Shari Eubank is 70.

WHAT THE PEEPER SAW 1972 (VCI) BLU-RAY

Underrated little horror thriller.

The simply stunning Britt Ekland stars as Elise, the young bride of a man named Paul (Hardy Kruger) who has a son named Marcus (Mark Lester).

Marcus is a bizarre child who may or may not have murdered his mother a few years back. Marcus has been kicked out of a private school for many different things, but according to the Headmaster (Harry Andrews), the killing of a cat proved to be the last straw.

Paul refuses to believe his son is as evil as Elise claims, but slowly Marcus is driving Elise crazy.

There are some great shots in this film, especially Ekland naked and the bizarre scenes of her and Lester kissing and her being naked around the child. But then again his character is not a child per say, he is a homicidal killer.

I enjoyed every minute of this film which I have never seen until now. This is the uncut version from VCI and it looks beautiful on Blu-ray.

If you haven't seen it I won't give away the twist ending, but it really caught me by surprise. Recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...

Adrienne Barbeau is 72.

RIP ADAM WEST 1928-2017

Batman has died.

Adam West will ALWAYS be remembered for his role as Batman in the classic TV show which ran for three years and rocketed him to stardom.

Although West did have starring roles and supporting roles in many movies such as "The Outlaws Is Coming" with the Three Stooges, and "Voodoo Island" with Boris Karloff, Batman remained his mainstay.

I grew up watching the show and loved it. In fact I still do. I consider his portrayal of the Caped Crusader to be the only one worth a damn over the years.

Another of my childhood memories has passed on. West was 88 and died after a short battle with leukemia.

RIP GLENNE HEADLY 1955-2017

Tess Trueheart has passed away.

The actress best known to me as Tess Trueheart in the 1990 film Dick Tracy has died.

Her career was a varied one, but she was only in the one movie I remember as she was mainly in films and TV shows I have never watched.

She appeared in shows such as CSI and Grey's Anatomy. She was 62.

FAHRENHEIT 451 1966 (UNIVERSAL) BLU-RAY

The classic sci-fi film from 1967 gets a Blu-ray release from Universal.

Francois Truffaut directed this thought provoking film from the novel of the same name by Ray Bradbury.

The story takes place in an oppressive future society where books are banned. There is a group of firemen who are called out to set fire to any books found. Oskar Werner stars as Montag, a fireman who is bored with his life after he meets a very friendly woman named Clarisse (Julie Christie).

She looks amazingly like his wife, also played by Christie, whom he is bored with. She is a conformist and sits around all day watching mindless junk on a huge flat screen TV.

Soon Montag begins collecting books and tries to catch up with a forbidden past. His wife is fed up and she actually turns him in and soon he is on the run.

Anton Differing has an excellent role as Fabian, a fellow fireman who does not like Montag and will do anything to see him fall.

Of course the book was better than the film, but this is still a very good movie and still very timely today as our society has become partly like this and getting worse all the time. I actually know people who would rather watch a big screen TV full of stupid people than read a good book.

I am sure most of the people reading this have seen the film, but it looks fantastic on Blu-ray and comes highly recommended!!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Elizabeth Hurley is 52, Luciana Paluzzi is 80,and Andrew Stevens is 62.

THE BAD BUNCH 1973 (VCI)

Interesting Greydon Clark action film.

A white ex-soldier from Vietnam goes to visit the father of his friend who was shot and killed. He has to travel to Watts, California and as soon as he arrives he finds trouble from all sides.

His dead friends brother Tom hates all whites and wants Clark's character of Jim to die as he does all white people. Jim also has to deal with white racist police officers played by Jock Mahoney and Aldo Ray.

Ten tension grows and grows and most of Tom's friends tell him he is headed for nothing but trouble with so much hate inside of him, but he doesn't listen.

Tom vows to kill Jim personally and soon he is hunting Jim with a rifle. The ending to the film is both bleak and not unexpected, and it kind of brings the film full circle to the opening which takes place in Vietnam.

Tom Jonigarn is excellent as Tom and his anger is very realistic and understandable. The movie really makes you think about things and I found the characters very well done by all involved.

I had never heard of this film before, but when I saw it on sale I just had to pick it up, and I can recommend it to every film fan or blaxploitation fan out there.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO....

Marilyn Hanold is 79.