
Franco at his finest – somebody get this film on DVD now! This obscure Golden Films production got to pop the Franco-cherry on my new movie projector. It was just the right choice! Lina Romay, chubby like she just walked out of an Anders Zorn-painting, plays Irena (Female Vampire flashbacks, anybody?) who’s part of a kind of hypnosis nightclub act with the magician Fábian. He’s not a very nice guy and uses his hypnotic powers to use poor Irena as an instrument of vengeance, sleeping with and killing off his enemies. Or is the whole set up just part of her nightmares? An unusually good, hypnotic (in both meanings of the word) sleaze flick that really shows what Franco can achieve with extremely limited resources – some hotel rooms, a handful of actors (the same old faces that’s in all films from this period), a film camera and some re-used Daniel White music. Man, I really love this stripped down Golden Films stuff when it’s done right and this films is much closer in spirit to, say, Macumba Sexual than Mansion of the Living Dead. Parts of the film are almost delirious. There’s a thick, intimate atmosphere and interesting experimental photography. Some scenes are almost bordering on the poetic, for example we have a beautifully shot long kiss filmed through a glass door, bathing in sunlight. Say what you want about Lina’s acting capacity but here she gives all she’s got, somewhat reprising her roles in Female Vampire and Doriana Gray. Even though the story itself is more similar to Nightmares Come at Night. Highly recommended!
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Tag Archives: english subtitles
The Four 3 / Si da ming bu 3 (2014) Gordon Chan, Ronald Cheng, Collin Chou, Chao Deng, Action

Emotionless has left Six Doors, as has Cold Blood, who has decided to investigate the death of Lord Bu on his own. The departure of two of the four constables has effectively left Six Doors defunct. At this time, trouble begins to brew in the Imperial Palace as Emperor Huizong plans to travel incognito to the outside world. When he is almost assassinated and subsequently disappears, Cold Blood, Emotionless, Iron Hands and Life Snatcher must band together once again under Master Zhuge to save the empire from a massive conspiracy.
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Tanczacy jastrzab / Dancing Hawk (1978) Grzegorz Królikiewicz, Franciszek Trzeciak, Beata Tyszkiewicz, Beata Tumkiewicz, Arthouse, Drama

“The Dancing Hawk” refers to the son of a peasant who senses he can climb to the job in troubled times by playing his cards right. His slavery to work match his ambitions, and gradually he reaches the social position he desires. But the costs have included a dehumanized soul and a loss of a moral conscience. People have had to pay for his advancement, including those nearest to him. The downfall is equally painful: either imprisonment or the easy wasy out are offered as the alternatives.
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MacArthur’s Children / Setouchi shonen yakyu dan (1984) Masahiro Shinoda, Takaya Yamauchi, Yoshiyuki Omori, Shiori Sakura, Comedy, Drama, War

In this drama at the end of World War II, the inhabitants of a small Japanese fishing village must come to terms with their nation’s defeat and the sudden occupation of General MacArthur and his troops.
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Sult / Hunger (1966) Henning Carlsen, Per Oscarsson, Gunnel Lindblom, Birgitte Federspiel, Drama

Set in the late 1800s, Hunger is about a struggling, starving Norwegian writer (Per Oscarsson) who rejects charity, even though he lives penniless in the streets, because he believes in the strength of his talent. Oscarsson won the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival for his remarkable performance. The film is based on Knut Hamsun’s novel, Sult.
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Jail Breakers/ Dasso yugi (1976) Kôsaku Yamashita, Shin’ichi Chiba, Haruko Wanibuchi, Eitarô Ozawa, Action, Crime

Kamiki is a professional fixer of jailbreaks who allows prisoners to escape for big money.
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Italian Sex / Sesso in testa (1974) Sergio Ammirata, Pilar Velázquez, Didi Perego, Mario Carotenuto, Comedy, Erotic

A sexy graduate student (Velazques) is giving her thesis presentation, which creates quite a stir since she has just posed as a prostitute for several months to do sociological research for her thesis. She relates various stories of her experiences to her salivating thesis committee and a large audience of curious on-lookers.
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L’attenzione / Attention (1987) Giovanni Soldati, Stefania Sandrelli, Ben Cross, Amanda Sandrelli, Drama, Romance, Erotic

This is a story of love and lust shaded with overtones of incest and lesbianism. Livia is a woman trying to regain the affections of her husband Alberto, whose journalism career takes him away for months at a time – on purpose. What she does not know is that he has an undeniable attraction for their daughter Monica. Livia’s own sexual eccentricities lead her to hire young women to have sex with Alberto while she listens in hiding. When Monica wants to get into the act too, the real truth about her parentage is revealed.
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Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (1956) Ishirô Honda, Raymond Burr, Takashi Shimura, Momoko Kôchi, Action, Horror, Sci-Fi

When American reporter Steve Martin investigates a series of mysterious disasters off the coast of Japan, he comes face to face with an ancient creature so powerful and so terrifying, it can reduce Tokyo to a smoldering graveyard. Nuclear weapon testing resurrected this relic from the Jurassic age, and now it’s rampaging across Japan. At night, Godzilla wades through Tokyo leaving death and destruction in his wake, disappearing into Tokyo Bay when his rage subsides. Coventional weapons are useless against him; but renowned scientist Dr. Serizawa has discovered a weapon that could destroy all life in the bay – including Godzilla. But which disaster is worse, Godzilla’s fury, or the death of Tokyo Bay?
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Fading Gigolo (2013) John Turturro, Woody Allen, Sharon Stone, Comedy

Fioravante decides to become a professional Don Juan as a way of making money to help his cash-strapped friend, Murray. With Murray acting as his “manager”, the duo quickly finds themselves caught up in the crosscurrents of love and money.
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