The English translation of this film's title is RED LIGHT
and its a good name for this tale. Part social commentary, part crime story,
part drug scare film, part action movie and in many ways an example of the darker
tone 1970's cinema was taking. Of course, this is all done with a Spanish twist
that makes DISCO ROJO well worth seeking out for the curious fan of movie
history. And, as you might expect, its
also worth seeing if you are a fan of Paul Naschy as he plays another in his
long line of nasty villains here. Naschy shines as a mid-level Mafioso placed
in charge of the drug distribution and gambling
interests along Spain 's
Mediterranean coast. But the real star is the fantastic actor Antonio Vilar in the role of a crusading
journalist trying to unravel the tangled threads that will lead to this
criminal organization. This is an interesting and sometimes confusing crime
story that owes a lot to the bigger box office hits of the day but has plenty
of its own style to not come off as a retread. I just wish there were cultural
subtitles as well as subtitles for the dialog!
The mailbag is pretty light this month but that doesn't stop
us from a few tangential discussions including the news of the Naschy, Franco
and Rollin influences in a novel by Edward Lee. We also talk a bit about the
upcoming remake of Larraz's VAMPYRES and a few other movies of interest to
Euro-Cult fans. You can write us at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the
FaceBook page anytime. We'd be thrilled to hear from you. And if you get the
show through iTunes we'd appreciate it if you could rate and/or review us
there. It helps get the word out about the show. Thanks!
