Years ago I decided that, because I did not want to watch
SHADOWS OF BLOOD (1988), we would not cover it on the Naschycast. I could
simply see no upside to wallowing in what we knew was commonly considered the
star’s worst film. I suspected that it would be a painful and depressing experience
so I opted to avoid it and instead seek out less reviled fodder for the show. But
then a friend pointed Troy and I toward a humorous Australian podcast called Finding Desperado. In that show the hosts conduct a hunt for a lost film that eventually
finds them bemusedly watching SOB as part of their research. After listening to
the eight hilarious episodes of this podcast I realized that these two funny
men with their puzzled confusion had pointed the way toward covering this movie. So, we
decided to finally dive into what I’ll forever refer to as Naschy’s Nadir.
We dig into the genesis of this film starting with some details about the low point that Paul Naschy's career had reached by the mid-1980’s. We doubt that he would have participated in this shot on video ‘production’ if he'd had anything better as an alternative but chance often leads the dance in movie making. We discuss Lord Sidney Ling who is the writer/director responsible for this film including his bizarre history as a fabulist of the highest order. Finding Desperado relates much more detail about this strange man and his self-aggrandizing nature but we concentrate on what might have influenced the poorly thought out ‘story’ he concocted for SHADOWS OF BLOOD. We trudge through the film trying to understand what might have been intended, occasionally getting lost in the dull sameness of the events onscreen. The sloppy narrative follows two escaped lunatics as they walk (and walk) around Amsterdam murdering random people in a competition to see who can kill the most victims. It is a mostly embarrassing exercise in senseless tedium that, even with its short running time, will test the most devoted Naschy fan. I’m just glad we finally have this one behind us!
We have a couple of emails at the end of the show including
an amazing tale from listener Kurt that reads like a possible future noir film.
His brief life story is well worth knowing. If you want to add your story to
the podcast naschycast@gmail.com is
the address where we can be reached. Let us know what’s on your mind! And
thanks for listening to the show.
Finding Desperado podcast LINK
