Beyond Naschy #41 - LOVE BRIDES OF THE BLOOD MUMMY (1973)

Time for another Beyond Naschy episode of the show!

Once again, I make the mistake of letting co-host Bob Sargent pick the film for our discussion so LOVE BRIDES OF THE BLOOD MUMMY (1973) steps into the spotlight. My history with this movie dates to a bootleg viewing in 2013 that resulted in this BLOG POST. But since Mondo Macabro was kind enough to issue the film in a great special edition Blu-Ray in 2022 a rewatch has been long overdue. Luckily there are two versions of the movie included on the disc, one with nudity and one without, which answers the questions I had years ago about the oddly chaste way that things were depicted when the (not) mummy attacked his (not) brides. This follows the Golden Age of Spanish Horror requirement of a ‘covered’ variant for the home country while the filmmakers also produced a nudity filled version for export. The MM release allows you to compare the differences and other extras on the Blu-Ray show a third way the nude scenes were shot. Cult film nerds live in interesting times!

Join Bob and I as we talk for far too long about this bizarre Spanish/French production. We are guided by the excellent commentary track Mondo Macabro provided on their release and we tip our hat to David Flint for his insight and genuine appreciation of the film. We relate our history with this little low budget curiosity and how our attitudes have changed now that we can see it in the best light possible. We puzzle over the cast with the recognizable actors being outnumbered by people that seem to have done only this movie and vanished. I become obsessed with the sloppiness of the framing of shots and point out how many legs the revived Egyptian murderer appears to have. Bob seems perplexed by the choice of milk as a first drink supplied to the resurrected creature and I agree that there were many other fluids that a recently dead man would prefer. The odd inclusion of some (very) limited stop-motion animation becomes a focus of our discussion as we marvel at the splurge of money on such an unexpected effect. Of course, we approve but it hardly matters. The movie had us at ‘nudity filled blood drinking murder spree’. We are easily amused, clearly.

 

If you have comments about LOVE BRIDES OF THE BLOOD MUMMY nashcycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thanks for listening and Happy Halloween!

Beyond Naschy #40 - Jack Taylor Tribute

When we lost Jack Taylor in May of this year there was a realization of what a gap his passing left in cinema. A regular face in Euro-Cult films from the 1960’s to the 21^st century, his withering glances and wry smile were often the addition to a film that made it special. Whether playing a villainous businessman or a reluctant hero he was always a welcome sight. Over the years he worked with Jess Franco, Paul Naschy, Amando De Ossorio, Ridley Scott, Monte Hellman and Roman Polanski in roles of such varied nature that only his mighty mustache was a (near) constant.

Bob Sargent once again joins the show as we pick our favorite five or so Jack Taylor performances from across his career.  This allows us to talk about his most entertaining roles and emphasize his contributions to movies in which he might have only been a supporting player. Among his many onscreen adventures he was menaced by a werewolf, stalked by the Blind Dead, seduced by a naked female vampire and accused of being a chainsaw murderer – but that only scratches the surface! Join the three of us as we marvel over Mr. Taylor’s lengthy resume and pine for an English translation of his autobiography.

If you have any thoughts on the mighty Jack Taylor naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Hopefully Troy will be more than a pre-recorded portion of the next episode. Thanks for listening! 

Beyond Naschy #39 - ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966)

Our journey through Naschy adjacent Jess Franco films continues with ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966)! Part of the brief spurt of Euro-Spy films that sprang up in response to Bond-mania the film features Eddie Constantine playing a slightly comedic version of his many tough guy roles. The film centers on a mysterious group of bronze-skinned automatons who are assassinating important European dignitaries. When their eyeglasses are removed, they turn into vegetative zombies and when killed their odd skin tone changes to pale white. Interpol calls in Constantine’s character Al Pereira to investigate. Throw in a seductive villainess, some mad science and Q-style gadgets and you have a breezy, fun adventure – at least for some. Not all Franco fans seem to like this one.

Bob Sargent joins Troy and I as we romp our way around Alicante with Pereira and try to unravel this bizarre mystery. We discuss the year the world turned to color and how this final black & white Franco film fits into his 60’s output. Bob recommends other Eddie Constantine films and I vow to track down more of his earlier crime movies. Where is the much hoped for Lemmy Caution boxed set, already? We relate our various reactions to the film’s amusing tone and note how easily it could fit into the Pink Panther universe. This is definitely not your average Jess Franco crime thriller and that might be why we enjoyed it.

 

If you have any comments about this or any other of Uncle Jess’ movies naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. We may not let Bob chose the next Beyond Naschy topic but you never know! Thanks for listening. 

Beyond Naschy #38 - SUCCUBUS (1968)

The Naschycast returns to the world of Jess Franco for an erotic ramble through late 1960’s Lisbon and Berlin. Bob Sargent joins Troy and I to examine SUCCUBUS (1968) because Bob wanted to rewatch the film. Two of us had not watched it in years and the third had never even seen it before! We turned this into a trip to the unwatched DVD pile again to take a look at the starting point for a certain type of Franco cinema. Your tolerance for the director’s sense of humor and the absurd will determine your level of enjoyment.

We use Stephen Thrower’s excellent book on the work of Franco named ‘Murderous Passions’ to guide us and to provide a brief synopsis. We waffle through a discussion touching on the cast connections to Paul Naschy but mostly talk about our reactions to the often surrealistic events involving S & M stage performer Lorna (Janine Reynaud). She seems to navigating a strange period in her life with reoccurring visions of a different life impinging on her supposed reality. We see her interact with various romantic partners who end up dead at her hands. Or is that really what is happening? Along the way we get striking images, amusing commentary on arthouse pretentions and philosophical silliness draped in an encroaching ennui that seems to define Lorna’s confused life. Can cinema be therapy?

Along the way we are reminded to always fear mannequins but we also take heart from the Algernon Charles Swinburne poem Faustine that seems to have been a major influence on the film.  Of course, we all wish a for a Blu-Ray release complete with multiple versions of this important effort. It clearly signposted many future Jess Franco films that fans laud to this day.

 If you have and comments naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

Naschycast Email - Summer of 2025

Troy noticed that the mailbag had collected several new pieces of correspondence so we decided to find out what was on your minds. Strangely, Paul Naschy seemed to be a major subject of these missives! Will wonders never cease? 

The email folder held five emails to read out and we respond to them to the best of our ability. My crushing inability to correctly pronounce several names is noted and corrected by a longtime listener and I promptly find other names to destroy. I should not be allowed near a podcast! We discuss keeping the Naschy flame burning and note recent online articles that a helpful fan of the show has provided. (See links below.) We also talk a bit about some upcoming Blu-Ray commentary tracks that are being released soon while giving a piece of bad news concerning a hoped for extra on another. Sometimes we have to hold on to older releases to sooth our collector minds. Our sick, sick collector minds. 

If you want to be part of our next email show naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts. Thank you for listening!

Commentary List

Moonlight shines on Paul Naschy: 5 cult classics from the Werewolf of Spain

Music, Monsters, and Spies Add Up to an Assignment: Terror

Beyond Naschy #37 - THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1963)

We take a deep dive into Jess Franco’s THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1963) and hope we can avoid the quicksand. Bob Sargent returns and joins Troy and I to discuss this krimi-like murder mystery. It even has a little comedy relief. Luckily, very little of that!

 

This film seems to be less well thought of among fans of Uncle Jess’ black & white output and I’ve never understood why. All three of us are fans and we love almost everything about it. The film has a great cast with Howard Vernon leading the way as the most obvious suspect when young women in an Austrian town start turning up dead. Is there anything to the legend of a Von Klaus ancestor who reincarnates every few decades to terrorize the locals? Or is there a much more human reason that lovely ladies are wise to not venture out after dark? And just how sadistic will the film be allowed to go to depict the amoral depths of the killer’s lustful urges? Pretty far, it turns out!

 

If you have any comments or suggestions naschycast@gmail.com is the place to write the show. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. 

Naschycast - More Emails for 2024!

Just in under the wire – a Naschycast episode! We wanted to get at least one more show out to everyone before 2025 strikes so here is our latest run through several emails.

The concept of Naschycast goat plushies is submitted and both Troy and I love the idea! See the image attached to this episode for an example from Don Cunningham. Don also brings up the idea that perhaps all of the Daninsky werewolf’s victims are deserving of their fates, but we think that requires some deep surmising. We then discuss the strange origin story of the show’s theme music complete with our clueless wondering about a CD release. Then Stephen Follows writes in to point the way toward his incredible and fascinating Horror Movie Report! This amazing study of (all?) horror films and the various revealing and noteworthy pieces of information that can be gleaned from even a surface examination of them is endlessly eye-opening. I recommend the curious to check out the full report here and Stephen’s website here. And Zach Lewis writes in to point all good Naschy fans to his excellent article about our beloved filmmaker on MUBI called Werewolf of Madrid. It’s well worth a read and could serve as a good introduction for newcomers curious about our hairy subject.

We end the show with an unexpected pleasure – Troy presents his book report on the legendary novelization of WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN! This begins a discussion of film novelizations in general and possibly points the way toward a future aspect of shows over on The Bloody Pit. As soon as Troy finishes the doorstopper version of Hell of the Living Dead!

Thank you for listening and please send your comments to naschycast@gmail.com where we will eventually respond. This episode is proof, right? 

Naschycast #75 - Don Cunningham Visits!

Independent filmmaker Don Cunningham joins Troy and I to talk about Paul Naschy and how he has influenced Don’s work. We discuss favorite Naschy movies with our guest naming some surprising choices. I love getting different perspectives on the icon’s career and this conversation has a few curves I was not expecting.

Of course, we could barely wait to ask about Don’s wonderful short film THE CASTLE OF BARON FINCH (2024). For this movie Mr. Cunningham writes, directs, produces and stars making him very much a man following in Paul Naschy’s footsteps. We dig into the production process, the genesis of the film’s story and the influences other than Naschy. The film is a (mostly) black & white silent movie featuring a vampire or two and a poor lovestruck soul with a moonlight and hair problem, so naming Jacinto Molina’s work as a major touchstone is perhaps a bit obvious. But this atmospheric little cinematic love letter stands on its own just fine. Don also gives us some details on the film’s release and places to see it. Oh! And I’ve scattered a bit of the fantastic score by Andreu Jacob into the latter half of the show as well.

If you have any comments or questions naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. If you want to reach out to Don you can message him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/CastleBaronFinch or through email at drcushing@yahoo.com – thanks for listening!

NaschyCast - 2024 Mail Bag!

The Naschycast opens the podcast mailbag, dusts off the cobwebs and answers a few questions. Like, why have we waited so long to respond to emails! We could plead a combination of busyness and laziness but that is not an excuse worthy of our fine listeners so we simply apologize and get on with the show.

We work our way through nearly a year of messages with only a few brief trips down barely connected side roads. We discuss the golden age of bootleggers and the discoveries made during that glorious time. Troy announces an upcoming release from his Celtic band The Secret Commonwealth and Rod goes through a listing of the commentary tracks the two of us have contributed to various Blu-Ray releases. And all of this culminates in a feline squabble in the background that signals that things have gone on long enough. We wrap up the show with a tune from another of Troy’s bands, The Exotic Ones. Enjoy!

Remember, naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send us your thoughts and I swear we will eventually read them out – unless you don’t want us to! Thanks for listening.

 

Naschycast #74 - WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971) with Robert Kelly

Troy and I are joined by fellow podcaster Robert Kelly, host of Record All Monsters and author of Record All Monsters: the Book of the Essays from the Podcast. Don’t worry – he eventually explains the book’s title and his fascination with kaiju films.  

Robert came to his love of Naschy in a very different manner than either of your Naschycast hosts, getting an unexpected full-strength version of WEREWOLF VS THE VAMPIRE WOMAN (1971) as a gift at far too young an age. The ways in which this may have warped his movie loving mind come under discussion as well as his more adult thoughts about the werewolf as a monster. We use the recent Vinegar Syndrome Blu-Ray as a reference to compare some of the differences in the Spanish and English dubs with crazy Pierre getting attention once again. The conversation ranges from odd spots in the narrative to random details that stick in our minds so don’t expect a coherent march through a synopsis. We were much more interested in picking each other’s brains about Naschy’s werewolf films and other favorites from his career. If you have half as much fun as we did you’ll completely enjoy yourself! 

If you have any comments or questions naschycast@gmail.com is the place to write. We do plan to record an email episode in the near future so now is the time. Thank you very much for listening and we’ll be back soon.  

Naschycast #73 - Blu-Ray Round Up!

The Naschycast returns for a brief overview of the Paul Naschy Blu-Rays that are currently available in Region A. Troy and I decided to record this show to give our North American listeners an indication of the wealth of high-definition offerings still on retail shelves – as long as you search the right retailers! Consider this also a warning that these wonderful discs don’t stay available forever and, in many cases, when they’re gone they are gone for good.

We tried and failed to do a chronological rundown of the Blu-Rays that have come out over the last eight years or so with nods toward some blank spots in Naschy’s career we’d like to see filled with HD glory. The individual companies that have been releasing these Spanish horror classics have been doing us all a good service and let’s hope the releases continue past next year’s long awaited DR. JEKYLL AND THE WOLF MAN!

If you have any comments naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. We hope that you have had a good 2023 and that 2024 will be even better! Thank you for listening.

Naschycast #72 - Jon Kitley Visits!

This episode we are joined by Jon Kitley to talk about his love of and history with Paul Naschy! Readers of Horror Hound magazine are aware of his regular column ‘They Came from the Krypt’ but he has also published the book ‘Discover The Horror’ which is part genre exploration and part autobiography. Both Troy and I recommend it. As you might expect from such a conversation, the three of us range all over the place touching on more topics than we could comfortably list.

Suffice to say that we discuss horror conventions (where we all met), non-fiction horror genre books (which we all collect) and our shared fascination with movies and monstrous stories. Of course, we do finally get around to talking about Naschy with Jon falling squarely on my side of the critical Mummy divide! It is about time I had someone to stand with me on that hill! HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB was our guest’s introduction to the great man’s work and it becomes a big part of our chat. As a bonus, the legendary Spanish character actor Victor Israel gets more than a few minutes of glowing examination too. We had a great time talking Naschy and we hope you’ll enjoy listening. 

If you have any comments or question naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send your emails. Thank you for checking out the show and we’ll be back soon.

NaschyCast #71 - INQUISITION with Marc McCloud

Marc McCloud drops by the show to discuss Naschy’s tale of the Inquisition in France. Marc is the owner of Orbit DVD and a longtime friend of Troy and I, but this is the first time we’ve ever talked about our mutual love of the films of Paul Naschy. Our guest chose Naschy’s directorial debut as the topic and we were happy to oblige.

Religious hypocrisy is a big part of our conversation and this gets us into the thorny area of what to call the subset of exploitation films of which this is a part. We note the influence of the Catholic Church on the nature of the fears that undergird the horrors of the film and wonder about the connections to the Nunsploitation genre. The villains of the story come under scrutiny with an eye toward how they use their relative places of power to extract their desires from those around them. And we speak a little about the ways that women had to work to accomplish things in the society ruled by male religious leaders. Join us for what I will refuse to call a ‘romp’ through INQUISITION.

We end the show with a short email from Kurt and if you’d like to send us your thoughts naschycast@gmail.com is the address. Thank you for listening! 

 

Beyond Naschy #36 - ORLOFF AND THE INVISIBLE MAN (1970)

We return to the Beyond Naschy series with guest Bob Sargent making the choice of film this time out.ORLOFF AND THE INVISIBLE MAN (1970) is not a movie that is often called out as a favorite of even the most hardened Euro-Cult horror fanatics. In the past it has been mistaken as a Jess Franco effort with the director’s name, Pierre Chevalier, suspected of being another of the prolific filmmaker’s many pseudonyms. This appears to not be factual but anyone stumbling across this movie unaware couldn’t be blamed for making that assumption. It shares many of the standard tropes and oddities of one of Franco’s color gothics from the period which makes it a good companion piece of Franco’s EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN (1973) and DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN (1972). It even sports Franco’s original Orloff actor Howard Vernon as ‘Professor’ Orloff who has somehow created an invisible man for the usual mad scientist reasons. The film’s story is a mish-mash of prematurely buried daughters, accidental murders and greedy servants who are not above a bit of graverobbing. Add to that one of the strangest rape sequences in cinema history and some obviously missing story pieces and you have an entertaining if often confusing 76 minutes. We talk about the cast and crew, including their various Naschy connections. We discuss the missing scenes that can be glimpsed in the French trailer for the film and in the extras included on the old Image DVD. We find some moments of real beauty in the cinematography and some unintentionally funny scenes that just don’t work. The English dialog causes quite a few laughs as we quote some standout circular conversations. Part of our discussion centers on the term ‘guilty pleasure’ and how each of the three of us feel about applying that overused phrase to our love of Euro-Cult cinema. As you might expect, there are more than a few verbal trips down barely connected cinema paths with the final forty-five minute mailbag section becoming a memory lane remembrance of our late friend Craig Ledbetter. If you’d like to add you voice to the show naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts and questions. Troy and I are very happy that Bob has joined us again and with a little luck we will have around for the rest of this year’s shows! Thanks for listening.

Mailbag Show for October 2022

Troy and I bring you a brief email episode to round out October. There are questions to address and opinions to discuss so check it out. We do take some occasional editorial privilege but are happy to pass along information about a subtitled DVD of THE TRANSEXUAL (1977) out there on the world wide web. Some talk of Monster Bash is on tap along with some news about upcoming episodes of Wild, Wild Podcast. And what is this we are told about a film in which Victor Israel plays the lead? This must be found! Also, a listener passes along information about a Laurel and Hardy podcast that has escaped our attention until now.  But luckily, we remain the rumbling tummy ache of podcasting!

If you want to add your voice to the show naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send all missives. We look forward to your notes and thank you for listening to the podcast. Oh – and Happy Halloween!

Naschycast #70 - HUNCHBACK with Bob Sargent!

Troy and I once again welcome Bob Sargent to the Naschycast! This time we discuss one of our favorite Paul Naschy’s horror tales, THE HUNCHBACK OF THE MORGUE (1973).

This film’s inspired madness is certainly worth talking about and we find some fresh areas to explore. For instance, the relative ease that Naschy’s poor hunchback Gotho has kidnapping women for the mad doctor’s experiments is a topic of some debate. Also, the fact that several characters have some knowledge of what is going on but they never compare notes well enough to raise the necessary alarm is something puzzled over. We notice that it doesn’t help that the local cops can’t seem to find a clue when it’s sitting right in front of them lying straight to their faces! Seriously – how suspicious does Orla have to be before you follow that nutcase around just to check up on things?

Bob brings up some interesting questions that we’ve never examined before including the presence of some very odd decorations in a certain apartment. I think I’ve solved one of them but the other is still a mystery. Maybe you can help us out.

If you have any comments or suggestions or if you have a guess about what that strange hanging object in Rosanna Yanni’s place might be naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening! 

 

Naschycast #69 - AGONIZANDO EN EL CRIMEN (1968)

Bob Sargent returns to the show to discuss a very early Paul Naschy screen appearance. Rescued from relative obscurity by the online fan-subbing community AGONIZANDO EN EL CRIMEN (1968) is a strange crime story centered on a serial killer obsessed with medical professionals - and their hands! This one is not easy to see but is it worth seeking out? Boy, do we have a lot to say.

 

Troy, Bob and I dig into the production of the film and how Naschy’s original job on this project was behind the camera. We spot a few interesting locations including a very familiar set of steps that are a big part of Naschy’s cinematic legacy. The film’s writer/star comes under scrutiny with Naschy’s pointed comments about the fellow leaving no doubt about why these two men never worked together again. On the other hand, this movie’s director, Enrique López Eguiluz, played a major role in making Jacinto Molina into the horror movie star we know and love to this day.

We take our time and really pull this one apart with occasional sideroads into the Hammer Dracula films and the on-set shenanigans of Klaus Kinski. It can’t be helped! We have a lot to say about Juan Logar’s wide-eyed, maniacal but still somehow detached performance. We chuckle over the casual 1960’s style of misogyny and the silly idea that a woman might become a surgeon. Madness! And it all circles round to an embarrassing discussion of how best to hide a murder boner. We are a strange trio.

  

We end the episode with a few new pieces of mail sent to naschycast@gmail.com and if you have anything you’d like to tell us, that is the place. Thank you for listening to the show and we’ll be back soon. 

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Mini-Naschycast - Email Episode!

This short show is comprised of two segments of Troy and I reading several emails and answering questions sent to the podcast. Many topics are hashed over.

Originally this was to be an even briefer episode but I waited long enough that more emails came in allowing us to add extra responses. Never say that procrastination doesn’t sometimes have an upside!

If you have any comments, questions or ideas about the show naschycast@gmail.com is the place to let us know. I think we’ll continue to handle new emails in this way as we go forward. Unless the listeners don’t like the shorter shows. We’ll see. Thanks for listening!

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Naschycast #68 - Bob Sargent Interview!

The NaschyCast returns with a long episode to reward your patience.

Bob Sargent was the man behind the excellent 1990’s cult movie fanzine Videooze. His issue devoted to Paul Naschy was a major contributor to my early knowledge of the man’s filmography and allowed for fans to have a roadmap for his career. Mr. Sargent is a huge fan of Naschy and reached out recently to gab about our shared fascination with the great Spanish Horror icon. Of course, Troy and I couldn’t wait to get him in front of a Zoom mic and pick his brain about Euro-Horror in general and Naschy in specific. He was even kind enough to put together a list of his personal Top Ten favorite films by Senor Molina! This a is a lively conversation and it ranges over the decades and across a dozen different topics. You might even learn a little about how Videooze came about and who Mr. Sargent credits with pushing him into self-publishing.

If you have any comments or questions naschycast@gmail.com is still the address to send things to. We’ll be back soon with a short episode focused on answering a few emails. 

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Beyond Naschy #35 - SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1971)

Troy and I (finally) return with a new episode!

 

This time we dive back into the Franco pool of cool and look longingly at the luminous Soledad Miranda. SHE KILLED IN ECSTASY (1971) was the final collaboration between the young actress and Jess Franco before her untimely passing. While it is generally not considered their best film together it contains many scenes that display the brilliance that they could achieve. Soledad’s skills are on full display in her role as a vengeful wife extracting blood from the people who hounded her husband into suicide. As the story plays out, she runs the gamut of human emotions from deep concern and grief-stricken to seductively aloof and finally filled with violent rage. Her performance is mesmerizing and is carried out so well that she could have embodied her character without dialog and still communicated every nuance necessary to engage the viewer. She was a powerhouse screen presence and her loss is only more deeply felt when watching her in this film.

We dig into why we enjoy this film as much as we do with much attention paid to the strength of the central performance. We point to reoccurring plot elements within Franco’s work and his love of a certain visual metaphor involving boats at sea. We discuss the movie’s odd choice to rush past the possible mad scientist idea at the beginning to get to the righteous vengeance at the heart of things. We try to define what makes Soledad such a memorable screen actress even as this film refuses to even give her character a first name. Each of the murders is dissected as we try to understand what Franco might have had in mind as his story gains force, climaxing in a fascinating sequence in which the director is himself the victim. It certainly raises some questions about Jess’ sexual desires and points toward what might have been included in future unrealized projects.

 

We hope you enjoy the episode and if you have any comments naschycast@gmail.com is the show’s address. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon. I promise! 

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