Beyond Naschy #33 - THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS (1974)

The Naschycast returns to the films of Amando De Ossorio for a romp through the jungle!

THE NIGHT OF THE SORCERERS (1974) a.k.a. The Night of the Witches follows a small group of researchers seeking to document the endangered species of a fictional country in Africa. They make camp near a (miniature) village and then learn from a native about the supernatural history of the area. Of course, we have been made aware of the odd rituals of ‘Bumbasa’ in a prologue showing the kidnapping, rape and beheading of a British lady in 1910 on an altar that seemingly transforms her into a leopard demon! Or, at least, a fanged disembodied head that can turn and snarl at the camera! It’s a wild ride.

Troy and I hack our way through the jungle foliage to get a good look at this strange little film. As he had done with his Blind Dead movies Ossorio is clearly trying to create a new monster of his own design. But the leopard demons offer some technical hurdles that the writer/director’s usual low budget is often unable to jump. We discuss the various forms in which we see the creatures onscreen trying to decide which of them is most effective. Since these three forms are simply leopard stock footage, fake leopard heads partially hidden by leaves and female members of the cast running in slow motion through the jungle night it can be difficult to make a conclusive choice. And Ossorio throws in enough sex and blood to keep an exploitation audience distracted from the inherent silliness of the pieces of his narrative that don’t always work. But where does this film fall in the legacy of this legendary Spanish horror filmmaker? We share our opinions and hope to hear yours.

The podcast can be reached at naschycast@gmail.com where you can send your thoughts on this episode’s film or Amando De Ossorio’s career as a whole. We’d love to hear from you! We end the show with a song from Nashville band Peachy - check them out on BandCamp. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon with more from the Golden Age of Spanish Horror.

Peachy on BandCamp

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Naschycast #60 - THE UNLIVING (2004)

Sharp-eyed or eared (?) listeners to the Naschycast will recognize THE UNLIVING as an alternate title for a film we've already covered on the show. Troy and I took a look at this Fred Olen Ray joint a few years ago under it's more evocative name TOMB OF THE WEREWOLF and you can still check out episode #30 for our original assessment. This time out we revisit this problematic entry on Paul Naschy's credits at the request of our new guest - David Zuzelo! David is an old friend from the early days of Euro-Trash horror online fandom and someone I should have included in the show much sooner than now. He's a horror comic writer and expert on the trashier side of cinema making him the perfect man to talk about this uncut sex-filled werewolf romp.

The three of us spend a lot of time on this film discussing it's flaws, it's points of interest and David brings some fascinating behind the scenes information to the table. Of course, as you might expect with Euro-Horror fans, we also branch off onto related subjects with a lengthy musing on Jess Franco and the more obscure films of Amando De Ossorio. David and I reminisce a bit about our first podcast experience together on Horror Rise From Spain and his upcoming work in horror comics. Troy and I wrap the show with a brief email from Our Man In The Field before we let you go.He sent along a link to a Powerwolf song that explains one of our questions about the burning crosses in THE GHOST GALLEON. 

 PowerWolf! 

If you have any comments or questions the address is naschycast@gmail.com or you can join us on the Facebook page. Thanks for downloading and listening!

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Beyond Naschy #23 - Spanish Horror Favorites with Cort!

I thought it might be fun to make a list of favorite non-Naschy Spanish Horror films and also get Troy to make one of his own so we could argue the various qualities of the films we love. Then I realized how much fun it might be to get others to play along! So, Cort Psyops joins us again to indulge in one of fandom's great games - the making and comparing of lists of favorites!

No conversation about shared passions can go on for too long before people are arguing their favorites and explaining the reasons for rating one beloved thing over another. It is in these discussions that fans come to know each other. The communal exploration of Spanish Horror is something that we've tried to foster with the Naschycast and shows like this might be one of the best ways to bring more people to the party. I know we had a blast trying to name our three favorite of this very thin slice of the genre! Of course, only one of us was able stick the limit of three so the conversation ranges across the decades with many extra titles getting honorable mentions. And the sidetracks are numerous! Be warned - we digress from the topic more than once. We just hope that our ramblings are amusing enough keep you entertained.

One note - when Troy and I return near the end to talk about the Lists left on the Naschycast Facebook page there is a strange crackling on the audio that I could not remove. It only lasts for the first few minutes but it is distracting. Sorry! Technical difficulties are sometimes unavoidable (and mysterious).

If you've never heard Cort's excellent podcast Cinema Psyops you are cheating yourself out of a damned good time. Head on over there and give that show a listen. If you have any comments about this episode or just want to give us your list of favorite non-Naschy Spanish Horror films the email address is naschycast@gmail.com. We'd be glad to hear from you. The music this time comes from Jonathan Coulton, Piero Piccioni and The Decemberists.

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Beyond Naschy #22 - THE GHOST GALLEON (1974)

The new year starts with a shiny new episode of Beyond Naschy! Finally returning to the cinema of Amando De Ossorio the NaschyCast dives into the waters of the North Sea and are surprised to find that the Blind Dead lurk there waiting for fresh victims. The third of this classic Spanish Horror series is called THE GHOST GALLEON or HORROR OF THE ZOMBIES or THE CURSED SHIP but under any title it is a problematic film. Seeking to add new ideas to his signature creation Ossorio puts his Undead Knights Templar on an 18th century galleon that seems adrift in both the oceans and time itself. Only occasionally visible in our world this ship encounters unlucky sailors or tourists and, in this case, it happens to bump into a pair of bikini clad young ladies looking to set a ridiculous publicity stunt in motion. As you might expect, things do not go well for them or their intended rescuers. The satanic living dead rarely seem to take pity on people no matter how cute they may be.

Troy and I deep dive into this one with the hopes of changing our original poor impressions of it. Do we come to love this film now or has age still not scraped the barnacles off this dark hulk? Listen in and see! We talk about the film's rushed production and it's multiple titles while also letting listeners chime in with their thoughts as well. We discuss the possible symbolism present in the movie and spend some time picking over the film's troubling attitude toward women. The wacky professor character shows us how to be a very strange fellow but somehow also the most useful member of the crew. Who knew that a flaming crucifix would help hold off the Blind Dead?

The show can be reached by email at naschycast@gmail.com or on the FaceBook page. We plan to ask for more input in the future over on FB so join us there for more information. Thank you for downloading and listening!

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NaschyCast #57 - Cort Psyops Visits!

With this episode of the show we open things up in a new way! Although Troy and I have had the occasional guest on the NaschyCast they have been rare occurrences. Generally this was because we wanted to keep the show as focused on the films of Paul Naschy as we could.  We felt that we should deviate as little as possible from covering the movies in depth so keeping the visits infrequent allowed us to drill down and (most importantly) stay on task. Longtime listeners will know that it doesn't take much to get us sidetracked and having someone else present would make the show a meandering monster!

So, with this episode we take the Naschycast into new territory and talk to Cort Psyops for about two hours about his love of Naschy. We quiz him on his first exposure to the Spanish Horror icon, learn what his favorite Naschy films are and dig into the various werewolf movies in search of the best and worst. Cort describes his discovery of this strange strain of Euro-Horror and, in the process, makes both Troy and I feel really, really old. The only mitigating details are that his initial viewing involved a VHS tape and not a DVD. We are so old. Any way.....

If you've not checked out Cort's excellent podcast Cinema Psyops it comes highly recommended. I can honestly say that his show has made me laugh more than almost any other film related podcast. Sometimes I laugh at them but often I am laughing with them so I'm proud to have a bit of that fun become a part of our show. The discussion here does waver all over the place with talk of several unconnected topics but one of us always drags things back to Naschy. I'm just looking forward to Cort and his co-host Matt covering more Spanish Horror on their show. I'm wondering if Matt will survive!

Thank you for downloading and listening to the show. If you have any comments or suggestions please write us at naschycast@gmail.com to let us know what's on your mind. If there are any Naschy subjects you'd like to have us discuss let us know. In the meantime, remember that we are in the Year of Naschy Blu-Rays so go pick up some hi-def horror for your home! 

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Beyond Naschy #16 - THE LORELEY'S GRASP (1974)

Amando de Ossorio is the man best known for his quartet of Blind Dead films but he made quite a few other worthy movies as well. This horror fantasy combines a couple of European myths with elements from Stoker's Dracula story to create a creepy and unique monster tale. And, being a man with an eye for beauty, Ossorio populates his scary movie with about a dozen completely gorgeous ladies and the supremely hunky Tony Kendal to keep everyone distracted. Of course, any film featuring the amazing Helga Liné has my attention from the beginning! 

THE LORELEY'S GRASP also features some surprisingly gory violence with no regard for keeping the carnage confined to the bikini clad young ladies. In fact, the victim choice seems to be entirely unpredictable adding to the shock value of the monster's various stalking scenes. This film's nasty reptilian beast is not just after female hearts to eat - even bearded hippies are on the menu!

Since this is our first Beyond Naschy in a few months we have a backlog of comments and letters to sift through. We get to those in the show's last segment but we actually start the episode with the live opening of several stunning gifts from a dear listener. This is a first for us and - as you will hear - we were overwhelmed with the generosity of these presents. And, like the whores we are, we couldn't help but turn this into an open plea for more! Who wants to be our Number 1 fan? Send money! But, in all seriousness, we are so happy to have you folks out there willing to listen to us. We're just two Tennessee boys with a love for cinema and the desire to find out more about what we enjoy. It is wonderful to know our efforts are appreciated as we share the love. You people keep us going.

So, stock up on irradiated cutlery just in case a mythical murdering monster comes calling and drop us a line at naschycast@gamil.com if you have something to add. We love hearing from you and this show's mailbag points out how quickly we can be swayed to cover a film suggested by our fans. Shatner on the NaschyCast feed? Oh my!

Thanks for downloading and listening and feel free to rate & review us over in the iTunes store or wherever you feel like spreading the word. The more the merrier, after all. 

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Beyond Naschy #9 - RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (1973)

Has it really been two years since we covered TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD? That is far too long! It is with great pleasure that we return to the land of the living dead Templar Knights! For the second of Ossorio's fantastic Blind Dead films we examine the two different cuts available on Region 1 DVD and then ponder the deeper social commentary buried within the story. Really? Only for a little while. We mostly chat about the casting choices, the relative beauty of the female actors, the story's odd love rectangle, the mechanics of the creeping living dead and the number of homages to (or steals from) other movies that Ossorio weaves into the story. I wish we had spent more time on how difficult it is to destroy these walking corpses but some things get lost in the stumble/shuffle.

Of course, this being the NaschyCast the show starts with some unrelated discussion of several monster related topics. I wax enthusiastic about Universal Horror novels and we discuss the joys of Shaun Hutson's horror epic 'Slugs', which leads us to the question of why we have yet to cover any examples of the cinema of Spain's Juan Piquer Simon. He certainly fits our criteria as he is Spanish and has directed plenty of Horror, so maybe a show on PIECES is in our future. That one won't be for the faint of heart! We also have an impromptu discussion of Lucio Fulci's tetralogy of gore films and - just for fun - rank them from best to worst. In the mailbag section we commiserate with a listener fresh from a viewing of FURY OF THE WOLFMAN and talk briefly about several worthy Jess Franco titles. How long before we just dive headlong into Uncle Jess' catalog and never look back?

We can be contacted at naschycast@gmail.com and the show can be downloaded at the link below, on the right side of the blog page or subscribed to in the iTunes store. Let us know what you think and if you want your comments to be a part of the podcast. Thanks for listening!

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