Naschycast #45 - THE HANGING WOMAN (1973)

Episode forty-five brings back to the wonders and excitement of a Gothic period tale! The film is so steeped in creepy atmosphere that it begins with a funeral, which leads to a will reading and inevitably to a sleazy seduction - it's all good. The plot will be familiar to genre fans but the story has a few nice twists on the standard tropes. So much fun!

One of the joys of a gothic tale is the chance to see rare locations and The Hanging Woman (a.k.a. Terror of the Living Dead) has a great set of places to delight the eye. Of course, it also has a couple of lovely ladies in Maria Pia Conte and Dyanik Zurakowska. Both of them vie for the attentions of our handsome leading man--- no - not Naschy! He was too busy to play the time consuming central figure. Instead our man Paul Naschy plays the local gravedigger and all around oozer of sleaze by the name of Igor. Strangely, Igor does not work for the film's mad scientist character. Odd, but you gotta love it!

In this film we discover many things- the dark world of Nebulous Electricity: the possibilities of Black Magic as a hobby; an alternate way of reanimating the dead; the fact that its difficult to maintain a monogamous relationship even if your girlfriend is a corpse; and that its good to be the king of any small domain. We were both surprised by this one and that is no mean feat.

You can write us at naschycast@gmail.com and let us know your thoughts on The Hanging Woman or any other Naschy related or non-Naschy related topic. We plan to get back to tackling some other Spanish Horror films in new Beyond Naschy episodes later this summer - we think you'll be surprised! Thanks for listening and be sure to rate and review us in iTunes or where ever you find our show.

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NaschyCast #44 - DISCO ROJO (1973)

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! 

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Beyond Naschy #10 - EYEBALL (1975)

The new Beyond Naschy episode brings us another giallo and our first chance to talk about director Umbeto Lenzi. If you are only familiar with Lenzi's work through his horror movies EYEBALL might come as a shock. We discuss the amazing number of highly entertaining (and competently made!) films from this under-sung Italian genius (?) and speak about his skill at crafting fun tales.

EYEBALL is a very fast and witty murder mystery that has a number of pluses and very few minuses. One of the best elements is the energetic, exciting score by maestro Bruno Nicolai which is peppered throughout the show. Of course, the main, reoccurring theme will be familiar to longtime NaschyCast listeners but there are several other melodious tracks. The discussion ranges all over the film with each of us finding it amusing that the cast of American tourists in Spain are very much like a group of typical stereotypes from an Irwin Allen disaster epic - TOWERING EYEBALL INFERNO, perhaps? And Troy comes another step down the path of accepting that a Giallo is always going to screw you by withholding vital need-to-know information - Guessing the murderer's identity is the only chance you have because empirical evidence is useless in one of these thrillers. You just gotta enjoy the ride!

I have to give a nod to the excellent plot synopsis by Nick Thomson from his great blog DeadShed Productions. His clever way with words helped us dive into this film and give its due.  I recommend checking  his site. if you have any feedback for us please write to naschycast@gmail.com or visit us over on the Book of Faces NaschyCast page. And, thank you downloading and listening! 

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NaschyCast #43.5 - The Daninsky Files

After too long a time the NaschyCast returns to the world of El Hombre Lobo! Having covered all eleven of the Waldemar Daninsky film over the course of the podcast your two hosts have decided to weigh in on how the series stacks up. We each rank the films from favorite to least favorite with a surprise digital guest appearance by our Man in the Field - Dan! Yep- in a strange, jumbled way we have Dan join us (through the magic of painstaking editing) to list off his thoughts on the Daninsky movies as well. You just never know what surprises will be up our hairy sleeve.

Of course, it wouldn't be the NaschyCast without a number of digressions and tangents so expect some conversation about Lester Dent pulp stories; Derek Robinson World War One novels about fighter pilots; the epic-length science fiction of Peter R. Hamilton; bizarre combinations of music and werewolf imagery; and Rod's brief review of Argento's DRACULA film. We narrowly avoid a discussion of ARCHER so be happy we have some self-control. Also, the feedback section is packed with fun tidings including an MP3 piece from a new writer to the show and a couple of other Spanish Horror fans chiming in with their own rankings of the lycanthrope cinema of Senor Naschy. It's a fun time for all involved! If you would like to add your two cents worth you can write us at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the Facebook page. And thank you for downloading and listening! 

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NaschyCast #43 - EMPUSA (2010)

In this episode we venture once again into the twenty first century to witness Paul Naschy's final directorial effort - EMPUSA. Unlike his earlier work this is a film we know little about with next to nothing being stated by our hero before his untimely passing. We do know that this project started as a final collaboration with director Carlos Aured (HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB, CURSE OF THE DEVIL) but it appears Naschy completed the film when his friend's health wouldn't allow him to work.  From what we can learn, the bulk of the movie was shot in 2007 or 2008 but it went unreleased until 2010.  There might be a good reason for that! We suspect that additional footage was shot after the fact and damn- do the seams show. It is pretty great to see Naschy teamed with old buddy Antonio Mayans, though. 

Join Troy and I as we chop this horror/comedy (or is it a comedy?) down to size and attempt to understand just what the hell is going on. I think you'll be able to hear the pain! As usual, the conversation darts all over the place with zombie novels getting some love from me but things really go off track in the mailbag section. Questions are asked and answered with some great thoughts and ideas coming from our loyal listeners. If you have any questions or comments you can drop us a line at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the NaschyCast Facebook page on the book of faces. Oh- and feel free to donate to the podcast if you think the show is worth a few shekels by using the Donation Button on the left side of the NaschyCast Blog page. Thanks to Mike for reminding us that its there! 

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NaschyCast #42 - THE LAST KAMIKAZE (1984)

It is that time once again! After two months of talking about Jess Franco and Amando de Ossorio your humble podcasters return to the film of Paul Naschy with a vengeance. THE LAST KAMIKAZE was the last of the Japanese co-productions our Spanish cinema hero directed and, although we were upset that that it isn't a horror film, we are happy to take whatever Senor Molina offers. The 1980's was a period in which he stretched his creative muscles in new directions and he seems to have succeeded more times that not. Let's just say that because of this movie I am willing to forgive the scandal that was OPERATION MANTIS. This film may have some problems but it does not make the viewer cringe in embarrassment- well- maybe only in one scene involving dressing in drag.

I must apologize for the nearly three hour running time of this episode. Part of the reason for this excessive length can be put down to both Troy and I being so thrilled to talk about Naschy again that we went a bit too in depth. But, in truth, we also ramble off topic on several occasions with discussions of Wonder Woman and Earth 2 comic books being completely my fault. Sorry about that! But the real off topic rambling comes in the mailbag section when a couple of longtime listeners raise very interesting ideas and ask our opinions on a wide range of things. We talk about the early films of Lucio Fulci; give our opinions on the Friday the 13th series of movies; talk over Christmas wish lists; get excited about the impending Blu-Ray release of DEMONS and DEMONS 2 and we even spew forth a rant or two. That's right- both Troy and I have a bone to pick with certain people and it comes out in the mailbag discussions. I may have cursed a bit too much in this one. Whew!

So join us for an entertaining film as we deal with some great dummy destruction, contrasting murder methods and ponder the possibility that Naschy is actually Batman in #42 of the NaschyCast. The show can be downloaded at the link below or subscribed to in the iTunes store. And if you get the show from there please take the time to rate and review it - it helps make other fans aware of what we're doing here. We can be contacted at naschycast@gmail.com or through the Facebook page. Thanks!

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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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