Even Ugly Has to Work

I've decided to take a little break from my drawing. My shoulder seems to be aching from working on this piece.
I've seen three movies this past weekend (or, at least, mostly seen three movies). So, I will give you a brief review during my respite.
The first was an old Italian 'giallo' from the early 70's entitled TORSO. For those of you who do not know, the giallos (yellow) were brainy forerunners of the slasher flicks of the 80's. When I mean brainy, I do not necessarily mean smart. I mean, they were highly over-the-top films with overly convoluted plots. Usually, hard to figure out what's going on, who's killing who, lots of red herrings, and a background story about the killer's motivations that seemingly come out of nowhere. You probably wo'nt be able to figure out what's happening until the very end (except for the fact that tons o' folks get offed). Torso is no exception to this description. It was very controversial at the time, and is not known as one of the better ones of the genre. However, something about it appealed to me. For one thing, it kept making me want to watch THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE (which is no gem, itself...but fun). Torso also came to represent a sort of death of the freewheeling 60's, which I found fascinating. It's definitely a forerunner of the American-styled slasher flicks (i.e. sex=death). Not really recommended for many of you. Borrow it.
Second, I went to see THE GIRL WITH THE DRAGON TATTOO in the theatre. This is a Swedish film. Since I have been living in a cave and stopped watching television, I never saw a preview, let alone heard about this movie or the books it was based off of (it's a trilogy, published posthumously after the author's death of heart attack at 50), I did'nt know what to expect. This is the first film in a trilogy (all of the films are finished now, but we in the U.S. have to wait a while). I must say, I thoroughly enjoyed this film. I was totally in the dark on it and I think I enjoyed it more for that reason (although, it is pretty good in its own right).
Interestingly, this movie was being shown at the theatre where FLUKE was being held. Jeff mentioned it to me and we marveled over the poster as we were waiting to get inside. Highly recommended. Except for illiterates.
The last is a work in process. I rented MACUMBA SEXUAL by the awesome/awful Jess Franco! It's basically a reworking of that tidy little number, Franco's earlier VAMPYROS LESBOS (the soundtrack is really good). This time, instead of a vampire seducing a thick German girl, it's a transexual voodoo priestess seducing a thick Spanish girl (in-famous Lina Romay, for those of you not in the know. Do'nt look any of her images up at your work computers!!!!).
Time being as it is, I have only been able to make it halfway through the flick. I am enjoying it thus far. Recommended for only perverts and sadocinemasochists. Enjoy!
Next on my list? SWEET MOVIE and SALO, OR THE 120 DAYS OF SODOM (again)! Let the pain continue!
ciao, mon amis...