DAUGHTER OF DRACULA (1972)

  This one is the final chapter in Jess Franco's monster trilogy, which includes DRACULA, PRISONER OF FRANKENSTEIN and THE EROTIC RITES OF FRANKENSTEIN. It's also my least favorite of the three. It seems like with each film Franco was less concerned with any sort of actual plot and more interested in just filming whatever he felt like. There's lesbianism, vampirism, cameras zooming into pubes and a very inconsequential plot about a lady(Carmen Yazalde) who is told about the curse of her family being vampires. Franco himself has a pretty big role where he gets to show off his oddball version of acting and Howard Vernon plays our main vampire who's not named Dracula at all but instead Count Karlstein.  Pretty unique way of staking the vamps here (through the forehead!) and lots of atmosphere but still not up to the first 2 films in this sorta series. 

        Subtitles so small you need to have Superman's vision to read them!:

BEYOND TERROR (1980)

 I'd first heard this Spanish horror flick described as a mix of Mario Bava's RABID DOGS and TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD and while that's sorta true it's a bit more like the Bava movie mixed with a supernatural witch story and Lucio Fulci's THE BEYOND(which hadn't been released yet). It also predates SCANNERS with a crazy psychic head explosion. You get wacky pleather-coat-wearing bikers, a kid, dogs and an old lady getting offed, sex and exhibitionist masturbation in a church and some brief shuffling mummies which give you that BLIND DEAD feeling.  An interesting smorgasbord of insane Eurotrash elements. If you don't find anything to like about this one you're probably lame. AKA FURTHER THAN FEAR

  

The Spanish poster rip-offs off the main figure in the poster for THE WITCH WHO CAME FROM THE SEA(which itself was ripped-off from a Frank Frazetta painting that was used as a cover for an issue of VAMPIRELLA magazine):

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A VIRGIN FOR ST. TROPEZ (1975)

  Sleazy eurotrash starring a young girl who's taken advantage of by her scummy manipulative boyfriend or 70s unconventional romance tale of young blossoming love that traverses Spain and France? Kind of a mix of both really. Rape, orgies, attempted murder and peeping perverts fill the movie's running time when the romantic bits are not slowing things down. While not officially credited to him this was allegedly shot, for the most part, by director Jess Franco(Georges Friedland is given credit) and it's not hard to believe that while viewing. Franco regular Paul Muller has a big role. Non-essential except for true Franco completists. 

Known in Italy as THE PERVERSE GIRL:

WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? (1974)

  This one starts right out with the discovery of a teenage girl who seemingly has committed suicide, but has she really? Well it wouldn't be much of an Italian giallo flick without a killer running around. In addition to staging fake suicides our killer enjoys running around with a meat-cleaver and giving anyone who is in danger of exposing the young teen prostitution ring he's working for the chop. One of the top tier giallos that isn't made by Argento or Bava(director Massimo Dallamano had made the similarly titled WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO SOLANGE? 2 years prior) complete with a high sleaze and blood quotient. AKA THE COED MURDERS

 The original Italian title translates to THE POLICE CALL FOR HELP which is a pretty dull title for this.

 Some of the music used in this trailer, and the film itself, was previously used in MILANO CALIBRE 9 and MADNESS. It is a great tune though!:

 Some of what I believe is original music for this film, "bla, bla":

                                              The American re-release used this title:

EYE IN THE LABYRINTH (1972)

  This a weird giallo about a woman searching for her missing lover and ending up on an island with a group of rich artsy oddballs. The head teacher from SUSPIRIA(Alida Vali) is the leader of this group which also includes a young Sybil Danning who looks great as always. Some weird turns are taken, a transvestite who hates being called a transvestite(so progressive!) is another of our group and  a minimal but bloody body count racks up. I'm not sure if it was just the sound system where I viewed this or not but whenever someone got stabbed it was super loud on the soundtrack which really added to my enjoyment of this one. 

                                                                 Turkish poster:

       

THE MUTHERS (1976)

  Filipino blend of blaxploitation, kung fu, women in prison and jungle action cinema directed by the prolific Cirio H. Santiago. Fairly standard by-the-numbers action movie plot that is unique for starring 4 black ladies in the lead roles. Jeannie Bell is the one I'm most familiar with having been the star of TNT JACKSON before this. Lots of terrible martial arts and gun-fu is on display. Not much more to recommend this one though. 

                       Not very much like RAMBO but there is lots of action in the jungle!:

DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS (1971)

  I caught this one recently as the 2nd movie in an all-day marathon of giallos. Following OASIS OF FEAR  in the lineup this one couldn't help but drag in comparison. It is after all a pretty standard mystery and there's not much in the way of a body count(though the one big kill shown does bring the gore quotient). It is also fairly stylish throughout and the soundtrack grooves. Strangely there's a cross-dressing guy with a fake hand that shows up and a stripper in black-face. Nowhere near the best giallo I've seen but a decent enough watch. AKA DEATH STALKS ON HIGH HEELS

 Director Luciano Ercoli would make the similarly titled DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT the following year. The plots have no connection.