Friday, March 23, 2007

Eurotrash Film Pinnacle Project - Paul Cooke


Today we have a Eurotrash Pinnacle entry from my brotha by anotha mutha, Paul Cooke! Fantastic choices, if you have missed even one of these, fix that my friends. You can read lots of Paul's reviews at Cinema Nocturna!

Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979) . Director Lucio Fulci’s awesome chunk blower. My most re-watched movie still to this day & I never tire of it. A spectacular set piece eye to splinter gore segment that will never be matched. The quintessential Zombie movie from the Italian horror scene.

1990: The Bronx Warriors (1982) . Young star Mark Gregory made Trash Cool. George Eastman makes big trouble & Fred Williamson gets to style & profile pimp stylee !. Christopher Connelly & a great bad guy turn from Vic Morrow as Hammer makes for an impressive Euro Action cast. A futuristic gang war Action flick supremely put up on the screen by Director Enzo G. Castellari.

Bronx Warriors 2 (1983) . Enzo serves up more of the same as the body count increases & body parts fly. Giancarlo Prete is Strike & alongside Trash they take on Henry Silva as the Bronx is invaded. Flame throwers & spiked clubs in equal measure against fists & guns. It’s clobberin’ time in the Bronx.

2019: After The Fall Of New York (1983) . The ultimate low budget Sci Fi fans ‘Wrestlemania’ moment. Michael Sopkiw as Parsifal rules the Post Nuke roost & Big Ape George Eastman is the cock of the walk. Big Ape gets to impregnate Valentine Monnier with his fertile seed to further mankind , but leave it to Michael Sopkiw to save the world. George Miller’s ‘Mad Max’ started it all but Sergio Martino Directed the magnificence of this ‘Fall’.

Yor: The Hunter From The Future (1983) . Reb Brown with stunt wig comes from the future to save the past in a four hour made for TV Epic from Director Antonio Margheriti. Producing more cheese than a field full of cows caught up in a tornado , but oh so wonderfully innocent in its fantastical charm. John Steiner almost steals the show with his pantomime turn as the Overlord but its Reb Brown who’ll win a place in ‘Yor’ heart if you get the chance to step into his world of dinosaurs & nasty Neanderthal’s , on the way to crossing swamp creatures & robots cast out from ‘Buck RogersIn The 25th Century’.

Robowar (1988) . The Rebster is back screaming at the top of his lungs as Director Bruno Mattei goes ‘Predator’ - ‘Robocop’ style in the jungle. Another great cast that alongside Reb Brown includes Max Laurel , Jim Gaines , Catherine Hick land & Romano Puppo. Look for the infamous Bruno Falls as the Filipino setting includes a ubiquitous scene of a water fall. It defies logic in such a totally terrific trash way ya gotsta love it.

Contamination (1980) . Director Luigi Cozzi’s Excellent take on Alien as an extra terrestrial terror seeks to overrule the Earth with deadly exploding eggs. Ex astronaut Ian Hubbard , Ian McCulloch’s character , teams with a New York cop , played by Marino Masé , as they race against time to uncover the Alien presence. What follows is a stomach exploding aftermath of bloody brilliance. Cozzi’s intentional eye for detail of timeless setting with dress wear & vehicles affords ‘Contamination’ a future proofing for audiences to this day. A wonderful slice of Sci Fi hokum that explodes across the screen all to the accompaniment of super synchronistic rock group Goblin.

Rats: Night Of Terror (1984). One of the many great writing / directing collaborations of Claudio Fragasso & Bruno Mattei. A far fetched futuristic nightmare vision of man made disaster after the fall of the bomb. It’s a handful of human survivors against a humongous horde of rats with a cheesy big twist at the end to bring the house down.

Tenebrae (1982) . Director Dario Argento’s contemporary killer classic. Superbly filmed & supremely scored once again by Goblin. A sexually charged thriller that oozes pure perfection from every scene. A pumping soundtrack drives the insidious killer to a frenzied cacophony of kills right up to the incredibly original closure. Top marks for Dario and yet another that stands up to continued revisits.

The New Barbarians (1982) . More Post Nuke greatness from the Action master Enzo G. Castellari. Fred Williamson is bowman Nadir & eponymous bad boy George Eastman is One , who certainly gives a unique ‘one’ to hero Scorpion as played by Giancarlo Prete. In a world laid to waste garish outcasts with a taste for flesh rule but aided by Nadir & Scorpion the surviving good folk still have a chance. Another in the long line of Italian Eighties Action classics first uncovered on home video.

2 comments:

Dan said...

Wow, what a fantastic list. I've seen and enjoyed many of these flicks time and time again. I'll have to add BRONX WARRIORS 2, YOR and ROBOWAR to my list. I know you rave about these too DZ so I gots to see 'em.

Anonymous said...

Dan , Both Bronx Warriors movies are pure pulp perfection :) . Robowar is a joy to behold in its jungletastic marvelousness. A movie I have about three Tapes of ... you never know when one might break eh ;) . If you chat to David real nice he'll rave to you about that Full Version of Yor till Reb Brown's stunt wig knocks on your home door to introduce itself. A rare find indeed & a joy to behold. Enjoy :) . Paul