Well, its been a while, but I’ve been working on something big - and here is the first part of an all new Mondo Esoterica guide, with four all new reviews.
The guide itself is going to be greatly extended over the next few months, as are the reviews, but for now, take a look and enjoy:
The Mondo Esoterica Guide to THE PEPLUM
It is finally here! 3 weeks of hard writing and research, and lots of late night film-watching have produced an all new, 2500 word Complete Guide to Amicus.
That includes 8 all new film reviews:
Not to mention all new, two exclusive and extensive biographies of Amicus’ top directors, Freddie Francis and Roy Ward Baker, check those out.
And it doesn’t stop there, we have more Amicus reviews coming this month, including the impending WB US release of From Beyond the Grave (1973), not to mention more Horror Movie reviews for the rest of the month, all part of Horror September 2!
It has been a long time since we had any Hammer reviews on this site, so here are two new titles for your delectation, both starring that voluptuous Polish beauty, Ingrid Pitt.
The Vampire Lovers (1970) - the first, and certainly the best of Hammer’s female vampire movies is this close adaptation of the original Carmilla novel. An Italian DVD release that is a good substitute for the OOP US disc.
Countess Dracula (1971) - not so good this time, but a relatively enjoyable film, an adaptation of the classic Countess Bathory legend. A recent R2 special edition DVD with lots of great features, might even tempt a double dip.
Of course to tie these together we’ve got the first new guide of Horror September 2, the complete Mondo Esoterica Guide to Ingrid Pitt - and there is more Pitt coming later this month (no prizes for guessing which one)!
Another all new project for Mondo Esoterica, I call it the Historybook. Basically it is a mix of real facts and film reviews, for a selected period of history. This is a trial run of the format, centered around the legendary Norsemen. If successful, I will be going on to explore lots more periods of history and their cinematic representations (suggestions welcome!)
I’v reviewed 6 new films, plus updated one existing review, and there will be more added to this Guide over the next few months:
13th Warrior (1999) - enjoyable but rather rushed.
Erik the Conqueror (1961) - a great adventure film.
Knives of the Avenger (1966) - a very interesting film, more plot than action.
The Long Ships (1964) - an enjoyable adventure film, mix between Vikings and Sinbad.
Tarkan versus the Vikings (1971) - utterly daft Turkish film.
The Viking Sagas (1995) - the best of the bunch, a very good film, shot in Iceland.
The Vikings (1958) - the Hollywood classic, enjoyable, but flawed.
So hurry and read reviews of all these and more at The Mondo Esoterica Historybook Guide to The Vikings
Although never a major player in Euro-cult cinema, Horst Frank is one the better known character actors from the period. German by birth, he got his first start in the late 1950s, and quickly moved across Europe starring in a variety of films from Spaghetti Westerns to Gialli through the 1960s and into the early 1970s when he returned to Germany, working extensively in television and radio there.
I have just posted a brand new review of one of his few starring roles, as an insane scientist in the German sci-fi film The Head (1959) and you can also find out a lot more about the background of this actor in the all new Mondo Esoterica Guide to Horst Frank.
Back to basics this week with an all new trio of Spaghetti Western reviews, from the recent Koch Media Halleluja boxset. Alongside two light hearted movies is the excellent gem, Raise Your Hands Dead Man starring Peter Lee Lawrence. Fans of the genre will certainly want to pick up this great looking set:
Hallelujah Italo-Western Collection
I have also added more information to the Spaghetti Western Guide page. Enjoy!
From his early days directing sword and sandal pepla, to being the only Western director to voluntarily shoot a film in North Korea, Ferdinando Baldi should be one of the best known Euro-cult directors, but has slipped into almost complete obscurity, known now only for his interesting selection of Spaghetti Western titles - which are sadly some of the only titles of his currently available on DVD.
Using some of the few available resources to learn more about this director, we present the all new Mondo Esoterica Guide to Ferdinando Baldi, including all new reviews of Blindman (1971) and Little Rita nel West (1967), as well as updated reviews of his other films…
Released without much attention outside of Germany last year was this five disc boxset from Kinowelt containing all five of the Fu Manchu films produced by Harry Alan Towers and starring Christopher Lee.
Full review with loads of background information: Dr. Fu Man Chu Collection
You can also check out a brand new Mondo Esoterica Guide, to producer Harry Alan Towers.
We’re back to basics with a trio of Spaghetti Western reviews, this time, a rather impressive German Django boxset from Koch Media.
Plus, the Spaghetti Western guide page has had a few new tweaks.
Well, its finally here - 12,000 words of new Guide and reviews.
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Editor’s project notes.
Readers will probably notice first the absence of Universal Horror reviews, don’t worry, these are coming later in the year in Part 2 of the Frankenstein: The Movies project. Part 3 is also on the cards, which will feature more exploitation and obscure titles. As with all our guides, updates will be ongoing over time, with new reviews and information being added.
I hope you enjoy the results of this four month labour, and stay tuned for some similar projects later in the year (3 guesses as to the topic of the next Guide!).
News, thoughts and upcoming information….
