If Paul Naschy was food he would have been a beef.
Truer words has never been written by me. Naschy who I love so much, you're missed. I get those empty feelings everytime I watch something by Naschy. That feeling that Naschy will never make a movie again, never lash out at the movie business in pure bitterness - but still have self-assurance like never before. He was a complex man.
In Vengeance of the Zombies, a movie he wrote and starred in, there seems to be a general idea of just "giving it all", never set down the foot to stop an idea, a freebasers with movies as art. But with that special Naschy-feeling of course: blood, boobs and... sometimes a bearded Naschy. It's a wild story, a distant relative of the Italian giallo films: a masked man is using voodoo to raise the dead from their graves and make them kill people. An Indian holy man (Naschy) comes to the UK to relaxe and get back in shape, but gets involved in the murder mystery against his will.
Is there devil worshippers in the basement? Is something supernatural going on? Or is it just the same old Mr Greedy working his bloody hand over the half-naked cast? In one scen you'll see a gold-painted woman cooking something on a stove - down in a basement - while Naschy dressed as the devil tries to get close to female victim. The audience is zombies.
What the fuck was that? I still wonder that, but that's the wild shit I like about VOTZ. It's not just another "Spanish giallo", it's a murder mystery that dares go beyond the normal stabbings and let zombies do the deed while the killer is safe behind black gloves and hat. The music score is insane by the way. Modern jazz, very loud and... well, "jazzy" and totally inappropriate for any serious horror film.
It also have a nice amount of blood and cheap gore, which - believe it or not - is a quite rare detail in his films. This one has a lot of very red blood, fake knifes ripping flesh, a fun decapitation. It's never outrageous, but it's graphic anyway.
But these film was never scary. They're about mood, coolness, red paint as blood, naked chicks, Naschy flexing his manly chest. You know the deal, it's all the same. And like Godzilla films and the Ultraman shows you know what you gets and that's the reason why we watch it. It's like meeting an old nice uncle again, someone who always have an adventure to tell. That's what Naschy did. He tells absurd stories over a glass of whisky. Just imagine the fire reflecting in his dark eyes while he tells a story about yet another werewolf or a macabre murder.
It's poety in it's own exploitative way. I don't demand more.
Vengeance of the Zombies is a colorful, silly and bizarre myster/horror and one of my favorites. It gives Naschy several parts to play and the talented director uses slow-motion in a very beautiful way, a bit similar to what Amando de Ossorio did with his living dead in the Blind Dead series. I'm not sure anyone would call this a masterpiece, but in my little world - in my bubble - it's the best kind of movie.
A movie that makes me happy.
"Is there devil worshippers in the basement? Is something supernatural going on? Or is it just the same old Mr Greedy working his bloody hand over the half-naked cast? In one scen you'll see a gold-painted woman cooking something on a stove - down in a basement - while Naschy dressed as the devil tries to get close to female victim. The audience is zombies.
What the fuck was that? I still wonder that, but that's the wild shit I like about VOTZ."
Sounds almost like Naschy makes a comment about the genre audience about to watch this film...?
"The music score is insane by the way. Modern jazz, very loud and... well, "jazzy" and totally inappropriate for any serious horror film."
Avantgarde jazz in an horrorflick....?
Never seen that before.
"But these film was never scary. They're about mood, coolness, red paint as blood, naked chicks, Naschy flexing his manly chest. You know the deal, it's all the same."
I don´t know, I haven´t seen this one nor have I seen Naschys other films.
"Vengeance of the Zombies is a colorful, silly and bizarre myster/horror and one of my favorites. It gives Naschy several parts to play and the talented director uses slow-motion in a very beautiful way, a bit similar to what Amando de Ossorio did with his living dead in the Blind Dead series. I'm not sure anyone would call this a masterpiece, but in my little world - in my bubble - it's the best kind of movie.
A movie that makes me happy."
The storyline sounded very interesting, good review and thanks Fred.
Posted by: Megatron | April 29, 2013 at 23:48