SEASON FOR ASSASSINS - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Reviewed by Steve Fenton with additional comments from Dennis Capicik.

US video blurbs: “Four ruthless, sadistic young hoodlums, looking for the fastest route to easy street, embark on a violent and bloody path that points straight to oblivion... Rape, harassment, and terrorism are ‘easy’ crimes to master; they’re great for kicks, but not for cash... The big dollars are in major league crime: extortion, armed robbery, and murder...”

Under the title SEASON FOR ASSASSINS, this film was formerly (circa the 1980s) extant on domestic North American Betamax/VHS videocassettes from both Unicorn and USA Home Video.

What we’ve got here is an oddball mishmash of a film, simultaneously ambitious and amateurish, which content-wise is much in the vein of Romolo Guerrieri’s rogue-youths-on-a-rampage action drama, YOUNG, VIOLENT, DANGEROUS (1976).

In Rome, Piero Giarranaldi (whose last name was shortened to “Naldi” on Anglo prints; Joe Dallesandro) and his three buddies are reckless street punks who enjoy joyriding through rush hour traffic. They recklessly endanger the life of an innocent moped rider, treat other cars like dodgems for their amusement and jeopardize pedestrians, all in the name of cheap kicks. For dirty cash, Piero and his boys run minor break-and-enter scams for an underworld fence named Mr. Poggi (Settimio Segnatelli), who promises the gang (“They were born small, and they’re gonna stay small!”) their shot at the big leagues any day now. Their long-awaited “big job” arrives in the form of a stocks-and-cash heist at a jewelry store. While Poggi has given explicit instructions that there should be no gunplay involved on the robbers’ part, the panicked proprietor shoots one of the gang instead, resulting in a massed police manhunt...

Dallesandro – whose famous “Joe” tattoo is plainly visible here, despite his onscreen character’s different first name – looks much as he did in his notorious Warhol films, and is dubbed by a different actor (a blessing, considering his severely limited emotive range). Joe’s lawless Piero character’s father is institutionalized. He neglects his older live-in girlfriend, a streetwalker named Romana (Magali Noël [“I make good money behind the bushes!”]; IMDb gives her character name as “Rossana”), who in turn neglects their unwanted, illegitimate infant child. Piero’s other roommate is a weird monk, Father Eugenio (Rossano Brazzi [“My parish is in the streets!”]), who openly ogles pin-ups of naked women and is frowned upon by Vatican II (Monsignor: “Cultivating a gang of infamous delinquents is hardly a Christian act!”). After one of his criminal subordinates beats-up and robs Fr. Eugenio, Dallesandro threatens to cut the perp’s head off with a circular table saw!

Playing vigilante Commissioner Quattroni (whose name the IMDb gives as “Katroni”), name-brand Yank guest star Martin Balsam’s sudden outburst of ‘police brutality’ is poorly motivated and even more poorly staged. Brazzi’s cassocked cleric is on hand to torment Balsam’s nonexistent conscience (“Take that gun and kill off all that crap in the name of the law!”). For the messy finale, Joe is cornered by Balsam after he makes his break in a Ford Capri rally car.

Martin Balsam (left) wonders why a guy named Piero has a 'Joe' tattoo.

Co-written by sleazy-cheapie spezialista Piero Regnoli – whose name attached to it should clue you in to the film’s humble origins – the script also dwells on Joe’s burgeoning relationship with virginal nice girl Sandra (Cinzia Mambretti, in a part originally proposed for Marina Malfatti). No sooner has he sunk his hooks in than he ‘seduces’ her after first spiking her Coca-Cola. At the same time, dysfunctional Joe must fend off confrontations with the mother of his bastard son; using his ill-gotten gains to make child-support payments. When his new girl Sandra also becomes knocked-up, Joe coldly demands she have an abortion (“I only came around for a couple of good fucks! ...I’d rather stay home and jerk off!”). At his most misogynistic, Joe watches while Sandra is gang-raped, then – evidently sickened more by his own behavior than the sordid scene he is watching – vomits afterwards. After jumping to her death from a high-rise in shame (a very fake dummy actually takes the fall, which severely compromises the intended seriousness of the scene by making it laughable), Sandra’s bloodied corpse is gnawed on by scavenger dogs that also root through garbage, thus driving home still more heavy-handed symbolism.

The cast is filled with unprepossessing pimply-faced, shaggy-haired youths, who, while providing verisimilitude, don’t make this uniformly ugly production any easier on the eye. As ugly aurally as it is visually, the soundtrack is padded with bad US-styled ’70s hard rock (sample lyrics: “I’m a gang leader / A man of terror”). Attempts at arty cutting fall flat (blame it on editor Giulio Berruti, documentarist and future director of KILLER NUN [1978], also co-starring Dallesandro). Further burdened with messy philosophical dialogue, IL TEMPO DEGLI ASSASSINI tries too hard to cover too many bases at once (i.e., Church vs. State, Good vs. Evil, and everything else in-between). Narratively all over the shop, the film seems unsure whether it’s a violent, exploitative crime actioner or a more serious social commentary. As is perhaps indicated by its muddled and often dramatically unsound scenario, IL TEMPO DEGLI ASSASSINI seems to have had a troubled production history (shooting was for some reason forestalled, then resumed in July of ’75); which still doesn’t excuse the fact that it’s so horribly directed – blame it on Marcello Andrei, who got the credit! – with more slack than Dallesandro’s acting. It’s also overwrought, with an unbelievably ham-fisted ending that strives for poignancy without even coming close. Virtually the only bearable aspects are some diverting auto stunts. Franco Garofalo, a typecast ‘lowlife’ player seen in other more entertaining Italocrime entries (including Bruno Corbucci’s The COP IN BLUE JEANS and Massimo Dallamano’s COLT 38 SPECIAL SQUAD [both 1976]) is one of the few familiar faces to be found in the supporting cast.

Most apt line of dialogue (incidentally, it and all the other quotes given above are quoted verbatim from the English-dubbed export transfer print contained on Unicorn Video’s erstwhile domestic tape edition): “These things are like a pile of horse manure: the more you turn it over, the more it stinks!” There’s a message in there somewhere...

That same year, Playmen editrix Adelina Tattilo also co-produced Carlo Lizzani’s supersleazy prostitution exposé, STORIE DI VITA E MALAVITA, which was a helluva lot better made but about ten times as scungy.

Despite the rather uneven nature of the film itself, there isn’t much fault to be had with Subkultur’s recent Blu-ray/DVD Combo (encoded for Region B and Region 2, respectively), which gives the film a much spiffier appearance than it probably deserves.  Every pimply-faced, shaggy-haired youth literally pops off the screen, while Dallesandro’s trademark “Joe” tattoo is even more clearly visible in this superb HD rendering.  Although lacking in any real substantial or illuminating extras, this edition contains two versions of the film, including the original, full-length (96m18s) version containing both German and Italian language options as well as optional English subtitles; it would have been nice to have the English dub-track, but it’s no great loss.  The second version (in German only) is the German theatrical print (in much rougher shape), which runs 89m26s and shortens all sorts of bits and pieces, including the film’s opening car chase. This version also contains a number of unique German-language trailers, which play before the main feature including one for Ernesto Gastaldi's The LONELY VIOLENT BEACH (1971) under the title ROCKER STERBEN NICHT SO LEICHT.  Other extras include both the German and Italian trailers (in HD), a photo and poster gallery and a “trailershow” highlighting some of the label's other releases.  A 32-page German-language booklet with writing from Pelle Felsch and Cristoph Draxtra is also included.  This Blu-ray is limited to only 1000 copies, so grab it while you still can!  Order it at DiabolikDVD here. 

NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER - DVD REVIEW

This is the second release from Vinegar Syndrome in conjunction with the American Genre Film Archive, and despite a slightly weathered print, this is the best this “southern-fried whodunnit” oddity has ever looked; the less said of Paragon’s early-’80s VHS tape, the better!    

Returning from Vasser College in upstate New York to her hometown of Baton Rouge, Denise (Susan McCullough) is greeted at the airport by her brother Vance (played by Monkees member Micky Dolenz), a Vietnam veteran.  Although happy to see her, he becomes apprehensive when she reveals that she is currently dating a black man and pregnant, knowing full-well that Vance’s bigoted but influential brother Dan (Jim Ralston) will be fuming mad.  Demanding an abortion, Susan naturally objects and returns to New York.  Upon her return, her boyfriend is soon killed by a professional hitman (Patrick Wright) via a high-end scope rifle conveniently housed in a guitar case.  Devastated, but fully aware of who was responsible, she too is killed, drowned in a bathtub and made to look like a suicide.  Meanwhile, Father Jesse (Chuck Patterson) is assigned to his former parish and soon becomes embroiled in the family’s soap opera theatrics, which are punctuated by petty jealousies, racism and even more murder.

Misleadingly titled – which immediately brings to mind some low-rent sleazy horror along the lines of Robert Hammer’s DON’T ANSWER THE PHONE (1980) – The NIGHT OF THE STRANGLER is a thriller in the thinnest sense of the word, despite some of the murders that take place: including death by an “Elephant” snake, whose “venom can kill in seconds,” and even an elaborate death scene involving “curare”-dipped arrows.  When Dan’s new wife Carol (Ann Barrett) – Vance’s ex-girlfriend – is mysteriously killed by that poisonous snake, which “struck at her from the bouquet” given to her by Father Jesse, everyone becomes a suspect; the list of suspects also includes Vance, his current girlfriend Ann (Katie Tilley), and even Dan’s recently-fired groundskeeper (Warren J. Kenner).  Detectives Tony De Vivo (Michael Anthony) and Jim Bunch (Harold Sylvester, Jr. – a busy TV actor primarily known for his stint on Married With Children [1987-1997] as Ed O’Neill’s buddy Griff and for a few film roles from the early-’80s, including Taylor Hackford’s An OFFICER AND A GENTLEMAN [1982], Ted Kotcheff’s UNCOMMON VALOR [1983] and Harold Becker’s VISION QUEST [1985]) soon have their work cut-out for them trying to brush off “idle threats” and simply getting frustrated at the convoluted goings-on within this family (“You honkies are crazy, man!”).  Further complications arise when Dan won’t honour his contract with the New York outfit that helped get rid of his sister and her boyfriend, which eventually leads to the rather surprising, if equally far-fetched, finale.

Micky Dolenz (left) and Jim Ralston react to Susan's revelation.

Notwithstanding his few directorial efforts – including NIGHT OF BLOODY HORROR (1969), WOMEN AND BLOODY TERROR (1970), and his Sasquatch/Bigfoot ‘creature’ feature The CREATURE FROM BLACK LAKE (1976) – Joy N. Houck Jr. was predominantly associated with Howco (later Howco International), a film distribution company originally founded by his father Joy N. Houck Sr., fellow Louisiana filmmaker and director of The MONSTER AND THE STRIPPER (1968), Ron Ormond and J. Francis White, which helped provide films for their vast chain of theatres in the American South. 

Like their earlier AGFA release SUPERSOUL BROTHER (1978), Vinegar Syndrome has also released this as a bare-bones affair, and although the print is a little on the rough side with drab colours – the reds tend to look a little pinkish – it’s by far the best option available and worth picking up, especially for the very affordable price tag.  Order it at Vinegar Syndrome here. 

Patrick Wright as the hitman takes aim.  

SATAN'S BLADE - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Original Prism VHS ad-line: “An unholy talisman of murder and madness.”

In 1985, during the waning days of the stalk ’n’ slash craze, SATAN’S BLADE (1984) quietly debuted on VHS videocassette courtesy of Prism Video.  It was also available via Mogul Communications and Galaxy (which appears to be one of Mogul’s subsidiary labels [?]), and that release’s rather striking cover-art – which adorns Slasher Video and Olive Film’s current DVD and Blu-ray release – was also reused on numerous other releases from Mogul, most notably Carlos Puerto’s SATAN’S BLOOD (1978).  According to director L. Scott Castillo Jr., SATAN’S BLADE was actually made in 1980 and remained in distribution limbo until 1984, where, at one point, even Warner Brothers expressed some possible interest.  Despite the allure of studio distribution, SATAN’S BLADE simply got lost among a glut of horror titles, which crowded shelves at most video stores of the time.

Static, bucolic shots of wintery locales – Northern California – are suddenly disrupted when a typical-looking hunting knife flies through the air and impales itself in a tree, and then, rather mysteriously, it begins to give off a red glow.  The film then quickly moves to the ‘Sierra Foothill Bank’, where a couple of bank robbers – all shot with low angles to obscure their identity, which makes it feel like some long-lost Doris Wishman film – not only rob the bank but viciously kill a couple of tellers working late that day.  They eventually make their way to a cabin – which we assume is in the very same woods from the opening – and wait for their contact, but in a nice twist of fate they fall prey to some mysterious madman.  A strange symbol is written in blood at the scene of the crime, which only baffles the local police (“I wonder what this means?”), but despite the gruesome double murder, it doesn’t stop the owners of this mountain getaway renting out both the cabin next door and the very same cabin where the murders took place.

Two groups of vacationers including Tony (Tom Bongiorno) and his buddy Al (Thomas Cue), who, along with their wives arrive on the same day as a group of college girls who are trying to ‘cheer up’ their friend Sue (Ramona Andrada), whose father recently passed away.  Despite warnings from one of the owners about a “mountain man” who was given a weapon by “the evil spirits of the mountains”, Tony shrugs it off as mere ballyhoo.  Slowing down considerably, the film aborts the rather energetic opening and focuses on ‘character development’ as Tony and Al neglect their wives, get drunk and play practical jokes on the girls next door (“Those ski instructors are just a warm-up for the main event!”), but then, out of the blue, a seriously creepy dream sequence enlivens the proceedings.  Thankfully, at this point, SATAN’S BLADE begins to pick up the pace as our weekend vacationers try to elude this “monster of death”.

Certainly not lacking in originality, this rather lowly effort remains oddly compelling despite the very amateurish performances, and while the supernatural angle is a most-welcome touch, the rather inconsistent pace will undoubtedly test many viewer’s patience, even though the film has all the requisite cut-rate gore and topless nudity, which epitomizes most Slasher films of the time.  The wintery locales always provide an aura of stillness and eerie menace, which the filmmakers capture quite well; while Martin Jaquish – who also edited the film – scores the film with a simplistic, but highly effective synth score, which amps up the chilly atmosphere considerably.

After a long wait, Slasher Video delivers SATAN’S BLADE on Blu-Ray – it’s also available on DVD – in what is undoubtedly the best the film has ever looked.  Mastered in 2K, the film is presented in an open-matte 1.35:1 transfer, which definitely displays a little too much ‘headroom’ in many scenes, but, if you so desire, zoom into the picture and it actually works quite well compositionally; although some brief nudity is cut off the frame during an obligatory shower scene.  As for the extras, the disc also includes ‘Director’s Narrative’, an interview with the director, which helps shed some light on the production and ‘Remembering Satan’s Blade’, a rather poorly shot interview with the director showing off some props, the original 35mm film cans, a couple of VHS releases and a poster.  Other extras include the trailer (which is the original Prism video trailer), extensive still and artwork galleries and a couple of deleted/extended scenes from both the Japanese and Dutch videotapes.  Unfortunately, the fan produced SATAN’S BLADE 2 trailer is not included, despite what the packaging proclaims.

Not for everyone, Slasher Video has nonetheless pulled out all the stops for this once forgotten (some viewers may think it probably should have stayed that way) film, which, in this new re-mastered edition, makes it infinitely more digestible than viewing it through some muddy old VHS tape.  Order SATAN'S BLADE at DiabolikDVD.