Movie Review: "Meet Him and Die" (1976; Raro Video)

...since the sixties, Italian cinema has relished a most illustrious and deliciously visceral engagement, in the eclectic arena of cult cinema, having dabbled in just about every genre under the sun. There's no denying the fervored fans of devotees of each and every genre...the Sword and Sandal flicks...the Gothic Horrors...the Spaghetti Westerns...the Post-Apocalyptic, Sci-Fi and Space flicks...the Gore-Drenched Splatter & Zombie Horror...the Enigmatic, Mystery-Drive Giallos. And of course...though measurably under-appreciated...there's the Action-Packed Crime Thrillers, or 'poliziotteschi', as they are coined by ardent devotees of the sub-genre. Wrought with tension-filled drama...crosses, double-crosses & even triple-crosses...daring getaways & dynamic chases...and of course, rampant & bloody gunplay, graphic & visceral enough to unnerve even the most seasoned & jaded of gore-mongers. Often emulating their American crime thriller counterparts, with parallel themes of revenge, family loyalty, undercover ops, honor amongst thieves, corruption amongst law enforcers, carefully planned & executed heists, and capers gone oh-so wrong, the 'poliziotteschi' films have still managed to garnish a most exclusive and exotic flavor, which has genuinely individualized and singled them out from their domestic inspirations...gritty, pulpish, juggernaut 'beasts', unto their own selves. Director Franco Prosperi's (..uh, no...not that Franco Prosperi, the director of the 'Mondo Cane' shockumentaries, as well as the brutally visceral and unflinching "Africa: Blood & Guts") singular entry into the genre, the 1976 actioner, "Meet Him and Die", might not be the best example, as far as this particular niche of film; however, there's still a whole heck of a lot here, to relish, nonetheless...

Franco Prosperi's MEET HIM AND DIE is Coming Soon From Raro!!

Raro Video Will Release Franco Prosperi's MEET HIM AND DIE, the hard-hitting Italian police thriller starring Ray Lovelock (Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man) and Elke Sommer (Lisa and the Devil).
Available on Blu-ray and DVD on April 1st in digitally remastered edition including a video introduction by Mike Malloy (Eurocrime! The Italian Cop and Gangster Films That Ruled the '70s) and a fully illustrated booklet with notes on the film. 

NEW YORK, NY- MARCH 3, 2014 - Raro Video is proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Franco Prosperi's MEET HIM AND DIE, a rare gem of the poliziotteschigenre starring Ray Lovelock (Fiddler on the Roof; Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man), Elke Sommer (Lisa and the Devil, A Shot in the Dark), and Martin Balsam (Psycho, Cape Fear).

Movie Review: Nightmare City (Blu-ray)

As a youth one of the most enjoyable things I did was simply walk to the local Mom 'n Pop video stores and gaze at the covers of the many of the highly exploitative horror movie covers many companies used to get folks to plop down $2.50 for a three night rental. The big box (or "porn box") releases had the biggest allure for this budding genre fanatic. Umberto Lenzi's City of the Walking Dead ( AKA Nightmare City) and its release from Continental Video had my paws on it plenty of times until I was finally able to rent it -- thanks to an older sibling. Since then this bizarre zombie flick has seen a few DVD releases but now thanks to the folks at Raro Video fans get to see it on the high-def. All I can say is that we have come a long way in 25 years and this movie still manages to entertain. 

A giant cargo plane is floating close to an airport, not answering anything from air traffic control, just getting uncomfortably close a highly populated area ripe for a disaster. These aren't the smartest air traffic controllers so naturally they allow this beast of in airplane to land on one of their runways. Intrepid reporter,  Dean Miller (perpetually stiff Mexican actor, Hugo Stiglitz, Tintorera, Cyclone) is on the scene with his crew and numerous authorities to find out what exactly is in this plane. This proves to be a big mistake as this particular plane is loaded with bloodthirsty,radioactive oatmeal-faced zombies.

The Italian Zombie Epic "Nightmare City" Debuts on Blu-ray December 31st From Raro Video!

NEW YORK, NY - DECEMBER 2, 2013 - Raro Video is proud to announce the Blu-ray and DVD release of Umberto Lenzi's zombie horror film Nightmare City in a new HD transfer from the original 35mm negative and packed with special features.

Nightmare City comes to Blu-ray and DVD with a street date of December 31st and a prebook date of December 3rd. The Blu-ray SRP is $34.95, and the DVD SRP is $29.95. Special features include: an interview with Umberto Lenzi (49:27); original English trailer (3:45); original Italian trailer (3:45); a fully illustrated booklet on the genesis and production of the film by Chris Alexander, Fangoria Magazine; new HD transfer digitally restored; and new and improved English subtitle translation.

Movie Review: Shoot First, Die Later (1974, Blu-ray)

Raro Video has taken it upon themselves over the past few years to release numerous classic film works from writer/director Fernando Di Leo. There was the excellent release of Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man, a Blu-ray boxset with four of his finest films (Caliber 9, Rulers of the City, The Boss and The Italian Connection) and now the recently released Shoot First, Die Later in a Blu-ray special edition is finally available. If you’re itching for some no-nonsense, violent Polizia, Mr. Di Leo rarely disappoints.

Shoot First, Die Later centers around Domenico Malacarene (Luc Merenda, Torso) a not-so squeaky clean cop who lives slightly better than his fellow officers because he accepts money from the city's crime syndicate. Outside from a little corruption here and there, Domenico actually seems like a regular guy who likes to spend time with his girlfriend, Sandra (Delia Boccardo, Massacre in Rome). The only problem here is he gets way in over his head. His father also works in the police department but doesn't quite dabble in these illicit affairs.

Movie Review: Ubaldo Terzani's Horror Show (2010, Blu-ray)

Horror films centered on filmmakers or authors seem to be much more common nowadays. A couple recent examples that really aren’t too shabby have to be Wes Craven’s New Nightmare and Lucio Fulci’s Cat in the Brain. Raro Video has made their mark with releasing numerous Italian crime films, horror and even arthouse obscurities. We haven’t seen too many recent productions getting releases (Before 2000) until now. Ubaldo Terzani’s Horror Show takes the template similar to the titles mentioned above like Cat in the Brain ( which is actually shown on a TV in one character’s living room). Also, unlike Craven’s and Fulci’s films, our filmmaker protagonist is fictional.

Movie Review:The Night Of The Devils (Blu-ray,1972)

Since Raro Video branched out with their American releases over the past couple years, many of their titles (much of them quite obscure) have caught this reviewer by surprise. Whether it’s Plot of Fear or one of my personal favorites, Murder Obsession, I’ve been able to enjoy some movies I knew nothing about from Italian filmmakers. Now, we have Giorgio Ferroni’s Night of the Devils to peak my interest. The movie’s story sounds fun and its available now for the first time on DVD and Blu-ray from Raro, so could it be yet another diamond in the rough?

Most European cult cinema fans will know Ferroni from his excellent feature Mill of the Stone Women. The Night of the Devils was produced several years later and involves a man named Nicola (Gianni Garko, The Psychic) who’s been admitted to a mental hospital where he has some horrific dreams. Rotting bodies, naked women, heat-ripping, faces exploding are all a part of these dreams. Why is he having these crazy visions? After watching Nicola shift and twitch in his bed with his doctors overlooking him, we are shown exactly what made him goofy.

Movie Review: Come Have Coffee With Us (aka Venga a Prendere Un Caffe Da Noi, 1970)

Directed by Alberto Lattuada

Movie Review By Greg Goodsell

In a 15-minute interview with film historian and Italian film expert Adriano Aprà, he informs us that Come Have Coffee With Us is effectively “an erotic film without eroticism.” He’s hit the nail right on the head there, as the film, a neither-the-sea-nor-the-sand comedy features the great Ugo Tognazzi (of the La Cage Aux Folles series) in the pursuit of three most unappetizing women.

Intent on marrying well, the middle-aged Tognazzi sets his sights on the wealthy if deeply unappealing Tarsilla sisters. Left very well off following the death of their wealthy biologist father, the sisters live in their gloomy mansion attended to by a maid. The eldest, Fortunata (Angela Goodwin) appears to be only in her forties, but seems much, much older and is dried up and virginal. Tarsilla (Francesca Romana Coluzzi), is a seven-foot-tall giantess with a mole above her lip; a librarian, she’s engaged in an active sex life with a luckless businessman also out to score some of the sister’s loot. Camilla (Milena Vukotic), the youngest sister, is naïve and gives new resonance to the term “mousey.”

Night of The Devils Debuts On Blu-ray And DVD From Raro Video!

RAROVIDEO DEBUTS THE WORLDWIDE EXCLUSIVE OF CLASSIC HORROR CULT FILM
NIGHT OF THE DEVILS ON DVD AND BLU-RAY SEPTEMBER 25

(Hollywood, CA and Rome, Italy) Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian Film Boutique RaroVideo announces horror fan favorite NIGHT OF THE DEVILS restored to its original splendor for the first time ever on DVD and Blu-ray September 25, 2012.

“A surreal, erotic and stylish Italian horror film with unforgettable
imagery and electrifying music...”
Chris Alexander, Editor, FANGORIA MAGAZINE

NIGHT OF THE DEVILS (1972) Italian genre film legend Gianni Garko stars in this terrifying masterpiece of the macabre, based on Tolstoy’s story The Wurdulak, itself previously adapted in Mario Bava’s Black Sabbath. A nameless mentally ill man (Garko) is found wandering in the woods, his mind lost in fever dreams of gruesome, sexual imagery. After admitted into a psychiatric hospital, the man flashes back to his nightmarish encounter with a backwoods family whose dynasty holds a centuries old curse. What follows is a night of unrelenting horror. With music by Giorgio Gaslini, composer of scores from films by Dario Argento and Michelangelo Antonioni and special effects by Carlo Rambaldi known for his special effects on E.T. Atmospheric and gory, NIGHT OF THE DEVILS is a Eurohorror classic not to be missed. RELEASE DATE: SEPTEMBER 25, 2012

Movie Review: Young, Violent, Dangerous (aka Librii, Armati, Pericolosi, 1976)

Directed by Romolo Guerrieri

Movie Review by Greg Goodsell

A pretty young blonde, Lea (Eleonora Girogi) tells a stern police commissioner (Tomas Milian) that her boyfriend Louie (Max Delys)is planing a gas station heist with his two other friends. While the cops are too quick to write it all off to yet another jealous female, Louie and his friends Joe (Benjamin Lev) and Paul, a.k.a “Blondie (Stefano Patrizi)” follow through with the robbery, leaving three innocent bystanders riddled with bullets. It's only the beginning of their crime and murder spree, as the day grows longer and the boy count soars comfortably into the double digits. Buying weapons from some friendly thugs, the boys rob a supermarket and then gun down their accomplices in cold blood. The blonde joins the trio for the final leg of the journey in an attempt to break through the border into Switzerland. When two gangsters refuse to give them dummy passports, the guys bloodily dispatch them in a bit of vehicular manslaughter. Expressing callous disregard for all who get in the way of their bullets, the good, the bad and the ugly all taste lead and the trio's flight from the law ends with a big bang.

Deodato's Waves of Lust Crashes On To DVD Courtesy of Raro Video July 31st!

RUGGERO DEODATO’S (CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, LIVE LIKE A COP DIE LIKE A MAN) WAVES OF LUST COMES TO DVD JULY 31ST FROM RAROVIDEO!

(Hollywood, CA and Rome, Italy) Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian Film Boutique RaroVideo announces RUGGERO DEODATO’S WAVES OF LUST DVD release on July 31, 2012.

“Deodato’s instincts proved right, Waves of Lust is an entertaining sex flick and an engaging thriller and it delivers a very enjoyable romp making fine use of the confined spaces of the yacht, while generating some real heat with plenty of nudity and teasing sex.” DVD TALK

Movie Review: Plot of Fear (1976)

Raro Video has unearthed yet another giallo unreleased in the United States from the director of the excellent Black Belly of the Tarantula, Paolo Cavara. Cavara’s 1976 thriller Plot of Fear boasts a cast of some fine Euro cult regulars such as John Steiner(Tenebre, Shock)  and even successful American actors like Tom Skerritt(Picket Fences) and Eli Wallach (The Good The Bad and The Ugly), so from an outsiders viewpoint it has to be somewhat decent.

Michele Placido plays Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo, a policeman investigating a series of violent murders that seem to be baffling the authorities. This particular killer also seems to get a kick out of leaving pictures on each victim from a story book.  Red herrings are sprinkled throughout, mainly that of some very horny, cartoon porn-loving guests at a really perverse party. This particular bash gets out of hand and a young woman is accidentally killed. It doesn't sop there,  even Wallach’s character Pietro Riccio is under the suspicion of investigators.

Movie Review: Murder Obsession (Blu-ray, 1981)

Raro Video is quickly asserting itself as one of the top genre DVD/Blu-ray labels around. If you’ve seen their releases Fellini’s Clowns and Fernando Di Leo’s crime masterpieces and have taken a glance at their current slate of upcoming titles – Night of the Devils, Waves of Lust and Madness, as a Euro-cult fan you should be excited. Murder Obsession was an obscure Riccardo Freda film that surprised the hell out of me at how much trashy fun it was. Now, we have a Blu-ray release of Murder Obsession in High-Definition, packed with even more extras.

Michael (played by the incredibly wooden, Stefano Patrizi) is a successful actor with a dark secret in his past that involves his parents. For one, he has a strong Oedipus complex which he shares with his surprisingly sexy mother, Shirley (Martine Brochard) and he's also murdered his pappy. It's been years since Michael murdered his dad but even then he still experiences nightmares about the incident. Although Michael gets the jollys for his mum from time, he's found a girlfriend named Deborah (Silvia Dionisio) to share his life with. The couple decides to visit Michael's mom at her creepy old mansion where all of Michael's memories come full circle.

Plot Of Fear Coming May 8th From Raro Video!

Hollywood, CA and Rome, Italy - Hailed by cinephiles for expertly restoring rare films by influential filmmakers and publishing them with compelling extras, Italian Film Boutique RaroVideo announces PLOT OF FEAR DVD release on May 8, 2012. Murders occur amongst the Jet set in this classic Italian horror flick reminiscent in plot of the French Connection and the horror style of Argento with a brilliant cast lead by Corinne Clery star of The Story of O, Michele Placido, and Eli Wallach.

PLOT OF FEAR (1976) Told through ingenious flashbacks, Plot of Fear tells the story of a group of wealthy men and women who get murdered one by one at a decadent weekend party. In his attempt to find a connection between the victims Inspector Lomenzo (Michele Placido) encounters a mysterious fashion model (Corninne Clery) who becomes his informant. Clery reveals that at this the drugged-out sex party one of the young girls was “accidently” killed during a gruesome practical joke. However, it seems that someone at this party is killing the others, but who and why? RELEASE DATE: MAY 8, 2012

Antonioni’s The Vanquished, Fellini’s The Clowns, Pasolini’s The Anger, Live Like A Cop, Die Like A Man, Body Puzzle, Come Have Coffee With Us, The Overcoat, Murder Obsession, The Secret of Dorian Gray, Crime of Love, To Be Twenty, Conversation Piece, The Perfume of the Lady in Black, Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show and The Fernando di Leo Crime Collection are all available now from RaroVideo U.S.

PLOT OF FEAR
Price: $19.98 (DVD)
Street Date: May 8, 2012
Pre-Order Date: NOW
Running time: 102 minutes
Distributor: ENTERTAINMENT ONE
DVD UPC: 1601801041
Language: English and Italian with English Subtitles
Rating: NR

PLOT OF FEAR - SPECIAL FEATURES:
Interview with Enrico Oldoini (screenwriter)
Interview with Pietro Cavara (son of Paolo Cavara)
Interview with Michele Placido (actor)
New and Improved English subtitles / New HD Transfer and digitally restored
BONUS ROM Content: A PDF fully illustrated booklet containing
critical analysis of the film by Chris Alexander, Fangoria Magazine

Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show Hits Blu-ray April 24th!

RAROVIDEO’S UBALDO TERZANI HORROR SHOW COMES TO BLU-RAY APRIL 24, 2012


Nothing could be better for horror film lovers than a horror film within a horror film. RAROVIDEO’S Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show explores how the main character is manipulated by the one that creates the horror films and we get to witness the insanity and bloodshed that follow. The Blu-ray extras include a short film, screen tests and audio commentaries. DVD VERDICT calls Ubaldo Terzani Horror Show “smarter than your average horror picture and finishes with a bang that should satisfy most bloodhounds.”



UBALDO TERZANI HORROR SHOW (2010) Alessio Rinaldi, a 25-year-old director, gets the charge from a producer to write the script of his first movie with Ubaldo Terzani, a well-known writer of horror novels. Alessio moves into Terzani’s house to start this collaboration, and a strange relationship of psychological dependence grows between them: Ubaldo Terzani unveils his dark side, and Alessio falls into a state of insanity ruled by the script they are creating and the nightmares he has because of it. RELEASE DATE: APRIL 24, 2012

 

Movie Review: Murder Obsession (1981)

Since Raro Video's USA hub has started releasing various Italian cult and art house fare throughout the past year, the Italian based DVD company has seen a steady stream of solid releases. The crime films of Fernando Di Leo, Federico Fellini’s Clowns and even obscure gems such as The Overcoat are now available for the home video market for region one genre fans. Why not mix in bizarre euro-trash/ giallo like Ricardo Freda's wild thriller Murder Obsession to this mixture of titles?

Buy Murder Obsession on DVD

Ricardo Freda use to work a lot with the late-great Mario Bava (Bay Of Blood, Blood and Black Lace, Black Sunday) - and it certainly shows even right after the opening credits. Freda's Murder Obsession has an odd mix of gore, gratuitous flesh, uber creepy incest and awful hair that makes this slice of sleaze a total surprise at how entertaining it truly is.

Movie Review: Il Cappotto (aka The Overcoat, 1952)

Directed by Alberto Lattuada

Reviewed by Greg Goodsell

In this adaptation of the Nikolai Gogol short story, Carmine De Carmine (Renato Rascel) is a nebbish-of-all-nebbishes city clerk put upon at every turn in his small Italian town. Berated by his employers, nagged by his neighbors in the building where his squalid flat is located and begged by the less fortunate to put in a good word for them at the mayor's office, De Carmine has little to look forward to. His shabby overcoat, his sole creature comfort against the harsh winter winds finally falls to pieces and his modest means precludes him from buying a replacement. That is, until he overhears a bribery scheme and tells his boss, who gives him a sizable advance. Going to his tailor, a grand fur-trimmed overcoat is made for him. Now brimming with confidence – but still dogged by inescapable bad luck, De Carmine gets drunk at the mayor's New Year' Eve Party, has his coat stolen by a mugger and falls ill with pneumonia and dies.

Buy Il Cappotto on DVD

Movie Review: Crime of Love, aka Delitto d'amore (1974)

Review by Greg Goodsell

Despite its ties to Italy's high fashion industry, the city of Milan is an unremittingly bleak industrial stretch of real estate. Tourists to Italy are routinely warned away from visiting there, but it is at one of Milan's many factories that two young people of highly divergent backgrounds meet and fall in love. He, Nullo (Giuliano Gemma) is pragmatic, political and intellectual, a product of a strong northern Italian family. She, Carmella (Stefania Sandrelli) is a passionate, flighty girl, the product of a desperately poor southern Italian family who has migrated to Milan in search of work. The two don't exactly “meet cute.” Nullo confronts Carmela at the time clock when he spots her fleeing the factory in tears. Carmella later confesses that she was crying because she knew that Nullo would never fall in love with her. Despite this unpromising beginning, the two fall desperately in love amidst all the carbon emissions of the perpetually clanging factory.

Buy Crime of Love on DVD

Movie Review: The Clowns (1970, Blu-ray)

Clowns have always been a source of laughter and fear for children and adults visiting a circus. The fact that a character clad in colorful clothing and greasepaint can evoke these powerful emotions is pretty amazing. Director Federico Fellini (Armacord, Satyricon, La Dolce Vita) set one of his most personal works around these men (and women) who perform in "The Greatest Show on Earth". In a sense so much of what Fellini put on screen in his creations were a "circus-type" atmosphere just captured on film - it was only natural for the legendary director to do so. Raro Video US has chosen the Italian produced TV film, Fellini's The Clowns to debut as their first Blu-ray in America on the heels of a previous release on DVD.

Buy The Clowns Blu-ray, DVD or Watch It Instantly

Movie Review: Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man (1976)

On the heels of their Fernando Di Leo crime collection (Caliber 9/ The Boss/ Italian Connection/ Rulers of the City), Italian cult film specialists Raro DVD are continuing their run of Polizia DVDs with their recently released, Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. Written by Di Leo and directed by the controversial and always fearless Ruggero Deodato, Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man ventures many places most police films don't.

Buy Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man on DVD


It really doesn't take very long for the viewer to get a clear indication as to where Deodato is going to take Live Like a Cop, Die Like a Man. In actuality, the first ten minutes hit you quick and hard with some surprising brutality and a thoroughly impressive manic motorcycle chase . French actor, Marc Porel and Ray Lovelock (Violent City, Django, Kill!) play Alfredo and Tony, two crime-fighting pretty-boys who have a knack for killing criminals before a crime has been committed. With the help of their boss (Adolfo Celi, Thunderball) these guys take apart Italian crime, in a very unorthodox fashion.