Grab Bag in a Woman's Skin! Mystery Photos #81-85!

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Welcome back to the ol' Arcana for another round of Grab Bag Goodies!

As outlined in previous installments, I purchased a few hundred promotional stills that have had their title captions trimmed off. Some I recognize, most I don't. It's up to my faithful readership to help me decipher what they're promoting. Hell, solve enough of 'em and maybe I'll send you some of the duplicates I received!

For those not familiar with promo stills, they occasionally carry a helpful hint or two. Some are branded with a cataloging code of letters and numbers which usually signify an abbreviation of the title (sometimes a retitling) and, if you're especially lucky, maybe the year of release (not to be confused with year of production). And that's pretty much all we have to go on...

The seventeenth batch is below; let's see what you've got!

#81: No Markings!

#82: No Markings!

#83: No Markings!

#84: 7308-10 © 1973 American International Pictures

A shout out to Cool Ass Cinema's Brian Bankston for spotting Gordon Douglas' Slaughter's Big Rip-Off (1973). Jim Brown again stars in this direct follow-up to the wildly popular 1972 original, this time swearing revenge on new mob boss Ed McMahon (no, seriously) and paid killer Don Stroud. Above-average blaxploitation action fare, on DVD from MGM. 

#85: 7124-54 © 1971 American International Pictures

Florinda Balkan's taking a trip on a train... in more ways than one, in Lucio Fulci's outstanding giallo, Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971). One of the director's best outings, its Swinging London settings provide the backdrop for upper class murder, paranoia, psychedelica and depravity as a well-to-do woman begins to find it difficult to distinguish between reality and hallucination. Is she responsible for murder, or is something more sinister happening? Jean Sorel and Anita Strindberg co-star, along with Carlo Rambaldi's infamous vivisected dogs. Media Blasters released a nice DVD years back, though it apparently slipped out-of-print!

Like what you see? Be sure and check out our previous Grab Bag Photos, some of which are still unidentified. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and pre-order some cool stuff!

© 2012 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

The VHS Archives: Lucio Fulci's CONTRABAND (1980)

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CONTRABAND

Lucio Fulci's Luca il contrabbandiere (1980)

The VHS Archives Factsheet
Label: Mogul Communications, Inc.
Catalog: MOG1019
Box Type: Clamshell
Year of Release: 1987
Runtime: 90:25
Print: 1.33:1 / English / No subs
Extras: None

About the Film
Director: Lucio Fulci
Year of Release: 1980
Country of Origin: Italy

Stars: Fabio Testi, Ivana Monti, Guido Alberti, Venantino Venantini, Ajita Wilson, Marcel Bozzuffi, Romano Puppi

AKAs: Luca, The Smuggler, The Naples Connection

Verbatim Box Synopsis

The gang leader of a smuggling racket makes a miraculous escape from an ambush in which his brother is murdered.  Meanwhile a traitor in his gang informs the authorities and their activity is curtailed.

All hell breaks loose and murder follows murder as rival gangs try to eliminate each other.

All action, fast-paced movie in the tradition of "The Godfather."

U.S. Mogul Communications sleeve!

German VTD sleeve, taken from The Video Museum! 

Alternate German VTD sleeve, also from The Video Museum! 

Swiss SSV sleeve! 

Dutch Eagle 6 sleeve, courtesy of Cult VHS! 

Italian-language U.S. Centauro sleeve!

 Argentinean International Television Film Distributors sleeve, courtesy of Raro VHS!

Alternate Argentinean International sleeve, also courtesy of Raro VHS! 

 Greek Diamond sleeve, again courtesy of Raro VHS!

Norwegian Video-Huset sleeve, courtesy of Dag-Johnny Elnes!

Japanese Doberman sleeve, originally scanned by "ed209vscain"!

Spanish Layons Video sleeve, courtesy of "Inspector Tanzi"!

International trailer, uploaded by Blue Underground!

Notes (partially cannibalized from my old Mondo Digital review)

Fulci's sole crime actioner eschews the traditional cops vs. criminals set-up and instead spins a gruesome mobsters vs. mobsters scenario. Fabio Testi may be our hero, but he's also a ruthless killer who lays waste to several folks throughout the flick. Relying on the old "honor among thieves" credo, followers of spaghetti westerns, samurai epics and Hong Kong "heroic bloodshed" gun fu slaughterthons will find a comfortable familiarity with the general tone. Testi's good looks and cool demeanor add credence to his performance, and it's easy to believe someone with his charm could effortlessly climb the underworld ladder. The role occasionally harks back to the skills he honed as a stuntman, forcing Fabio to really earn his paycheck by ably jumping out windows and swinging from ropes, among other things. The supporting cast also presents a few surprises, with Euro-sex superstar Ajita Wilson popping up as a slutty gangster groupie and all-around badass Romano Puppo portraying a particularly mean-spirited hitman who wipes out half the cast. Lucio Fulci's workmanlike direction lacks the energetic staging someone like Enzo Castellari or Umberto Lenzi would have brought to the table and he instead opts to spoon out his usual specialty: wholesale carnage. That's right, gang, Contraband ranks right up there alongside Tulio Demicheli's Ricco as the goriest, most ruthless poliziotteschi Italy has to offer. Bellies are blown open, heads are demolished by gunfire and, in one of the more excruciating scenes in Fulci's oeuvre, a woman's face is blistered off with a Bunsen burner. Weak stomachs beware.

Shot from the end of November through December 1979 on location in Naples with some interior work done at De Paolis Studios in Rome, Fulci's effort started life under the title Vicious and was filmed as Mean Blood before eventually settling on Luca il Contrabbandiere (Luca the Smuggler). Distributed overseas as The Smuggler and The Naples Connection (presumably to capitalize on Marcel Bozzuffi's similar role in The French Connection), the outing was skipped over for domestic theatrical dates and didn't see U.S. shores until Mogul Communications' 1987 VHS release as Contraband. A nice rarity for collectors, the tape itself, while more or less uncut, left a lot to be desired with its cropped and fuzzy transfer. Additionally, the entire opening sequence was blacked out to showcase cheesy, computer-generated credits! Blue Underground's U.S. DVD thankfully rectifies this situation with an intact print that easily eclipses past presentations. Letterboxed at 1.85:1, their anamorphic transfer represents Sergio Salvati's unusually subdued and slightly soft-focus photography as accurately as can ever be expected. By no means a vibrant movie, there are still several colorful interludes (like the discotheque sequence) that reinforce what a nice makeover the film received here. A few instances of brief print damage still pop up, but they float right by and aren't worth fussing over. The mono soundtrack, while obviously limited, is also free of any problems and the noticeable hum that plagued other issues is mercifully absent. Recommended.

Additional Notes

Over at the Lovelock & Load forums, member "Pollanet" shared this fascinating bit of information: "In the book "Lucio Fulci - Il terrorista dei generi," unfortunately Italian-language only, my friend Paolo Albiero talks a lot about the unbelievable history of Fulci's Luca il contrabbandiere.

"Producer Sandro Infascelli died while Fulci was directing the film; Infascelli's wife didn't know what to do and almost had to abort the work.  Unexpectedly, the smugglers decided to help her and finished producing the movie!

"Nothing in the film is faked; all the men and the craftsman are really Naples contrabands! Every night they gave a bag with money to Infascelli's widow to pay the production, and every day a part of them worked for Fulci as he directed.

"Fulci said that in all his career he never had as good a producer as the contrabands..."

Looking for Contraband on VHS? It's not readily available, but the aforementioned Blue Underground DVD can be had for pretty cheap!

Investigate more titles with Project: MOGUL!

For a look at other labels, check out The VHS Archives!

© 2011 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.

It's Name that Movie Monday! Challenge #18!

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Welcome back to Name that Movie Monday!

It's time for Challenge #18 here at the ol' Arcana! Can you identify this week's mystery photo, scanned direct from The Holecheck Archives? If you think you recognize it, post a comment below. As the week goes on, if no one guesses correctly I'll begin adding some pretty useless hints. Easy, right?

Here ya' go -- good luck!

UPDATE:

And Chris Poggiali (Temple of Schlock) takes the lead, scoring four by naming Lucio Fulci's The Psychic (1977), a supernatural-tinged giallo whose U.S. retitling and tagline kind of give away some of its worthy surprises.  After receiving visions of a vicious murder, a woman uncovers a skeleton at her husband's family estate.  Believing his cries of innocence, it's up to her to piece together the mystery of the images she saw, before it's too late...

Originally titled Seven Notes in Black, this transitional film for Fulci (smack dab in the middle of his earlier, more traditional thrillers like A Lizard in Woman's Skin and Don't Torture a Duckling and his later, legendary gore romps) is easily one of his best.  Its compelling script peels away its layers carefully, and the director is constantly aided by a wonderful score and nice photography by frequent collaborators Fabio Frizzi and Sergio Salvati, respectively.  While usually overlooked in favor of Lucio's more graphic endeavors, The Psychic has at least found itself memorable enough to be paid tribute in some unexpected places: there's an awesomely daft Bollywood remake named 100 Days, and a soundtrack cue popped up during an especially inspired sequence in Kill Bill, Vol. 1.

Group 1 released the film to domestic theaters in 1979, attempting to wring some name value out of former Cover Girl model and descending actress Jennifer O'Neill.  Like most of their holdings, it hit VHS care of Catalina Home Video, and was later reissued by Lightning Video.  (There's apparently a Video Treasures tape, too, but I never had it.)  DVD-era rumors circulated that the title was slated for re-release from Quentin Tarantino's Rolling Thunder Pictures--a clip was even included in one of his introductory wraparounds--but it was never to be.  Image Entertainment had their hands on it for a time, but that never materialized, either.

Finally, Severin Films gave The Psychic its English-friendly digital debut in 2007 (discounting the Alfa Digital bootleg that married the French DVD's video with an old VHS' audio track), containing a good-looking transfer of the full European version (the U.S. prints were all missing some credit footage and other minor bits), Group 1's preview and a half-hour featurette with writer Dardano Sacchetti and others.  (I contacted Jennifer O'Neill's reps requesting an interview for the disc; I never heard back...)  (And screw Fed Ex for losing my 35mm trailer on its way to Severin!)  A nice package for a highly recommended film.

Television ad swiped from Fred Adelman's magnificent Critical Condition, of course.

For a look at last week's entry, click here. And don't forget, our Upcoming Releases List (the best on the 'net) is constantly updated, so stop by and preorder some cool stuff!

 
© 2010 -- Bruce Holecheck. All Rights Reserved.