Street Law

A few months ago I reviewed Vigilante and said I may follow up with a review of its Italian counterpart. Well, here it is:

This film tells the story of a righteous Italian citizen, Carlo Antonelli (played by the legendary Franco Nero), and his quest for justice. Antonelli is caught in the middle of a bank robbery and later kidnapped and beaten. He goes to the police and finds that they are incapable of providing any means of justice or assistance. He then enlists the help of a criminal, Tommy (Giancarlo Prete), to set up his revenge plot. Much to his girlfriend's (Barbara Bach) dismay, Antonelli creates a scenario that springs police into action and criminals into hiding.

I thought everything was spot on in this film. Franco Nero played his part with an incredible amount of passion. You could see the pain in his face during every shot and every scene. It also helped immensely that Nero performed all of his stunts. The director, Enzo Castellari had worked with Nero quite a bit during their careers and I think it comes out strong in this movie. Castellari knew Nero's strengths and ran with them.

Castellari did some unique things in this film compared to most in the revenge genre. All of the crimes during the beginning credits were based off of actual news and police reports. He wanted the plot to really reflect the mentality of citizens in the city. I also enjoyed how immersed into the criminal world Antonelli was. As most revenge films do, Street Law looks how someone can fight violence with violence and not become what they are fighting against. Even Antonelli's growing friendship with the criminal Tommy shows the similarities between the two characters.

Besides being incredibly well done, there was a lot of interesting facts surrounding film. First of all, tell me how this is a sequel when Street Law was released in 1975 and Vigilante was released in 1985. Even William Lustig credited this as being an inspiration for Vigilante. Also, Enzo Castellari was fairly infamous in Italian cinema for inventing the Italian police thriller genre. He worked with Franco Nero on an earlier film called High Crime and this was the first time Italian audiences had seen a film like this that wasn't from the States. Both films were great successes and sparked hundreds of other similar Italian films to be made.

Profile: Gary Pullin

Ghoulish Gary Pullin is Rue Morgue Magazine's art director and one of the most successful artists in horror culture today. You may not know him by name but I'm sure that you have come across his work. Whether it's the latest cover of Rue Morgue or your favorite bands new artwork, it's always awe-inspiring.

I asked Gary a few questions about his artwork and how this all came to be. Check it out in the first installment of Kdaver's Movie Morgue artist profiles!

KMM: How did you come to work for Rue Morgue?

GP: Around 98, I was at a Fantasia Film Fest screening for Lucio Fulci's The Beyond here in Toronto. It was a sold out screening and founder Rodrigo Gudino was there selling the first few issues of the magazine. I had seen a copy once before and was really impressed with it. I gave him my card expressing how I'd love to do some artwork for the magazine. Rod called the following week and we arranged a meeting. I showed him my portfolio and we talked at length about horror and the vision for the magazine. Before I knew it, I became fast friends with everyone there and worked on everything and anything they could send my way. I was holding down a full time job at a commercial design firm and moonlighting for RM on evenings and weekends. By this time, I had already designed the Rue Morgue logo, illustrated covers, columns and was contributing on every issue. Knowing I was ready for something new, Rod asked that I hold off on any other job offers and the next year, he hired me officially full time in 2001. It was a pretty exciting time for me. I was that young kid who used to hunt for horror magazine's and now I had the opportunity to help make one.



KMM: Your illustrations have a very distinct look to them. Are there any artists that have influenced your unique style?

GP: I have a lot of art heroes and am inspired by a new one on a monthly basis. Charles Burns, Basil Gogos, Bernie Wrightson, Todd Schorr, Robert Crumb and Joe Coleman have all had an impact on me. I love the Tales from the Crypt artists like Ghastly Graham Ingles and Jack Davis. I love the classic movie poster artists like Saul Bass, Reynold Brown and Norman Sanders… the list goes on and on and on…



Artwork © Gary Pullin 2011. Pictures posted with permission.


KMM: What does the future hold for Gary Pullin?

GP: I'm not really sure. I'm always pushing and doing different things to see where my art will take me. I have a bucket list. I'd love to publish a coffee table art book. I'd love to do an animated short one day. Right now I'm having a great time working with the talented kids at the magazine and with industry folks in the genre I love.

KMM: What is your all-time favorite horror film? If you can pick one!

GP: You had to ask! It's too hard to pick one. Even if you try to narrow it down to a top five, it's almost impossible. I love classic horror. The Creature from the Black Lagoon remains' the most wonderfully shot and designed "guy in a suit" monster flick. I love the music score, the time of day when I first saw it... I mean, there's so many reason's why we love a certain film. But if I had to say one, Creature could be it. Tobe Hooper's Texas Chainsaw Massacre is also one of my favourite films because how utterly terrified I was after I had seen it. It was the first movie I watched that had that documentary feel to it, no goofy music or elaborate, theatrical set pieces. It felt as though I was watching something in real time and it blew me away. I also love The Thing, Fulci's The Beyond, The Changeling, Day of the Dead...

KMM: Lastly, is there anything you want to plug going on right now?

People can follow me on twitter: @ghoulishgary. Please check out all things horror at: http://www.rue-morgue.com/, ghoulishgary.com, talesfrombeyondthepale.com and in my Etsy store: http://www.etsy.com/shop/GhoulishGary



Artwork © Gary Pullin 2011. Pictures posted with permission.

Update: February

Sorry it's been a while... I've been busy setting up some exciting new ventures for the blog.

I am starting a new segment called profiles. In the next couple weeks I will be catching up with some of my favorite artists in the horror genre. We'll take a look at a little bit of their artwork and find out what is behind the madness.

In addition to the profiles, I will be producing some upcoming video posts. The weather is getting nicer and that means horror conventions and traveling!

So stay tuned fellow horror fans!

The Unnamable

It's a difficult feat to translate an H.P. Lovecraft story to film. I still think Stuart Gordon is the best we've seen thus far with Re-Animator and the far less acclaimed From Beyond. Although, The Unnamable (1988) was quite enjoyable despite the previous statement.

This movie follows two groups of delinquent Miskatonic University students following up on a local legend of a monster who was born and hidden away in the attic of an old house in the woods. It has you're typical teen slasher set up with two groups of guys, the nerds and the jocks, trying to impress the unlikely female companions and getting picked off one by one.

The performances were all kind of campy except for Katrin Alexandre, who played the abandoned monster Alyda. Her movements in costume looked incredibly inhuman and extremely creepy. You have to give her credit for how they pulled the monster off, considering the description given in the short story was "a thousand shapes of horror." That's Lovecraft for you. Mark Kinsey Stephonson also put forth a valiant effort playing the knowledgeable Randolph Carter but ended up looking like he was unsuccessfully channeling Jeffrey Combs.

The Unnamable is a lost classic of the 1980's in it's own right. You may remember seeing this title gracing the shelves of your grimiest video store. If you happened to get your greasy hands on a copy of the VHS or the recent and short lived Anchor Bay release consider yourself lucky... sort of.

P.S. Read Lovecraft.

Demon Wind

Since the temperature outside in Cleveland was hitting single digits, I decided that tonight was the perfect night to sit down with a movie that has been on my checklist for a long time. Demon Wind came in the mail on VHS this afternoon and I was more than pleased. My room was glowing blue from the VCR as I cracked open a beer and sat down with some pizza to warm up. I pressed play and never looked back.

Demon Wind tells the story of a troubled young adult named Cory (Eric Larson) and his quest to discover his families dark past at an old farm in the middle of nowhere. Cory drags his hapless girlfriend and arsenal of friends, including two random magicians, to their own personal hell.

First off, the writing was terrible. Nothing really had much of a reason or an explanation. "Main" characters were being brought into the story thirty minutes into the movie. I still enjoyed the storyline for the main reason it had that 1980's goal oriented plot. Most of the movie it felt like I was watching a video game unfold. Again, that is not particularly a bad thing in my mind. Next we have the acting... or lack of acting. Each character seemed to sink lower and lower to a new level of incompetence. My favorite is when the first victim is taken. She is turned into a bloody doll by a nasty little demon girl and nobody seems to care. The story literally takes a five second halt before continuing on like it never happened.

All of this aside, I will be damned if this isn't a delightful romp through the hills of hell. The makeup was disgusting, the gore was plentiful, the audio work was reminiscent of Evil Dead, and there was the perfect amount of gropage. If you are a fan of Night Of The Demons, Demons or Evil Dead, you will enjoy this movie.

This movie has not yet hit DVD and I don't know if it ever will officially but the VHS is available on amazon.com and bootleg DVDs have been spotted on ioffer.com. I will leave you with the amazing artwork from the VHS case and the poster.

Top 5 Slimiest Movies

5. SQUIRM (1976)
 Waist high in worms. Thank you Jeff Lieberman.

4. SLIME CITY (1988)
 Look at the title. Not the best movie but I couldn't resist putting it on here. Still waiting to see the sequel that was made last year. Check out the site for Slime City Massacre here.

3. THE KINDRED (1987)
 A recent favorite of mine, this movie boasts a scene where a generous amount of slime is running down all the walls. Kind of hard to find but totally worth it.

2. FROM BEYOND (1986)
I couldn't have a slime list without having Stuart Gordon's adaptation of H.P. Lovecraft's From Beyond. From skin with  the consistency of clay to giant worms swallowing Jeffrey Combs, this is a movie to be admired.

1. STREET TRASH (1987) 

This movie has to be at the top of this list for the main reason it has homeless people melting from the inside out after drinking bum wine. Drink Viper responsibly!

*Got another slimy movie? Post a comment and let me know! There are plenty more movies that could make this list but these are just a few of my favorite and I wanted to stick to mainly horror.

Vigilante

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a huge fan of Fred Williamson and William Lustig films. You put these two together and it is a sure classic. Robert Forster plays an apprehensive protagonist. His character starts out questioning the morals of the group of vigilantes led by Williamson, but soon after the plot's unfolding conflict with a local gang he begins to reconsider. Although the story seems very played out for revenge flicks of this time, Vigilante gives a fresh feel by mixing urban action films and spaghetti westerns. William Lustig even said at one point that this movie was meant to be a nod to the Italian revenge films. 

Another notable part of this film that really stands out is the music. It has a very spaghetti western sound to it. It sounded almost like some of the later scores that Ennio Morricone and John Carpenter worked together on. Unfortunately the soundtrack is very hard to come by. Fania records put out a record with the songs by Willie Colón (who also plays the gang leader in the film) and Hector Lavoe but nothing from the score is on this album. I was hoping with the recent Blu-ray release of the movie from Blue Underground someone would release it but no such luck. Maybe someday...

This is still one of my favorite revenge movies and if you haven's seen it... hunt a copy down now!


I have a copy of the Italian "sequel" to Vigilante, Street Law (starring Django himself, Franco Nero) coming next week. Maybe I will do a follow up review.

Check out the trailer for Vigilante!