A Father's Love Makes His Son A Monster!

Video Nasty #19

AN ORGY OF TERROR!

Night Of The Bloody Apes

1969





HALF MAN, HALF BEAST, ALL HORROR!

Original title: La Horripilante Bestia Humana

Also known as: Horror y Sexo

NTSC Running time: 83:46

Directed by Rene Cardona, with additional scenes directed by Jerald Intrator

Written by Rene Cardona & Rene Cardona, Jr.

Produced by Guillermo Calderon and Alfredo Salazar

Starring: Jose Elias Moreno, Carlos Lopez Moctezuma, Armando Silvestre, Norma Lazareno

Body Count: 11, plus a gorilla.  (It's a guy in a suit, maybe the worst film gorilla I've ever seen.)

Availability: Uncut Region 1 DVD from Something Weird Video (as a double feature with Feast Of Flesh)

BBFC Status

Why it's a Nasty: Sexual assaults and (what else?) gore.

What was cut: Unspecified cuts were made to the original cinema version (certified X on March 26, 1974).  Subsequent video versions certified 18 on May 19, 1999 and again on June 24, 2002 were pre-cut before being submitted for classification.

Current UK Status: An uncut Region 2 DVD from Redemption was rumored to be released in 2007 uncut...although the BBFC hasn't certified the uncut version and it is not listed on the Redemption website.  The reviews I have found of the Redemption DVD (of which there were two) were written before the alleged release

Availability: 18 certified version on Region 2 DVD from Film 2000.  The Redemption disc appears to have been mooted.
Night Of The Bloody Apes was successfully prosecuted under the Obscene Publications Act, making it one of the DPP39.

Remember that Christian Slater movie where he had a baboon's heart?  This is what really happened.

When Dr. Krallman (Jose Elias Moreno) learns that his son's condition is inoperable...he decides the time is right for an operation!  Meanwhile, wrestler Lucy Ossorio (Norma Lazareno) critically injures her opponent by tossing her from the ring.  Julio Krallman (Agustin Martinez Solares) survives his father's radical procedure, his body accepting the heart of an ape, stolen from the local zoo.  Heading up the zoo investigation: Lucy's boyfriend, Lieutenant Arturo Martinez (Armando Silvestre).  The cops think the gorilla is still on the loose.  But what's really out there is much more horrifying: Julio, with an apeface and a raging, confused libido, transformed into a beast by his father's medical meddling!

Julio prowls the streets, murdering men and clumsily attempting to mate with women, an enterprise he doesn't seem to be any good at.  (He may succeed at one point, but we don't see it and the victim [understandably] doesn't mention it.)  His father's English-dubbed voice keeps calling him "Joo-lee-oh", which is laughable for its' ignorance.  There's lots of terrible gore and gratuitous nudity, apparently shot for foreign markets like the US by Jerald Intrator.  And without those elements, there would really be no reason to watch it...unless you love wrestling that much.

The wrestling isn't anything spectacular, but I'm sure it was more than adequate for the Mexican audiences of 1969, who devoured anything that featured the sport.  Cardona had done well earlier in the decade with Las Luchadoras Contra La Momia (Wrestling Women Vs. The Aztec Mummy), and before that he pitted Santa Claus against The Devil Himself in 1959's Santa Claus.  Campy, campy.

Is there anything special about this film?  Not really.  It's a rehash of Mary Shelley's Frankenstein with gore, girls and gorillas.  Fun and unintentionally funny, but I can't quite bring myself to recommend this one.  If you think John Waters has refined taste, you'll love it.

These older ones don't give me a whole lot to say.  Three releases by Something Weird, and only the first (Blood Feast - see Video Nasty #1) gave me enough literary fuel for a decent entry.  I'm not a huge fan of the 1960s.  It's like looking at a junior high annual: it got you where you are now, but that doesn't mean you need to revisit it.  There's one more from that odd decade on the list...but it's a doozy: Love Camp 7, a Nazisploitation film that a fellow Nasty completist has rated as the Nastiest Nasty of them all.  I can't wait.  Bring it.

In other news, the BBFC has rejected another recent torture-themed film, The Bunny Game, for classification of any kind.  While The Human Centipede II (Full Sequence) has been passed at 18 after several cuts, appeals and addressing the issue of cuts for The Bunny Game has yet to transpire.  Further bulletins as we get 'em.

Until next time, if you run into a guy with a horrible scar on his bare chest who looks and sounds just like a monkey, I recommend stabbing until he stops.  Paranoia is always there for you.  And so am I.  Because my name's Justin.  JustinCase.

A Modern Giallo...And The Loss Of A Legend.

Two nights ago, I curled up in bed and watched Amer (French for "bitter"), a giallo-inspired nightmare with very little dialogue and stunning visuals.  The film is broken into three sections, one for each stage of the protagonist's life.  We meet Ana as a girl of about 8, living a terrified existence in a sprawling estate with her mother, father, the mysterious Graziella...and two corpses.  We meet her again in adolescence, walking into town with her cold-blooded mother, as her awareness of sexuality awakens.  The second half of the film concerns Ana's return to the family estate, now fallen into disrepair, as a black-gloved figure begins to stalk the grounds.

From the above description, I wouldn't be surprised if you underestimate this film.  The story is almost nonexistent, and the lack of dialogue only enhances the dreamlike, unnerving qualities.  Bright colors, extreme closeups, muddled motivations, zero exposition - Amer is not like any other film, though it does pay homage to the best of giallo cinema.  The oversaturated colors of Argento, the woman who knows too much of Bava, the too-close closeups of Fulci (including a knowing wink to the razor murder of Daniela Doria's character The New York Ripper).  It's well worth seeking out, a truly unique cinematic experience.



Around the same time I was enjoying Amer, we lost a great artist.  Musician and actor David Hess passed away October 7, 2011 at the age of 69.  Star of two Video Nasties (The Last House On The Left and House On The Edge Of The Park), Hess began his career under the name David Hill, his first single was "All Shook Up", a year before Elvis Presley scored a #1 hit with the same song.  This was not the only time in his career that Hess would originate a song that found later success with another artist: Pat Boone landed near the top of the charts performing "Speedy Gonzales", a track first recorded and co-written by Hess (this time under the nom de rock David Dante).  He continued to record music for the rest of his life, composing and performing the music for Last House, and contributing to the soundtrack of Eli Roth's Cabin Fever, as well as non-soundtrack work, his most recent release being Caught Up In The Moment.  He was slated to appear in Ruggero Deodato's sequel to House On The Edge Of The Park next year.

Here's a sample of his work, "Now You're All Alone" from The Last House On The Left soundtrack:



David Alexander Hess: 1942 - 2011.  May he rest in peace.

It's been a while since I've had time to screen a Nasty and I'm starting to get the itch.  I'll write more soon, I promise.  Until we meet again, it would be wise for us all to sing.  It might keep the darkness away, so I suggest we do it as much as we can.  Because my name's Justin.  JustinCase.

Zombie Flesh Eaters: Coming Soon To A Theatre Near You!!!

Get up, kids!  William "Maniac" Lustig and the rest of the good folks over at Blue Underground are unleashing Lucio Fulci's Zombi 2 in select theatres in the US and Canada later this month for midnight showings!  These are very limited engagements (one or two shows per theatre), so don't miss your chance to see it on the big screen.

Click here for details!

I wish I was near Albuquerque, NM; Chicago, IL or San Francisco, CA: all three are having screenings on my birthday!  I'm going to try to make it to the New Beverly for the October 22nd screening.  Hope to see you there!  So keep on the lookout, we don't want to lose each other in the crowd, and I'll keep a sharp eye out for you.  Because my name's Justin.  JustinCase.