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Ercoli Virus

Brief Note on Ercoli Box:

Watched Luciano Ercoli's  Death Walks at Midnight (aka La Morte Accarezza a Mezzanotte, 1972) the other night. A unique 'twisted' form of the Italian Giallo genre. Should have watched Death Walks on High Heels  (aka La Morte Cammina con i Tacchi Alti,1971) first, as it was made earlier. They may have been reversed, which is quite telling due to the reoccurring theme of gender reversal in Giallo--which is a 'tip of the hat' to Hitchcock's Psycho (1960) in its own peculiar way as is essentially all Giallo.

Death Walks at Midnight is psychological murder mystery, with a tad of hardcore gore and sleaze thrown in. Very well produced and beautifully photographed, however, and the print is top notch.

'Nice' homage to Mario Bava's infamous 'claw' sequence in Blood and Black Lace (aka Sei Donne per l'Assassino, 1964) right off the bat, with a woman's face being brutally punctured in with a spiked metal glove by an unknown assailant. Mostly a showcase for Giallo Queen/model Susan Scott (aka Spanish-born Nieves Navarro).

If you're unfamiliar with Giallo, but have seen the more commercially accessible Dressed to Kill (1980) by Brian DePalma with Michael Caine, it's basically along the same lines of genre in film. No long drawn out type shower sequences as with Angie.Dickinson in Dressed to Kill when it comes to Ercoli however: Ercoli is incomprehensible lunacy straight away-- from start to finish.

...under reconstruction...

also see:
Intimations (and more) of Colonialism : Dario Argento's L'Uccello dalle piume di cristallo (The Bird With the Crystal Plumage, 1970)

Click on thumbnails of these screen grabs to enlarge.

Army of Shadows (1969)

Brief Note on Army of Shadows:

Jean-Pierre Melville's Army of Shadows (1969) (aka L'  Armée des Ombres)  starring the always charming and talented Simone Signoret. Briefly: It's a bit difficult going for a first viewing, especially as it subverts the genre expectations of the viewer on many different levels. But, it rather grows on one toward the end. It presents an interesting dilemma in the fight against fascism, and on one level is a critique of the French Resistance and its rather 'fascist' 'gangland' methods of eliminating suspect members. Mirrors the disillusionment with the events of post-May 1968.

Previously Unseen Photo of Barbara Steele

You can't live off being a cult  - Barbara Steele

British Actress Barbara Steele Outside of Pinewood Studios, UK , August 1, 1958.

"No Reproduction or Distribution Rights are Granted." 
Art Thieves
Filthy Lucre
The Stele of Revealing: Stele 666 in the Boulaq Museum

Deconstruction of Kurtz Compound

Brief Note on Deconstruction of Kurtz Compound:

Apocalypse Now (1979) theatrical end credits. Explosion of Kurtz Compound. Not used in any video release version of the film and only shown during the theatrical first run 70mm print as an 'end credit' sequence. These 'end credit' visuals were later removed and replaced by a black screen for reasons relating to narrative continuity: Willard and Chef never called in the air strike to 'Almighty' and the Kurtz Compound was never destroyed during the film.

No actual 'end credits' appear during these explosion sequences in the film's initial 70mm incarnation. Some shots utilized infrared film in order to further the creation of surreal effects captured by multiple cameras during these profound explosions sequences.

Listen to commentary by Francis Ford Coppola regarding the explosion of the Kurtz Compound sequence. (mp3 file linked below.)

The past is not dead. In fact, it's not even past - William Faulkner

Download Deconstruction of Kurtz Compound Commentary by Francis  Ford Coppola. (mp3 file, approx 5mb) TRT: approx 6 mins.
PBR ( Proud, Brave, Reliable')