Review: Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)

Bloody Pit of Horror (1965)

Director: Massimo Pupillo

Writers: Robert Nathan, Robin McLorin, based on the writings of Marquis de Sade

Stars: Mickey Hargitay, Walter Brandt, Louise Barrett

Bloody Pit of Horror (1965) opens with the execution/imprisonment of a mean son-of-a-bitch known as the “Crimson Executioner," who looks more like a professional wrestling parody than deadly executioner.  We don’t know exactly what this guy is being sentenced to death for, but we can make the assumption he’s grown a bit overzealous in his profession.  Sometime later, a crew of models and photographers interested in gothic locale arrive at the castle in which our Crimson Executioner is entombed beneath.  Right away we assume someone will somehow summon the dead man below to rise and kill again.  Which is exactly what happens.  Sort of.

The Crimson Executioner certainly does rise and kill again, only it’s not the real Crimson Executioner.  Once the owner of the castle, an isolated former actor named Travis, recognizes one of the models, he assumes the identity of the Executioner to carry out his legacy, a legacy of violent torture and revenge.  One by one, Travis the new Crimson Executioner, enacts violence on unsuspecting prey.  At the center of this is Edith, Travis’ former fiancé, who reveals Travis’ bizarre past; his obsession with physical perfection and distaste for those inferior, who according to him, “corrupt the harmony of his perfect body.”  So yeah, the guy is a certified wackadoo who minors in over-the-top theatrics.  He’s also the kind of bad guy who wastes most his time rambling on about his master plan instead of just getting to the point and killing his opponent when he has the chance.  In perhaps the most monologues ever given by the killer in a horror movie, the imitation Crimson Executioner running rampant for the majority of this film is nowhere near as compelling as the real Crimson Executioner featured in the first five minutes, swearing his eternal revenge moments before his demise.  I would have preferred this version of the Executioner take center stage, and not Travis the understudy.  While Travis certainly kept me entertained in his oddity, there was never a moment I was actually afraid of him, whereas fear virtually emanated off the guy in the first five minutes.

With a number of elaborate set pieces, complete with iron maiden, giant spider web, and what I assume was a stretching machine, Bloody Pit of Horror is no doubt a fun little movie to watch.  It has a certain goofiness to it, considerably Mickey Hargitay’s over-the-top (but rightfully so) performance, but even the soundtrack has a lightness to it, with the opening credits feeling more like a beach movie than horror film.  Originally released in Italy, most if not all the dialogue is dubbed in English and barely matches the movements of the actor’s mouths, which again adds to the fun. 

- Peter DiGiovanni

Review: Demons 2 (1986)

Demons 2 (1986)

Director: Lamberto Bava

Demons is probably one of the best pieces of gory grindhouse ever, and mostly because it ended with a bang.  The hero Samurai-Sword fought demon zombies to the sound of 80s rock, before having to kill his new girlfriend, on the back of a jeep, while escaping an overrun city.  What better sequel setup could you ask for?  Demons 2 could feature a whole world overrun by demons and a few select survivors trying to live through the last hours of an apocalypse.  That’s not what Demons 2 does though. 

Demons 2 follows the “give’em more of the same!” tradition of sequels. While the first movie was a bunch of people stuck in a movie theater, being threatened by a demon zombie plague, the second one features a group of people stuck in a large apartment building.  The events of the first Demons are slightly referenced in yet another ‘movie-within-a movie’ narrative device.   This time they push the angle, that these monsters come from the film you're watching, in a much bigger way.  Even as far as to show the first major demon coming out of the TV to attack an unsuspecting viewer.

Wait so… what?  Oh, screw it… whatever I didn’t come here for this to make sense.

If you’ve read my review of the first movie, you know I’m in love with it.  Everything from the goofy acting, the crazy pimps, and demon puss pimples, fills me with glee like a 9-year-old boy.   That love floods over to this sequel as well, but only a little bit.   Demons 2 takes the building blocks of the first and tries to do the same thing, but with just a little extra. It sadly misses its mark.  We spent just too much time making back-story for characters we know are going to die.  We have subplot after subplot in different locations in the building.  They all have their so-bad-its-funny sort of charm, there’s just too many though.    We have body builders fighting demons, a house party turned into ground zero, a pregnant couple, an old lady with a dog, and a child left home alone. 

Luckily Tony the Pimp is back too… but with a different name and an obsession for fitness.

Sure, we get the more of the great creature effects, like the demon baby, but we also have the horrible demon dog, which starts with promise and eventually just turns into a dog with a mask on.  It’s all still gory fun, but it's not as much gory fun.  If you liked the first one, you’ll stand to get a kick out of this, but it doesn’t have nearly the same amount of heart.  I will give it credit for killing both the dog and the kid; two characters you always just assume will live.

           

Then there’s the whole meta-plot ‘movie within a movie’ stuff.  It’s ultimately pointless and hard to follow. So, was the first movie just a movie IN this movie, and they are watching the sequel while we’re watching them in a sequel?  Is the movie from the first Demons in any way related to the movie in the second Demons?  Are the events in the movies within the movies, real life? Is this like The Ring where if you watch the movies, you die like in the movies? Why the hell would you show this movie on TV? What about the mask in the first one? Why is demon blood acidic now? Those questions alone made my brain explode a little bit.  We’re not supposed to worry about that stuff in a cheese-ball gore fest like this. My best advice is to just turn off all of your brain, every brain cell, you just need to destroy it. 

Still, it’s a decent movie to watch at 3 in the morning, when you come home intoxicated, but it’s not good for much else.  Basically, if you like Demons, you’ll at least get a kick out of Demons 2.  If you didn’t like Demons, you should just step back and leave it be. 

Now, just don’t get me started on the rest of this franchise's supposed sequels.

Jesus… I can’t… I just won’t. 

- Will Woolery