The Otherworld (2013)

The career of Richard Stanley is a classic and unfortunately all too common Hollywood horror story of an extraordinarily talented artist chewed up and spit out by the studio system. Although the film rightfully found its cult audience, Stanley's debut feature Hardware (1990) was distributed by the infamous Weinstein brothers and for a number of years was at the center of several convoluted rights disputes, though that's nothing compared to the abuse Stanley's second feature Dust Devil (1992) suffered. Butchered beyond recognition removing nearly of the films esoteric mystique, the film also suffered multiple rights issues over the years. It wasn't until 2006 when Stanley finally assembled his final cut. Of course, the historic debacle surrounding Stanley's firing from The Island of Dr. Moreau (1996) was documented brilliantly by Severin Film's David Gregory in the Lost Soul: The Doomed Journey of Richard Stanley's Island of Dr. Moreau (2014). Still, considering some of the individuals involved in the mishandling of Stanley's films, it's Stanley that had the last laugh, calling “Action!” on his long overdue third feature film, his take on H.P. Lovecraft's Colour out of Space in 2019. Stanley was hardly laying dormant after the Moreau clusterfuck however, staying busy with shorts and documentaries on some pretty curious subjects, the most memorable and eccentric of the bunch, The Otherworld, finds Stanley studying a subject ripe for treatment in one of his fictional narratives.

Once a stronghold for the Cathars, a religious sect persecuted and eventually slaughtered by the Catholic church who razed the Château de Montségur, the Cathar's fortress in 1244, Montségur, a settlement located in the Pyrenees mountains in the southwest of France has been Stanley's home for several years and is the subject of The Otherworld (L'autre monde). More specifically, an area refereed to as “The Zone”, which has been said to contain portals to other dimensions, leading many of the supernaturally inclined to congregate to the region. Tracing the history of the region and the Cathar's, Stanley explores the strange phenomena surrounding his adopted home while also reminiscing on an otherworldly encounter he himself experienced in The Zone.

The Otherworld is bound to be a divisive film from the outset based on two specific groups of people bringing their own biases to the material. Skeptical types will dismiss the outlandishness of some of the testimonials heard throughout the film while others who already had an inkling of believing in some form of “beyond” will either walk away just as, if not more convinced than before. When viewed from a completely unprejudiced lens, The Otherworld is a fascinating documentary on a variety of fronts. Stanley structures the film in an interesting manner, opening the film with himself ominously warning anyone watching that was he is about to tell is the story of the strangest thing that ever happened to him, before switching gears and getting into some general history of the area of Montségur. Although the film isn't and doesn't pretend to be a thorough history lesson on Montségur, it's this history of the region and the overview of the Cathar's that make for some of the films most engaging moments. Naturally Stanley encounters some fairly wild characters along the way. If the film has a “main character”, it would Uraine, an eccentric sorcerer who hangs print-outs of Italian horror film posters all around his property. Equally riviting is Stanley's tale of his meeting with a spirit in the ruins of the Château de Montségur. Stanley being a brilliant raconteur vividly paints with words, at one point humorously describing his surroundings during his ghostly memory as resembling a “bad Black Sabbath video.”

It's also worth noting that “The Zone” is the nickname given to the outer regions of the nuclear wasteland in Hardware, the mysterious nomad played by Fields of the Nephilim frontman Carl McCoy who discovers the Mark-13 droid parts given the moniker of “Zone Tripper”. Stanley has said that portions of Hardware were inspired by late nights listening to Iron Maiden's “Flash of the Blade” on repeat and funnily enough, the legendary band would later include a song called “Montségur” on their album Dance of Death making reference to the storming of the Château de Montségur. Born in South Africa, Stanley was no stranger to the occult with the culture of magic and mysticism in Africa being very strong. Stanley's mother, anthropologist Penny Miller, even published a book on the subject in 1979, appropriately titled Myths and Legends of Southern Africa. Two of Stanley's previous documentaries also dealt with somewhat similar subjects with The Secret Glory (2001) delving into the story of Nazi SS officer Otto Rahn's search for the Holy Grail and The White Darkness (2002) exploring voodoo in Haitian culture. Both engrossing watches, but The Otherworld finds Stanley working on a grander and even more esoteric scale. The film has a higher pedigree than other documentaries as well thanks to the exquisite cinematography of Karim Hussain and score from Simon Boswell making a trip to Stanley's otherworldly zone well worth taking.

Ballad in Blood (2016)

The Italian film market was in a very interesting place as the 80's gave way to the 90's. Noticeably different from the 70's heyday when the giallo, spaghetti western and poliziotteschi genres were thriving, the late 80's certainly produced genre product, but the market for theatrical Italian horror began to dry up, with many genre veterans including Sergio Martino, Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi and Lamberto Bava making made-for-TV movies and films that went direct-to-video internationally. Lenzi even essentially retired after 1992. Of course Dario Argento outlasted them all in terms of securing wide theatrical distribution, but Ruggero Deotado stuck it out in the theatrical game, closing out the 80's with out of left field films like Phantom of Death (1987) and Dial: Help (1988), his last theatrical film being The Washing Machine (1993). Like the others before him, Deodato then found occasional TV work before working sporadically every few years. It's entirely appropriate then, that 2016 was the perfect year for an established master like Deodato to make a comeback, with one of the biggest trends in horror was lifting from classic Italian horror in the name of “homage”. Deodato's comeback was surprising, even more surprising was the ensuing film, Ballad in Blood, a film that, even in a filmography alongside the likes of Dial: Help and The Washing Machine, stands as a strong contender for the title of Deodato's most curious film.

Still reeling from a night of hard Halloween partying, Lanka, her boyfriend Jacopo and Duke, an American and Jacopo's drug dealer, a group of university students in Italy are mortified upon discovering the dead body of Elizabeth, Lanka's roommate. With no memory of the night before, the three race to piece together the events of the previous night that led to Elizabeth's death, though further drug use and the bad attitudes of all three lead to endless bickering, accusations and shifting allegiances. 

Despite the fact that it had been nearly 30 years since Deotado had made films like Dial: Help and The Washing Machine, Ballad in Blood is a direct descendant of the two, loaded with the sort of quirks that made those films so off-kilter. The central story Elizabeth's death, none-too-subtly inspired by the Amanda Knox case, is straightforward enough, but when the first line of dialogue uttered is “Fuck you, black cat!” it's clear that what's to unfold is going to be anything but normal. Things are skewed from the start, with a sex scene early in the film ending in vomit and Duke showcasing his freestyle rapping talent for no apparent reason within the first half-hour, it's impossible to not get wrapped up in wanting to uncover what happened to Elizabeth, who is actually given a fair amount of characterization through footage on her laptop. Many will no doubt view the film as exaggerated and claim Deodato is out of touch, though eccentric as the film and characters behavior is, it honestly doesn't seem all that far fetched, the nihilism displayed throughout the film being a staple of Deodato's work. The vitriol spewed by nearly every character in the film is on par with Deodato's Waves of Lust (1975) and overall the film seems to have a bleak view of human behavior, not unlike Cannibal Holocaust (1980), and Deodato once again offers no easy to fully root for characters as he did in The House on the Edge of the Park (1980).

Peculiar as Deodato's presentation of the extracurricular activities of college students may be, the film is nevertheless packed with gallows humor. Shocked as they are upon discovering Elizabeth's body, the way the group go about treating the body is rather questionable, though at times Lanka is the sole character that does show some shades of empathy for her recently departed roommate. Most of the humor in the film is born out of just how rotten the characters are, the dialogue getting fairly incendiary at times. Duke also happens to be one of the films biggest sources of entertainment with the best lines, including the aforementioned opening line of the film and his lamenting of Elizabeth's weight while moving the body is golden. Deodato also tosses in other eccentricities on the side like a group of gothic drug addicts with pancake make-up layered on thick looking to get back at Duke and the strange behavior of the groups landlord and his effeminate sidekick. The end of the film even finds Deodato referencing himself with the use of “Sweetly” from The House on the Edge of the Park soundtrack, although the scene in question is liable to leave many baffled. The same could be said for the film as a whole as it certainly wasn't what anyone was expecting when Deodato announced his comeback. Mean, nasty and basically insane, it's great to have Deodato back.

Phantom of Death (1988)

AKA Off Balance

The giallo has always been one of the more interesting film genres in terms of its flexibility. Although there is an archetypal giallo, a pulpy, lurid crime thriller with several twists featuring exquisite production design, baroque color palates and graphically violent death scenes, there are also several films that function as giallos while taking the genre into some pretty far-out territory. Sergio Martino took the giallo into the realm of Satanic cults with All the Colors of the Dark (1972) and Umberto Lenzi took the genres penchant for plot twists that defy logic to their utmost extreme with his delirious opus Spasmo (1974). Lenzi's earlier jetset thrillers like Paranoia/Orgasmo (1969) and A Quiet Place to Kill (1970) along with Giulio Questi's utterly mad Death Laid an Egg (1968) are unique as they represent an era for the genre that predates Dario Argento's Animal Trilogy, Argento's work often considered the pinnacle of the genre along with Mario Bava, the original master. Curiously absent from the giallo boom of the 70's was Ruggero Deodato who didn't throw his hat in the giallo ring until the late 80's when many had read the genre's last rites. As late an entry to the genre it may be, Deodato's Phantom of Death certainly belongs to the class of films that divert from the standard giallo formula, Deodato's approach being memorably, appropriate given the films alternate title, off balance.

Robert Dominici (Michael York), a gifted virtuoso pianist is diagnosed with progeria, a rare disease that causes rapid aging. As Robert, a man in his 30's, gradually appears to look in his 70's, the disease begins to affect his brain and Robert embarks on a killing spree. Because of his condition, tracking Robert down proves to be an increasingly frustrating task for Inspector Datti (Donald Pleasence), whom Robert continues to drive crazy while working toward his end goal as the disease worsens.

Phantom of Death is a curious film that unquestionably stands out in a crowded giallo field and sits comfortably alongside the other oddball titles from around this time in Deodato's oeuvre like Dial: Help (1988) and The Washing Machine (1993). Obviously the aging disease aspect sets the film apart but the film also differs from many other films in the genre in that it's not a mystery. Although it's established that Robert is the killer going into the film, Deodato finds other ways of building suspense. Having such a strange disease be the root of Robert's killings may seem like a gimmick but Deodato's handling of the disease is incredibly clever especially the ways Robert can use it to his advantage, tossing a wrench into what would have otherwise been a standard police procedural plot. Michael York has a fine line to walk throughout the film and manages to maintain a fraction of sympathy due to his condition but also plays the psychopath extremely well, his warped mentality adding extra tension to the inevitable conclusion. The advanced aging make-up is not only effective but becomes rather grotesque later in the film and Robert's brief encounter with a fellow Progeria sufferer is one of the more strangely unsettling moments the genre has to offer. Deodato also gives the film plenty of the visual flair the genre is know for, even evoking Phantom of the Opera for a brief time and while not overtly gruesome, this being a Deodato film, the death scenes are visceral.

Interestingly, Deodato compared the film with Cannibal Holocaust (1980) in an interview with Total Sci-Fi Online. Deodato stated “...I did Phantom of Death because it was based on a true element – the idea of growing old – so it was based on something realistic like Cannibal Holocaust. And I got to work with Michael York and Donald Pleasance on Phantom of Death.” The film is also notable for having Edwige Fenech, arguably the face most synonymous with giallo, as York's love interest, her first and only film with Deodato, though Deodato has claimed that she was miscast at a producers insistence. Deodato also clearly had fun working with Donald Pleasance who has a memorable “off balance” moment himself in the film. Pleasance found himself in a number of Italian productions in the late 80's and would go on to feature in an even more off balance film, Sergio Martino's American Tiger (1990) a few years after Phantom of Death. Deodato would again steer the giallo into bizarre territory with The Washing Machine, his take on the hugely popular at the time erotic thriller genre. While a good chuck of Deodato's filmography tends to get overlooked in comparison with the more infamous Cannibal Holocaust or The House on the Edge of the Park (1980), Phantom of Death seems oddly underseen but the film does hold an important distinction of being Deodato's first giallo.