NaschyCast

Beyond Naschy #11 - CROSS OF THE DEVIL (1975)

CROSS OF THE DEVIL is one of the more controversial entries in Paul Naschy's credits. He has co-writing credit but has no onscreen role or any other behind the scenes position either. As we talk about this interesting Spanish gothic we detail the he said/she said aspect of how, at the height of his popularity and box office appeal, Naschy ended up on the outside of this project looking in - and throwing stones! Director John Gilling has a history of making fine horror films for Hammer and other British studios but this was to be his only Spanish production and the behind the scenes shenanigans might have been the reason why. This was a dream project for Naschy as he desired to make a film from some of the stories of Spanish poet and writer Gustavo Adolfo B

NaschyCast #47 - THE KILLER IS AMONG THE 13 (1976)

Thirteen suspects trapped in an isolated country house over a long weekend! One of them committed murder! Can you figure out whodunit? Probably not, but that really is beside the point. This month’s film has a very tiny sprinkling of Naschy but a heaping helping of old style murder mystery a la Agatha Christie and just a soupçon of giallo for flavor. That’s right- there IS a black-glover killer but don’t expect the typical Euro-Trash blood soaked tale or there will be some sad Pandas out there. The story takes place in the English countryside (don’t let the Spanish speaking cast fool ya!) with all the trappings you would expect from a classic mystery film of the type that used to star William Powell. One can merely wish that Naschy had a larger role in the proceedings but he only interacts with three of the cast which means this is one of the least Naschy NaschyCasts we’ve ever done. Still, there is fun to be had as veteran director Javier Aguirre runs his eclectic group of victims … errr….suspects through their paces. Secrets are revealed, love affairs are uncovered, maids are seduced, jealousies kindled and heads are hatched as we narrow down the character list to discover the identity of the perpetrator. Also, there are many familiar faces onscreen including Patty Shepard, Eduardo Calvo and Dyanik Zurakowska to make the 'Spot the Actor' game interesting. This month's mailbag was overflowing and we even throw in a bonus bit of praise for the Bloody Pit episode covering NIGHTMARE CITY so things get entertaining as we stumble through the letters we received in July. If you would like to tell us what you think please write us at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the Book of Faces NaschyCast page. Thanks for downloading and listening. Oh- and I end the show with a an old HooDoo Guru's tune inspired by a chance comment during the podcast. Enjoy!

NaschyCast #46 - KILMA, QUEEN OF THE JUNGLE (1974)

It is the summer and once again the NaschyCast hears the call of the wild....jungle wild, that is! Yes- it's time for a Jungle Girl romp through the foliage and the stock footage as we ogle untamed women in fur bikinis and indulge in adolescent fantasies about the fairer sex. Will we ever grow up? Probably not. But while we stumble through the faux African landscape we do talk about this odd but oddly entertaining Naschy effort that marks his first collaboration with the director of THE NIGHT OF THE HOWLING BEAST a.k.a. THE WEREWOLF AND THE YETI. I have to admit that when we covered that film back in episode three I was unaware of this movie so this show serves as proof that Troy and I are still learning about our favorite Spanish Wolfman even now. Think of these podcasts as the strangest series of film history classes of all time! Now I just need to watch the Kilma sequel and see what director Miguel Iglesias brought to the table for a second Jungle Girl film with Blanca Estrada. We start the show with a few announcements of interest to fans of Spanish Horror and are only interrupted once by a vicious catfight - I guess that is progress, of a sort. The mailbag segment has us being questioned by a female listener who has finally chimed in and wants info on the TV horror host of our youth. If you have questions for us the email address is naschycast@gmail.com or you can join us over on the Facebook page. Thanks downloading the show and listening to the show. Come on back now- ya hear?

NaschyCast #45- THE HANGING WOMAN (1973)

Episode forty-five brings back to the wonders and excitement of a Gothic period tale! The film is so steeped in creepy atmosphere that it begins with a funeral, which leads to a will reading and inevitably to a sleazy seduction - its all good. The plot will be familiar to genre fans but the story has a few nice twists on the standard tropes. So much fun! One of the joys of a gothic tale is the chance to see rare locations and The Hanging Woman (a.k.a. Terror of the Living Dead) has a great set of places to delight the eye. Of course, it also has a couple of lovely ladies in Maria Pia Conte and Dyanik Zurakowska. Both of them vie for the attentions of our handsome leading man--- no - not Naschy! He was too busy to play the time consuming central figure. Instead our man Paul Naschy plays the local gravedigger and all around oozer of sleaze by the name of Igor. Strangely, Igor does not work for the film's mad scientist character. Odd, but you gotta love it! In this film we discover many things- the dark world of Nebulous Electricity: the possibilities of Black Magic as a hobby; an alternate way of reanimating the dead; the fact that its difficult to maintain a monogamous relationship even if your girlfriend is a corpse; and that its good to be the king of any small domain. We were both surprised by this one and that is no mean feat. You can write us at naschycast@gmail.com and let us know your thoughts on The Hanging Woman or any other Naschy related or non-Naschy related topic. We plan to get back to tackling some other Spanish Horror films in new Beyond Naschy episodes later this summer - we think you'll be surprised! Thanks for listening and be sure to rate and review us in iTunes or where ever you find our show.

NaschyCast #44- DISCO ROJO (1973)

The English translation of this film's title is RED LIGHT and its a good name for this tale. Part social commentary, part crime story, part drug scare film, part action movie and in many ways an example of the darker tone 1970's cinema was taking. Of course, this is all done with a Spanish twist that makes DISCO ROJO well worth seeking out for the curious fan of movie history. And, as you might expect, its also worth seeing if you are a fan of Paul Naschy as he plays another in his long line of nasty villains here. Naschy shines as a mid-level Mafioso placed in charge of the drug distribution and gambling interests along Spain's Mediterranean coast. But the real star is the fantastic actor Antonio Vilar in the role of a crusading journalist trying to unravel the tangled threads that will lead to this criminal organization. This is an interesting and sometimes confusing crime story that owes a lot to the bigger box office hits of the day but has plenty of its own style to not come off as a retread. I just wish there were cultural subtitles as well as subtitles for the dialog! The mailbag is pretty light this month but that doesn't stop us from a few tangential discussions including the news of the Naschy, Franco and Rollin influences in a novel by Edward Lee. We also talk a bit about the upcoming remake of Larraz's VAMPYRES and a few other movies of interest to Euro-Cult fans. You can write us at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the FaceBook page anytime. We'd be thrilled to hear from you. And if you get the show through iTunes we'd appreciate it if you could rate and/or review us there. It helps get the word out about the show. Thanks!

Beyond Naschy #10 -EYEBALL (1975)

The new Beyond Naschy episode brings us another giallo and our first chance to talk about director Umbeto Lenzi. If you are only familiar with Lenzi's work through his horror movies EYEBALL might come as a shock. We discuss the amazing number of highly entertaining (and competently made!) films from this under-sung Italian genius (?) and speak about his skill at crafting fun tales. EUEBALL is a very fast and witty murder mystery that has a number of pluses and very few minuses. One of the best elements is the energetic, exciting score by maestro Bruno Nicolai which is peppered throughout the show. Of course, the main, reoccurring theme will be familiar to longtime NaschyCast listeners but there are several other melodious tracks. The discussion ranges all over the film with each of us finding it amusing that the cast of American tourists in Spain are very much like a group of typical stereotypes from an Irwin Allen disaster epic - TOWERING EYEBALL INFERNO, perhaps? And Troy comes another step down the path of accepting that a Giallo is always going to screw you by withholding vital need-to-know information - Guessing the murderer's identity is the only chance you have because empirical evidence is useless in one of these thrillers. You just gotta enjoy the ride!

NaschyCast #43.5- The Daninsky Files

After too long a time the NaschyCast returns to the world of El Hombre Lobo! Having covered all eleven of the Waldemar Daninsky film over the course of the podcast your two hosts have decided to weigh in on how the series stacks up. We each rank the films from favorite to least favorite with a surprise digital guest appearance by our Man in the Field - Dan! Yep- in a strange, jumbled way we have Dan join us (through the magic of painstaking editing) to list off his thoughts on the Daninsky movies as well. You just never know what surprises will be up our hairy sleeve. Of course, it wouldn't be the NaschyCast without a number of digressions and tangents so expect some conversation about Lester Dent pulp stories; Derek Robinson World War One novels about fighter pilots; the epic-length science fiction of Peter R. Hamilton; bizarre combinations of music and werewolf imagery; and Rod's brief review of Argento's DRACULA film. We narrowly avoid a discussion of ARCHER so be happy we have some self-control. Also, the feedback section is packed with fun tidings including an MP3 piece from a new writer to the show and a couple of other Spanish Horror fans chiming in with their own rankings of the lycanthrope cinema of Senor Naschy. It's a fun time for all involved! If you would like to add your two cents worth you can write us at naschycast@gmail.com or join us over on the Facebook page. And thank you for downloading and listening!

NaschyCast #43- EMPUSA (2010)

In this episode we venture once again into the twenty first century to witness Paul Naschy's final directorial effort EMPUSA. Unlike his earlier work this a film we know very little about with next to nothing being stated by our hero before his untimely passing. We do know that this project started as a final collaboration with director Carlos Aured (HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB, CURSE OF THE DEVIL) but it appears Naschy completed the film when his friend's health wouldn't allow him to work. From what we can learn, the bulk of the movie was shot in 2007 or 2008 but it went unreleased until 2010. There might be a good reason for that! Join Troy and I as we chop this horror/comedy (or is it a comedy?) down to size and attempt to understand just what the hell is going on. I think you'll be able to hear the pain!

NaschyCast #42- THE LAST KAMIKAZE (1984)

It is that time once again! After two months of talking about Jess Franco and Amando de Ossorio your humble podcasters return to the film of Paul Naschy with a vengeance. THE LAST KAMIKAZE was the last of the Japanese co-productions our Spanish cinema hero directed and, although we were upset that that it isn't a horror film, we are happy to take whatever Senor Molina offers. The 1980's was a period in which he stretched his creative muscles in new directions and he seems to have succeeded more times that not. Let's just say that because of this movie I am willing to forgive the scandal that was OPERATION MANTIS. This film may have some problems but it does not make the viewer cringe in embarrassment- well- maybe only in one scene involving dressing in drag. I must apologize for the nearly three hour running time of this episode. Part of the reason for this excessive length can be put down to both Troy and I being so thrilled to talk about Naschy again that we went a bit too in depth. But, in truth, we also ramble off topic on several occasions with discussions of Wonder Woman and Earth 2 comic books being completely my fault. Sorry about that! But the real off topic rambling comes in the mailbag section when a couple of longtime listeners raise very interesting ideas and ask our opinions on a wide range of things. We talk about the early films of Lucio Fulci; give our opinions on the Friday the 13th series of movies; talk over Christmas wish lists; get excited about the impending Blu-Ray release of DEMONS and DEMONS 2 and we even spew forth a rant or two. That's right- both Troy and I have a bone to pick with certain people and it comes out in the mailbag discussions. I may have cursed a bit too much in this one. Whew! So join us for an entertaining film as we deal with some great dummy destruction, contrasting murder methods and ponder the possibility that Naschy is actually Batman in #42 of the NaschyCast. The show can be downloaded at the link below or subscribed to in the iTunes store. And if you get the show from there please take the time to rate and review it - it helps make other fans aware of what we're doing here. We can be contacted at naschycast@gmail.com or through the Facebook page. Thanks!

Beyond Naschy #9 - RETURN OF THE BLIND DEAD (1973)

Has it really been two years since we covered TOMBS OF THE BLIND DEAD? That is far too long! It is with great pleasure that we return to the land of the living dead Templar Knights! For the second of Ossorio's fantastic Blind Dead films we examine the two different cuts available on Region 1 DVD and then ponder the deeper social commentary buried within the story. Really? Only for a little while. We mostly chat about the casting choices, the relative beauty of the female actors, the story's odd love rectangle, the mechanics of the creeping living dead and the number of homages to (or steals from) other movies that Ossorio weaves into the story. I wish we had spent more time on how difficult it is to destroy these walking corpses but some things get lost in the stumble/shuffle. Of course, this being the NaschyCast the show starts with some unrelated discussion of several monster related topics. I wax enthusiastic about Universal Horror novels and we discuss the joys of Shaun Hutson's horror epic 'Slugs', which leads us to the question of why we have yet to cover any examples of the cinema of Spain's Juan Piquer Simon. He certainly fits our criteria as he is Spanish and has directed plenty of Horror, so maybe a show on PIECES is in our future. That one won't be for the faint of heart! We also have an impromptu discussion of Lucio Fulci's tetralogy of gore films and - just for fun - rank them from best to worst. In the mailbag section we commiserate with a listener fresh from a viewing of FURY OF THE WOLFMAN and talk briefly about several worthy Jess Franco titles. How long before we just dive headlong into Uncle Jess' catalog and never look back? We can be contacted at naschycast@gmail.com and the show can be downloaded at the link below or subscribed to in the iTunes store. Let us know what you think and if you want your comments to be a part of the podcast. Thanks for listening!