NASCHY BLOGATHON: THE NUMBERS

And now, to sum up: as promised, a few numbers on the (to my mind) roaringly successful PAUL NASCHY BLOGATHON:

Hail to the King, Baby

Duration: 5 days (November 29-December 3, 2010)
Participation: 95 posts from 51 authors on 42 different websites.
Average unique visitors per day (to MMMMMovies):  532
Most reviewed movie: Horror Rises from the Tomb (reviewed 7 times)
Poll Results: respondents preferred a Bearded Naschy to any other variation by a factor of almost 2 to 1! (Though results may have been a bit different had I replaced "hypertrichotic" with the more pedestrian "really, really hairy." :) )

And the OCD Award for most active blogathonner goes to: Darius Whiteplume (Adventures in Nerdliness) with 7 posts!


I had planned to do a big "Closing Ceremonies" post about What Naschy Means to Me, and reflecting on the blogathon and the year we've spent without him--but as I thought about it, while reading these great posts about his films, his life, and his legacy, I realized that we haven't been without him at all. He's shuffled off his mortal coil, of course, and for his family and friends and fans, that's a huge loss--but in a real and not at all sentimental/sappy way (well, maybe just a little), he's still with us. In his movies, in the people whose lives he touched and influenced, and in the legions of fans whose numbers just keep growing year after year.

Besides, everyone knows how I feel about Naschy anyway. If you don't, just browse the archives. :)

So in closing, let me just say once again: THANK YOU to all the wonderful bloggers, artists, and non-blogging writers who pitched in for this blogathon. Many months ago, when the Duke and I first came up with this idea of a week-long tribute to our favorite filmmaker and actor, we were half prepared to be the only ones who cared enough to write--we thought maybe a few of our close blogging friends might chip in out of affection for us (or to keep us from sending the photos to the police), but mostly we were preparing ourselves for the worst. But as you know now, the response from Paul's fans across the blogosphere was amazing and overwhelming. Day after day I was surprised, amazed, and delighted at the quantity, quality, and variety of the tributes--it was all I could do to keep up with all the brilliance, and I still haven't caught up on my commenting! But I plan to, don't worry.

Anyway, to all the Naschy fans who participated, and to those who may not have been fanatics but took the opportunity to consider his legacy anyway, my deepest and sincerest thanks. You all helped make this a much larger and grander celebration than I or the Duke could have hoped for, and we're forever grateful. And to the patron saint of our blog, and the Guest of Honor at the festival: rest well, Señor Molina. I miss you, and I love you, and I will never forget you.

The Vicar

And don't forget--if you missed any posts, or want to revisit the blogathon for nostalgic purposes, THE PAUL NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS PAGE is preserved here in perpetuity! Visit often, and look for new MMMMMovies content resuming soon!

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS! THE FINAL CHAPTER! (probably)

Adios.

Well, friends and parishioners, I'm feeling much better rested this morning, and was pleased to wake up to a few more last-minute entries in what has been, to my mind, an immensely successful blogathon! There will still be some housecleaning to do and summing up to accomplish over the next few days, to say nothing of rehydrating and deep-tissue massage. But enough of my yakkin'! Here are the links that came in just under the wire!

• Fellow LOTT D-er Nate Yapp of the excellent and extensive Classic-Horror.com has created a wonderful fan video condensing some of the most memorable moments of the Waldemar Daninsky series, set to the music of Arcade Fire's "Black Mirror"! And it's pretty amazing how well it fits--for my money, the band should adopt it as the official video! Check it out, linked here and also embedded below, by the editor's kind permission! RAWK!

• Continuing the multi-media MADness, just after the clock struck midnight Thomas D. of Cinema Gonzo hurled his own hat into the ring, with this sprawling and awesome review (including video clips from Venom, Cathedral, Louis CK and Monty Python) of Paul Naschy's medieval morality tale-cum-torture porn, Inquisición!

• Similarly refusing to be bound by the arbitrary concept of clock time, the tireless Dr. Morbius of Krell Labs offers her final experiment in the Naschython, with a thoughtful review of Paul's wild and not-so-woolly 1973 opus, The Hunchback of the Morgue!

And that's the news! If you've been working all week and just couldn't get the entry in before last night (doubtless due to mystical curses and gremlins from beyond seeking to quash the joy of Naschy love as best they can), go ahead and finish up and send me those links! But if everyone's had their final say on the matter, then it is with a tear in my eye and coffee in my hand that I must declare the Paul Naschy Blogathon--officially CLOSED.

Sort of. Probably.

Anyway, thanks again to all the great contributors and commenters for making this little project a success. It's been truly fantastic to see all the Naschy love every day of the week! I'll be archiving the links in perpetuity here at MMMMMovies, so as long as you've got the articles on your blogs, you're a part of the Paul Naschy Blogathon Memorial.

Sum-up post and stats still to come.

 ¡Viva El Hombre-Lobo! ¡Viva Naschy!

The Vicar 
 

 

Nate Yapp's fanvid, "Waldemar Daninsky's 'Black Mirror'"  (Classic-Horror.com)

CLICK HERE FOR THE COLLECTED NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS, ALL ON ONE PAGE!

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS for Friday, December 3, Part 2!

Can it be that the Naschyfest is almost over? Say it ain't so! While I'll relish the opportunity to rest and catch up on the commenting and re-reading of a lot of the posts from this week, it'll be strange to be without the almost hourly deliveries of Naschy Glee I've enjoyed this week. But if this blogathon has taught me anything, it's that the Joy of Naschy is extremely widespread, and a little spark of it lives within us all.

The Vicar, in his dreams

If you live in different time zones and still plan on squeezing your blogathon entry in before the Great Black Clock chimes twelve, fear not--I'll be compiling a final, festival-ending link list tomorrow morning--or more likely early afternoon.  (Psst--if you don't post your Naschy entry till late Saturday, or even Sunday, I probably would still acknowledge it as part of the 'thon--maybe as part of the "Appendices." ;) ) But for those of you who need your measure of Molina before bedtime, here are the links since our last update this morning!

• Creeping Bride of the SHOCK! Theater blog admits her connection of the famous "Shock!" syndicated movie package of  the 50s and 60s to Naschy's legacy is tenuous, but to use her words, "I just had to participate somehow!" Check out her review of Lon Chaney Jr.'s portrayal of The Wolf Man, with extra added Naschy goodness!

• At In it for the Kills, Wednesday Child takes her first bite of the Naschy cake with her review of Count Dracula's Great Love!

• Video Junkie closes out its spectacular series of "El Hombre Mofo" articles, with "Tom & Will's Top 3 Naschy Picks"!  William S. Wilson and Thomas T. Simmons each offer their top choices of flicks that will initiate Naschy newbies into the realm of the PecSlaves.

• Samuel Wilson offers his usual dose of scholarly critical excellence in his consideration of The Devil's Possessed, at one of the web's must-follow movie blogs, Mondo 70!

• Vila Wolf trumps my Naschy poetry with her own Naschy-inspired short story, in which "Daninsky himself explains to us how he became a werewolf." Which time? Never mind, just read Vila's story, "The Letter," at her LiveJournal, Remember; I Hate You All!

• And, at Naschy Blogathon headquarters here at Mad Mad Mad Mad Movies, the Vicar of VHS started the day with a review of a truly unique Naschy flick, the 1977 drama El Transexual! Then he closed it with his own Vicar-ious listing, "Performance Review: My Top 6 Naschy Roles!"

And that's all I've got! Unless there are a few more entries straggling in over the next several hours (or longer, see above), that's the Blogathon! I can't believe I ate the whole thing!

In all seriousness, thanks to EVERYONE who participated and read and commented during this wonderful week of Naschy love. It's been bigger and better than I could ever have imagined, and I'm extremely proud of what we've all done here. Now I know what I had always hoped to be true--that Naschy's legacy will not fade from the earth, for he lives forever in the hearts of his fans. You guys rule!

Time to mosey on. Adios, Jacinto.
(image credit: Arbogast on Film)

So keep watching for the absolute final link-list tomorrow cleaning up any late-posted entries, and then the next day or so after that for any "appendices." I'll also be chiming in with some blogathon stats and a longer concluding piece on what I've taken from the experience. 



For the last time, if I've failed to post your link or overlooked your contribution, EMAIL ME NOW and let me know! vicarofvhs@gmail.com (Incidentally, you can use that same email for fan mail, gift offers, indecent proposals, and thoughts too unspeakable to be given utterance.)

See you tomorrow! Now to sleep!

Love and Naschyness,

The Vicar

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

Performance Review: My Top 6 Naschy Roles

The Faces of Naschy

Being the enthusiast I am, it's incredibly hard for me to pick my favorite Naschy performances--usually it comes down to whatever I watched last, or whatever I was geeking out about with the Duke most recently. Still, there are some performances in the man's career that strike me as special--the iconic roles, and then a few lesser known ones that I think allowed Naschy to flex his acting muscles and show he was much more than a rakish sneer and a pair of impressive pecs--though God knows he was that! So here is my completely arbitrary and totally subject-to-change list of my top six favorite performances from the Lon Chaney of Spain:

6. Gotho, The Hunchback of the Morgue (1973) 

Naschy won the Georges Meliés Best Actor Award from the International Festival of Fantastic and Science-Fiction Cinema of Paris in 1973 for his portrayal of the lovelorn hunchback with anger management issues, and it's easy to see why. His usual handsome, chest-forward swagger obliterated by the hump harness and stance required by the role (to say nothing of the dust brown Ron Wood wig), Naschy plays Gotho as extremely meek, almost pathetic at times, but still capable of extreme fury and violence when pushed. But most importantly, he maintains a strange nobility in the character, whose mistaken belief that love will conquer even Death speaks to something in the doomed romantic in all of us.

"Don't bust my hump."

5. Pablo Thevenet, Rojo Sangre (2004)

At a certain point late in his career, Naschy got bitter. Denied the respect and recognition he felt his contributions to Spanish cinema deserved, he became angry at the increasingly Hollywood-like Spanish film industry, so ready to jettison its past in the name of embracing the next new thing. As aging horror star Pablo Thevenet, Naschy gives his anger and disappointment full reign, and the result is a ferocious portrayal of a man willing to damn himself forever to ensure that his enemies also suffer. It's fortunate that Naschy lived long enough to see his legacy given the appropriate honor, but the darkness in this role is pretty wondrous to see.

"Do you feel lucky, punk?"

4. Barón Gilles de Lancré, The Devil's Possessed (1974)

In my review on MMMMMovies I called this flick "Naschy's Macbeth," and I wasn't joking. Barón de Lancré is simultaneously noble and ruthless, a battle-tested warrior loyal to his comrades but enslaved and eventually brought down by his implacable will to power. The character's slow descent to madness is rendered exquisitely by Naschy, particularly in a near-Shakespearean soliloquy in his bedchamber, filmed through a fish-eye lens. This character also has one of my favorite Naschy death scenes, a monumental exit in battle that prefigures a similar death in Peter Jackson's Lord of the Rings trilogy by decades.

"All you guys on the right...you first."

3. Waldemar Daninksy, Night of the Werewolf (1981)

Though he played the character a dozen times onscreen, Naschy's insistence on recreating cursed Polish nobleman Waldemar Daninsky in each film meant the character seldom got stale. But common among all his portrayals was a stoic, slightly morose attitude that was his own modification of Lon Chaney Jr.'s more depressive, suicidal Lawrence Talbot. For my money he was never better than in El Retorno del Hombre-Lobo, directing himself in the role for the first time as a tragic but indomitable figure, willing to fight the forces of evil for the good of a humanity that rightly fears him. Many of Naschy's characters were inherently tragic, but there's a reason this is his signature role.

I've said it before, and I'll say it again: FUCK YES.

2. Alaric de Marnac, Horror Rises from the Tomb (1972)

All that being said, there's something about an actor sinking his teeth into sheer, unrestrained villainy that brings an eeevil smile to my face, and when Naschy becomes the deathless (and headless) sorcerer/knight Alaric de Marnac, the fun he's having with the role is absolutely infectious. From his swagger in the face of his executioners as their read his litany of crimes, to his near-wordless menace as he stalks the nubile and naked innocents that feed his lust, Naschy just OWNS it.

"Tell your descendants I'm comin'--and I'm brinin' HELL with me."

1. The Traveler, El Caminante (1979)

There's only one entity more evil than de Marnac (well, maybe two, if you count Coffin Joe), and that's the mysterious Traveler in Naschy's epic period piece. Without the sorcerous powers of Alaric (or at least having promised not to use them, wink-wink), the Traveler wanders medieval Spain, testing his philosophy--that a person can get further by practicing evil and pursuing only base self-interest than by being good and kind and religious--and finding it to be absolutely true. The story--also one of Naschy's best scripts, for my money--plays out like a forgotten piece of folklore, and his De Sadean Traveler is sinister, smarmy, and at times downright chilling. A fantastic performance from the Mighty Molina--his best, imo.

"You wanna play? Let's play."

So how about you, parishioners? What are YOUR favorite Naschy performances?

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON: THE FINAL PUSH!

After the huge link list this morning, I only had a couple at lunch time, so I'm saving them for tonight's update with others that I know are coming in. Then tomorrow morning (or possibly early afternoon), I'll post the final link update, and sometime in the next day or two do the numbers and offer some closing thoughts.

In the meantime, catch up on your reading, comment on the participants' entries, and get ready for the closing ceremonies of this Olympics of Naschy!

And once again, if you've sent me something and I haven't posted it, or if I've overlooked your link in all the MADness, please email me and let me know!  vicarofvhs@gmail.com

The Vicar

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

El Transexual (1977): or, Life is a Cabaret, but Death is a Branson Show

Over the course of his long and exceptionally prolific career, Paul Naschy told a lot of strange stories. Some were strange because they concerned undying sorcerers or immortal werewolves; others because they delved into the weird, twisting hallways of the insane mind. But in 1977, he made what some might call his strangest movie--strange mostly because it was completely unlike the type of movie Paul Naschy was known for making.

In his autobiography, Memoirs of a Wolfman, Paul relates his inspiration for this flick: "One night I was having a beer at the bar of a rather special establishment when a stunning blonde came up to me...I invited her to have a drink with me and we carried on with our friendly chat. Lisa was surprisingly well-read and spoke with a deep, husky voice...She surprised me by asking whether I'd read anything by Restiff de la Bretone. I happened to be familiar with the works of this 18th Century French libertine and author of pornographic writings...At that moment Somebody called Lisa over and a few moments later I had to go to the gents. I was stading at the urinal when Lisa came in, lifted her skirt, and started to urinate. She was a she-male."

Despite his blunt terminology, Paul was fascinated. He researched the story of Lorena Capelli, "a transsexual who died under mysterious circumstances." (More info on Capelli--in Spanish, but with pics--here.) He made friends with the patrons of the famous Gay Club in Madrid, and gained a lot of knowledge about transsexual culture in 70s Spain, where sex change operations were illegal and dangerous. Out of that study came the story for El Transexual (1977), directed by José Jara from a script by Naschy and Antonio Fors.

The Fine Art of Seduction

In the flick, Naschy plays a journalist and photographer investigating a social scandal, the specifics of which are never particularly clear. What is clear is that his key witness is Lorna (Ágata Lys, who played Charo in the recently reviewed Frenchman's Garden), a transsexual caberet performer at the Gay Club--who must be modeled on Capelli, though how closely I can't say. When Lorna disappears just before giving Naschy the info he needs for his scoop, he goes calling on all her friends and acquaintences trying to find her, and in the process learns a great deal about her life and history.

The movie has an unusual structure for a Naschy-written flick, which (though often slightly incoherent) usually plow ahead in a more-or-less linear fashion from from opening to end credits. In this one, we follow Paul as he finds one of Lorna's associates, cajoles or forces his way into his or her confidence, and demands to know where she is. Then we are suddenly flashed back to that person's experience with Lorna, watching the performer's past trials and tribulations as if they happen concurrently with Paul's search. This happens again and again, which gives the movie an almost spiraling structure--a repeated circuitous narrative turns in on itself while floating inexorably to the ground.

This search-flashback-search structure is punctuated by talking-head interviews with Eva Bravo (Eva Robin, perhaps? The imdb cast list is unhelpful), an actual transsexual who offers extremely frank and sometimes explicit information about what it means to be transgendered, her own personal history and her family's reactions, and precisely what is involved in a castration/vaginoplasty operation. In a disarmingly open exchange, Eva tells the interviewer how her vagina was constructed surgically, and about the ins and outs--as it were--of her sex life. In a turn of phrase that has entered my daily lexicon, Eva explains how, when she gets particularly randy with no partner around, she can and does "unburden herself" manually. Sounds a lot better than "Buffeting the Bishop," what?

...furry like a squirrel?

This being a Naschy film, and further having such a sensational and (at the time) taboo subject, one might be forgiven for expecting lots of unsettling exploitation action centering around Lorna and her lovers. But in this case, you'll be disappointed. Surprisingly, Naschy seems entirely uninterested in exploiting his subject for cheap thrills. He and director Jara are making a drama here, not a sleaze flick, and they clearly expect the audience to be on Lorna's side--and this in 1970s Catholic Spain, mind you!

As details of Lorna's life emerge, we learn several surprising things--surprising again because they do not follow the expected exploitation narrative. For instance, from cinematic experience you might expect to learn that Lorna's family disowned her and threw her out when they found out about her transsexuality--but here, her family is portrayed as entirely supportive, her father kind and understanding as she prepares to undergo her dangerous vaginoplasty. You might expect Naschy to uncover rampant drug use and prostitution in the Gay Club, and to deduce Lorna got caught up in it all and hence was "disappeared"; but no, everyone at the club, from the kindly hat check lady to Lorna's non-transsexual coworker Loti, is presented as down-to-earth, well-adjusted, and even happy. Everywhere you think something ugly or outrageous is likely to pop up, the movie frustrates it with a picture of calm and normalcy. Lorna is successful, happy with her life, and happy with her decision to have a sex change, despite its illegality.

"Why yes, I am pleased to see you. Why do you ask?"

This is not to say that exploitation elements are not present here--Naschy hasn't completely changed his spots. There's plenty of nekkidity on display--in fact, when we are introduced to Naschy's character, he's in his photography studio late and night, photographing a gorgeous and nude young lady for no discernable purpose! Ágata Lys never gives us a Spanish version of The Crying Game (mainly for censorship reasons, one presumes, and also because she is a woman playing a transsexual rather than an actual transsexual), but she does often show her voluptuous breasts and well-formed ass. Several performers at the Gay Club--many of whose acts we get to see in their entirety--are either nude or so nearly nude as to make the difference negligible.

These nightclub acts might bring the movie to a halt for some, but I found them fascinating as cultural documents--we see drag acts, showgirl numbers, lip-synching and actual singing, and a comical, entertaining number in which the performer, whose clothes and makeup are divided vertically into "male" and "female" sides, plays out a lover's spat in which the two halves slap, argue, tussle with, and finally undress one another! It's a wonderful look into the caberet scene in Madrid at the time, filmed at the same Gay Club (that's it's name as well as designation) where Naschy got the idea for the script, with many of the same performers. (He even recreates the "standing at the urinal" story in an early scene, though Paul's character here is not so surprised as Naschy likely was in real life.)

No one heckled Maria Consuelo twice.

While the movie never really goes over the line into out-and-out exploitation, it does skirt the edge of over-the-topness a couple of times. For instance, Paul attends a gay wedding, in which a couple of his friends from the club--one the owner and another a female impersonator--say their vows and then sign legal documents to share their worldly possessions. This scene might be seen as over-the-top by conservative-minded viewers, but the lawyer in attendance, and Paul's character, only smile their approval and wish the couple the best. This is not the reason the scene is bordering exploitation, however--the "bride's" psychosomatic pregnancy and outlandish (cliched) behavior, as well as the circus-like atmosphere of the wedding, are what push the envelope. The "pre-surgery" scenes and some of Bravo's talk are also rather exploitationy, but only in voice-over form.

The last person Paul talks to is Eduardo (Vicente Parra), Lorna's boyfriend who rejected her when he learned that she was born a man--coincidentally, right before she disappeared. Did Lorna commit heartbroken suicide? Hardly--her disappearance is for tragic reasons, but ones that can be laid at the feet of an ignorant society rather than a troubled person's bad choices (as is the usual narrative). Again, it's significant that by the end of the flick, Eduardo is remorseful and ashamed of his behavior, and desperate to find Lorna and get her back; she is, he learns too late, his one true love.

"Hey--nice package!"

Apparently his public was not quite ready for Naschy's accepting, tolerant, humanistic outlook on this subject--he calls the movie "ill-fated" in his book, and Mirek Lipinski of the Mark of Naschy website notes that the film was banned for several years in Spain. As it is, El Transexual stands as a truly unique entry in Paul Naschy's filmography, and one unlike just about any of his other flicks. Never released on video in the states and long out of print in Europe, it's available now only through grey market and torrent sources (so far as I know), and then rarely. Still, for the Naschy fan it's one that rewards the effort to seek it out, as it shows a side of Naschy's personality (and a side of Spanish "fringe" culture in the 70s) that we don't often get to see. 2.75 thumbs.

It's a nice day to start again

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS for Friday, December 3, Part 1!

This is it! The last day of the PAUL NASCHY BLOGATHON! And are the Naschy fiends across the worldwide web winding things down? Hardly! Rather, now that the finish line is in site, they seem to be summoning all their energy for one final sprint to glory!

via Trixie's Treats

Check out these great links since our last update!

• The enigmatic and awesome ~Trix of art blog Trixie's Treats gets in on the action, with her post, "Naschy Blogathon: the Art of the Movie Poster"--a collection of museum-worthy posters from the great man's films!

• At Exploitation Retrospect, Dan Taylor considers his younger self's lack of interest in Mr. Naschy's work (and then asks that misguided kid, "What took ya so long?!") in his great personal essay, "The Reluctant Naschyphile"!

• Browse some of the fantastic images Pierre Fournier has gathered from selected Naschython posts and elsewhere at his awesome tumblr, Monster Crazy!

• "The movie is composed of plot elements you've seen before, executed in ways you won't see anywhere else." Wolf Man fanatic Teeny (She Who Lurks By Day--love the Lon Chaney Jr. profile pic!) ventures into Naschyland with her review of The Werewolf vs. the Vampire Woman!

• Dr. Gangrene closes out the Naschyfest in style, first with a brief (and unusual) rememberance of working with Naschy from his co-star in Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf, the delicious Shirley Corrigan! Then the good doctor offers all Naschy fans the chance to win a piece of original art by Rob Brown, a portrait of El Hombre-Lobo suitable for framing! Get over there and enter to win!
  

• Meanwhile, Alison Nastasi, writer for Cinematical and blogmistress of The Pineal Eye, turns  that occult orb on the first Daninsky movie, Frankenstein's Bloody Terror!

• John at Kitley's Krypt offers up his fifth and final entry at the KK Naschyblog, the excellent Daninsky-saga entry (and Naschy's first time directing himself as Waldemar), Night of the Werewolf!

• At Adventures in Nerdliness, Darius Whiteplume takes a moment to look at Naschy's most frequent leading lady, making Julia Saly his ninetieth Nerd Girl of Note! The tireless wizard of all things Nerdy also reviews Naschy's 2004 flick, Countess Dracula's Orgy of Blood! Check it out!

There may be more, but I'll have to catch up at lunch time or I'll be late for the day job. :P Keep those links coming, and keep checking back here throughout the day. Coming up: the Vicar's last review of the blogathon, of a Naschy movie unlike any other!

And as always, if I've left you out or overlooked your contribution PLEASE LET ME KNOW! I'm only one man! vicarofvhs@gmail.com

The Vicar

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS for Thursday, December 2, Part 3!

Things are hotting up as we head into the home stretch here at the Naschyfest! Just one more day left in the week-long celebration of the Mighty Mighty Molina, and the great tributes, reviews, and miscellaneous Naschyness just keep on coming! An onslaught of awesome!

"No, Duke--THIS is how you wear a cravat!"

•  Joe Monster at From Beyond Depraved loses his head over Horror Rises from the Tomb!

• Dan Budnik of Bleeding Skull can't find a way in to Curse of the Devil, but he tries.

• At Mondo Esoterica, Timothy Young pulls double duty with reviews of Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll *and* Jack el Destripador de Londres (aka 7 Murders for Scotland Yard)!

• Fred Olen Ray on Paul Naschy! At Cheese Magnet, Scott Phillips contacts director Fred Olen Ray and finds out first hand what it was like to work with Naschy on his last Daninksy film!

• Unfortunately, contributor Vila Wolf (Remember; I Hate You All) is none too impressed with the result of the aforementioned collaboration, in her lengthy and increasingly ferocious review of Tomb of the Werewolf!

• Artist Christopher Gwinn gives us (lycanthropic) change we can believe in, with this awesome Naschy graphic! He's got my vote!

• Your ever-lovin' Vicar offers another poetical tribute to Naschy, this one inspired by Alaric de Marnac: "The Headless Portrait"!

• And in possibly the most hilarious and definitely the most unique entry in the blogathon yet, MMMMMovies pal and part-time despot Tenebrous Kate of Love Train for the Tenebrous Empire has a video of an in-depth discussion of Naschy and his work...performed by a cartoon version of Lyndon B. Johnson and a man in his underpants! Must be seen to properly appreciated--DO SO NOW!

Wow, what a great collection of links! The Naschy Blogathon excellence shows no signs of slowing...can't wait to see what folks have in store for the last day! See you in the morning, folks!

And if I've overlooked you somehow, PLEASE EMAIL ME to let me know! (vicarofvhs@gmail.com) The time is short!

The Vicar

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

Change You Can Believe In (But Only When the Moon is Full)

Images by Christopher Gwinn

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

The Headless Portrait

I hope people have been enjoying the Naschy sonnets this week. I certainly enjoyed writing them, and with a subject I am so passionate about, the words just streamed from my quill!

This time, something a little different--if you well, a poetic set-up for the non-existent (except in my imagination) third film in the Alaric de Marnac cycle. Like the Daninsky flicks, this one would have no continuity with the previous film, except for sharing a few tropes and symbols, such as the titular object. Hope you like it!



The Headless Portrait
(inspired by Horror Rises from the Tomb)

I found it in a small shop by the Seine
just three blocks from my office. Through the glass
it stopped me cold; I simply could not pass.
The keeper did not know its origin.

I combed my books until at last I learned
the artist's name. An old man, quite surprised
to find I had it. He'd believed it burned
with all his other work. I first surmised

his mind had gone--to judge from his wild tale:
Immortal warlocks, walking dead, a heart
ripped from a virgin chest! But now I pale
to think of what I purchased with his art.

De Marnac's laughter echoes down the hall;
I rise from bed to heed my Master's call.

--S. Standridge, The Vicar of VHS

Photo credit: Tenebrous Kate's Flickr stream

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS for Thursday, December 2, Part 2!

A brief update for this Thursday lunch-time link list, but hopefully that'll give me the time I need to get the Main Links Page up to date. And then the final push into the last day of the blogathon!

Paul knows what's important. (via Video Junkie)

• At Krell Laboratories, Dr. Morbius applies her scientific method to the madness of Frankenstein's Bloody Terror, and finds in it some of the First Principles of Spanish horror filmmaking.

• And the Naschy love continues to throb and pulsate over at Video Junkie, as William S. Wilson looks at some of the prolific Spaniard's non-starring roles in "Paul Naschy, Supporting Player."

Only 1 1/2 days left to throw your hat in the ring and dance around it like a dirty, thieving gypsy 'round a campfire! Keep sending those links, and let me know if I've overlooked you!

Email: vicarofvhs@gmail.com;
FaceBook: http://www.facebook.com/VicarOfVhs;
Twitter: http://twitter.com/VicarOfVHS

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS for Thursday, December 2, part 1!

The fourth day of the blogathon, and I'm starting to feel the effects of 5 hours of sleep a night trying to keep up with all the links. :P But I will persevere: the Power of Naschy compels me! Let's get to those links!

via Dr. Gangrene. Perfect.

• Here's a real treat for all us Jacintophiles--"Naschy on Naschy!" David Zuzelo has scanned an article from Videooze magazine in which Paul Naschy himself goes through his entire filmography and comments on each flick! A priceless document! Get over to Tomb It May Concern right now and check it out!

• More adventures in Naschyness with Darius Whiteplume, as he digs his fangs into the Naschy/Kilmovsky classic The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman, the fourth blogathon entry for Adventures in Nerdliness!

• At the Kitley's Krypt Naschyblog, John talks about his personal tributes to Naschy (in t-shirt and Horrorhound article form), and then ventures to the Himalayas with Waldemar in his review of Night of the Howling Beast!

• Having completed his Dr. Jekyll and the Werewolf experiment, Dr. Gangrene keeps the data coming with a short biographical essay on Naschy, entitled "Roots of the Wolf," at Dr. Gangrene's Tales from the Lab!

• Author Scott Phillips at Cheese Magnet sees Naschy with fresh eyes in "Confessions of a Naschy Newbie"!

• Here at MMMMMovies, we start your Thursday off heavy with some NASCHY METAL, via Elena Anele of Un fan de Paul Naschy and Horror Rises from Spain! 

That's all for the first installment. Keep sending those links, and if I've left anyone out, let me know: vicarofvhs@gmail.com. And don't forget to vote in our Hairy Naschy poll!

The Vicar

PS--If you sent me something before the blogathon began, and I haven't posted it yet, PLEASE EMAIL and remind me! I think I'm up to date, but I certainly don't want to leave anyone out due to my lack of sleep and flightiness. :)

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

Start off your Thursday with some NASCHY METULL!!!

Darkmoor - "The Bane of Daninsky"



Cripta - "Ante Mi"

Concierto homenaje Paul Naschy Fnac (1) (Cripta y Darkmoor)

Parts 2, 3, and 4:

• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=hXNgxXFJ33E
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9PHRKymVncw&feature=player_embedded
• http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=LDGZyBeMv7g

Muchas gracias a Elena Anele de Un fan de Paul Naschy y Horror Rises from Spain!

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

NASCHY BLOGATHON LINKS for Wednesday, December 1, part 3!

The night fires are burning, the howls have begun in the strange locked room in Castle Daninsky, and it's time to update the Naschy Blogathon links for the day! People seem to be catching their breath--gearing up for that final two-day push, I hope! Anyway, here's the links since lunchtime:

Via Unkle Lancifer at Kindertrauma--the greatest thing I have ever seen.

• Vila Wolf makes up for lost time with a couple of unusual but exquisitely appropriate Naschy tributes on her LiveJournal page, Remember; I hate you all. The first is a look at some Naschybilia, original posters from Walk of the Dead (Vengeance of the Zombies?) and the rare Naschy adventure flick, Tarzan in King Solomon's Mines! (Sadly, I don't think Naschy actually plays Tarzan in that one...talk about missed opportunities!)

• Vila's second contribution is a unique one: a Paul Naschy LiveJournal Mood Theme!1.53 RAR'ed (rrrrawr!) megabytes of Naschy goodness suitable for telling the world how you feel. Says Vila: "It's made of 135 tiny 100x50px images of Paul Naschy. I did my best to represent the entire 40+ year career with Movie stills, Behind the Scenes, Publicity and Promotional photos, Posters, and Book covers... I wanted to make sure it was all there." Wonderful stuff!

• Via Kindertrauma.comhttp://www.kindertrauma.com, MMMMMovies pal Unkle Lancifer has dug up one of the GREATEST THINGS I HAVE EVER SEEN EVER: this seven-minutes-plus highlight reel/tribute to the memory of Naschy, featuring all his greatest hits, by Youtube user jetjade! To a groovy techno beat! WATCH IT NOW!!!

• Here at MMMMMovies, The Duke of DVD delves diligently into a rarely-seen stateside flick from the early 80s, the sole Naschy peplum, Los Cantabros! Naschy in a toga? I am SO THERE!

• And also at MMMMMovies, your ever-lovin' Vicar offers another of his Naschy sonnets: "The Hunchback's Lament."

That's all for now, but I know for a fact we have more great stuff coming up tomorrow, and maybe even later tonight, so keep watching the web! And as always, let me know if I've left you out, either via comments or email at vicarofvhs@gmail.com. And if you want to contribute, there's still time! Email me and let me know!

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

The Hunchback's Lament

(Another Naschy sonnet, this time inspired by The Hunchback of the Morgue)

I swore my dying love I'd bring her flowers
and watch beside her deathbed every day;
But left her lonely in her final hours
thanks to those bastard meds; I made them pay!

I took her body with me to the crypt;
the doctor swore he'd bring her back to life!
But vermin intervened, crawled in and stripped
the flesh from bones that should have been my wife.

It does no good--it isn't any use
to play the game according to their rules.
I know that now, but that won't soothe the sting.
The cops won't leave Gotho alone--the fools!--
and Doc keeps feeding corpses to the Ooze.
I guess I'll go; it's always some damn thing.


--S. Standridge, "The Vicar of VHS"

Image credit--Mondo 70

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...

Los Cantabros (1980), Or Togas For Everyone!

My dearest friends, I bid thee well met! It is I, the Duke of DVD, once more grasping your elbow and leading you into the long dark that is MAD cinema! Do not despair, friends! I see you bite your lower lip with fear, your eyes, like pie tins, wide with terror! There there, the Duke is here, ready to brush back the cobwebs of Hollywood tripe, dragging you further into the underbelly of the silver screen, before finally pushing your bloated, sack-like carcass into the unending abyss of cinematic awesome that is Paul Naschy. Your screams already fade away as I turn and notice a shiny object on the ground.

I bend to examine it, using an ancient brush made using the hairs of an unborn mole-rat and the polished femur of an albino baboon for a handle to brush away the outlying dirt. What hidden gem could I have possibly uncovered, brushing carefully away the dust and detritus before finally holding it aloft, like a baby lion cub who would be king? Why, a brilliant Mad Movie Masterpiece by Paul Naschy of course!  LOS CANTABROS!  Thought lost for aeons, this peplum-esque, Roman-filled fun ride should be seen by all, especially those who love Paul as much as we do at MMMMMovies.

Let us begin, shall we?

Before getting to the movie, let me pause for a moment and quickly grab you by the head, holding it in an iron-tight grip while I shove some knowledge down your throats! Don’t bother struggling, it is for your own good! Los Cantabros, or The Cantabrians, were a group of people who lived, in the real world mind you, in the far northern reaches of Spain, from around the 4th century B.C. to the 1st century B.C. They were a fierce people, known for their ability to breed like rats and their preternaturally strong body odour, and when the Roman plan of “Hey, let’s pretty much take over the entire known world!” finally reached northern Spain, the Romans found a people whom they immediately disliked, mainly because they just wouldn’t hurry up and die already.

"Don't make me angry.  You wouldn't like me when I'm angry."

Actually, the Cantabri were used by the Romans and fought in their armies for a good long while before their two-faced, backstabbing ways finally angered Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar enough that he “pacified” the whole region. Even after this, though, the area was still unstable for many years to come, before it was finally given over to self-rule, more or less. This is important knowledge to have, because our movie picks right up with the Augustus Caesar having a discussion with his generals over what to do bout those pesky Cantabrians.

In what instantly became my favorite Naschy reveal moment, one of the Romans nearby, who had before been standing with his back to the meeting, turns around--and it’s fucking Paul Naschy, wearing Roman Centurion armor, complete with a cloak that looks to be made of squirrel hides! Friends, my shriveled heart skipped a beat, I don’t mind telling you! It seems Naschy is Caesar’s war general named Agrippa. Naschy wearing Roman armor had me in a-grippa right away, I tells thee! (See what I did there?)

"Just FYI, I'm not Conan. Nor am I Ricardo Montalban."

Caesar’s main problem with the Cantabrians is that they are lead by a fearless man known as Coracotta (Joaquin Gomez), a Josh Groban lookalike who has a penchant for dressing like Conan and tossing men off cliffs. At Coracotta’s side is his beautiful sister named Elia, as well as an old man I’ll just refer to as Gandalf because I never did catch his real name. He appears to be an old priest for the group. Coracotta’s wife is also around, although she doesn’t do much more than squeeze out babies. We also have the aloof sorceress Selenia, but I’m getting ahead of myself.

Agrippa has figured out why the Cantabrians are so good: they use guerrilla warfare techniques, which the Romans can’t combat in traditional ways. Caesar orders a bounty to be placed on Coracotta’s head, hoping that will work out somehow. Agrippa asks for, and recieves, permission to retrain some Legions into smaller fighting forces that can fight fire with fire, so to speak, and get rid of the Cantabrians.

Gurco's such a size queen.

Agrippa’s first ploy doesn’t work out so well. He sends a fake shipment of coin up through the mountains, hoping the Cantabrians won’t be able to resist. Sure enough, they don’t, and Coracotta’s band of merry men attack--only the Roman soldiers sent with the shipment run off like the cowards they are before the attack happens, leaving only the sergeant and a corpulent, warhammer-swining mercenary guard. The sergeant fights the beautiful Elia, losing rather badly before surrendering. The fat Gurco fights Coracotta himself and loses badly as well, only he ends up joining up with Coracotta, what with him having no real loyalty to Rome at all.

On their way back to camp, Coracotta’s group is stopped by the sexy Selenia, who can see the future or some such. She says to Coracotta that a man has landed near their land whose ships have blood red sails, and that this man will be the toughest shit Coracotta ever faced. Coracotta isn’t concerned and wants to know about his pregnant wife. Selenia says that she will successfully squirt a son out for him.

Meanwhile, back at Agrippa’s camp, we see one of Coracotta’s men, a one-eyed, disfigured lump named Sonanso, betraying the locations of all of the Cantabrian camps, including the whereabouts of Corcotta himself. It seems Sonanso loved Elia (who wouldn’t, GRRRR!) but she didn’t return his love, so he figured he’d impress her by winning a duel; only that earned him the missing eye, so it was pretty much all down hill from there. Now he’s a bitter, ugly man, wanting revenge on Coracotta for some reason, even though everything that happened to him was a direct result of his own actions. But anyway, now Agrippa knows where all the camps are.

"No, wait, my bad--that's just a ferret."

Back at Coracotta’s camp, we get to see how great Naschy is at writing. The fat Gurco has become fast friends with the scrawny Huron, a Kenny G-esque dude who loves eating. A pudgy serving girl comes over to bring the two some meat, and Gurco is smitten instantly, saying, “Look how large and beautiful she is! She must weigh at least 100kg!!” Huron remarks that Gurco should consider losing some weight, since he “flattens horses.” Funny stuff, and I was cheering at Naschy’s writing chops here.

We cut back to Agrippa’s camp, and he’s lamenting that he’s been without a chick for a while. “I miss the caress of a woman,” he says, looking tense and pensive from all the backed-up manbatter. Before long, he hooks up with a slave girl, kissing her feet, and later we see her bathing his in a small tub, doubtless to wash off the sex stank. Agrippa’s plan is working out, thanks to the traitorous Sonanso. We see some Roman soldiers ambush a patrol, which gives us some good sword and shield action, complete with slow motion shots of fighters falling off horses as they get skewered with arrows.

Attackus Leapus

Elsewhere, Coracotta goes to visit the sorceress Selenia, who gives him a potion that causes him to fall into a deep sleep and dream of his worst enemy. In his dream, his worst enemy is a Roman soldier with a skull for a face, only it has human eyes. Pretty damn creepy! As the two fight, the skull face switches for Naschy’s face and back and forth several times. The skull/Apgrippa spectre finally kills Coracotta, who awakes in a sweat. Selenia says, “Now you’ve seen the face of your enemy,” which of course can only mean one thing: Coracotta is He-Man.

The next day, Coracotta’s men stage their own ambush, killing a bunch of Roman soldiers. Alas, poor Huron, who was a lover not a fighter, gets killed in the melee, causing much anguish for poor Gurco. Agrippa is sure he’s been betrayed, and finally figures out that his sex slave betrayed him. He sends her away to be executed. At Huron’s funeral, Selenia shows up and talks with Elia, Coracotta’s sister, and gives her an enchanted Dagger of Roman Slaying +3, and tells her to sneak into Agrippa’s tent then to poke him with the sharp end.

That night, Elia does just that, only Agrippa wakes up at the last second, and an epic battle ensues. The two crash and bust everything in the tent, using various weapons that are conveniently lying about. The highlight of the fight, nay, the entire fucking film, comes when Naschy mounts a wooden table and then executes a fucking LEAP ATTACK right at Elia! I was fully tumescent by this point, folks! Agrippa realizes finally that he can’t win this fight, the beautiful Elia is too much for him. He calls for the guards (who apparently were standing right outside the tent flap the whole time--thanks, guys!). The battle ends abruptly when one of the guards shoots an arrow into Elia’s chest!

"So...once we're done here, who's up for an orgy?"

Agrippa is in love with her, though, naturally, and orders his chief surgeon to save her life. He does, and the two become lovers, for who can resist the sexual prowess of Agrippa? Meanwhile, Agrippa’s men ambush Coracotta and a small group of soldiers, killing most of them and wounding Coracotta in the process. He manages to escape and make it back to camp, where Selenia and Gandalf nurse him back to health.

"Now get me a sammich!"

Elia finally leaves Agrippa’s bed and returns to camp, where she is denounced for a traitor by her brother. Coracotta is ready to kill her himself, but Gandalf stops him, saying that he would no longer be their leader if he spilled one of their own’s blood. Elia, upset, runs off, only to run into the traitor Sonanso, who denounces her in front of a group of angry Cantabrians. He riles them up enough to stone her, which they do, knocking her to the ground. Coracotta comes riding up, though, and denounces Sonanso for a traitor and the murder of his sister Elia, and he grabs Sonanso and tosses him off the cliff-side! Coracotta kneels to check on Elia and it turns out she’s not dead, just injured.

The Vicar, in a drunken rage at one of his bacchanals.

Coracotta decides that the only recourse to ending Roman aggression is to offer his own head to Caesar. He travels to Caesar’s court, where Agrippa and he are discussing things like how best to roger a slave girl. Much to their collective surprise, Coracotta strolls in and offers his own head in exchange for Caesar leaving the Cantabrians the fuck alone. Caesar, humbled by Coracotta’s courage and pride, says he doesn’t want things to end this way, and sends Coracotta back to whence he came, with the added promise that Agrippa will end things honorably.

True fact: from time immemorial, women have been faking orgasms.

So Agrippa heads back to Cantabrian Land and sets up camp, getting ready for a big battle royale no doubt. Selenia, has other plans; she sneaks into his camp, and tells Agrippa to meet Coracotta in a man-on-man grudge match by the sea. Agrippa accepts! The movie culminates in an epic battle for the ages, fought on a sandy beach. Paul looks rakish in his full Roman get-up, sword and shield in hand. Coracotta wields his trusty battle axe and shield like he was born with them in his hands. Back and forth they go, swinging, clanging, and huffing and puffing. Finally Coracotta gets the upper hand, managing to disarm the beaten Agrippa, who begs for death in defeat. Coracotta won’t give it to him, his honor is too high for that. He tells Agrippa to leave and never come back. Agrippa does just that, riding off into the sunset. Fin.

Toga!  Toga!  Toga!

Dearest friends, I do firmly believe that LOS CANTABROS is one of the best Naschy films I’ve seen to date. Of course, they are all fantastic, but LOS CANTABROS stands out with it’s skillful writing, expert direction and pacing, and just overall awesomeness. Naschy has always been a skilled writer, but it really shows here, with grand speeches on honor, cryptic warnings and prophecy by the sorceress, and even lots of humor, especially the back-and-forth that Gurco and Huron have. Paul also managed to extract wonderful performances out of his actors. Enough can’t be said about the action scenes, as well. Not only were they fantastically choreographed, but the use of slow motion was expertly done.

No, but she will moan in the Duke's quarters!

I also thought the sets where well done, if a little on the chintzy side, butthey did great work with what they had. In researching this film, I found out that Joaquin Gomez, who played Coracotta fantastically I thought, had the original idea for the film, and is indeed credited as a writer. Gomez, later known under his pseudonym Dan Berry, went on to star in and direct quite a few movies, usually known for his muscular physique. Both Dan Berry and Paul Naschy were wrestlers before getting into movies, interestingly enough.

"Get ready for The Hurting, son."

To sum it all up, LOS CANTABROS is a fantastic movie, and one that really deserves release outside of Spain. Luckily in this age of Internet granny porn and used-panty vending machines, we can have such things as “fan-translated subtitles,” which is the only way your beloved Duke could understand the movie. Track down a copy, if you can, and enjoy!

Three Thumbs Up

"Et tu, Duke?  Only Three Thumbs?!"

MORE MADNESS...

Summary only...