In the “Ooh, this looks wonderfully depressing” front, this weeks release of The Executioner on STEAM sprung me to life even though the current Russian to English translation is a bit iffy in it’s current form. Still, I do like the dark ideas found in this one, so I can at least pull the string for a patch that addresses the translation issues and also hope that a console port is in the works somewhere. Fingers crossed that the translation is fixed and, wait for it… well executed (ba-dum-bum, says the head, rolling to the floor).
Here’s a trailer to pore over that shows off a bit of the gameplay:
Yep, 3000th Duel is out in Early Access for on Steam for PC users, but yours truly is holding out to see if the Switch port is as neat. Well, that, and my Steam library has been really filling up with games I need to get to and a new title that still needs some work is kind of the least of my worries. I definitely want to see if it can keep that more or less stable frame rate up as the trailer shows:
I’m also holding out for a few user reviews that are interesting and reveal people have actually played this one for at least past the opening stages, as while lovely to look at, developer NEOPOPCORN Corp’s game page notes that it needs a bit more polish before it’s ready for prime time.
A “we’ll be polishing and implementing things even after release, of course.” is a signal to me that more work is needed here and I’m currently backed up enough that a new game needs to be thrilling and fun to play out of the gate if it already looks this good. So, I’ll wait. You, of course don’t have to wait, as the developer is more than happy to take constructive feedback, and that’s always a great sign.
Oh, it looks nice alright, but I have to wait a bit…
“Hello, I’m your masked and gloved fashionable scarf-wearing killer. Today, I shall be your GUIDE. Then I’ll have to kill you, of course.”
(Lectures): Sergio Martino tells an interesting story about the film’s originally planned title in an excellent interview on this lushly produced Arrow Video disc. The film’s producers wanted something more salacious to sell tickets, so they chose to pump up the sexual violence aspect with what they saw as a fitting title, I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence). where as Martino wanted to use I corpi non mostrano tracce di violenza carnale (The Bodies Bear No Traces of Carnal Violence) here after his working titles like Rosso come l’amore, nero come il terrore (Red Like Love, Black Like Terror) were rejected early on. The Torsomoniker (Carnal Violence was a title created for the export release) was a choice from the film’s US distributors, by the way, In the States, Joseph Brenner Associates worked up a new title opening, chopped out 4 minutes of footage seemingly for some gory content and likely to make the film a run a compact 90 minutes (more butts in the seats at the end of the day), changed some music cues (the great Guido & Maurizio De Angelis score was fine, thank you), and there you have it.
*Ahem* I’m starting this review much like the film does (with an intentionally dull lecture after a sexy-ish opening) as a little joke because I’ve heard some kooky grumblings over the years at how the film gets off to a slow start for about 20 minutes or so. Nonsense, I say. Torso works as an effective and disturbing popcorn flick you’ll want to gather a few like-minded giallo-loving friends up to see. Yes, those friends will have to like some copious female nudity, icky flashes of gore in two of the early murders and nearly every male in the film portrayed as a leering goon of some sort (there are some regular guys here, but as background noise or padding out the lovely Perugian scenery). But this is a film where you’re getting almost exactly what you expect from with a title like this.
Ooh, pardon me while I do some gift-giving. “Hey, nice lady, I got you a scarf!” Oops, I kind of got carried away in my excitement. That’s Patrizia Adiutori doing a great job playing dead, by the way.
After the murder of some friends by the above mentioned killer (Hello!), four college students decide to hoof it over to a secluded villa, only to have the killer and a few other suspects trail them. While that’s pretty much the plot here, Martino makes things quite tense as well as very 70’s sexy (well, as far as the ladies are concerned). The film tosses a few potential suspects your way as it goes on, so you’re always on the fence as to who the killer might be. The killer not only has a penchant for he ladies, he turns out to be an equal opportunist, as the bodies pile up and more are claimed by a few means.
She does look FAAK-ing familiar, but that’s a good thing.
Speaking of metal, Crian Soft’s new game in progress looks like something out of the pages of Heavy Metal magazine circa 1983 or so. This is a good thing as the developer’s not known for 100% tight gameplay (I’ve played and liked Age of Barbarian despite it being a bit of clunky fun), so I’m not expecting it to break a mold or anything like that. Actually, it is a mold breaker in one way, as it’s the company’s first console release, which is cool (about time!).
Here’s a peek at the game’s first trailer and some screens to ogle. So cheesy it hurts, but hell, I’ll be onboard if it nails more that just the looks just right.
Oh yeah, it’s on, even if it’s not so hot at the end of the day. Hey, if I’m surprised that it’s good stuff, all the better, right?
Nice. Coming soon, a dose of hard metal for your daily supply, courtesy of Big Sugar and Steel Mantis Games (which, as Black Wolf Games bought the world SLAIN: Back from Hell for PC and consoles a few short years ago.
I played the PC demo on STEAM a while back and came away very impressed indeed. Now, it’s about ready for retail and digital in more polished form. When? Well, look out below, folks.
If the demo is any indication, this one’s going to be fun, tough side-scroller for the ages. See you down on the planet – I’ll be the one hiding out, but easy for enemies to spot.
La calma prima della tempesta: Ray Milland as Inspector Thompson does a bit of gardening (sans FROGS to interrupt him).
Loosely based on a true story (that’s still a tad unresolved), Flavio Mogherini’s 1977 film La Ragazza Dal Pigiama Giallo (aka 1978’s The Pyjama Girl Case) is a pretty depressing flick to sit through when all is said and done. It’s skillfully edited to spool out two tales: one of a retired police detective (Ray Milland) coming back to work on the trail of the person who murdered and mutilated a woman, and the second is the story of Glenda (Dalila Di Lazzaro), a Dutch immigrant who comes to Australia, gets a job as a waitress and later ends up a victim of a particularly horrifying crime.
Even more horrifying are the police coming up with the idea to preserve and display the unidentified remains to the public (yes, this actually happened in real life for a whopping ten years) and painfully getting information though beating up a few suspects (not sure if it’s 1977 addition, but man, is it so not an OK thing to do even if a guilty party is eventually found). Nevertheless, Milland is clearly having a blast in his role, and Di Lazzaro is a lovely, tragic victim you want to see not a bad thing happen to. The film even makes you feel sorry for a suspect in her murder, but you’ll have to watch this to see how the director plays that out.
In fact, save for Milland’s Detective Thompson who’s eager to take on the case, most of the detectives and investigators here seem to be all too happy (and incompetent) with finding the quickest means to end the case, even if it means one seemingly obvious suspect is discovered early on who’s a pure creep and not a killer. This adds an air of hopelessness to the narrative as the film plays out and you witness the results of haphazard work (save for the one man who should be home with his flowers). Granted, poor Glenda would still be deceased even through the shoddy police work, as Detective Thompson is only called after she’s been disposed of.
Oh, boy. Severin Films has a nifty set of three horror-filled films you’ll want and a hell of a lot of ways to order them.
Here you go, in the speediest manner as possible. You get to do all the clicking and buying, I get to be as lazy as hell because it’s been a busy day and my poor wrists are giving out thanks to too much typing. Get ready to pick up some nicely restored vintage sleaze:
So sleazy, but you know that’s how you like it, uh-huh.
Go! And yeah, be quick about it because the sale isn’t lasting long.
Yikes. Buy one get one FREE from Deep Discount? Yeah, it’s nice enough of a varied selection that almost any film fanatic will find something to watch here. But you have to act fast, as the sale expires soon. TOO soon but that’s the way it goes sometimes. I’ve bought stuff from them in the past with no trouble whatsoever, so feel free to do a bit of bookmarking if what’s here floats your boat.
Looks like a fine day for a murder, no? Pamela Tiffin as the “lucky that the killer isn’t targeting her here” sometimes girlfriend in The Fifth Cord.
Murder most stylish, one would have to say about Luigi Bazonni’s (The Possessed) beautiful-looking giallo (brilliantly shot by Vittorio Storaro),The Fifth Cord from 1971. While the plot may be pedestrian, this is certainly one of the most fanciful-looking and visually well-conceived murder mysteries of the era if you’re into the artsy stuff and don’t mind a few plot clichés. The film has the basics you’d expect: a black-gloved killer with issues, a man who’s a suspect even though he’s got an alibi that’s more than solid, and a few suspenseful murders that have very nice scares (the ending is particularly frightening without being gory). There’s even a bit of tasteful nudity for the heck of it (also artistically shot and lit). I found myself captivated by the film’s visual style and way in which space is utilized throughout. This one’s a grabber from start to finish and yes, worth a watch for the art direction alone.
When boozy journalist Andrea Bild (Franco Nero) gets the call from his boss to investigate a man’s assault, he gets caught up in a series of serial murders after the killer promises to dispatch five victims before he’s done. All of the victims happen to be close to Bild in one way or another, so he’s a suspect (despite being drunk most of the time and out of place of the murders as the crimes continue). Speaking of out of place, the film does an outstanding job of presenting Bild as a man who seems to be lost in his surroundings but also angry at the powers that be who force him off the story at one point.
Grabbing Walter White is kind of a bad idea, heh.
This one tosses a few suspects at you from the get-go, but the true killer is a slight surprise if you’re not paying attention. Fortunately, this is one flick you can’t look away from thanks to how awesome it looks (you still might not figure out who the killer is until the end, though). The film has enough twisty mystery, some odd sexual content as a plot point (hey, it’s important to the story!) and a bit of violence that’s nicely handled throughout (you can watch this without hiding behind that trusty blanket you tend to whip out in some cases. What, you don’t have a Horror Blanket yet? Shame on you!).
(Lectures): Sergio Martino tells an interesting story about the film’s originally planned title in an excellent interview on this lushly produced Arrow Video disc. The film’s producers wanted something more salacious to sell tickets, so they chose to pump up the sexual violence aspect with what they saw as a fitting title, I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale (The Bodies Bear Traces of Carnal Violence). where as Martino wanted to use I
Loosely based on a true story (
Murder most stylish, one would have to say about Luigi Bazonni’s (
"DESTROY ALL FANBOYS!" 