Cannibal Man – 1972, Spain, 97m. Director: Eloy de la Iglesia.
The Dead Are Alive – 1972, Italy/West Germany/Yugoslavia, 105m. Director: Armando Crispino.
Wait Until Dark – 1967, US, 107m. Director: Terence Young.
The Worm Eaters – 1977, US, 89m. Director: Herb Robins.
CANNIBAL MAN (1972) Abattoir worker Marcos (Vincente Parra) kills a man in self-defense and subsequently begins a series of murders to cover-up the crime. The first to go is his hot-to-trot fiancée, who demands he go to the police but is strangled and stuffed under the bed. Marcos’ future sister-in-law comes sniffing around and, upon discovery of the carnage, has her throat bled out like one of his workplace cattle. Marcos uses his expertise as a butcher to dispose of the evidence by chopping up the corpses and tossing the remains into an industrial meat grinder. The stress consumes and turns him into a social pariah, exacerbated by a budding relationship with a male neighbor (Eusebio Poncela) that draws out Marcos’ latent homosexuality. Ignore the meaningless title—which is either metaphorical or the original Spanish title was lost in translation—this is a thoughtful and suspenseful film worth checking out. B (Currently streaming on Tubi.)
THE DEAD ARE ALIVE (1972) A smug American professor (Alex Cord) on an archeological excursion in Italy gets wrapped up in a murder mystery when two people are found bludgeoned to death at his dig site. The police are called into action and The Dead Are Alive turns into yet another good-looking but painfully slow Italian/European psycho-thriller, or giallo as the subgenre is more popularly known. Another victim, a female, is found wearing red fuck-me pumps designed specifically for a local ballet. The gay ballet costume designer who minces around in a skin-tight tank top becomes the prime suspect, but one can’t help but feel this is because the film was written by men who were still living in 1950. The revelation that Cord was once committed to a mental hospital does little to persuade the viewer he’s responsible for the murders. But frankly, by that point, I didn’t care in the slightest. This is a movie with zero character interest and the mystery feels about as involving as a party where you’re the only guest. If you really want to know who the killer is you’ll have to slog through one hour and forty-five minutes to find out. Good luck. D (Currently available on YouTube.)
WAIT UNTIL DARK (1967) Audrey Hepburn gives a terrific performances in this smart psychological slow-burn. Hepburn plays Susy, a recently blinded New Yorker terrorized by a trio of thugs in her Greenwich Village apartment. The robbers present themselves as cops investigating a recent murder—but unbeknownst to Susy, the men, lead by the creepy Roat (Alan Arkin), are desperately searching her apartment for a heroin-stuffed doll. Director Terence Young (Goldfinger) steadily tightens the screws, building to a white-knuckle climax worthy of the best of Hitchcock. Hepburn is strong-willed and sympathetic; Arkin is quietly intimidating, especially when he flashes his knife. Frederick Knott, who wrote the screenplay, also penned the stage production as well as the Hitchcock adaptation of Dial M for Murder. B+ (Currently unavailable.)
THE WORM EATERS (1977) In a desperate attempt to revitalize a small town, a greedy mayor tries to pull the wool over the eyes of a worm farmer (Herb Robins) who holds the deed to a piece of dried up swampland where the mayor wishes to start construction. The town, which seems to be inhabited by idiots, doesn’t know Robins is a demented old fart who’s plotting revenge against everyone by making a special kind of worm that, when ingested, turns people into half-worm, half-humanoid creatures—or wormaid? The film never explains how this happens, but it’s probably for the best. And this is supposed to be a comedy! The culmination of this stupendously moronic movie is a dream sequence in which seventies Playgirl centerfold Barry Hostetler, as the King of the Worm People, pleas with Robins for human/worm coexistence. The best part of The Worm Eaters is the opening credits played to the tune of “You’ll End Up Eating Worms,” a song adaptation of a children’s nursery rhyme. After those three minutes, it’s all downhill. A real turd. F (Currently streaming on Tubi.)