The Bloodthirsty Trilogy
A Fistful of Dollars
Although the spaghetti-western genre produced little else of note, Sergio Leone’s trilogy elevated Clint Eastwood to international stardom. His unnamed character spoke tersely and was endowed with the deadly glare that served Eastwood well in the future. In A Fistful of Dollars, he first appears with back to the camera; gradually, his unshaven visage is revealed—a face of few emotions. The downbeat yet supremely cool mood was set by Ennio Morricone’s remarkable score.
Death Smiles on a Murderer
Klaus Kinski was feral as always as the mad physician-scientist of Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973). Directed by Aristide Massaccesi (aka Joe D’Amato), the film combines his trademark penchant for blood-spurting gore with a surreal aesthetic and a touch of horror. The loosely conceived storyline leaps and twirls from one beautifully composed scene to another, often without much regard for logic. And yes, the kind of softcore porn sensibility prevalent in D’Amato’s films can be glimpsed.
The Bloodthirsty Trilogy
On a stormy night, a boyfriend travels to a remote mansion for the woman he loves. Her mother informs him that she died, but later that night… Toho Studios stuck the word “Dracula” on the titles of two of these films by Japan’s Michio Yamamoto, but they draw from the country’s own traditions as well as the imported gothic of Hammer Films and Edgar Alan Poe. The undead woman in The Vampire Doll is especially creepy.
The Reincarnation of Peter Proud
Sex and the supernatural—key ingredients in ’70s drive-in movies and The Reincarnation of Peter Proud (1975) was on the high end of that spectrum. Michael Sarrazin stars as a man with nightmares—unsettling flashbacks from his previous life. Imagine his dismay as he traces the clues to the wife that murdered him (he was a cad) and falls in love with their daughter. “Freud be damned!” he tells the para-psychologist in this mind-twistingly creepy story.
