A Tribute to Paul Naschy

How best to describe Paul Naschy? Was he Lon Chaney with the face of John Saxon? Was he the Vincent Price of Spain? To tell you the truth, Paul Naschy was one of a kind. Actor, director, screenwriter, and even sometimes producer. He wore every mask at one point or another, and played ever role, from Wolfman to Frankenstein, to Dracula, and even Satan himself.

Where Lon Chaney Jr played the American Wolfman, Naschy's Casanova version of the role practically chewed the scenery. No matter the quality of a film, the poor dubbing, or awful edited versions that have been butchered a hundred times for American audiences, there's no denying how compelling Naschy still is in those films. He was just that good. He was also known to be a fantastic, down-to-earth kind of person, too, which goes a long way in my book for any major star.

Shout Factory just released some epic collections of Naschy films I'd like to get my hands on, having settled for some of those more questionable releases I've mentioned, and it was about time too.

I couldn't resist ending on this fantastic tribute video I found. I hope some day more of the world will really come to appreciate this brilliant man. Oh, and by the way, happy halloween!

Book(s) of the Week: The Devil's Storybook

Back in middle school, our library had a hidden room. Well, not so much hidden as restricted, but I like to imagine there was a bookcase in front of the door, blocking the secrets no 5th-6th grader should ever find themselves privy to. I was a pretty avid reader at the time, and still am, so the librarian let me sneak into the room one day and pick out any book I wanted to read.

There were so many to pick, so many delightful books with thick and embossed binding. Most of them were just kept in that room because the reading level was too high, or the copies were too valuable to let kids touch. I was one of the lucky few, the chosen ones, and I knew I had to pick the perfect book. I was told this would be my only chance...so I took a good half hour to find something I would never regret reading...

Tucked on one of the bottom shelves, with an orange-ish red binding, and looking practically new...I found it. A part of me thought this book wasn't supposed to be there, that some evil (and magical) force had conjured it into being. After all, a middle school library with a book about the DEVIL? It was unbelievable! So I pulled it out and flipped it open, examining some of the amusing illustrations of a trickster devil often finding himself the fool of his own pranks. With some trepidation, I took the book to the front desk and asked to check it out.

She didn't even look at the title. That same voice telling me this was not supposed to be here told me she must be seeing something altogether different than one I was. Perhaps to her a picture of a bunny rabbit snuggling a teddy bear was on the cover, or maybe a battalion of unicorns. No matter. I checked the book out, and I read it that very night. I read it once. Then the next day I read it again. And the following week or so I kept re-reading it until I had to check the book back in.

I was right, you know. Not about the book being magic...it really wasn't. In fact, many of the stories were charming little fairy tales with a somewhat less than intimidating version of Lucifer often being made to look like an idiot. But she never did let me back into that room...part of me suspects it's because she actually read the cover when I checked the book back in.

I'm sorry this was such a long story just for a 'book of the week' article, but I didn't know how else to tell you how wonderful this little book is, and how much it deserves to be discovered again and again by anyone who's willing to take a chance...

Hallow-Holics Podcast, Ep. 4: The Devil in the Details (Angelheart, The Exorcist, Devil)

Discussing the most evil of all figures in cinematic/artistic/written history, the dark lord himself. Also a bit of Shyamalan rambling, but not too much.



This episode is archived on youtube! Watch/listen below:

The video featured in this week's post is of course the Angelheart trailer as well as a -remastered- copy of the old Fantasia sequence.

Drive-in Trailers: The Faust and the Furious

Often times, people just want to get ahead. Sometimes they’ll make very questionable bargains in order to do so. The essence of the Faustian deal is that in exchange for one’s soul, a man may get what he truly desires. But the demon in question can come in any shape. He can come in the form of the devil himself, or simply a man. But we all know who he really is…and ultimately the price is far more than anyone wants to pay.

Honorable mention goes towards the fantastic ‘Kanashimi no Belladonna’ (1973) which I decided not to post a trailer for, due to the fact that the content in question may be construed as a little ‘mature’.

Drive-in Trailers: Spelling Errors and Crazy Curses

Power corrupts. Absolute power corrupts, absolutely. I don’t think this phrase generally refers to literal power, like what a witch or warlock would have, but I think it can be applied. Kind of. Usually they’re corrupt already, and the magic bit just kind of makes them a little worse. How often do you see a witch on a broomstick that isn’t out to cause trouble for local farmers? Okay, maybe Kiki. But Kiki doesn’t count, because she negates my point, and I’d rather believe everything I say is the truth. So sit back, relax, and develop a healthy paranoia for that girl or guy in mascara who always seems to stare at you when you cut in line at the coffee shop.

If you've noticed a theme of 70s film in this entry, it's because they were obsessed with witches and cults. If you didn't already know that, well...----* The more you know...