TAKING OUT THE EURO TRASH (PART 2)

TAKING OUT THE EURO TRASH (PART 1)

"I don't mind a real social life. I just don't want to see one in a motion picture."

- Ricardo Freda, director

The films categorized in the sub-genre known as "Euro Trash" are noted for their violence, gore, misogyny, as well as other elements of an exploitative and transgressive nature. A cult following sprang up in the 80s when they began to become widely available on VHS. Italy introduced the giallo film in the early 1960s from which the modern-day slasher film evolved. Giallo shared its penchant with Euro Trash for violence, bloodletting and nudity, albeit with a decidedly more stylistic approach than say, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and others of its ilk, which were inspired by the "mondo" films that raged popular a few years prior. Some even throw giallo into the Euro Trash can along with these. In large part, Italy was in the forefront of producing these curiously titillating and terrifying films, with many directors eventually enjoying a cult, and sometimes even legendary status.

It was the purpose of the fan magazine EUROPEAN TRASH CINEMA to cover all manner of these films. And cover them they did, with the verve of dedicated fans, each author writes in a lively style that is both entertaining and informative.

Posted here today is Vol. 2 No. 7 from 1993. This is a solid issue that includes interviews with directors Ricardo Freda (I, VAMPIRI, THE HORRIBLE DR. HITCHCOCK, CALTIKI THE IMMORTAL MONSTER), son of Mario Bava, Lamberto Bava (DEMONS, THE CHURCH), Ruggero Deodato (CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, JUNGLE HOLOCAUST, THE BARBARIANS), Antonio Margheriti (CANNIBAL APOCALYPSE, CASTLE OF BLOOD, THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH), special effects master Sergio Stivaletti, and actor Lee Van Cleef of Spaghetti Western fame. Also, don't miss the Barbara Bouchet tribute! The cover is by Steve Bissette.

JESS FRANCO INTERVIEW

They say that one man's trash is another man's treasure. Using the statement as an analogy for horror film directors, for me Spanish composer, author and filmmaker Jess Franco immediately comes to mind. Franco (b. 12 May 1930, d. 2 April 2013) can be an acquired taste and personally I've shut off more than one of his films trying to get through it. Others I'm held spellbound until the end. 

Regardless of my opinion, Franco is held in high regard throughout the film and fan community for his unflinching view through the lens and screenplay treatments. Franco also discovered two of the most beautiful Spanish actresses to to his bidding, Soledad Miranda and Lina Romay. He married Romay and they remained together until his death.

Franco is known for immersing himself in various film genres during his career, including horror, giallo, exploitation and soft core pornography. He used a heavy dose of surrealism in many of his films (VAMPYROS LESBOS comes to mind) and was often heavy-handed with hand-held camera shots and vertigo-inducing zooms.

Here are a few of the more notable films of his nearly 200-films:

• The Awful Dr. Orlof (1962)
• The Diabolical Dr. Z (1966)
• The Blood of Fu Manchu (1968)
• 99 Women (1969)
• Venus in Furs (1969)
• Night of the Blood Monster (1970)
• Count Dracula (1970)
• Vampyros Lesbos (1971)
• She Killed in Ecstasy (1971)
• Daughter of Dracula (1972)
• The Erotic Rites of Frankenstein (1973)
• Lorna the Exorcist (1974)
• Barbed Wire Dolls (1976)
• Ilsa, The Wicked Warden (1977)

Kevin Collins conducted this four-hour long interview with Franco (his longest in English) that was published in October 1996 as a special issue of the fan magazine EUROPEAN TRASH CINEMA. One thing I do have to say is that he gives a good interview.