Sep 3rd, 2007, 01:08 AM
Paul Naschy
I admit that he's an acquired taste. Especially if your looking to get any meaning out his films. And then there is the ultimate bane of a Naschy film: Translation. Truly a collectors Nightmare. Bad Dubbing, and low budgets aside, there’s gore galore and nudity aplenty to satisfy even the most rabid of teen boys. If you have the original printing that is. If all you can find is an export copy then you’ll have to make do with just the gore. Being a Spaniard his films are of course in Castilian Spanish. (opposed to Mexican Spanish that we State Side are more familiar with) His films are heavily influenced by his experiences as a youth during Franco's Dictatorship and the scripts he authored have a meaning that is often between the lines. Although with Rojo Sangre the message is rather in your face. My advice to a Naschy Virgin would be to watch it as you would a Silent, if you can find a decent translation. For those who don’t know how to watch a silent, you watch the actors and the background more than you listed the spoken words. You have to actively think about what it is you are seeing as you see it. If you bought your copy off of E-bay than you more than likely bought a poor taped off the television butchered copy. The dollar mart copies are actually a slightly better quality in my opinion. If you do end up with a dubbed version my advice is to have a six pack and a friend or two at hand. Especially with the absolutely butchered Dutch copy of the Werewolf vs. the Yeti.
What would you sell your soul for? Fame? Fortune? Revenge?
If you've recently, in a fit of hair-tearing despair, made a statement similar to "there just doesn't seem to be any original ideas in horror films any more", then I hereby order you to pick up "Rojo Sangre" without passing GO or collecting £200. The ubiquitous Paul Naschy (who also wrote this film's excellent screenplay) stars as an aging actor, legendary in the 70s but now unable to land a role (even in TV commercials) due to the changing times. Desperate and suicidal, he accepts a job as a human statue outside a mysterious stag club called 'Pandora'... the end result is probably best described as what might happen if David Lynch and Robert Rodriguez combined forces to remake "Theatre of Blood". Naschy's script is witty and bitter - an undisguised, vicious swipe at a soulless modern film industry - and his lead performance is venomous enough to bring it to life. There's a top-notch supporting cast, lots of flamboyant art direction and it's all beautifully directed with feverish energy (not to mention what looks like a big budget) by newcomer Christian Molina. "Rojo Sangre" is inventive, bloody, stylish, clever, poignant, hilarious and colorful. I'm not sure I could ask for too much more than that. Naschy's masterpiece, without question. In years to come, this'll be the one they remember him for. Rojo Sangre is one of the most important works in Naschy's filmography, but it is also an important film, period. Naschy's script is from the soul and suffering of the man, from his heart and his creative mind, a statement of purpose and pain from a legend of cinema, a cry of rage amid resilience, a warning amid complacency. No other artist in the history of the horror genre has dared not only such an attack at "the business," but a brutal examination of career choices made in a desire to keep working and fight against oblivion....
Hey… go dig through your films, I’m sure you have at least one Naschy but just don’t know it…
THE NASCHY FILMOGRAPHY
1960
King of Kings (as extra)
El Principe Encadenado/The Enchanted Prince
1966
"Mainly on the Plains" --I Spy (American TV)
Operacion Plus Ultra
Las Viudas/The Widows
1967
Agonizando en el Crimen/Agonizing in Crime (first major role)
Aventura en el Palacio Viejo/Adventure in the Old Palace (assistant director only)
Cronica de Nueve Meses/Nine Month Chronicle (assistant director only)
La Furia de Johnny Kidd/The Fury of Johnny Kidd
1968
La Marca Del Hombre Lobo/The Mark of the Wolf Man (also screenplay)
(aka Frankenstein's Bloody Terror)
La Esclava del Paraiso/The Slave of Paradise
Las Noches del Hombre Lobo/The Nights of the Wolf Man (also co-screenplay)
Plan Jack 03 [short film]
1969
Los Monstruos del Terror/The Monsters of Terror (also screenplay)
(aka Assignment Terror, Dracula Vs. Frankenstein)
1970
La Furia del Hombre Lobo/The Fury of the Wolf Man (also screenplay)
La Noche de Walpurgis/Walpurgis Night (also co-screenplay)
(aka The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman, Werewolf's Shadow)
El Vertigo del Crimen/The Vertigo of Crime
1971
Doctor Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo/Dr. Jekyll and the Wolf Man (also screenplay)
Jack el Destripador de Londres/Jack the Ripper of London (also co-sreenplay)
1972
Los Crimenes de Petiot/Petiot's Crimes (also co-screenplay)
Disco Rojo/Red Light (also co-screenplay)
El Espanto Surge de la Tumba/Horror Rises from the Tomb (also screenplay)
El Gran Amor del Conde Dracula/Count Dracula's Great Love (also co-screenplay)
El Jorobado de la Morgue/The Hunchback of the Morgue (also co-screenplay)
(aka The Rue Morgue Massascres)
Los Ojos Azules de la Muneca Rota/The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (also co-screenplay)
(aka House of Psychotic Women)
La Rebelion de las Muertas/The Rebellion of the Dead Women (also screenplay)
(aka The Vengeance of the Zombies)
1973
La Orgia de los Muertos/The Orgy of the Dead
(aka The Hanging Woman, Return of the Zombies)
El Asesino esta Entra los Trece/The Murderer of One of the Thirteen (also co-screenplay)
Las Ratas no Duermen de Noche/Rats Don't Sleep at Night
(aka Crimson)
El Retorno de Walpurgis/The Return of Walpurgis (also screenplay)
(aka The Curse of the Devil)
Tarzan en las Minas del Rey Salomon/Tarzan in King Solomon's Mines
Una Libelula para cada Muerto/A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (also screenplay)
La Venganza de la Momia/The Vengeance of the Mummy (also screenplay)
(aka The Mummy's Revenge)
1974
La Diosa Salvaje/The Savage Goddess
El Mariscal del Infierno/The Marshall of Hell (also screenplay)
(aka The Devil's Possessed)
Los Pasajeros/The Passengers
Todos los Gritos del Silencio/All the Cries of Silence (also co-screenplay)
Exorcismo/Exorcism (also co-screenplay)
1975
La Cruz del Diablo/The Devil's Cross (co-screenplay only)
Docteur Justice/Doctor Justice
La Maldicion de la Bestia/The Curse of the Beast (also screenplay)
(aka Night of the Howling Beast)
Muerte de un Quinqui/Death of a Hoodlum (also screenplay)
1976
Inquisicion/Inquisition (also director, screenplay)
Secuestro/Kidnapping (also co-screenplay)
Ultimo Deseo/Last Desire
(aka The People Who Own the Dark)
1977
Comando Txikia
El Francotirador/The Sniper (also co-screenplay)
El Huerto del Frances/The Frenchman's Garden (also director, co-screenplay)
Pecado Mortal/Mortal Sin
El Transexual/The Transsexual (also co-screenplay)
1978
Madrid al Desnudo/Naked Madrid (also director, co-screenplay)
1979
Amor Blanco/White Love (chief of production only)
El Caminante/The Traveler (also director, screenplay)
1980
Los Cantabros/The Cantabrians (also director, screenplay)
El Carnival de las Bestias/The Carnival of the Beasts (also director, screenplay)
(aka Human Beasts)
Misterio en la Isla de los Monstruos/Mystery on Monster Island
El Museo del Prado/The Prado Museum (director, script only; Japanese TV documentary)
El Retorno del Hombre Lobo/The Return of the Wolf Man (also director, screenplay)
(aka The Craving)
1981
La Mascara/The Mask (Spanish TV)
El Palacio Real de Madrid/The Royal Palace of Madrid (also director, script; Japanese TV documentary)
1982
Latidos de Panico/Panic Beats (also director, screenplay)
La Batalla del Porro/The Battle of the Dullard
Buenas Noches Senor Monstruo/Good Evening, Mr. Monster
Las Cuevas de Altamira/The Alramira Caves (also director, script; Japanese TV documentary)
La Espada del Samurai/The Sword of the Samurai (Japanese TV)
Infierno en Camboya/Hell in Cambodia (director only; Japanese TV documentary)
La Mascara del Juyo/The Mask of Juyo (director, script; Japanese TV documentary)
El Monasterio de el Escorial/The Escorial Monastery (director, script; Japanese TV documentary)
1983
La Bestia y la Espada Magica/The Beast and the Magic Sword (also director, screenplay)
1984
Mi Amigo el Vagabundo/My Friend the Vagabond (also director, screenplay)
La Tercera Mujer/The Third Woman (Japanese TV)
El Ultimo Kamikaze/The Last Kamikaze (also director, screenplay)
Operacion Mantis/Operation Mantis (also director, co-screenplay)
1986
Pez/Fish [short film]
1987
Mordiendo la Vida/Biting Life
1988
El Aullido del Diablo/The Howl of the Devil (also director, screenplay)
Shadows of Blood
El Ultimo Guateque II/The Last Party II
Shh [short film]
1990
Aqui Huele a Muerto . . .(!Pues Yo No He Sido!)/It Smells like Someone Died Here . . . (But it Wasn't Me!)
Brigada Central/Central Brigade (Spanish TV)
La Hija de Fu Manchu/The Daughter of Fu Manchu [short film]
Horror en el Museo de Cera/Horror in the Wax Museum (also director, screenplay)
1991
Olla de Grillos/Bedlam (Spanish TV)
1992
La Noche del Ejecutor/The Night of the Executioner (also director, screenplay)
State of Mind
1994
El Necrofago [short film]
1995
Los Resucitados/The Resurrected (apparently never completed)
1996
El Angel Mas Caido/The Angel Has Fallen Very Far [short film]
Cientificament Perfectes/Scientifically Perfect
Hambre Mortal/Mortal Hunger
Mala Estrella [short film]
Licantropo/Lycantropus (also screenplay)
1998
El ojo de la medusa/The Eye of the Jellyfish
Querido Maestro/Dear Teacher (Spanish TV series)
Cuando el mundo se acabe te seguire amando/I'll Still Love You When the World Ends
1999
Rondadores nocturno 2/Night Prowlers 2 (also co-screenplay) [short film]
2000
Animas [short film]
Érase una vez/Once Upon A Time
La gran vida/The Great Life
Antivicio (Spanish TV series)
El Comisario/The Commissary (Spanish TV series)
El lado oscuro/The Dark Side
2001
School Killer
Desenlace (Spanish TV series)
El corazon delator/The Tell-Tale Heart [short film]
2002
Octavia
El quinto rincona/The Fifth Corner [short film]
Mucha Sangre/Much Blood
Las mujeres fragantes/The Fragrant Women [theatrical production]
2003
Countess Dracula's Orgy of Blood
Tomb of the Werewolf
Upon Frayed Lips of Silence (music video)
2004
Rojo sangre (also co-screenplay)
Rottweiler
La danza de la muerte [play]
2005
La duodecima hora/The Twelfth Hour [short film]
Amazonia misteriosa
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