The Strange Countess (1961) a.k.a Die Seltsame Gräfin

   A young secretary is harassed by weird phone calls while a woman who was put to prison for poisoning is let free. The secretary, Margaret, is offered a lucrative position by Countess Moron but detective Mike Dorn is in charge of keeping her safe as the Scotland Yard has learned that somebody is out for her blood...
  One of the many novels by Edgar Wallace that was brought to life by German producers, The Strange Countess , directed by Josef von Báky, guarantees a high end noir thriller. Hitchcock-y at many points but presenting a much different classy European mood, this film creates an unbeatable atmosphere that surrounds the viewer and does not let go until the perpetrator is found. For fans of quality cinema!
  Each actor from the cast seems to have been carefully chosen for his part and that is obvious as each characters blends perfectly with the other, like a morbid dance of death and mystery.  Joachim Fuchsberger is the super detective, legendary Lil Dagover is the Countess, Brigitte Grothum is young and ever-fearing Margaret and of course Klaus Kinski in a surprise role! Eddi Arent in his classic role as the humorous relief is once again totally entertaining.
Must watch this : chose one of these nights that you don't have any plans with any of your friends. Invite a sophisticated girl, offer a glass of cognac and let the movie do its criminal thing!
Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055429/

Subtle advertising

That's right, babe. Bite it!

It will be like a haircut. Only different!

Erik the Conqueror (1961) a.k.a Gli Invasori

  A Viking invasion in Britain in the 9th century does not go too well. Two boys, brothers, are brutally separated and raised apart, one by the Vikings and the other by the British. 20 years later, during the war for the control of England, the two brothers meet again as rivals in a sudden twist of faith...
  Mario Bava in his old-school sword-and-sandal style once again. And once again the result is pretty good. Combining his love for the gothic and heroic sagas, Bava blesses this film with amazing colors, settings and costumes, the later of which may not be too precise chronologically but who cares! The action flows violently, the arrows pierce the sky, it's time for the barbarians to take over!
  As the film circles around the two brothers, Giorgio Ardisson and Cameron Mitchell become the center of the attention. We get some high class acting right here especially from Mitchell who appears fierce and brutal in every way. Andrea Checchi is the man htat becomes their arch enemy and a slimy motherfucker indeed! And since this film is Italian, it wouldn't count without Alice Kessler and Ellen Kessler, sisters in reality and in film, who each get their piece of that Viking pie!
Must watch this : on a lazy summer morning with a freddo cappuccino and fruits for breakfast. The sea scenes will make you want to swim so, after the film, go to the nearest beach and go nuts!
Trailer 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055022/ 

Damn! This is cold!

Voting procedures in Viking tradition

Shit, man! Where did you get that tattoo? It's so rad!

 

Yojimbo (1961)

  A wandering ronin arrives in a small town that has plunged into ruination after two opposite gangs have settled there. The ronin finds himself in the middle of an ongoing war and has to pick sides. Eventually he chooses the right side, his own...
  Critically acclaimed Akira Kurosawa directs this classic Jidaigeki (a.k.a period drama) and God damn if this isn't good! Considered by many the point of reference (alongside other films of the genre) for many outstanding spaghetti westerns, this film pays respect to the forgotten ways of master-less samurais and their times. Amazing settings and costumes,incredible atmosphere (it's like time-travel) and a story as heavy as the hero's balls!
  Any Japanese film that respects itself has a cast that respects itself too. Thankfully, that's the deal with this film too! Toshirô Mifune plays an incredible macho ronin with a glance as scary as a samurai demon and rage as fierce as the Japanese wind. By his side, an amazing,  highly acclaimed cast from which Tatsuya Nakadai stands out, as the arch enemy and only worth opponent of the hero.
Must watch this : on a windy autumn night, with the wind howling wildly out your window. Dim the lights, have some incense burning, get a cup of Japanese herbal tea and a bigger cup of sake. Let the liquids drown you slowly in the film's mood while you seek to find your inner vicious man inside you!
Trailer 
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055630/ 

Damn, you big!

Gotcha!

That's right, ladies. Panties be dropping down slowly!

Hercules In The Haunted World (1961) a.k.a Ercole Al Centro Della Terra

  Princess Deianira is kidnapped by evil King Lico. In order to rescue her, Hercules must battle a stone monster and retrieve a golden apple from the Hesperides apple tree. Soon after he finds himself facing the horrors of Hades!
  Maria Bava's first color film (with Franco Prosperi) and certainly one of the best in its kind. Sword and sandal meets early 60's psychedelia combined in a cast of quality fantasy and story telling. The sets and effects are amazing (it is just like taking LSD and tripping through mythical Ancient Greece) and the atmosphere is downright eerie! They don't make them like that anymore!
  Leonora Ruffo plays the majestic as fuck Princess Deianira, Christopher Lee plays Lico and Reg Park is the mighty Hercules. This film was a success from the start, having Lee as the arch enemy and Reg Park (trainer of Arnold Schwarzenegger and probably the best Hercules so far) fight each other in a delirious vortex of mythical adventure!
Must watch this :  even though this is an Italian film, it has to do with Greece. So, dress up in a white bed sheet, take a ladle (for a sword) and enjoy this film with a Greek salad and some white wine on a hot summer day. Watch this only after you have grown a respectable beard.
Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054850/

Fuck you, Dracula. I ain't buying your shit

Do you think they are down to fuck or what?

Debt collectors fuck off!

 

Diary Of A Nudist (1961)

  Young reporter Stacy Taylor is sent to write a story about a nudist camp in the woods. Her task is to highlight the negative issues but , much to her surprise, she finds herself in tune with the nudist way of life. Her boss comes to the nudist camp as well to write the story himself.
  Doris Wishman is often referred to as the Mother of American Sexploitation. And in this film (one of her first ) it is easy to see why. Exploiting the theme of nudism, this film takes you on a trip to American landscape and into a nudist camp. The film's does not aim to excite your sexual senses but to portray the laid back and serene life of a nudist. That and to show all the nudity the law allowed back then.
  Acting? Not in here! Only random people of all ages and shapes doing everyday chores and having fun in the nakedly fashion. Davee Decker plays the lead female role here, not that it says something. If you came to see this for a plot and good acting then turn back and choose another film. This is pure sexploiotation.
Must watch this : on a hot summer day. Watch this naked and do your house chores, naked as well.
Excerpt
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054809/

Excuse me! Is this where we get naked?

Jenny, nice tits! I meant hair, sorry!

Oh, the 60's

Pit and the Pendulum (1961)

  Edgar Allan Poe on the big screen. Francis Barnard travels to Spain when he learns that his sister is dead. Her husband, an offspring of a notorious torturer of the Spanish Inquisition, tells him that she died from a blood disease. The evidence, though, indicates otherwise!
  Classic Vincent Price in a classy film by none other than Roger Corman. A little bit too classy for Corman's filmography, but the work her is done. Corman manages to portray the essence of Poe's work without taking ti too far. You willenjoy all the doom and gloom of Poe's writing, the despair of the characters, the Gothic (but no too Gothic) style of everything and an evil plot! Squeaky doors, spider webs, evil laughs, rain and the lingering death!
  There is some killer cast in this movie. Vincent Price, Barbara Steele, John Kerr are enough to take this movie to another level. No one can compete with Price's class and Steele's look and looks (remember what we said on Black Sunday?) and no one can act better in such environment. It almost seems as these actors were born to act in such films, as if they do not belong in our era or dimension!
Must watch this : definitely on a cold or rainy night, with a glass of wine, alone. Let the mood and the cold give you goosebumps!
Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055304/

Queen Steele

Yeah, it looks like a painting but fuck you!

More interactive than modern 3-D