Rabid Dogs (1974) a.k.a Cani Arrabbiati

  After performing a violent robbery, three criminals try to escape Rome without getting caught. They take a woman and her child hostage and hijack a middle-aged man's car and force him to drive them all out of Rome. Will the hostages manage to stay alive under the criminals' pressure?
  The master of Italian horror, Mario Bava,  returns and this time he triggers primitive thrilling motions with this fantastic film here. I seriously could not find a dissatisfying element in it, not even a story loop or an unneeded pause. This film throws you in the thriller bucket and lets you there until the very end when it decides it is done with you. Film endings like the one here is the reason I have no respect for contemporary cinema!
  Nothing is left to chance when Bava is on the wheel and definitely not the actors. Don Backy, George Eastman and Maurice Poli vividly play the criminals and it is magnificent how each one's personality clashes with the other's. Lea Landri and Riccardo Cucciolla are the unfortunate hostages. The tremendous thrilling emotion that escalates throughout the film is a work of both the directing and the acting and since most of the film takes place inside a car, I can only say congratulations to the actors for performing so good in such limited space.
Must watch this : eating pizza and drinking Pepsi Twist on a hot summer night with a couple of friends (not more or the feeling of the movie will be lost if there is noise) and try not to talk throughout the film. When the end comes, jump surprised and yell.
Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0071275/

If you feel anything, don't be alarmed. It will probably be my gun

Told ya!

Shit, I found a bag. I wonder whose is it?

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!

 

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!

 

The Mask Of Satan (a.k.a Black Sunday) (La Maschera Del Demonio) (1960)

  In 1630 Russia, Princess Asa is accused and sentenced for practising witchcraft. While on the stake, she swears to return from the dead and take revenge. 200 years later, she returns and tries to possess the body of her look-alike descendant with the aid of her servant. Who can stop her?
  This is Mario Bava's (official) debut and a true milestone in Italian Gothic horror films.It clearly paves the way for what is to follow, both in Bava's career but also in European Horrorsploitation. The Gothic element in the movie's mood is incomparable (black-and-white plays a huge role in that) and the theme reflects the 60's fixation with witches and satan.
  Barbara Steele everybody! This lady has this weird look in her eyes, something like 'I will seduce,but your soul belongs to Satan after that' combined with that Italian classiness that really nail you to your chair! Of course the rest of the cast (Andrea Checchi, John Richardson etc) bind perfectly with the movie's theme and seem to work perfectly under the guidance of Master Bava. Not a horror film per se (don't expect to get scared) but it flows as gently as if it was a horror novel you were reading.
Must watch this : in November,on a cold and rainy night with a glass of red wine and an Italian friend.
Trailer
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054067/

You're fucked!

Look at the title!

Aw yiss!