NUITS ROUGES

a.k.a Shadowman

FRANCE / ITALY, 1974

Starring Gayle Hunnicutt, Jaquues Champreux & Josephine Chaplin

Directed by Georges Franju

DVD: Eureka! (UK); 1.66:1; French with english subtitles

OPEN SEASON

a.k.a Los Cazadores (Spain); The Recon Game; Jaktoffer (Sweden video title)

UK / SPAIN / USA / SWITZERLAND / ARGENTINA, 1974

Starring Peter Fonda, John Philip Law, Helga Liné, William Holden, Richard Lynch & Cornelia Sharp

Directed by Peter Collinson

VTC (Sweden); Letterboxed; English with swedish subtitles

I really liked this Most Dangerous Game-exploitationer with an international cast and some nices 70s sleaze/terror/revenge-movie touches. The swedish VHS is uncut I believe, but cuts right to trailers after the last scene, which makes for a shorter running time.

BAD RONALD

USA, 1974

Starring Scott Jacoby, Pippa Scott & John Larch

Directed by Buzz Kulik

MDC (Sweden); Fullscreen; English with swedish subtitles

Really creepy TV movie about a shy, weird nerd who accidentaly kills a school bully and is hidden in a secret room in the house by his over protective mother. When the mother dies from an operation Ronald continues living in the secret room, even when a new family with two young daughters move in. Ronald drills a hole in the wall and the family becomes increasingly suspicios when they start hearing noices and food and other stuff start mysteriously dissapearing. In the meantime Ronald starts to lose more and more grip with reality until he finally starts believing he's the prince of his made up fantasy land called Atranta, and that the princess (the cute young daughter) needs to be saved... and then it's time for Ronald to come out... brrr... Highly recommended.

CÉLINE AND JULIET GO BOATING

a.k.a Céline et Julie Vont en Bateu (original title); Phantom Ladies Over Paris

France, 1974

Starring Juliet Berto, Dominique Labourier, Barbet Schroeder & Bulle Ogier

Directed by Jaques Rivette

DVD: BFI (UK); Fullscreen; French with english subtitles

Filmed Introduction with Critic Jonathan Romney
Toute La Memoire Du Monde - Alain resnais' Playful Film on Memory Filmed in the National Library of France
The Haunted Curiosity Shop (R.W. Paul, 1901)
Fully Illustrated Booklet

FIFTEEN YEAR OLD CAPTAIN

a.k.a Un Capitán de Quince Años (original title); Een Kaptein van 15 Jaar (Holland video title)

France / Spain, 1974

Starring Edmund Purdom, William Berger, José Manuel Marcos, Howard Vernon & Marc Cassot

Directed by Jesus Franco

VML (Holland); Fullscreen, French with dutch subtitles

Jess Franco + Jules Verne = two of my favorites, together at last! That's probably why I like this film even though it's generally considered cheap and boring shit even by Franco fans. OK, i'll give you that it's cheap but otherwise I think Franco has a pretty good feeling for simple, boys own Jules Verne-adventure... So shoot me.

GUNS AND GUTS

a.k.a Las Viboras de Piel (original title); God, Guns and Guts; Sheriffen fra Santa Fe (Denmark video title)

Mexico, 1974

Starring Jorge Rivero, Pedro Armendáriz Jr. & Rogelio Guerra

Directed by René Cardona Jr.

Westcon Home Video (Denmark), Widescreen; English language with danish subtitles

Violent and crude western with some odd attempts at humor.

CORMACK OF THE MOUNTIES

a.k.a Giubbe Rossi (original title); Killers of the Savage North (USA); Royal Mounted Police (USA); Red Coats (Sweden video title)

Italy, 1974

Starring Fabio Testi, Guido Mannari, Lynne Frederick, Lionel Stander & Robert Hundar

Directed by Joe D'Amato

VTC (Sweden); Letterboxed; English language with swedish subtitles

Not bad western/adventure. Perhaps a bit too strong for kids and a bit too sentimental for spaghetti-fans, but I liked it. Surprisingly skillful and sensitive direction considering the name of the guy behind the camera...