Addio Zio Tom (1971) [Directors’ Cut]
Directed by Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi
Starring Gualtiero Jacopetti
136 mins; Not Rated; Colour
Previewed Release: R0 Blue Underground (Shockumentary Extreme Collection)
Tagline: The film considered too shocking for the world.
Country of Origin: Italy
The Film:
Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi’s second last film as
Mondo filmmakers, Addio Zio Tom, is a departure from their previous work, which focussed primarily on displaying real footage of unusual world events. Instead, the duo have fashioned a reconstruction of the 1800s era United States African slave trade. This directors’ cut version is one of the most controversial films ever committed to celluloid – potentially explosive narration of ambiguous racial stance, as well as the incredibly graphic footage of the slave trade and the overtones of today’s ‘reverse racism’ perpetrated by Afro-Americans makes this a genuine firestorm of a film.
The directors’ cut of Addio Zio Tom (translated to ‘Goodbye Uncle Tom’ in English and is a reference to the nickname the whites had of elderly African slaves) restores more than thirteen minutes of political and violent footage, removes alternate scenes added to replace the controversial ones and reinserts the film’s original narration. The film begins with footage of Martin Luther King’s funeral and the race riots that resulted, as well as scenes in which black militants are seen to indoctrinate young Afro-American children into hating, and committing violence against, white people. This footage is presumably authentic; however the film soon changes gear and focuses on Jacopetti and Prosperi’s realistic reconstruction of the slave trade over a hundred years earlier. We see the African slaves being mercilessly transported on boats and punished by their white ‘masters’. Occasionally, Jacopetti and Prosperi revert back to real-life modern day footage as a juxtaposition of the Afro-American then and now, all of which was removed for the film’s English language release. Finally, Addio Zio Tom climaxes in the story of Nat Turner, a legend among the Afro-American community in which a gang of black slaves take bloody revenge upon their white captors.
Beautifully shot and with a magnificent score by exploitation music maestro Riz Ortolani, Addio Zio Tom is an unmissable piece of Italian cinema. Visually, Jacopetti and Prosperi are at their most striking and, while it may not be as shocking as their 1966 previous feature Africa Addio (the violent footage was all horribly real there), Addio Zio Tom is an impactful masterpiece. It is hard to ascertain whether this can be considered an exploitation film, or whether it is a racist tract – indeed, it can certainly be said that Jacopetti and Prosperi didn’t want their film to be read as such, and the duo said that Addio Zio Tom was an attempt to redeem themselves after similar accusations of racism in light of the controversy generated by Africa Addio. Regardless of their intentions, or how the film plays out, this has become essential viewing.
The Release:
Extras wise this version is poor, but there are further special features on the English version of the film, titled Goodbye Uncle Tom. The picture has been presented in the 2:35:1 aspect ratio with 16:9 enhancement and it looks superb. Audio is presented in an Italian Dolby Digital mono track with optional English subtitles. This DVD is not available individually, however can be found in either the Shockumentary Extreme Collection or Mondo Cane Collection sets.
The Bottom Line:
Violent, controversial and tackling an aspect of society that even the most daring filmmakers fear to tread, Addio Zio Tom is one film that could genuinely never be produced today. The ambiguity of Jacopetti and Prosperi’s racial stance has long led to this being slammed as anti-black and it was poorly received upon its initial release for this reason. Blue Underground, with the collaboration of Jacopetti himself, has magnificently restored this directors’ cut to DVD, and it is essential for fans of explosive, subversive cinema.
Blood Feast (1963)
Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
Starring William Kerwin, Mal Arnold
67 mins; R18+; Colour
Previewed Release: R0 Siren Visual
Tagline: Nothing so appalling in the annals of horror.
Country of Origin: USA
The Film:
The latest craze in horror cinema has now become the likes of Saw, Hos
tel and the like – but shock! horror! the inspiration of these films are not wholly original. In fact, one film preceded them by forty odd years. Enter Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F Friedman. These two men made (with the former directing and the latter producing) a number of films within the ‘nudie cutie’ genre during the early sixties – pictures that were sexy to be sure, but by today’s standards milder than the mellowest of softcore. The genre dried up (forgive the pun), and the duo turned to horror for inspiration – specifically, the gore movie. In 1963, the partnership wielded Blood Feast, a film that would become the first gore picture and, in its relish in showing claret-drenched set pieces and gross-out horror, became direct inspiration for contemporary horror cinema.
Blood Feast, by most standards, is technically poor and appallingly acted, however it has charm in spades. Mal Arnold plays Fued Ramses, an Egyptian caterer. Ramses however, is more than he appears – his delicious food spreads are made from the body parts of young women as a sacrifice to an ancient god. When Dorothy Fremont (Lyn Bolton) enlists Ramses to cater for her daughter Suzane’s engagement party (have you ever had…an Egyptian…feast?), Ramses immediately sets the plans in motion. Women are slaughtered brutally and it is up to Detective Thornton (Kerwin, under the pseudonym Thomas Wood) to foil his plans.
Lewis created a monster with Blood Feast. Every horror fan, or at least, any fan of the modern violent excesses of shock cinema, owe their viewing pleasures to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Blood Feast was the first in Lewis’ Blood Trilogy, which consisted of the fantastic Two Thousand Maniacs! and somewhat inferior Colour me Blood Red. This 1963 film also spawned a sequel in 2002 directed by Lewis after a thirty year directing hiatus.
The Release:
This Siren release is mastered from the Something Weird Video release in the USA, and it’s certainly not as good as other HGL discs distributed. There’s a quizzical short Carving Magic, which is certainly not worth the time of day. Trailers and outtakes make up the rest. The absence of a Lewis commentary is disappointing, considering almost every other one of his films have been treated to one.
Directed by Gualtiero Jacopetti & Franco Prosperi
Starring Gualtiero Jacopetti
136 mins; Not Rated; Colour
Previewed Release: R0 Blue Underground (Shockumentary Extreme Collection)
Tagline: The film considered too shocking for the world.
Country of Origin: Italy
The Film:
Gualtiero Jacopetti and Franco Prosperi’s second last film as
Mondo filmmakers, Addio Zio Tom, is a departure from their previous work, which focussed primarily on displaying real footage of unusual world events. Instead, the duo have fashioned a reconstruction of the 1800s era United States African slave trade. This directors’ cut version is one of the most controversial films ever committed to celluloid – potentially explosive narration of ambiguous racial stance, as well as the incredibly graphic footage of the slave trade and the overtones of today’s ‘reverse racism’ perpetrated by Afro-Americans makes this a genuine firestorm of a film.The directors’ cut of Addio Zio Tom (translated to ‘Goodbye Uncle Tom’ in English and is a reference to the nickname the whites had of elderly African slaves) restores more than thirteen minutes of political and violent footage, removes alternate scenes added to replace the controversial ones and reinserts the film’s original narration. The film begins with footage of Martin Luther King’s funeral and the race riots that resulted, as well as scenes in which black militants are seen to indoctrinate young Afro-American children into hating, and committing violence against, white people. This footage is presumably authentic; however the film soon changes gear and focuses on Jacopetti and Prosperi’s realistic reconstruction of the slave trade over a hundred years earlier. We see the African slaves being mercilessly transported on boats and punished by their white ‘masters’. Occasionally, Jacopetti and Prosperi revert back to real-life modern day footage as a juxtaposition of the Afro-American then and now, all of which was removed for the film’s English language release. Finally, Addio Zio Tom climaxes in the story of Nat Turner, a legend among the Afro-American community in which a gang of black slaves take bloody revenge upon their white captors.
Beautifully shot and with a magnificent score by exploitation music maestro Riz Ortolani, Addio Zio Tom is an unmissable piece of Italian cinema. Visually, Jacopetti and Prosperi are at their most striking and, while it may not be as shocking as their 1966 previous feature Africa Addio (the violent footage was all horribly real there), Addio Zio Tom is an impactful masterpiece. It is hard to ascertain whether this can be considered an exploitation film, or whether it is a racist tract – indeed, it can certainly be said that Jacopetti and Prosperi didn’t want their film to be read as such, and the duo said that Addio Zio Tom was an attempt to redeem themselves after similar accusations of racism in light of the controversy generated by Africa Addio. Regardless of their intentions, or how the film plays out, this has become essential viewing.
The Release:
Extras wise this version is poor, but there are further special features on the English version of the film, titled Goodbye Uncle Tom. The picture has been presented in the 2:35:1 aspect ratio with 16:9 enhancement and it looks superb. Audio is presented in an Italian Dolby Digital mono track with optional English subtitles. This DVD is not available individually, however can be found in either the Shockumentary Extreme Collection or Mondo Cane Collection sets.
The Bottom Line:
Violent, controversial and tackling an aspect of society that even the most daring filmmakers fear to tread, Addio Zio Tom is one film that could genuinely never be produced today. The ambiguity of Jacopetti and Prosperi’s racial stance has long led to this being slammed as anti-black and it was poorly received upon its initial release for this reason. Blue Underground, with the collaboration of Jacopetti himself, has magnificently restored this directors’ cut to DVD, and it is essential for fans of explosive, subversive cinema.
Blood Feast (1963)
Directed by Herschell Gordon Lewis
Starring William Kerwin, Mal Arnold
67 mins; R18+; Colour
Previewed Release: R0 Siren Visual
Tagline: Nothing so appalling in the annals of horror.
Country of Origin: USA
The Film:
The latest craze in horror cinema has now become the likes of Saw, Hos
tel and the like – but shock! horror! the inspiration of these films are not wholly original. In fact, one film preceded them by forty odd years. Enter Herschell Gordon Lewis and David F Friedman. These two men made (with the former directing and the latter producing) a number of films within the ‘nudie cutie’ genre during the early sixties – pictures that were sexy to be sure, but by today’s standards milder than the mellowest of softcore. The genre dried up (forgive the pun), and the duo turned to horror for inspiration – specifically, the gore movie. In 1963, the partnership wielded Blood Feast, a film that would become the first gore picture and, in its relish in showing claret-drenched set pieces and gross-out horror, became direct inspiration for contemporary horror cinema.Blood Feast, by most standards, is technically poor and appallingly acted, however it has charm in spades. Mal Arnold plays Fued Ramses, an Egyptian caterer. Ramses however, is more than he appears – his delicious food spreads are made from the body parts of young women as a sacrifice to an ancient god. When Dorothy Fremont (Lyn Bolton) enlists Ramses to cater for her daughter Suzane’s engagement party (have you ever had…an Egyptian…feast?), Ramses immediately sets the plans in motion. Women are slaughtered brutally and it is up to Detective Thornton (Kerwin, under the pseudonym Thomas Wood) to foil his plans.
Lewis created a monster with Blood Feast. Every horror fan, or at least, any fan of the modern violent excesses of shock cinema, owe their viewing pleasures to the films of Herschell Gordon Lewis. Blood Feast was the first in Lewis’ Blood Trilogy, which consisted of the fantastic Two Thousand Maniacs! and somewhat inferior Colour me Blood Red. This 1963 film also spawned a sequel in 2002 directed by Lewis after a thirty year directing hiatus.
The Release:
This Siren release is mastered from the Something Weird Video release in the USA, and it’s certainly not as good as other HGL discs distributed. There’s a quizzical short Carving Magic, which is certainly not worth the time of day. Trailers and outtakes make up the rest. The absence of a Lewis commentary is disappointing, considering almost every other one of his films have been treated to one.
The Bottom Line:
Blood Feast is a seminal moment in horror cinema, and one that every fan of any film with gore as a pivotal plot device should hold dear. Herschell Gordon Lewis genuinely revolutionised the genre by making an edgy indie film that appalled almost everyone who saw it – accusations of misogyny and corruption of children run rampant but, in true decadent sixties form, Lewis and Friedman continued to collaborate until their untimely professional break-up. Blood Feast is poorly acted to be sure, but the gore is a sight to behold – the fact that the Australian Office of Film and Literature Classification gave this film an 18 certificate in 2005, the year they gave the supposedly uber-shocking Saw II a 15, indicates how well it holds up today. A landmark picture, highly recommended.
La Settima Donna (1978)
Directed by Franco Prosperi
Starring Florinda Bolkan, Ray Lovelock
67 mins; R18+; Colour
Previewed Release: R2 Sazuma
Tagline: None.
Country of Origin: Italy
The Film:
Wow. This is absolutely amazing.
As a Grindhouse film, La Settima Donna (known as ‘Terror’ or ‘Las
t House on the Beach’ to Western audiences, the latter name in order to capitalise on Wes Craven’s seminal 1972 horror picture Last House on the Left) delivers the goods. As an exploitation opus, La Settima Donna delivers the goods. As an Italian giallo, La Settima Donna delivers the goods.The other film by Franco Prosperi, who delivered no less than Mondo Cane and Addio Zio Tom, La Settima Donna (which translates to 'The Seventh Woman') is the story of Sister Cristina (Bolkan), who has taken a group of teenage girls to a beach house to rehearse a play. Things quickly go awry when a misanthropic trio of bank robbers (including Lovelock as Aldo) select the secluded coastal hideaway as a refuge from the police, who are hot on their tail. The three criminals terrorise the young women until finally things become desperately undone.
One of the greatest attributes of La Settima Donna is undoubtedly its cinematography. Christiano Pogany does an inimitable job at lensing this picture in a magnificent fashion, and Sazuma’s sensational transfer does it justice. Prosperi directs with endless flair, and his stylisation of La Settima Donna’s grimy content, including a number of exceedingly nasty scenes of sexual violence, makes for a truly uncomfortable experience. It certainly goes to show that Prosperi can direct an excellent, albeit shocking, film without Gualtiero Jacopetti, his long time partner-in-crime with the aforementioned Mondo pictures. The acting is certainly above average for a film of this type, with both Bolkan and Lovelock turning in reasonable performances, as do their co-stars, varying responses from trauma to malevolence, depending on which side of the gun you find yourself on.
The Release:
Sazuma have put together a fantastic release of La Settima Donna, and one which it wholly deserves. Most notably is a twenty-odd minute interview with Ray Lovelock, where he talks about his experiences with Prosperi and on the film set. Alternate title sequences, trailers and TV spots fill out the scenery. The film itself looks magnificent with an almost-flawless transfer, and the picture is presented in the 2:35:1 ratio with 16:9 enhancement. There are three audio tracks – Italian, German and English – and all are presented in Dolby 2.0. English and German subtitles for both the interview and the film itself are provided.
Also included is a soundtrack of Roberto Pregadio’s funk Muzak score, which adds a trifle more to the pseudo-porn soundtracks by the likes of Goblin and Nico Fidenco.
The Bottom Line:
Despite what its Anglicised alternate title suggests, La Settima Donna is far from a rip-off of Last House on the Left. Prosperi has fashioned an exceedingly smart and visually striking Grindhouse picture that is a viciously underrated slice of Eurotrash cinema. I can’t recommend this highly enough.
Antropophagus (1980)
Directed by Joe D’Amato
Starring Tisa Farrow, George Eastman
90 mins; Not Rated; Colour
Previewed Release: R1 Shriek Show 2-disc
Tagline: He’s coming for you!
Country of Origin: Italy
The Film:
When the cover sleeve of a film shows a malformed giant eating his
own intestines, you just know you’re in for a good time.Antropophagous is from the notorious Eurotrash master and, in his later years, prolific pornographer Joe D’Amato, and is one of the most reviled video nasties of the gore-soaked era. Also known as The Grim Reaper, possibly for audiences who couldn’t spell, Antropophagus stars Tisa Farrow (Zombie) as Julie who, along with a number of other young people, travels to a picturesque island to meet with some friends. Trouble is, the island hosts the dark secret of the Antropophagus (Eastman; who co-scripted with D’Amato) – a psychotic killer with more than a few skeletons in his closet. The group are left to fight for their lives as the Antropophagous (is he man? Beast? Entity?) dispatches them in exceedingly brutal ways.
While it isn’t D’Amato’s horror opus (this dubious honour is held by Beyond the Darkness, a meaner, leaner exploitation epic), Antropophagous is a decent entry into the Eurotrash cycle and its grisly effects has led it to be reviled the world over. The picture also adopts an eerie Gothic quality, an evocation that is surprisingly well executed considering the obvious budget constraints impinged upon the production. D’Amato and Eastman followed Antropophagous with a sequel one year later titled Absurd, and while it adopted some notoriety, it has fallen into the realms of B-grade obscurity. D’Amato’s output following this was scant, at least in the field of exploitation – he directed a number of Emanuelle sequels with Laura Gemser in the title role and some quizzical pseudo-hardcore zombie films, before lensing some one hundred straight-to-video hardcore porn films before his death of a heart attach in 1999.
The Release:
One of Shriek Show’s better releases, this disc contains the original Italian and English tracks in mono, the former with optional English subtitles. The film itself is presented in 1:66:1 anamorphic widescreen, which is the best it has ever looked on DVD. The extras are fantastic; there is the second half of a documentary on D’Amato (the first is found on the Shriek Show disc Images of a Convent), alternate openings, interviews with Eastman and star Zora Kerova and trailers for this film, and others.
The Bottom Line:
While not fantastic, Italo-exploitation puritans would find a lot to love in Antropophagous, not least the bloody set-pieces which unfortunately only really get going in the film’s final ten minutes. There are a number of scenes that remind you of the eighties controversy this film generated, not least the evisceration of a pregnant woman. D’Amato and Eastman should be commended on the atmosphere their script evokes – moments recall an almost Bava-esque Gothic quality. The acting is beyond bad, though Eastman turns in a decent performance. Recommended… if you’re into this sort of thing.
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