Palmer, Renzo

Danger: Diabolik

Master criminal Diabolik's got it all. He's got a black leather suit and ski mask, a pair of Jaguar XKEs, gadgets galore, an underground headquarters, and of course the ravishing Eva (played by Sixties Euro-hottie Marisa Mell). Together, the two of them pull off daring capers, staying a step or two ahead of the police, the government and rival mobsters all the while. Think the Sixties Batman TV series, James Bond, Barbarella, Matt Helm, and even a bit of Austin Powers for this distinctly Sixties crime romp. Director Mario Bava, as usual, made the most out of a less-than-lavish budget, with wild sets, an Ennio Morricone score, striking photography, and a psychedelic-soaked feel all the way around, with Bava's trademark camera work making it a visual delight in many scenes. Terry-Thomas comes in as a bumbling government official (the scene where his press conference is disrupted by Diabolik's "exhilarating gas" is a classic). It's all very tongue-in-cheek fun, based as it is on a comic book from the period. John Phillip Law, of course, is no better than he ever is as the rather fey master criminal, passing off his wooden performance as "stoic", but it works. Unlike contemporaries like Bond, though, Diabolik eschews the swinging Sixties life for a happily monogamous relationship with Eva (who wouldn't?). This is some goofy brain candy that's perfect for an evening of Sixties-retro fun. --Jerry Renshaw

The suave, psychedelic-era thief called Diabolik (Law) can't get enough of life's good - or glittery - things. Not when there are currency shipments to steal from under the noses of snooty government officials and priceless jewels to lift from the boudoirs of the superrich. The elusive scoundrel finds plenty of ways to live up to his name in this tongue-in-cheek, live-action caper inspired by Europe's popular Diabolic comics. He clambers up walls, zaps a press conference with Exhilaration Gas, smacks a confession out of a crime lord while freefalling with him from an airplane, and pulls off the heist of a twenty-ton gold ingot.

Spirits of the Dead

An irresistible and guilty pleasure, this anthology based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe is a rare opportunity to see three of the biggest names in 1960s European film direction working in the short form. The results are uneven, but so what? They're also plain outrageous. Roger Vadim's Metzengerstein stars real-life siblings Jane and Peter Fonda perversely cast as lovers. When the latter dies, Jane's character turns to a mysterious black stallion for companionship, the suggestion being that the dead man's spirit is within the horse. Both corny and vaguely lurid, this ghost tale is Vadim all the way. Louis Malle's William Wilson is an in-your-face take on Poe's classic doppelgänger fable, starring Alain Delon as a blackguard who gets his comeuppance from a nicer variation of himself. More craftsman-like than cinematically bold, the film displays the kind of crisp wit Malle didn't display often enough. Finally, Federico Fellini's Toby Dammit proves to be the most interesting piece in the trio, featuring Terence Stamp in a terrific performance as an actor at the end of his rope (the equivalent of Mastroianni's burned-out director in Fellini's 8½), who has come to Rome to star as Christ in a New Testament Western. Dense with Fellini's dreamy textures and iconic clutter, Toby Dammit is a fun experience. --Tom Keogh

Three giants of world cinema conspire to bring the dark prose of Edgar Allan Poe to the screen in Spirits of the Dead. Roger Vadim, Luis Malle, and Federico Fellini direct Jane and Peter Fonda, Brigitte Bardot, Alain Delon, and Terence Stamp in three separate stories of souls tormented by their own phantasmal visions of guilt, lust, and greed. In a stunning new transfer enhanced for 16X9 televisions, Home Vision Entertainment is pleased to present this marvelous volume of the macabre.

The Eroticist

For the legendary director of ZOMBIE, THE BEYOND and PERVERSION STORY, it was perhaps the most shocking film of his entire career: A blasphemous yet acclaimed erotic comedy bursting with depraved priests, luscious nuns and a possessed politician with a compulsion for perversion. Laura Antonelli (THE DIVINE NYMPH), Agostina Belli (THE FIFTH CORD), Lando Buzzanca (WHEN WOMEN HAD TAILS), Anita Strindberg (A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN) and Lionel Stander (CUL-DE-SAC) star in the surreal `70s flesh-fest that could only come from the immoral imagination of Lucio Fulci!

Severin Films is proud to present this sacrilegious sexcapade - also known as THE SENATOR LIKES WOMEN - now fully restored from elements recently discovered in a secret underground vault near The Vatican!

The Life of Verdi

"Sumptuously costumed and splendidly staged, this elaborate cinematic biography blends documentary with drama to tell the story of a great artistic genius who became the musical voice of a nation."* Booklist. Filmed on location in Italy, Leningrad, London, and Paris, this epic mini-series took several years to create, requiring more than 100 actors, 1800 extras, and 4000 costumes. This uncut version dubbed in English is 4 hours longer than the edited version that originally aired on Public Television to great acclaim. This spectacular film is filled with Verdi's glorious music, sung in the original Italian and taken from past recordings featuring such operatic legends as Renata Tebaldi, Maria Callas, Luciano Pavarotti, and Birgit Nilsson. Stars Ronald Pickup, who plays Verdi with a "subdued, dignified passion" and Carla Fracci, the famed Italian ballerina, who is "absolutely superb" as Giuseppina Strepponi, Verdi's second wife (Clive Barnes).

Street Law

ROBBERY. ASSAULT. MURDER. ONE MAN HAS HAD ENOUGH!

The legendary Franco Nero (of DJANGO and DIE HARD 2 fame) stars as Carlo Antonelli, an average citizen until the day he is brutally beaten during a violent robbery. But when the police drop the case and the suspects remain free, Carlo is pushed beyond his breaking point. Now one man will launch an all-out war against the criminal scum who plague our cities, where justice has its own rules, vengeance needs no badge and the only force that matters is STREET LAW.

Barbara Bach (BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA, THE SPY WHO LOVED ME) co-stars in this vicious DEATH WISH-inspired crime thriller (also known in Europe as VIGILANTE II) directed by Italian action maestro Enzo G. Castellari (THE HEROIN BUSTERS, KEOMA) now presented uncut and uncensored - including all of its infamous violence - for the first time ever in America.

Massacre in Rome (Remastered Edition)

Both suspenseful and thoughtful, the 1973 Massacre in Rome is based on tragic events that took place in 1944 as the Nazi war machine was beginning to come to terms with its eventual failure. Richard Burton plays SS Lt. Col. Herbert Kappler, stationed in Rome at the time of a sneak attack on German troops (leaving 32 dead) by Italian partisans. Kappler, both educated and realistic, resists demands by his immediate superior (Leo McKern) and the High Command to retaliate by shooting a multitude of locals, whether or not they had anything to do with the deaths. Kappler, and other Third Reich officers, sees the killing of the 32 as miniscule compared to losses the Germans are enduring every day in a losing battle against the Allies. A severe punishment against Romans, Kappler reasons, would be both petty and shortsighted, heightening Italian anger over the German presence.

But Hitler himself insists, leaving Kappler with the impractical and unpleasant task of finding 320 Italians to kill in cold blood. Meanwhile, a Catholic priest and art restorer (Marcello Mastroianni), whom Kappler both admires and distrusts, is shielding the partisans and exacerbating the conflict Kappler feels between his duty and his civilized self. Produced by Carlo Ponti (The Passenger) and directed by George P. Cosmatos (Tombstone), Massacre In Rome is both an action movie and a drama of great moral complexity, exploring such tricky issues as the Vatican's cooperation with German looting of Italian art and antiquities. A rich score by Ennio Morricone and a second disc full of special features, including old interviews with Cosmatos and Mastroianni, make this a memorable experience. --Tom Keogh

Torn from the pages of history comes the true account of one of the most devastating massacres in the chronicles of modern warfare.

March 1944. With the fortunes of war turning against the Third Reich, Nazi-occupied Rome is a hotbed of dissent from the growing resistance movement. When the Roman underground ambushes a column of SS military police, killing 33, the German High Command orders the execution of 10 Roman citizens for each of its fallen soldiers.

MASSACRE IN ROME unites two of the greatest cinema icons of the 1960s. Marcello Mastroianni (LA DOLCE VITA, 8½) stars as Roman priest Pietro Antonelli, ordered by the Pope to collaborate with Nazi Lt. Colonel Herbert Kappler (Richard Burton, of WHO’S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?), charged by Hitler with the duty of rounding up 330 civilians for execution. Dedicated to pacifism, Antonelli must choose whether to defy the Pope’s orders and aid the resistance or remain true to his vows and watch his countrymen slaughtered by the SS.

This Carlo Ponti production was the second film by director George Pan Cosmatos (RAMBO: FIRST BLOOD PART II), and benefits from a tense, searing score from Ennio Morricone.

NoShame Films presents for the first time ever a deluxe 2-DVD edition. MASSACRE IN ROME is a commanding, disturbing historical drama of rebellion, heroism and sacrifice by men and women who loved freedom more than they feared death.

The Big Racket

Considered a masterpiece of the "Poliziotteschi" (Italian cop) genre THE BIG RACKET follows Officer Nico Palmieri as he investigates an extortion racket in a small Italian village where drug lords and thugs have terrified the villagers into silence. Finally one man has the courage to identify the criminals and in retaliation they brutally rape his daughter. When Palmieri's corrupt superiors order him to abandon the case he rounds up a vigilante band and they take on the crooks in a final bloody showdown.System Requirements:Running Time 106 Mins.Format: DVD MOVIE Genre: ACTION/ADVENTURE Rating: NR UPC: 827058105095 Manufacturer No: BU1050

White Fang to the Rescue

Battle of the Worlds

A stray planet on a collision course with Earth instead takes orbit around our blue marble. An offbeat scientist Professor Benson (Claud Rains) works around the clock with his team to try to save the earth. After careful examination and near fatal accid

The Salamander