Salo, Or The 120 Days Of Sodom (1975)

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom is a very difficult movie to watch. VERY difficult. In fact, considering the nature of the material, those of you with a sensitive nature, those of you of a young age or even just those of you wanting to retain your lunch should probably read no further.

I've seen nasty films. Sometimes I watch them because it seems like an endurance test/rite of passage (such as these Guinea Pig movies). Yes, I know that's not the best reason to watch movies but it IS a reason and I always try to be honest about such things. Sometimes I watch them because I've been told to check them out while also being warned about their content (as was the case with the Red Room movies). And sometimes, of course, a movie just gains such a strong reputation that I must check it out (which happened with the highly disturbing but nonetheless very good A Serbian Film).

I'm not listing those films as some kind of badge of honour, oh no. Some of the nasty movies I have seen have been very good pieces of cinema, either for the way in which they make audiences think or the way in which they push at the very boundaries of good taste and acceptability. Some of the nasty movies I have seen have been rubbish (yes, I'm looking at you Faces Of Death).

Salo, or the 120 Days of Sodom is rubbish, as far as I'm concerned. I'm sure that people are able to defend it as art, as a metaphor for the cruelty inflicted upon so many during WWII and as so much else but to me it was, and always will be, rubbish.

Set in a Fascist-occupied area of Italy, the film focuses on a number of men who collaborate with each other, and a few female prostitutes, to pick nine boys and nine girls and take them to their private residence, where stories will be told for the sole purpose of sexual arousal and the boys and girls will be degraded, sexually abused and even killed. In between the nastier moments of abuse there are stomach-churning tales mixed with poetic verses, a few jokes and musings on the nature of sex and love and life and death.

Writer-director Pier Paolo Pasolini (the screenplay was co-written by Sergio Citti and takes a lot from the works of the Marquis De Sade) didn't do anything by half here. The movie may start off feeling more restrained but there's actually debauchery, evil and lust dripping from almost every frame.

It's a credit to the cast that they all do a great job. Those playing the male abusers (Paolo Bonacelli, Giorgio Cataldi, Umberto Paolo Quintavalle and Aldo Valletti) were very easy to hate and those being abused were fragile beings that I willed to escape the madhouse they were trapped in.

There's also the music by Ennio Morricone to enjoy. Yes, the one and only Ennio Morricone. This certainly wasn't an easy job for him but he did what was required.

To be fair, despite my view on the final product, a number of reports from those involved with the film say that the mood on set was quite lighthearted and that the whole thing was really put together in the editing room so, in that respect, credit where credit is due on the technical front.

I just can't rate this highly. Some regard it as a classic and I must be missing something. I saw a number of clumsy metaphors onscreen but nothing that really made me think, especially while my stomach was being churned by what I was seeing.

So, to go back to what I was saying at the very beginning. I have seen my share of very nasty movies. I am not easily offended. I'll see more nasty movies in the future, no doubt. But I won't ever rewatch this one, it just didn't work for me at all and nobody will ever convince me to change my mind (though I encourage anyone to try).

3/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Salo-Blu-ray-Pier-Paolo-Pasolini/dp/B004ZQJ3MG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1346616776&sr=8-1

ReGOREgitated Sacrifice (2008)

Okay, if you're easily offended then stop reading this review now. Go on. Just go away and read any of my other reviews instead.
If you're made of stronger stuff but still find yourself offended occasionally then stop reading this review now. Yes, that may mean you even if you've seen a couple of video nasties and survived the ordeal. Just leave.
Anyone sticking with this review should know that while watching ReGOREgitated Sacrifice I literally cried out "holy fuckballs" on more than one occasion, I almost vomited and I kept looking around to make sure that nobody saw me watching it, even though I was in the flat alone. It's wild, to say the least.

This is the second part of Lucifer Valentine's "Vomit Gore Trilogy", coming after the painful Slaughtered Vomit Dolls and it's quite a step up in quality. I didn't like Slaughtered Vomit Dolls. In fact, I pretty much hated it. I can't say that I "liked" ReGOREgitated Sacrifice all that much either, but kudos to Lucifer Valentine for going all the way to the edge with his extreme vision and producing such a balls to the wall piece sure to get a reaction from even the most hardcore gore fan.

Once again we get the strange and twisted delusions of a young woman (Ameara Lavey) put on film but this really ups the ante in terms of what's shown and how technically accomplished it is. There's abuse, vomit, people spitting on each other, watersports, more abuse, decapitation, vomit, a pair of beautiful but dangerous twin sisters, graphic sexual torture, more vomit, a moment with a bigass hairy spider that deeply unnerved me. And more vomit.

You will want to look away but you'll also be morbidly mesmerised by just how far things go onscreen. The effects throughout are fantastic, which makes everything altogether more disturbing. There are many sights here that I've never seen before and that I can now never unsee. That, in itself, isn't a ringing endorsement for the whole experience but it certainly highlights Lucifer Valentine as someone pushing the envelope in terms of taboo material and stomach-churning moments.

I can't rate this highly though, I didn't enjoy the viewing experience and I'll never watch it again, but I will say that my low rating is still double the rating that I gave Slaughtered Vomit Dolls and that my strong reaction to this film is, in a way, proof that Lucifer Valentine is doing exactly what he sets out to do. God only knows how I'm going to feel after I see Slow Torture Puke Chamber.

4/10

http://www.amazon.com/ReGOREgitated-Sacrifice-Ameara-La-Vey/dp/B0031QMAFS

Death Wish (1974)

Everyone already knows the concept of Death Wish. Sort of. It's a Dirty Harry film with one big difference, the lead character isn't a policeman. In fact, he's an architect. But he's played by the legendary Charles Bronson so believing that he can hold and shoot a gun is very easy.

Bronson plays Paul Kersey, a man driven to dark thoughts of revenge after his world is torn apart by a trio of vicious thugs. Kersey begins to consider the state of society and what can be done when the law doesn't seem to be doing enough. Ironically, considering that Bronson has the main role, he starts to see how much better the world could be if things were still done "the cowboy way". And so he becomes a vigilante. And a damn fine one.

Directed by Michael Winner, and written by Wendell Mayes (adapting the novel by Brian Garfield), it's surprising how thought-provoking and effective Death Wish remains to this day. The issue at the core of the movie is one that pops up in almost every pub conversation you could listen in on ever. People want to feel safe, they want criminals to be too afraid to commit crimes, and they often verbally admit to the temptation of vigilante justice. Some have even, sadly, followed up their words with misguided actions.

The whole thing is lifted way above average by a sterling central performance from Charles Bronson (an actor I once stupidly failed to see the superstar status in . . . . . . I have since given myself a severe talking to). As Paul Kersey, Bronson's performance enhances the material no end and his transformation from happy architect to brooding vigilante, who still keeps his day job in the world of architecture, is shown in a fairly believable series of steps.

The rest of the cast consist of little more than people giving opinions on the mystery vigilante or scumbags waiting to be shot. Vincent Gardenia is the other standout, the cop who ends up in a very peculiar situation. And it's certainly worth watching the movie if you're a Jeff Goldblum fan, just to see his very first screen role even if it only adds up to a few minutes of screentime.

The film certainly makes a case for some of the "justice" administered onscreen but I have to say that it also, admirably, also shows Kersey as a damaged man, someone dealing with pain in a very bad way and who then finds himself in a spiral of almost addictive behaviour. If you've never seen Death Wish and only heard of it as some sensationalistic, violent, pro-gun advert then do yourself a favour and watch it for yourself before dismissing it as some others have done.

8/10.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Wish-DVD/dp/B000HWXQZM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1328483560&sr=8-1