Torture Chamber of Dr. Sadism and Death Smiles on a Murderer (1969)

In THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM (Die Schlangengrube und das Pendel, 1967), horror icon Christopher Lee plays a cruel nobleman torn to pieces as punishment for his crimes against innocent local virgins. But terror once again grips the peaceful European countryside when he rises undead from his glass coffin, seeking his own brand of twisted vengeance! Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe s The Pit and the Pendulum (but more directly influenced by Hammer Horror and Roger Corman s Poe adaptations), few stumbling across this atmospheric yarn during its run on the Late Late Shows of yesterday have been able to shake director Harald Reinl s heady blend of Gothic chills, movie serial thrills, outrageous sets, dynamic use of color and unforgettable imagery. With a fiendish performance by Lee (Horror of Dracula, Lord of the Rings), strapping heroics from former Tarzan Lex Barker and luscious panic courtesy of Euro goddess Karin Dor, Dr. Sadism is one-stop shopping for fans of cliffhanger suspense, rich Gothic atmosphere and good old fashioned fright films!

Taking a very different approach to Gothic horror, DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER (La Morte ha sorriso all'assassino, 1973) tells the tale of mysterious young Greta, a bewitching amnesiac whose beguiling beauty triggers the erotic attentions of everyone she encounters...with gory and murderous results! Elliptical and darkly poetic, this unnerving early work by notorious Eurosleaze auteur Joe D Amato (aka Aristide Massaccesi) is a bizarre and hypnotic cinematic puzzle that s part ghost story, part bloody revenge saga and all synapse-frying head trip! With a memorable cast that includes former Miss Teen International Ewa Aulin (Candy, Death Laid an Egg) and the legendary Klaus Kinski (Nosferatu, Venus in Furs), DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER is an impossible-to-categorize film with an indefinable something that has kept it high on the wish lists of every admirer of classic European horror and exploitation.

Two big, bloody bites of obscure Euro Horror, served up rare on a silver platter. Dig in!

-Wyatt Doyle, NewTexture.com

BOTH FILMS INCLUDE COMMENTARY TRACKS by Chris D. (programmer for the
American Cinematheque in Los Angeles and author of OUTLAW MASTERS OF
JAPANESE FILM) and Wyatt Doyle (newtexture.com). Product Description

 So very excited for this release
I haven't seen this yet but I am so psyched to buy it. Done and done. The Gothic-Euro review here cracked me up, and the fact that someone chose to give this one star BEFORE release means there's got to be good because some competitor is jealous as a green squid. It's "...screenplay may well have been written in collaboration with a Cuisinart!" -- HA! Delightful and delicious. March 21, 2008

 "Any movie vit Klaus eez verth a luke!"
My name is Werner Manfred Hoffstrotten. I babel fish this review.

This movie is bigger than Star Wars in my country! Of this you can be rest assured! Children watch it on certain Saturday mornings! It is held in highest regard by the prime minister herself and only she has a cassette of it since it has been banned 62 times in her domain!

My suggestion is for you to proclaim it immediately! March 21, 2008

 Two very different faces of Gothic Euro Horror
Klaus Kinski. Christopher Lee. Karin Dor. Harald Reinl. Joe D'Amato. Talk about your cream of the Euro-Horror crop!

A loose adaptation of Edgar Allan Poe's "The Pit and the Pendulum," THE TORTURE CHAMBER OF DR. SADISM might just be the least fitting of this film's many alternate titles (CASTLE OF THE WALKING DEAD, BLOOD OF THE VIRGINS, etc.), but you can't deny it's one that really sticks in the brain!

With strong nods to classic Hammer films and the Roger Corman/Vincent Price Poe adaptations, this is a movie with cobwebby atmosphere to spare. It's an old-fashioned haunted castle tale, with Christopher Lee as an undead aristocrat seeking revenge against an appropriately dashing leading man (former TARZAN Lex Barker) and a suitably gorgeous damsel in distress (Karin Dor). And if that doesn't do it for you, the incredible and elaborate sets and locations will have you wishing they still made 'em like they used to.

(Be sure to watch for the visually stunning scene of the coach ride through the haunted forest surrounding Lee's castle; these few minutes of screen time have sown the seeds of many a nightmare since 1967!)

DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER shares several Gothic elements with DR. SADISM, but its screenplay may well have been written in collaboration with a Cuisinart! I'm sure there's a coherent storyline in there somewhere, but you'll have your work cut out for you piecing it together.

Not that you'll care; this is WTF filmmaking at its finest. Before the movie's over, people will be walled up in cellars, thrown from high castles, hung on hooks like old coats, gorily mutilated by possessed cats, and raised from the dead only to be killed all over again. And if at times it's a challenge sorting out exactly what's going on, its sleazy/creepy atmosphere and bizarre and lyrical imagery more than make the head-trip worth taking.

Old school film buffs will simply be pleased to find such handsome prints of these films on DVD. But new converts to legendary filmmakers like Mario Bava or fans of Tim Burton's frequent use of Gothic Horror elements will find this pairing an excellent crash course in how it was done in the heyday of Euro-Horror. March 21, 2008

 how can previous reviewer review this when it is not released yet?
I am not going to review this because I have not seen it yet -- I'll say upfront that the reason I gave it 4 stars is because Amazon does not let you post a review unless you rate it -- 4 stars is what I gave this company's last release. But this DVD is still a good week and a half away from release. If not more, as I hear through the retailer grapevine it may be a week late. Which makes me wonder what the hell this guy Nyland "Squonkmatic" is talking about? How could he have even seen it? His review is dated early February! Legend House, to my knowledge, operates out of L.A. and this guy hails from back East. Plus note, his review is an overly personal and pissed-off attack on the company like he has an axe to grind. Legend House puts out alot of stuff that is in public domain, as do companies like BCI, Alpha Video, VCI and Retromedia, to name only a few. DVDs are not bootlegs if they are DVDs of movies in the public domain. And these two movies are most assuredly in the public domain. Note the numerous other DVD releases of DR.SADISM. DEATH SMILES likewise saw many different incarnations from different VHS companies (as well as several different theatrical releases from low budget theatrical distributors in the '70s & '80s), though to my knowledge it has yet to show up in America on DVD -- probably because there are no decent elements around. Legend House has put out alot of fun stuff and don't deserve the bad rap. Word going around at places like the Grindhouse shows at the New Beverly and Cinefamily theaters in Los Angeles is that there is bad blood between a company called Code Red and Legend House because Legend House put their public domain DVD out of BARN OF THE NAKED DEAD before Code Red got their public domain version out. Waannhh!!! Baby wants its bottle!! Talk about a tempest in a teapot. I do not know any of the Legend House crowd other than to nod to them if I see them out at the movies. But this kind of obvious competitor bashing makes me mad. Hey, Amazon! Wake up! How does this S. Nyland guy's review fit into your "review guidelines", especially when he (or she) obviously hasn't even seen the DVD yet! The date they posted their review should have been a dead giveaway. When this is finally available I'll review it again -- but based on actually WATCHING it. I may give it 1 star or I may give it 5 stars, but at least I will have SEEN it first before passing judgement. One thing I will say for it right now though, if this is good visual quality I'll be happy. These are two of my favorite Euro Gothic horror pix and it is a brilliant idea to put them together on a double feature. So far, so good. March 15, 2008

 Bootleg To Be Avoided
Yet another pathetic, simpering, unauthorized bootleg from Legend House, who seem to not only have no shame but think the buying public are complete idiots. Get a zone free DVD player and find the Region 2 originals used to source this piece of garbage. February 2, 2008

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