Paul Naschy
 

I admit that he's an acquired taste. Especially if your looking to get any meaning out his films. And then there is the ultimate bane of a Naschy film: Translation. Truly a collectors Nightmare. Bad Dubbing, and low budgets aside, there’s gore galore and nudity aplenty to satisfy even the most rabid of teen boys. If you have the original printing that is. If all you can find is an export copy then you’ll have to make do with just the gore. Being a Spaniard his films are of course in Castilian Spanish. (opposed to Mexican Spanish that we State Side are more familiar with) His films are heavily influenced by his experiences as a youth during Franco's Dictatorship and the scripts he authored have a meaning that is often between the lines. Although with Rojo Sangre the message is rather in your face. My advice to a Naschy Virgin would be to watch it as you would a Silent, if you can find a decent translation. For those who don’t know how to watch a silent, you watch the actors and the background more than you listed the spoken words. You have to actively think about what it is you are seeing as you see it. If you bought your copy off of E-bay than you more than likely bought a poor taped off the television butchered copy. The dollar mart copies are actually a slightly better quality in my opinion. If you do end up with a dubbed version my advice is to have a six pack and a friend or two at hand. Especially with the absolutely butchered Dutch copy of the Werewolf vs. the Yeti.

What would you sell your soul for? Fame? Fortune? Revenge?

If you've recently, in a fit of hair-tearing despair, made a statement similar to "there just doesn't seem to be any original ideas in horror films any more", then I hereby order you to pick up "Rojo Sangre" without passing GO or collecting £200. The ubiquitous Paul Naschy (who also wrote this film's excellent screenplay) stars as an aging actor, legendary in the 70s but now unable to land a role (even in TV commercials) due to the changing times. Desperate and suicidal, he accepts a job as a human statue outside a mysterious stag club called 'Pandora'... the end result is probably best described as what might happen if David Lynch and Robert Rodriguez combined forces to remake "Theatre of Blood". Naschy's script is witty and bitter - an undisguised, vicious swipe at a soulless modern film industry - and his lead performance is venomous enough to bring it to life. There's a top-notch supporting cast, lots of flamboyant art direction and it's all beautifully directed with feverish energy (not to mention what looks like a big budget) by newcomer Christian Molina. "Rojo Sangre" is inventive, bloody, stylish, clever, poignant, hilarious and colorful. I'm not sure I could ask for too much more than that. Naschy's masterpiece, without question. In years to come, this'll be the one they remember him for. Rojo Sangre is one of the most important works in Naschy's filmography, but it is also an important film, period. Naschy's script is from the soul and suffering of the man, from his heart and his creative mind, a statement of purpose and pain from a legend of cinema, a cry of rage amid resilience, a warning amid complacency. No other artist in the history of the horror genre has dared not only such an attack at "the business," but a brutal examination of career choices made in a desire to keep working and fight against oblivion....

Hey… go dig through your films, I’m sure you have at least one Naschy but just don’t know it…

THE NASCHY FILMOGRAPHY

1960

King of Kings (as extra)
El Principe Encadenado/The Enchanted Prince

1966

"Mainly on the Plains" --I Spy (American TV)
Operacion Plus Ultra
Las Viudas/The Widows

1967

Agonizando en el Crimen/Agonizing in Crime (first major role)
Aventura en el Palacio Viejo/Adventure in the Old Palace (assistant director only)
Cronica de Nueve Meses/Nine Month Chronicle (assistant director only)
La Furia de Johnny Kidd/The Fury of Johnny Kidd

1968

La Marca Del Hombre Lobo/The Mark of the Wolf Man (also screenplay)
(aka Frankenstein's Bloody Terror)
La Esclava del Paraiso/The Slave of Paradise
Las Noches del Hombre Lobo/The Nights of the Wolf Man (also co-screenplay)
Plan Jack 03 [short film]

1969

Los Monstruos del Terror/The Monsters of Terror (also screenplay)
(aka Assignment Terror, Dracula Vs. Frankenstein)

1970

La Furia del Hombre Lobo/The Fury of the Wolf Man (also screenplay)
La Noche de Walpurgis/Walpurgis Night (also co-screenplay)
(aka The Werewolf Vs. The Vampire Woman, Werewolf's Shadow)
El Vertigo del Crimen/The Vertigo of Crime

1971

Doctor Jekyll y el Hombre Lobo/Dr. Jekyll and the Wolf Man (also screenplay)
Jack el Destripador de Londres/Jack the Ripper of London (also co-sreenplay)

1972

Los Crimenes de Petiot/Petiot's Crimes (also co-screenplay)
Disco Rojo/Red Light (also co-screenplay)
El Espanto Surge de la Tumba/Horror Rises from the Tomb (also screenplay)
El Gran Amor del Conde Dracula/Count Dracula's Great Love (also co-screenplay)
El Jorobado de la Morgue/The Hunchback of the Morgue (also co-screenplay)
(aka The Rue Morgue Massascres)
Los Ojos Azules de la Muneca Rota/The Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll (also co-screenplay)
(aka House of Psychotic Women)
La Rebelion de las Muertas/The Rebellion of the Dead Women (also screenplay)
(aka The Vengeance of the Zombies)

1973

La Orgia de los Muertos/The Orgy of the Dead
(aka The Hanging Woman, Return of the Zombies)
El Asesino esta Entra los Trece/The Murderer of One of the Thirteen (also co-screenplay)
Las Ratas no Duermen de Noche/Rats Don't Sleep at Night
(aka Crimson)
El Retorno de Walpurgis/The Return of Walpurgis (also screenplay)
(aka The Curse of the Devil)
Tarzan en las Minas del Rey Salomon/Tarzan in King Solomon's Mines
Una Libelula para cada Muerto/A Dragonfly for Each Corpse (also screenplay)
La Venganza de la Momia/The Vengeance of the Mummy (also screenplay)
(aka The Mummy's Revenge)

1974

La Diosa Salvaje/The Savage Goddess
El Mariscal del Infierno/The Marshall of Hell (also screenplay)
(aka The Devil's Possessed)
Los Pasajeros/The Passengers
Todos los Gritos del Silencio/All the Cries of Silence (also co-screenplay)
Exorcismo/Exorcism (also co-screenplay)

1975

La Cruz del Diablo/The Devil's Cross (co-screenplay only)
Docteur Justice/Doctor Justice
La Maldicion de la Bestia/The Curse of the Beast (also screenplay)
(aka Night of the Howling Beast)
Muerte de un Quinqui/Death of a Hoodlum (also screenplay)

1976

Inquisicion/Inquisition (also director, screenplay)
Secuestro/Kidnapping (also co-screenplay)
Ultimo Deseo/Last Desire
(aka The People Who Own the Dark)

1977

Comando Txikia
El Francotirador/The Sniper (also co-screenplay)
El Huerto del Frances/The Frenchman's Garden (also director, co-screenplay)
Pecado Mortal/Mortal Sin
El Transexual/The Transsexual (also co-screenplay)

1978

Madrid al Desnudo/Naked Madrid (also director, co-screenplay)

1979

Amor Blanco/White Love (chief of production only)
El Caminante/The Traveler (also director, screenplay)

1980

Los Cantabros/The Cantabrians (also director, screenplay)
El Carnival de las Bestias/The Carnival of the Beasts (also director, screenplay)
(aka Human Beasts)
Misterio en la Isla de los Monstruos/Mystery on Monster Island
El Museo del Prado/The Prado Museum (director, script only; Japanese TV documentary)
El Retorno del Hombre Lobo/The Return of the Wolf Man (also director, screenplay)
(aka The Craving)

1981

La Mascara/The Mask (Spanish TV)
El Palacio Real de Madrid/The Royal Palace of Madrid (also director, script; Japanese TV documentary)

1982

Latidos de Panico/Panic Beats (also director, screenplay)
La Batalla del Porro/The Battle of the Dullard
Buenas Noches Senor Monstruo/Good Evening, Mr. Monster
Las Cuevas de Altamira/The Alramira Caves (also director, script; Japanese TV documentary)
La Espada del Samurai/The Sword of the Samurai (Japanese TV)
Infierno en Camboya/Hell in Cambodia (director only; Japanese TV documentary)
La Mascara del Juyo/The Mask of Juyo (director, script; Japanese TV documentary)
El Monasterio de el Escorial/The Escorial Monastery (director, script; Japanese TV documentary)

1983

La Bestia y la Espada Magica/The Beast and the Magic Sword (also director, screenplay)

1984

Mi Amigo el Vagabundo/My Friend the Vagabond (also director, screenplay)
La Tercera Mujer/The Third Woman (Japanese TV)
El Ultimo Kamikaze/The Last Kamikaze (also director, screenplay)
Operacion Mantis/Operation Mantis (also director, co-screenplay)

1986

Pez/Fish [short film]

1987

Mordiendo la Vida/Biting Life

1988

El Aullido del Diablo/The Howl of the Devil (also director, screenplay)
Shadows of Blood
El Ultimo Guateque II/The Last Party II
Shh [short film]

1990

Aqui Huele a Muerto . . .(!Pues Yo No He Sido!)/It Smells like Someone Died Here . . . (But it Wasn't Me!)
Brigada Central/Central Brigade (Spanish TV)
La Hija de Fu Manchu/The Daughter of Fu Manchu [short film]
Horror en el Museo de Cera/Horror in the Wax Museum (also director, screenplay)

1991

Olla de Grillos/Bedlam (Spanish TV)

1992

La Noche del Ejecutor/The Night of the Executioner (also director, screenplay)
State of Mind

1994

El Necrofago [short film]

1995

Los Resucitados/The Resurrected (apparently never completed)

1996

El Angel Mas Caido/The Angel Has Fallen Very Far [short film]
Cientificament Perfectes/Scientifically Perfect
Hambre Mortal/Mortal Hunger
Mala Estrella [short film]
Licantropo/Lycantropus (also screenplay)

1998

El ojo de la medusa/The Eye of the Jellyfish
Querido Maestro/Dear Teacher (Spanish TV series)
Cuando el mundo se acabe te seguire amando/I'll Still Love You When the World Ends

1999

Rondadores nocturno 2/Night Prowlers 2 (also co-screenplay) [short film]

2000

Animas [short film]
Érase una vez/Once Upon A Time
La gran vida/The Great Life
Antivicio (Spanish TV series)
El Comisario/The Commissary (Spanish TV series)
El lado oscuro/The Dark Side

2001

School Killer
Desenlace (Spanish TV series)
El corazon delator/The Tell-Tale Heart [short film]

2002

Octavia
El quinto rincona/The Fifth Corner [short film]
Mucha Sangre/Much Blood
Las mujeres fragantes/The Fragrant Women [theatrical production]

2003


Countess Dracula's Orgy of Blood
Tomb of the Werewolf
Upon Frayed Lips of Silence (music video)

2004

Rojo sangre (also co-screenplay)
Rottweiler
La danza de la muerte [play]

2005

La duodecima hora/The Twelfth Hour [short film]
Amazonia misteriosa

You're thinking too hard about this.

what? Am I making your brain hurt?

no you're just wasting valuable time you could be spending on making your face less appealing to carrion

i dont understand this thread

Oh yeah, you should be one to talk Sloth.

I know nowadays it's all hip for people to pretend to have a vast scholarly interest in god awful movies like everything listed above but seriously, this Naschy guy thoroughly sucks and I hate him.

I think Vila could stand to be a little nicer!

So did you include all the foreign names of those movies just to be a pretentious prick or

Those aren't foreign they're Mexican :lol

What a douche. I think I'll go watch The Witch's Mirror again.

Wait, I just realized that I can't watch it because I'm mentally incapable of understanding and appreciating a silent film! Damn you, Sesame Street! Damn you to hell!

Come one Grislygus, watching a silent film isn't that hard. It's just like watching a regular movie on mute. You need to just look at the background more often :rolleyes

Sure, because the acting today is so much better. (and people actually have the balls to call Bela a ham actor...) We need not pay attention to the films overall atmosphere anymore because the studios tell us how to interpret the scene via background music.

Huh, that's odd. My Nosferatu DVD (or Eine Symphonie des Grauens if you prefer to be pretentious), has all sorts of eerie organ music rising up when the onscreen events take a turn for the spooky. I thought this was supposed to be a silent film? Is this the work of another goddamn bigwig studio trying to dictate to me how to interpret every scene?! ARGH I CAN'T TAKE IT, I'M TRYING TO ABSORB THE ONSLAUGHT OF ATMOSPHERIC HORROR EVOKED BY THAT COBWEB IN THE CORNER OF THE SCREEN BUT THIS OPPRESSIVE BACKGROUND MUSIC IS DRIVING ME MAD!

But seriously, congratulations. You've stumbled upon an obscure yet fairly prolific Spanish actor that nobody outside of Spain has ever heard of. Once you get over the sweeping euphoria that comes with a newfound sense of elitism, you might realize that comparing this guy to any vageuly mentioned (if mentioned at all) contemporary awful actor doesn't make him any less awful of an actor. His no doubt well earned obscurity does not make him a fucking suzerain of intelligent horror, no matter how many atrocious movies he's starred in and/or wrote, or how difficult said atrocious movies are to find. However, best of luck to you in your task of impressing random internetgoers with this mysterious film knowledge of yours.

Remember (semicolon) I hate you too.


:)

Well, gee, as if LA's "Film Restoration" could ever possibly screw up. The old films were played along side live music theater organs. Ya know, the kind that plays sounds such as train whistles, bird calls and such. Heavy Dramatic music was only added later and overused today. Go watch the 75th aniversary edition of Dracula that has both the origional track and the option of playing the later added Background music and tell me which one is better.

What makes Naschy good, is that he's honest. The entire point of Rojo Sangre is that he is calling the industry out on it's bullshit. After all, "With enough silicone you do need to have any talent".

You people are all assholes.

any1 else see that movie ed wood where dracula is friends witrh the cross dresser and all the movies are really awful that he makes

is this thread about that because i really liked that movie so i can relate

"With enough silicone you do need to have any talent".:aok

Yeah ok. You guys go ahead and rip apart an actor and a bunch of films you've never seen.

:oneofthosedays

Hey check it out Vila, you just started a thread about movies you expected nobody to see! Seriously CHECK IT OUT. Its fucking incredible.

Shut the fuck up already. The reason why nobody's seen this is because the movies suck. Did you ever think of that one? Go do something with your time like getting milked you cow.

Your the next ZBF I can tell.

I was just pointing out that despite the fact that Rojo Sangre is an origional film with blood guts (boobies) galore, it's fairly cheap on Amazon and so far everyone (not just Naschy Fans) who's seen it has liked it, you guys are ripping apart something it would appear that you are unwilling to see.

I find that funny.

I started this thread to bring attention to a film I thought was worth mentioning. I have an idea... why not bootleg it or perhaps put that netflicks account to use and then get back to me.