| Vintage Pulp | Jan 24 2024 |
Grier is ready for a battle royal.
Above you see a rare Thai poster for Pam Grier's 1975 detective thriller Sheba, Baby. The text refers to Grier as the “queen of hearts,” and the “queen of private eyes,” which we think is rather nice. But why stop there? Since the distributors at Go Brother Film were so eager to crown her, let's cover all bases and go with the Queen of Thailand—with respect to Suthida Bajrasudhabimalalakshana. The poster has a date of some sort, but we can't interpret it. Since the movie didn't make it to Europe until late 1976 at the earliest, we're inclined to think the date refers to a Thai premiere in ’77 or ’78. There's also a signature that we can't read. It's a shame not to be able to give the artist credit, but that's the way it goes sometimes. Read more about Sheba, Baby here, and see a cool Egyptian promo poster for it here.
| Vintage Pulp | Jan 16 2024 |
Jim Brown commits multiple instances of polizia brutality.
We never like to go very long without highlighting the blaxploitation cycle in cinema, so above you see a nice poster for the 1973 Jim Brown actioner Slaughter's Big Rip-Off, which was retitled Un duro al servizio della polizia for its Italian release. That translates as, “a tough guy in the police service,” which is fitting for Brown, one of the toughest guys around. It should be noted though, that he doesn't play a cop in the film, but a vigilante who partners with the cops. There's no Italian premiere date, but Rip-Off screened in most of Europe in 1974, so it's safe to say the same is true for Italy. We've seen it, but we'll return to the subject later after we have another look. In the meantime you can enjoy two Italian posters for 1972's Slaughter here.
ItalyUn duro al servizio della poliziaSlaughter's Big Rip-OffJim Brownposter artcinemablaxploitation
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 22 2023 |
Sinatra and company swarm Las Vegas and try to escape with the cheese.
Above: an alternate poster for Colpo Grosso, aka Ocean's Eleven, to stand alongside the version we showed you last year. This, like the previous effort, was painted by Averado Ciriello. We talked about the movie and, long story short, it doesn't live up to the legend of its stars, but in the end you can't really knock the Rat Pack. They were ahead of their time.
ItalyColpo grossoOcean's ElevenFrank SinatraSammy Davis Jr.Dean MartinAngie DickinsonPeter LawfordAverado Cirielloposter artcinema
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 21 2023 |
Rise by the camera, fall by the camera.
Above is a promo poster for the 1950 drama Shakedown made for the Italian market, where it was called Jack il ricattatore, or “Jack the blackmailer.” It stars Howard Duff as a photographer whose ambition pushes him across the line into criminality. We talked about it a while back. The poster is signed by an artist we can't identify—it looks like “e-pic.” We've seen other work by this person, but we don't have a real name or any other biographical info. This is a nice effort, so we'll an eye out.
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 18 2023 |
You never know what you'll find if you go far enough up the Amazon.
Written, produced, and directed by Curt Siodmak, who was behind numerous monster features, including Bride of the Gorilla and Curucu, the tropical adventure Love Slaves of the Amazon, which premiered today in 1957, is a full color production about the search for a lost realm of warrior women and their priceless treasures. In order for the expedition to take place, semi-crazy Eduardo Ciannelli must convince staid Don Taylor that the Amazons exist. He reveals a golden statue as proof, which he'd obtained on a previous foray into the jungle, and after some back and forth, sufficient funds for the journey are obtained. Unfortunately, rumors of gold and diamonds have piqued the interest of local ruffians, who plan to hijack the expedition.
Are there actually Amazons? You bet. French actress Anna Maria Nabuco is their queen. Are there love slaves? Yup, one poor exhausted one, anyway, and Taylor looks ripe as a replacement as far as Nabuco is concerned. And is there treasure? There's that too. The movie's plusses include a pitched battle between the expedition and the hijackers while both their boats are mired in river mud, and various exteriors actually shot in Manaus, Brazil and the nearby rain forest. Additionally, the poster art by Reynold Brown is tops. On the minus side, we felt that intermittent veerings into comedy were pointless and unfunny. But on the whole, Love Slaves of the Amazons was better than we expected. Does that mean it was good? Define “good.”
BrazilManausLove Slaves of the AmazonsDon TaylorGianna SegaleEduardo CiannelliAnna Marie NabucoCurt SiodmakReynold Brownposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 15 2023 |
There's no better place to try something new.
This is an interesting but uncredited Italian poster for the Alberto Cavallone directed and written Africasploitation flick Afrika (clever name, right?), which premiered in Italy today in 1973. By now you know exactly what to expect. What's amazing about these set-in-Africa movies, whether Italian, German, British, French, or what-have-you, is that they portray the continent as lawless and cruel (cue gratuitous shot of ox being decapitated) in a way that's bemusingly lacking in self-awareness coming from cultures that murdered one-hundred million inhabitants of those lands in the pursuit of profit.
On the lighter side, if we'd been customs agents anywhere in the tropics during the 1970s, we'd have taken aside every white arrival, looked over their paperwork, and said with a straight face, “It indicates here you boarded the flight with your usual inhibitions, but I notice you don't seem to have any with you now.” If only we had a time machine. With luck we'd have “processed” Anita Strindberg and Yanti Somer. At this point we accept whites-in-the-tropics movies as cinematic exercises in behavioural guardrail smashing. Sometimes those exercises are actually good, loaded with cliché though they may be. However Afrika, while suffering from the same old blind spot, attempts a serious story with a modicum of depth.
Set in Ethiopia, it's about a painter played by Ivano Staccioli who's tempted to stray from his wife when he meets a handsome gay college student played by Andrea Traglia. The studious and poetic Traglia is bullied in school, even raped at one point, and finds sympathy and understanding with Staccioli, and a job as his live-in secretary. This is not an easy household in which to live because its occupants are decadent and neurotic. Staccioli and Traglia's relationship is the sanest thing going on, but needless to say, it will lead to trouble and tragedy. This is all framed by a murder-or-suicide and police investigation, which means the central drama of a forbidden gay affair is told in flashback during interrogations.
We appreciated Cavallone taking a swing at a serious drama, and we enjoyed seeing Maria Pia Luzi, one of Italy's many exploitation stars (Women in Cell Block 7, White Slave Ship), given a chance to act rather than strip, but we can't call the movie good. It isn't the performances—everyone does pretty well in that department, considering the level of writing. It's just that the film is portentous and uninvolving. Take away the anti-Africa bias and it's a noble attempt at important subject matter, but in cinema you don't get points for trying. In our opinion you can give Afrika a pass.
EthiopiaItalyAfrikaDiario segreto da un carcere femminileWomen in Cell Block 7L'ammutinamentoWhite Slave ShipIvano StaccioliAndrea TragliaMaria Pia LuziKara DonatiDebebe EshetuAlberto Cavallonesexploitationposter artcinemalgbtmovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 11 2023 |
Wild life abounds on sexploitation safari.
This free-spirited poster was made for the sexploitation flick Africa Excitaction, which was originally French/Italian made and realsed in the U.S. as Jungle Erotic. The main brain behind the production was Polish writer-director Zygmunt Sulistrowski, who also stars under the name Don Power, because, if you're gonna write and direct a horny epic, it might as well be you doing to grinding and gyrating. Even simulated sex can be fun—so we hear. Zygmunt didn't star as himself, but as Darr Poran. In addition, the listed actresses, Karen Roche and Mary Alexander, were credited as Carrie Rochelle and Alice Marie. It almost seems as if nobody wanted their names on this movie.
Plotwise, there's nothing complex here. Zygmunt takes two models and his amphibious car to Africa for an extended photo session and some employer-on-employee al fresco lovin'. That may sound fun, but the movie is basically a total loss. It's not coherent, and nobody can act. But—and there's always a but—it's a sexploitation flick, which means all it really needs is to deliver scenery, skin, and sin. The first comes from shooting in Tanzania and Uganda, the second is provided by co-stars Rochelle and Marie, and the third—well, there's plenty of softcore writhing. So in the end, you win. Africa Excitaction has no precise premiere date, but it debuted in 1970.
FranceItalyTanzaniaUgandaJungle EroticAfrica Erotic: A Happening in AfricaAfrica EroticaAfrica ExcitationZygmunt SulistrowskiDarr PoranDon PowerCarrie RochelleKaren RocheAlice MarieMary Alexandersexploitationposter artcinemamovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 8 2023 |
California town develops a colossal problem.
We dipped into our sci-fi backlog last night and watched The Monolith Monsters, which had its world premiere in England today in 1957. The movie, which stars Grant Williams and Lola Albright, is typically half-baked sci-fi from the era. A meteor crashes near a podunk western town and the black fragments react with water and give rise to—well, we aren't sure, so have a look:
They look like basalt formations more than anything else. But they're alive—or we think so—and they suck the silicon out of any humans unlucky enough to pass near. It's fatal, of course, this silicon sucking. After some crackpot pseudo-scientific deductions Williams, Albright, and co. come up with a plan to fight the monsters. Do they prevail? Do b-movie airplanes hang from strings? Low budget efforts like The Monolith Monsters are rarely good, but they're always fun to watch.
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 4 2023 |
It's nobody's business but their own.
Manhandlers, right? It's a good title for a sexploitation movie, and John Solie painted a nice promo poster, but the actual product is a limp drama with dopy comedic episodes about a woman played by Cara Burgess who inherits her mobbed up uncle's L.A. massage parlor and finds that it's a front for a brothel. Her uncle was killed for being uncooperative with the mafia, and now they come after her, trying to intimidate her into signing away half of the place's profits. One the one hand, she'd supposedly net a nice income just for looking the other way and doing nothing. On the other, she'd be giving in to organized crime. The answer? Fill both hands with scented oil, massage the mob into a sense of false security, then make her move. None of it is as interesting as it sounds, at no point are machine guns wielded, and for sexploitation the extracurriculars aren't very erotic, even with Judy Brown and Rosalind Miles in support. You can give this one a pass. The Manhandlers premiered—and went limp at the box office—today in 1974.
Los AngelesThe ManhandlersCara BurgessJudy BrownRosalind MilesJohn Solieposter artcinemasexploitationmovie review
| Vintage Pulp | Dec 1 2023 |
Three times the danger, three times the fun.
We talked about Reiko Ike's 1974 pinky violence flick Kyôfu joshi kôkô: Animal dôkyôsei—known in English as Terrifying Girls High School: Animal Courage—a long while ago, but we wanted to highlight this rare promo in tateken format. You can see the original poster and learn a bit about the film here.
JapanToei CompanyKyôfu joshi kôkô: Animal dôkyôseiTerrifying Girls High School: Animal CourageReiko IkeRyôko EmaNatsuko Yashiropinkupinky violenceposter artcinema
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