Witches, Masked Heroes and Super Spies

Recently I've been trying to watch films that are from the area I've been studying. I'm convinced that a lot of the movies I have unearthed are lost, but it is surprising what is out there.

The Demon, or Demonia, or even Il Demonio, from 1963, is a bizarre film that I managed to find on YouTube. The version I found had English subtitles, but it looks like that one is gone now. You can still take a look at it here. It's the tale of a girl who might be a witch, or simply mentally ill. Lavi's performance is incredible.

Another strange, disturbing film is Young Aphrodites, also from 1963. I found information on this whilst researching Gala Film Distributors at The Cinema Museum. I've watched a bit of it, but the whole thing is available, again without subtitles, on YouTube.

What is striking about this film is its reputation as an erotic classic. The press book screams erotic and art house credentials, despite the film essentially being about the sexual awakening of a ten year old boy and a twelve year old girl. In some ways it's like an early The Blue Lagoon (1980), only even more disturbing, particularly when you read that the leads were not professional actors.

On a more fun track, this has been a good excuse to check out some Eurospy films. Our Man in Jamaica (1965) is a Spanish/ Italian/ West German co-production, with input from Mel Welles, of Roger Corman-fame. It has all the Bond elements: pretty girls, an overblown villain, a confident-to-the-point-of-arrogance hero and exotic locations. However the story is actually fairly pedestrian, and it has none of the visual flair that the Bond films are known for.

Recently I picked up on DVD a couple of ultra-rare and obscure European comic-book movies. The first, Superargo contro Diabolikus, or Superargo Against Diabolikus (1966) is like a cross between a Mexican wrestler film and James Bond. It was clearly made in the mould of the Italian comic book heroes, who would soon achieve international acclaim in Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik! It really is a lot of fun.

 The other film I found was Batwoman, or The Bat Woman (1968), which was being sold as Spanish, but may actually be Mexican. Either way, it looks pretty nuts. I'll let you know.