It is our pleasure to bring to you another GUEST WATCHLIST – A series of watchlists where we invite our friends and guests to go through our WATCHLIST FROM HELL and select at least 10 films that stand out for them as particular favorites or films that they would recommend specifically from the films that we have discussed on the show. They are also invited to offer up any candidates that we have not covered on the show that they think would be contenders to be discussed on the show and added to the LIST.

Paul Grammatico’s Watchlist from Hell

THE FILMS

film notes courtesy of Paul Grammatico

The 10th Victim (1965)

An interesting take on Richard Connell’s The Most Dangerous Game, where a contestant must be a hunter and a victim five times each.  If you can survive the “Big Hunt” for the ten rounds, you get a mega cash prize and retire.  Director Elio Petri provides fun and frolic in a futuristic 21^st century where world wars are avoided and where murder is legal for individuals with violent tendencies get their kill or be killed fantasias served on a silver platter.  The film’s biting political satire along with the cat and mouse action of the hunt makes for a fun watch.  Marcello Mastroianni as a blonde?  Yes please!

10 Rillington Place (1971)

One of the early MFH podcasts and a rare film about real-life British serial killers, Richard Attenborough is amazing as the kind, mild-mannered John Christie as he gasses and buries his female victims around his address which is the title of his film.  A film ripped from the England headlines, Richard Fleischer does a masterful job profiling the life of a mass murderer Christie and the victims that crosses his wake and the aftermath of his killings. 

Kill List (2011)

The first film of the MFH podcast and how I discovered and fell in love with the filmmaking of Ben Wheatley.  The Kill List starts out as an action adventure and then takes a sharp turn into a horror where the protagonist hitman gets enmeshed into a remote and mysterious cult which ends in a surprising and devastating twist.  This film got me into more of Wheatley’s works which is a great thing.

The Addiction (1995)

When I was in film school, one of my professors said that my short films reminded him of Abel Ferrara for some reason.  While I have watched many of his films and, though this is a recent watch, I would rank it up there with some of my favorite vampire films.  Filmed in audacious black and white which give this film a ghostly feel, Lili Tyler becomes bitten by a fellow resident of New York City and becomes one of the many vampires she encounters while prowling about the dark and gritty streets.  With a great supporting cast of Christopher Walken, Edie Falco, Annabella Sciorra, and Michael Imperioli, this revisionist vampire tale must be experienced to be believed.

The Abominable Dr. Phibes (1971)

This film has always been my favorite comfort movie.  With the always terrific Vincent Price playing the disfigured but delectable villain Dr. Phibes who wreaks revenge upon the medical staff responsible for the death of his beloved wife Victoria.  He conducts his slayings based on the Ten Plagues of Egypt which become more and more creative with each kill.  Laced with dark humor and hilarious camp, this is a must watch every Halloween night.

Flesh for Frankenstein (1973)

I mean, hell, everyone knows this movie for a reason. It remains a truly disturbing piece of cinema that changed the nature of horror. However, I include it here because my first appearance on Movies From Hell was what began as a “quick” phone call on an episode with Hellbent for Horror’s S.A. Bradley, but it turned into a 45 minute conversation. It was a special evening… of terror!

Blood for Dracula (1974)

“These whores are killing me.”

Also called Andy Warhol’s Dracula, I consider this a companion set with Flesh for Frankenstein as you can’t have one without the other.  Udo Kier is once again cast in the lead as the blood sucking Count Dracula who needs blood of virgins (or were-gins).  When he sucks the blood of “tainted” women, he graphically regurgitates up the bad blood which makes him weaker.  Joe Dallesandro reprises his adulterous bad boy to the hilt and becomes the main nemesis to the Count.  Filled with blood and severed body parts like its predecessor with plenty of camp and gore to make it more intriguing watch after watch.

Begotten (1989)

Without a doubt, one of the damnedest films I’ve ever viewed.  E. Elias Merhige helms one of the most bizarre films on this watchlist.  The film gives the feel of an ancient Greek play while the grainy black and white aesthetic provides a type of moving Rorschach test.  Filled with bizarre folklore that documents not only another time, but another world.

Private Parts (1972)

Director Paul Bartel whose fame stems from films such as Death Race 2000 and Eating Raoul, provides the strangest hotel films ever in Bartel’s feature debut.  This psychological thriller is a doozy as the main character Cheryl, after a fight with her roommate, moves into her Aunt Martha’s skid row hotel.  When a murder takes place at the hotel, Cheryl encounters the residents within the hotel along with their strange and depraved habits.  This was a first watch for me and is an underrated Bartel gem.

Possession (1981)

After many years of frustration of not being able to find this film on various streaming services, I was able to obtain a Blu-ray copy courtesy of Vinegar Syndrome.  With the insane hype floating around the Twitterverse, I couldn’t wait to fire it up.  Andrzej Zulawski’s film not only measures up to the hype but blows it away.  Isabella Adjani and Sam Neill are terrific in this insanely intense film about the dissolution of a marriage and how, due to this dysfunction, creates lurid manifestations that makes this film unsettling in every way.  You’ll never see movies the same way after you have experienced Zulawski’s unique filmic vision.

Funeral Parade of Roses (1969)

This narrative/documentary/experimental mash-up by director Toshio Matsumoto explores the Tokyo underground of transgender women in the late 1960’s.  Matsumoto explores the sex life and gender identity of Eddie, a transgender youth who works at Genet, an underground nightclub with other transvestites as they dance and hook up with their male clientele.  Through interviews that weave through its narrative, the director questions Eddie and, through Eddie’s answers, provides a deeper understanding about his upbringing and sexuality.  In the narrative, Eddie is working at the club, shopping with his friends, getting into fights, and having a sexual relationship with Gonda, the owner of the Genet.

Matsumoto’s daring direction on a topic that most would consider taboo at the time, this film is distinct on how it dials up various genres along with an ending that packs an incredible punch.

Hellraiser (1987)

This film was my entrance into the possibilities of world building within a moving picture.  Clive Barker in his directorial debut crafts an otherworldly hell that arrives upon the earth through a simple object:  An iconic puzzle box.  Frank cheats death and inexplicably escapes hell in an abandoned house that is now occupied by his brother Larry, his second wife Julia, and his daughter Kristy.  Julia, who had a sexual encounter with Frank, helps Frank’s weak, skinless body become “whole” by bringing home men for Frank to drain them of their life essence.  Frank’s escape doesn’t last as the Cenobites come back for him because of Kristy “playing” with the puzzle box. 

Despite this film having its flaws, this film blew me away upon first watch on VHS.  Not only is the story strewn with unique monsters and massive gore, but this was the first movie I experienced that had loads of existentialist dread that still holds up upon each viewing.

Honorable Mention

Der Fan (1982)

Upon recommendation from MFH, this German film directed by Eckhart Schmidt provides an interpretation of a fan’s obsession with a music star to a level I have never seen in other films of this ilk. Simone is obsessed with an electronic pop singer known as R.  When she meets her idol and has sex with him, her obsession turns to madness with extreme consequences.  A daring film rife with nihilism combined with a terrific and fatalistic soundtrack which provides perfect foreshadowing for disaffected youth, Der Fan destroys any film about insane fandom that I’ve ever had the pleasure of viewing.

THE CANDIDATE/S FOR THE LIST

Creature (1985)

Shallow Grave (1987)

Cold Light of Day (1989)

Steel and Lace (1991)

The Resurrected (1991)