R.I.P. Michéle De Angelis (1965-2021)

It’s only this week that I learned of Michele De Angelis’ death. It took me a while to process the sad news. Michele really loved cinema. I got to meet and briefly chat to Michele at the screening of his short film „L’uomo nella macchina da presa“ a couple years back, and we also used to sporadically shoot messages on Facebook. I knew Michele had worked on one of my favourite latter day Fulci movies, „The Touch of Death“ (he gave an interview for the Blu-ray release), and I’ve seen his name pop up in the credits of innumerable featurettes for the likes of Blue Underground and Severin Films. If you wanted an interview with Deodato or Argento, Michele De Angelis was the number one Roman connection. What I wasn’t aware of is that Michele was also one half of the team behind the excellent No Shame DVD label. One of his more recent achievements was the supervision of the Dario Argento cut of George A. Romero’s „Dawn of the Dead“, which became the basis for French and Italian 4K releases. Michele was a humorous and no bullshit guy who lived for filmmaking and film preservation. If there’s an afterlife, surely Michele is now gearing up to roll another gory movie with maestro Fulci. Goodbye, Michele.

R.I.P. Detto Mariano (27.7.1937–25.3.2020)

Musician, member of the “Clan Celentano”, Detto Mariano provided sountracks for countless crime comedies starring Tomas Milian as well as Giuliano Carnimeo’s THE EXTERMINATORS OF THE YEAR 3000 and Claudio Caligari’s AMORE TOSSICO. Detto Mariano died yesterday in Milan at the age of 82 from complications caused by the coronavirus infection.

Source: RAI News

R.I.P. Carlo Vanzina (13.3.1951-8.7.2018)

Prolific writer, producer and director, Carlo Vanzina was born in Rome on  March 13 1951. Son of cult comedy director Stefano Vanzina ( better known as Steno), Carlo was exposed to the world of cinema at an early age. Eurocult film enthusiasts may know Vanzina for the glitzy 1985 thriller set in the world of fashion, NOTHING UNDERNEATH/SOTTO IL VESTITO NIENTE. Carlo Vanzina has left behind a legacy of over sixty films.

Source: ANSA

Remembering Jess Franco (12.05.1930 – 2.04.2013)

Happy Birthday Jess Franco!

With just “a camera and freedom”, Jess Franco succeeded in showing his viewers another world. A world  free from the myriad invisible constraints imposed by the outdated societal norms. His colourful, hypnotic cinema seduces you away from the tyrannical dogmas of good taste and normality into another, poetic and whimsical, realm. With very limited means and often working against massive odds, the Madrid-born auteur has revealed to us an un-PC world where desire and obsession reign. Therefore, Jess Franco is a freedom fighter. The films of Jess Franco’s remain a perfect antidote from the soulless calculated plastic “entertainment” that’s filling the dreary multiplexes of today. His rebel cinema lives on.

R.I.P. Adolfo Lastretti (1937-2018)

Adolfo Lastretti’s sharp face is a familiar one to Eurocult fans. The dark-eyed, intense actor had appeared alongside such stars as James Coburn and Alain Delon over the course of a 40-year film career. He was unforgettable as the corduroy-clad hitman Tatum in Umberto Lenzi’s underrated SPASMO. You may have seen him as a kindly Catholic priest who falls prey to violence in Lucio Fulci’s twisted western FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE. Lastretti’s filmography amounts to around 40 film and TV appearances yet the man himself was more fond of stage work. Lastretti felt an actor’s artistic freedom was too limited with the cinematic medium. In his final years Adolfo Lastretti had retired from acting and enjoyed a peaceful life in the countryside. His last screen role was in the 1999 TV series VIVERE (“To live”). He was 81.

source: Notturno.it