Finally got a chance to pull the clip from the recent episode of Anthony Bourdain's NO RESERVATIONS in which he travels to Thailand and name checks Klaus Kinski while dealing with grubby little monkeys that have surrounded his boat.
I recently took the opportunity to sit down and watch Sergio Garrone's mad doctor/face transplant thriller THE HAND THAT FEEDS THE DEAD starring Klaus Kinski. The only print I had of the film at the time was a dub of a Turkish VHS secured from Luminous Film and Video Works a few years ago.
I wasn't totally crazy about the flick and felt that there were plotlines that went nowhere and some questionable character motivations, not to mention subtitling courtesy of Luminous that I felt might be a bit dubious.
Well, I'm happy to report that the new Mya DVD version of the flick – titled EVIL FACE – is a vast improvement over such grey market versions in pretty much every facet of the presentation, including the original Italian audio and score (the Luminous version features Turkish dubbing and a different score) and an improved source video (possibly the old GVR Italian VHS?).
Video and audio improvements aside, the biggest improvements here are subtitles that make the dialogue and storyline almost logical (well, as logical as a story about face transplants and mad doctors can be) and the restoration of about 10-15 minutes of footage cut from the Turkish print. Though the new scenes don't provide any additional Kinski moments, they do eliminate a couple head-scratching moments early in the film.
For a quick look at how the Luminous and Mya versions compare, here are some screen captures that should convince any Kinski fans on the fence about the purchase to take the plunge and upgrade their copy.
Kinski gets top billing in the Italian credits (bottom), not so the Turkish credits which give top billing to Turkish star Ayhan Isik (also in Garrone's LOVER OF THE MONSTER which was filmed on the same sets with the same cast, crew and costumes).
The first appearance of Professor Nijinski (Kinski) as his handicapped man servant (Vania in the Mya version, "Johnson" [?!] on the Luminous tape) emerges from the woods on a mission from Tanja, the professor's mysterious, shrouded wife.
It wouldn't be 70s Eurotrash without some fine, feminine forms on display and EVIL FACE/ HAND THAT FEEDS is no exception. Here Sonia (Stella Calderoni) displays her wares for the relunctant Kinski. I wonder if another, even racier version of the film exists. The Mya DVD blog includes photos from an Italian eBay auction featuring clothed and nude versions of shots from this same scene.
What's this?! It's additional footage from the Mya disc as Katja (Marzia Damon) explores the castle's underground passages.
Here Katja searches Tanja's bedroom in a crucial scene missing from the Luminous tape. As she searches the room we see mirrors covered in black paint and candelabras without candles, sure signs that something is afoot in Castle Nijinski. The Luminous tape combines brief shots from this scene with scenes of Katja searching the castle library.
Here the Fake Kinski prepares to operate on Tanja and a poor, unsuspecting victim.
Future Oscar winner Carlo Rambaldi's burn effects look a bit grislier in the Mya version (bottom)...
...not to mention the peeled face of Nijinski and Tanja's final victim.
Here, Kinski delivers his price-of-admission scene as he commiserates with Tanja's beloved doll about how they've been pushed aside, discarded.
The Mya disc provides a significant upgrade over the Turkish print from Luminous and gets a definite thumbs up from The Klaus Kinski Files.
As some of you might know I used to publish a food and drink zine called The Hungover Gourmet. I say "used to" because the latest issue of the zine also happens to be the last issue of the zine.
There were many reasons for pulling the plug on the publication – time, money, turnaround, ennui – but the biggest reason was that I really didn't have the passion for plugging away at a print publication anymore. And I'd promised myself that when the passion wasn't there it was time to get out.
So, for the first time in almost 25 years I'm not publishing a zine. Oh sure, I've got three blogs and two websites, but no empty Quark layout on my computer staring back at me, no bulging folders of clips, article ideas, notes, found stuff and artwork just itching to make its way into print. And, like I said, no passion to make it happen.
Luckily, that passion is still out there for other publishers. I don't follow the zine scene as closely as I used to, back when zines like SLIMETIME, HI-TECH TERROR, VIDEOOZE, WET PAINT and GORE GAZETTE were showing up in my mailbox on a regular basis, hipping me to the most outer limits of the trash universe. These days, it seems like a lot of the genre mags are almost pro-zines, with their color covers, glossy paper and handsome layouts.
Which makes it especially nice when a good old photocopied horror film zine like RIGOR MORTIS lands in my hands. This is the second installment of the Baltimore-based zombie-centric publication and it's a nice expansion on the all-zombie-focused first issue. Yes, the 60-page digest is still heavy on living dead content (including a nice comparison of the two versions of NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD as well as an exploration of zombie comedies or zom-coms that sadly fails to include the great NIGHT OF THE CREEPS) but there's also a look at Carpenter's THE FOG, paranormal reality shows and more.
Even our main man Klaus Kinski gets a nice nod, with a five page article on Kinski's performance in Herzog's NOSFERATU and how it compares to other portrayals of the vampire mainstay. Unfortunately, there's no exploration of the trash-tastic NOSFERATU IN VENICE.
While my passion for producing zines may have waned, I'm happy to report that my passion for consuming them – like a zombie chomping down on some brains – is still as strong as ever. Here's hoping Dread Sockett, DeadVida and Co. keep the RIGOR MORTIS fires burning.
Leave it to the one and only Joe Bob Briggs to somehow wrap the one and only Klaus Kinski into the Steve Phillips sex addict storyline. Earlier today Briggs tweeted the following:
Steve's a sex addict? / If that's true, here's my question: / What was Klaus Kinski?
