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Horror Films from Argentina

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todmichel	Horror Films from Argentina	Lead	[-]
Dec 1 06 11:53 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	A number of horror movies were produced in Argentina, one of the oldest being "Una luz en la ventana" (A Light at the Window), made in 1942 by Manuel Romero for Lumiton. The star was Narciso Ibanez Menta, father of Narciso Ibanez Serrador ("La residencia", with Lilli Palmer). He played a recluse man, hideously disfigured by acromegalia - two years before "The Monster Maker" and thirteen before "Tarantula". "El vampiro negro" (1953) was produced by Argentina Sono Film, incidentally the oldest Argentinian film company, still active today... It was a remake of Fritz Lang's "M". The director was Roman Vinoly Barreto. Nathan Pinzon played (excellently) the Peter Lorre role, the action being located in Buenos Aires. Among the other actors, Roberto Escalada, Olga Zubarry, and Georges Rivière (the French actor, also in "Danza Macabra" with Barbara Steele, in Italy). "El extrano caso del hombre y la bestia", was a Jekyll-Hyde adaptation, by Mario Soffici (1951) who also played the dual role and co-scripted... Argentinian & Italian posters for the latter : Many other horror movies were made in Argentina, more details in next posts...
hnicolella	Re: Horror Films from Argentina	#1	[-]
Dec 1 06 3:54 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* A number of horror movies were produced in Argentina, one of the oldest being "Una luz en la ventana" (A Light at the Window), made in 1942 by Manuel Romero for Lumiton Menta's make-up as the main character is appropriately grotesque. You can certainly see the influence of Hollywood horror in the film: the mysterious old house, the stranded travellers (including the hero's comic sidekick), the woman lured to the manison under false pretenses, the sinister scientist who needs a human subject to cure Menta. The poignant ending isn't typical Hollywood though. Menta, who wanted to be the Lon Chaney of Argentina, did a lot of horror work in Argentina in the fifties and sixties, including a tv adaptation of "Phantom of the Opera". "El Vampiro Negro" is very stylish and well done,and should really get a proper dvd release (with subtitles). It's far better than Joseph Losey's remake of M. Henry Nicolella
TServo4	Re: Horror Films from Argentina	#2	[-]
Dec 1 06 4:30 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Any idea of if Menta's version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA still exists? I've seen pictures of it and his makeup is almost a carbon clone of Chaney's. Apparently, he adapted it from a stage play he did in the late '20s, after having seen the Chaney film. The TV version was a miniseries, and it was said that the streets were empty the night of the unmasking, as everyone was glued to their TV sets. He also did a version of THE HUNCHBACK OF NOTRE DAME as I recall. The makeup for that was also quite spectacular. ---- -J. Theakston
hnicolella	Re: Horror Films from Argentina	#3	[-]
Dec 1 06 5:21 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	*Quote:* Any idea of if Menta's version of PHANTOM OF THE OPERA still exists? I've seen pictures of it and his makeup is almost a carbon clone of Chaney's. Apparently, he adapted it from a stage play he did in the late '20s, after having seen the Chaney film. In the twenties? He'd have been just a teenager then. I don't know if Menta's PHANTOM still exists or not but it wouldn't surprise me. Just recently "Historias para no Dormir", a series of horror programs that ran from 1964-1982 on Argentine tv just got released on dvd. Menta is in a number of them, including a few Poe adaptations. Henry Nicolella
todmichel	Re: Horror Films from Argentina	#4	[-]
Dec 2 06 8:21 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Carlos Ibanez Menta was also in "Obras maestras del terror", another Argentina Sono production directed in 1960 by Enrique Carreras (some people affirm that Menta also had a hand in the direction). It was a portmanteau movie, with Menta starring in each of the three episodes, all being adaptations of stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Curiously, only two of the stories, "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Case of Mr. Valdemar" were kept in the American version, released by Harris Enterprises as "Master of Horror" (in double-bill with "Master of Terror", a re-titling of "The 4-D Man"). But the third story, "The Tell-Tale Heart", was also exploited in the USA "à la Jerry Warren", in 1972, under the title "Legend of Horror", attributed to a director named "Bill Davies". The original Argentinian sketch was wrapped-up with additional sequences in color, including stock footage from Roger Corman's Poe movies. Fawn Silver played in the added sequences, but the flash-back story was played by Narciso Ibanez Menta and his son Narciso "Chucho" Ibanez Serrador... This treatment was unfortunately inflicted to too many foreign movies in the USA, by Jerry Warren and his disciples - and of course, in each case, the original works were totally destroyed by these so-called "directors".
rvoyttbots		#5	[-]
Sep 12 10 8:00 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	So have you seen EL HOMBRE BESTIA Las Aventuras Del Captain Richard 1934? What a film. A pilot crash lands in the jungle after losing in a dogfight. (Looks like stock footage from WINGS & ALL QUIET ON THE WESTERN FRONT). He becomes a poor man`s Tarzan but totally insane. His loin cloth leaves his right ass cheek exposed for the entire movie. So another pilot lands in the jungle and the nutty first pilot strangles him, steals the plane, and flies back to civilization. He lands, climbs out and collapses at the front gate of a house. Not just any house. It belongs to Dr Marchesi, the local mad scientist! So the doctor takes him inside and gives him an injection. But not in the arm. He gives it to him in the left breast! Then he gives him another in the right breast! The doctor leaves and the pilot comes to, goes outside and begins attacking every woman in sight! And he has these lacivious looks on his face the whole time. Very funny. Later in the movie he is licking his lips in anticipation as he carries a victim away. Lol The mad doctor goes looking for the pilot and promptly falls down an embankment and hurts his arm. Then the pilot jumps him and beats the crap out of him. This other dude hires these three tough guys to capture the pilot but they get theirs. Hilarious. Meanwhile, the mad scientist inexplicably strangles a woman on a park bench. And towards the end, actual surgery footage is used. Recommend to all bad movie lovers. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3227194885471101066# Last Edited By: rvoyttbots Sep 12 10 8:22 PM. Edited 2 times.
Rick		#6	[-]
Sep 12 10 10:38 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just watched it. Yikes....thanks for the link. I think.
evilskippy		#7	[-]
Sep 13 10 10:52 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	todmichel wrote: Carlos Ibanez Menta was also in "Obras maestras del terror", another Argentina Sono production directed in 1960 by Enrique Carreras (some people affirm that Menta also had a hand in the direction). It was a portmanteau movie, with Menta starring in each of the three episodes, all being adaptations of stories by Edgar Allan Poe. Curiously, only two of the stories, "The Cask of Amontillado" and "The Case of Mr. Valdemar" were kept in the American version, released by Harris Enterprises as "Master of Horror" (in double-bill with "Master of Terror", a re-titling of "The 4-D Man"). But the third story, "The Tell-Tale Heart", was also exploited in the USA "à la Jerry Warren", in 1972, under the title "Legend of Horror", attributed to a director named "Bill Davies". The original Argentinian sketch was wrapped-up with additional sequences in color, including stock footage from Roger Corman's Poe movies. Fawn Silver played in the added sequences, but the flash-back story was played by Narciso Ibanez Menta and his son Narciso "Chucho" Ibanez Serrador... This treatment was unfortunately inflicted to too many foreign movies in the USA, by Jerry Warren and his disciples - and of course, in each case, the original works were totally destroyed by these so-called "directors". I was able to do a half arsed editing job and slid the Tell Tale Heart story into The Master Of Horror film. It isn't perfect and probably is out of order but at least it is there. I really like the Cask and Valdemar stories and feel they are probably the best versions of the Poe stories I've seen. "The world's going to change tonight, doctor, I'm glad you'll be able to watch it. And... happy Halloween."
todmichel		#8	[-]
Sep 13 10 11:35 AM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Quote: "I was able to do a half arsed editing job and slid the Tell Tale Heart story into The Master Of Horror film. It isn't perfect and probably is out of order but at least it is there. I really like the Cask and Valdemar stories and feel they are probably the best versions of the Poe stories I've seen." If you think that you could use the original Argentinian edition as a model for your re-construction, I can send you this version. Maybe it would be more easy to simply put the English dubbing on this version?
evilskippy		#9	[-]
Sep 13 10 2:02 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	todmichel wrote: Quote: "I was able to do a half arsed editing job and slid the Tell Tale Heart story into The Master Of Horror film. It isn't perfect and probably is out of order but at least it is there. I really like the Cask and Valdemar stories and feel they are probably the best versions of the Poe stories I've seen." If you think that you could use the original Argentinian edition as a model for your re-construction, I can send you this version. Maybe it would be more easy to simply put the English dubbing on this version? Thank you as that is very kind of you to offer but it would be too complicated for me to do. My technical proficiency is limited. I had the Master Of Horror dvd-r which may have been from a torrent site and a dvd-r of Legend Of Horror and using a stand alone recorder I was able to edit/shoehorn in the scenes from Legend Of Horror. It was just something to do as a lark. "The world's going to change tonight, doctor, I'm glad you'll be able to watch it. And... happy Halloween."
todmichel		#10	[-]
Sep 13 10 2:42 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	OK. If only some US company could release the movie on DVD, in Spanish with English subs... Judging from the sources circulating in the Web, the print is well preserved (and would be even better on DVD as apparently these sources came from TV). I share your opinion about the qualities of this movie. It's rumored that Narciso Ibanez Menta more or less co-directed.
evilskippy		#11	[-]
Sep 13 10 6:22 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	todmichel wrote: OK. If only some US company could release the movie on DVD, in Spanish with English subs... Judging from the sources circulating in the Web, the print is well preserved (and would be even better on DVD as apparently these sources came from TV). I share your opinion about the qualities of this movie. It's rumored that Narciso Ibanez Menta more or less co-directed. It really is one of the few "Holy Grail" movies from my list that actually lived up to and surpassed my expectations. "The world's going to change tonight, doctor, I'm glad you'll be able to watch it. And... happy Halloween."
ryanbrennan		#12	[-]
Sep 18 10 3:12 PM Reply Quote More My Recent Posts	Just watched it. Yikes....thanks for the link. I think. Ditto.

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Horror Films from Argentina

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