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Werewolf In The Amazon Collection, A

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    Ian Jane
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  • Werewolf In The Amazon Collection, A



    Released by: Alternative Cinema/Camp Motion Pictures
    Released on: October 11th, 2016.
    Director: Ivan Cardoso
    Cast: Paul Naschy, Daiana Amendola, Karina Bacchi, Andrea Beltrí£o, Herson Capri
    Year: Various
    Purchase From Amazon

    The Movie:

    Brazilian filmmaker Ivan Cardosa has been cranking out low budget genre fare in his homeland since the seventies and while he's not particularly well known in North America, the fact that he's collaborated with Coffin Joe (it's not a surprise that Cardosa worked on some of his films before going solo) and Paul Naschy will be reason enough for some fans to seek out his work. Camp Motion Pictures collects some of his better known work and releases these films to DVD on these here shores for the first time ever (though some of this material did get released on VHS by Something Weird Video back in the nineties).

    The Secret Of The Mummy (1982):

    The first feature in this set tells the story of a scientist named Professor Expedito Vitus (Wilson Grey) whose life mission is to reconstruct an ancient map that was been cut into eight different parts. Those parts, in turn, are owned by different people, which makes Vitus' task all the more difficult, particularly once said owners start winding up dead. Eventually, however, Vitus gets all eight parts and, once he's completed the map, discovers the tomb of Runamb (Anselmo Vasconcelos), an ancient Egyptian ruler.

    Vitus retrieves the sarcophagus from the tomb and brings it back to Brazil but after Runamb's heavily bandaged corpse comes into contact with a serum that can give life to the dead, our Professor soon realizes he's made a grave mistake. The resurrected Runamb was, in his former life, a murdering psychopath and now that he's back from the grave, he's up to his old tricks again. Vitus, with help from his assistant Igor (Felipe Falcao), heads out to set things right before the mummy can do harm to his wife Gilda (Clarice Piovesan) while two reporters start snooping around trying to figure out just what exactly is going on here.

    A completely bizarre homage to the classic American and British horror films that so clearly inspired it, The Secret Of The Mummy is pretty nutty stuff. Cardosa's penchant for using stock footage to pad out his movies is on display here (the most obvious example is when he recycles footage from an old beauty contest!), and we even get a cameo from the mighty Jose Mojica Marins early in the film. There's some neat sets and costumes here, some fairly strong gore, a good bit of sexy highjinks (some courtesy of Regina Casé who plays Vitus' randy maid!) and a wicked streak of gleefully black humor running throughout the entire thing. The acting is about what you'd expect - meaning it's not good - but it's such a manic picture infused with so much chaotic energy that you can't help but get pulled in by it.

    The Seven Vampires (1986):

    This second feature opens with a pretty amazing scene where two warehouse workers tend to a giant wooden crate. They don't know what's inside, but they do know that they need to cram some meat into a hole every three hours! Read into that what you will, but it's true! It turns out that a botanist named Fred Rossi (Ariel Coelho) is the man responsible for this, he's ordered a huge carnivorous plant from somewhere overseas and now it's time to take delivery of said plant. He takes the plant out of the box, sets it up, and voila! It's time to get down to some serious scientific research, even if his wife, Silvia (Nicole Puzzi), is understandably none too happy about having a giant carnivorous plant in the family home. Later on, Silvia and her pal Clarisse (Susana Matos) head out to a dance class. When she returns, Fred has been eaten.

    Sometime later, Silvia pairs up with Rogério (Johnny Herbert). He's just opened a night club and needs something to complement the entertainment already provided by a weird Fu Manchu impersonator (Wilson Grey again) and a rock band led by a guy named Bob. Silvia has just the ticket - a dance routine called The Seven Vampires in which seven hot ladies dance around sans attire to some smoke machines and bad goth music. It starts off well enough but soon Silvia has been kidnapped by a guy in a black cloak with a sharp knife! It's up to private eye Raimundo Marlou (Nuno Leal Maia) and his secretary Maria (Andréa Beltrí£o) to save the day, while the cops try to figure out if there are vampires about or not, because they keep finding bodies drained of blood.

    A bit more restrained than the first film in some ways, this second feature ups the ante in terms of on screen sex and nudity (there's a lot of it, and it's kind of great) and dance routines. The cops are bumbling comedic types, as is private eye Raimundo (his secretary does most of the work) so on that level the movie plays to cornyball comedic stereotypes, but it's fun. There's a fair bit of gore and bloodshed here, some neat scenes involving the caped guy with the knife and a wonderfully low budget giant man-eating plant. The dialogue is occasionally inane and the plot never less than ridiculous but this is worth seeing for the vampiric dance routine alone!

    This isn't deep, but it's fun, which would seem to describe pretty much everything in this collection, really. And how did Alfred Hitchcock wind up in this???

    The Scarlet Scorpion (1990):

    The third feature revolves around a master criminal named Scarlet Scorpion. He and the Brazilian superhero known only as Angel, who just so happens to be a millionaire playboy named ílvaro Aguiar (Herson Capri), seem to be constantly at war. As we see much of this unfold in glorious black and white, we realize that Brazilians around the country are actually tuning into a radio serial played by Aguiar himself - or are they?

    Cut to the color footage where the Scorpion has kidnapped a beautiful fashion designer named Gloria Campos (Andrea Beltrí£o), who just so happens to be the love interest of a certain millionaire playboy. The cops don't really seem to believe any of what's happening in the city, leaving only Angel able to save the day. With Gloria being held for ransom and our hero running out of time, will anyone be able to stop the titular villain?

    Fairly infamous for a scene featuring a strip tease performance by a transgendered Brazilian stripper named Roberta Close (before she went under the knife and made the transition before being quite popular as a model in various Brazilian men's magazines) - this explains why certain parts of this character are covered up whereas very few parts of the other female cast members are hidden from the camera. In typical Cardosa fashion there's a fair bit of sex and nudity here, which stands in pretty stark contrast to the reasonably wholesome superhero serials that inspired it. If you think of this as early Batman and Robin with dashes of Fantomas and Danger! Diabolik style shenanigans thrown in for good measure you're on the right track. The way that the movie mixes up the black and white 'fantasy' footage with the color 'real life' footage is pretty clever and an interesting technique. There are a lot of odd little cultural references crammed into the movie that are probably more relevant to Brazilians than anyone else, but this is pretty entertaining stuff.

    A Werewolf In The Amazon (2005):

    Last but not least, our final feature length film in this collection follows a group of teenagers who are out to explore the Amazon under the guidance of a man named JP (Evandro Mesquita), killing time on a vacation of sorts. They undertake this expedition without any knowledge whatsoever of a rash of killings that has recently taken place in the area, complete with some seriously mutilated corpses showing up at each and every one of the crime scenes.

    The reason for this? A mad scientist named Doctor Moreau (Paul Naschy) is conducting a series of unorthodox experiments. His hopes? Like any good doctor named Moreau, he believes he can successfully blend animal and man to create a race of genetically superior beings! Some of his earlier efforts, a gang of Amazons, wind up coming face to face with our dopey teens and before you know it, they've found their way to his secret laboratory. Oh, and then the sun goes down and the moon comes up and… well, it's Paul Naschy, right? You can figure out what happens then. Just look at the title of the movie or the cover art for this collection for a pretty big hint.

    The final werewolf film Paul Naschy would make before his death in 2009 is not his best but he gives it his all. Surprisingly enough, this is the least entertaining of the films in the set simply because it is quite a bit more conventional than the others in pretty much every way. Like the other films, the quirky humor runs through the feature in a big way and there's the requisite exploitation prevalent throughout, but this contrasts with a slightly glossier aesthetic. This hardly shies away from its low budget origins but maybe simply because it's a lot newer than the other films it just looks like it's got more sheen and polish to it.

    This is worth seeing, however. Naschy gets pretty energized here, chewing the scenery a few times but the movie is all the more fun for it. As is the norm with Naschy, even later in his career, his character has a way with the ladies, he's alpha male all the way! There werewolf aspect of the story is underused but when it is called upon, the old school makeup appliances will bring a smile to the face of anyone who appreciates Naschy's classic Waldermar Daninsky movies. The gore isn't as strong here as in the other films but we get lots of nudity and, in the last ten to fifteen minutes, some pretty fun footage of the werewolf running amuck. On top of that we even get an impromptu musical number.

    Ivan Cardosa, I won't pretend to understand you, but I won't deny that I love you.

    Video/Audio/Extras:

    The films in this set are spread across the first two discs and the video quality here is…. Dicey. Taken from old analogue tape masters, it looks like the OAR of each feature is preserved but detail is soft and colors are fairly faded. These are all perfectly watchable, but keep your expectations in check - the screen caps below tell the story pretty well. Who knows what elements were actually available for this, so we can probably assume this is a case of doing the best with what was available.

    Audio is presented in Dolby Digital Mono, in Portuguese with burned in English subtitles. Quality is on par with the video presentation in that it's basically VHS quality. There is some fluctuation in the levels here and there and some hiss now and then, but it's serviceable enough for what it is.

    The extras are on the third disc and, aside from trailers for Secret Of The Mummy and The Seven Vampires, are comprised of two bonus films both made in 2005. The first of these is A Marco de Terrir which is a collection of Cardosa's short films, including the short film Nosferato On Brazil (which may have been 16mm? Not sure... looks like 8mm but sources conflict here) and 8mm oddities like Brasil Eu Doro Voce, Sururucucu O Almeida, Astros & Estrelas, Priataas do Sexo Voltam a Matar, Sexta-Feira 13, Branco Tu Es Meu, Onde Freud Nao Explica, O Padre E As Mocas, A Mumia Volta a Atacar, O Conde Gostou Da Coisa, Chuva de Brotos, Geracao Sem Lei, Sentenca de Deus, Horario Minerva and Amor & Tara. Most of this material is silent (sometimes with music) although there are some shorts that include some narration, unfortunately presented in Portuguese without subtitles. Even without subs, however, this is still pretty enjoyable for those who have an affinity for Cardosa's work and his style. There's a lot of darkly comic sequences, loads of monsters and naked ladies, weird music and just completely bizarre imagery.

    The second bonus film is the fifty-minute O Sarcí³fago Macabro which is, again, presented without subtitles. This one is an insane collage of stock footage and news reel clips showing off political and military events stemming from the Second World War then into the era of the Cold War and then the eighties. From there Cardosa edits in footage from some of his other movies alongside yet more stock footage, lots of clips of different monsters and… more. It's all fairly insane and not particularly coherent but maybe he's trying to compare politicians and world leaders to more traditional monsters? Sure, let's go with that.

    Along with the three discs in the set we also get an insert booklet containing an essay on Cardosa by Justine Smith as well as a folder poster that replicates the cover art for this release. Menus and chapter selection are offered on each of the three DVDs in this set as well.

    The Final Word:

    Camp Motion Picture's DVD release of A Werewolf In The Amazon Collection might not benefit from pristine transfers or sterling audio quality, in fact, most of this material looks pretty rough. However, if you're a fan of off the wall foreign oddities, trash-horror or exploitation then there's a lot to love about this stuff. Throw Coffin Joe and Paul Naschy into the mix for good measure and it's hard not to have a complete blast with this set, even if half the time you won't know what the Hell is going on! Bring on volume two!




































































































    • Scott
      #1
      Scott
      Intellectual Carrot
      Scott commented
      Editing a comment
      This looks nutty. I was hoping for better quality but I figured it would be VHS dupes and whatnot. I'm in.
    Posting comments is disabled.

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