By Mrparka
Sometimes
an exploitation film surpasses its intent; either due to its cultural
relevancy, social message, its sheer success at entertainment, or connectivity
to the audience. This is not the case with “The Other Hell”. “The Other Hell”
is pure exploitation without much to offer except sleaze, cheese, and
absurdity. Severin films happily brings this unbashful, ballsy exploitation
film to remastered blu-ray and DVD.
Nuns at
a convent begin to die in blasphemous and extreme ways; these tragic
circumstances eventually lead to a detective priest trying to figure out what
is happening. “The Other Hell” is a bit of a talkative fair, many scenes
consist of a couple of robed men or women chatting about the strange
occurrences without much else to offer. There is a semi-interesting subplot of
two priests who share completely different fundamental values when it comes to
demonic possession; these conversations are probably the most profound. When
these scenes aren’t hogging the screen, it is business as usual; exploding
glass, unexplained wind, creepy cats, and some scenes trying to be so utterly
blasphemous that one can’t help but shake their head and smirk at the audacity.
The scene guiltiest of this in particular is when a rotted head is found in the
altar box, the most sacred of places! “The Other Hell” follows strange rules to
set up scenes, for example our groundskeeper of the convent, Franco Garofalo
(Hell of the Living Dead), has his very own kennel on the premise of the
church. This is of course done so he can be destroyed by what he loves, vicious
dogs. With scenes like this, the foreshadowing becomes fairly obvious but
nothing seems to happen with purpose, most scenes appear to be shoe-horned
in. So when a few non-flesh eating
zombies pop up out of their upright coffins and begin screaming, it’s not as
shocking as the film thinks it is. The dubbing is fairly poor, although some of
the performances are still solid, including Franca Stoppi, who plays the mother
superior of the convent. She is stern, yet creepy, and over the top crazy when
she needs to be. The film takes freely from “The Exorcist” and “Carrie”, but
manages to have a creative muscle to flex here and there, including the hanging
disfigured mannequins which resemble a secretive character and are the best
piece of foreshadow in the film.
The
score is by Goblin mostly from the film “Beyond the Darkness” where they
borrowed Franca Stoppi from as well; it works with the film and is almost
immediately recognized by horror fans. The score and Stoppi aren’t the only
things borrowed, “The Other Hell” was actually being filmed at the same time as
“The True Story of the Nun of Monza” which also stars Franca Stoppi and Franco
Garofalo. Some of the same sets appear in the both films. Bruno Mattei is
credited as the director on both films, but it seems that Claudio Fragasso
actually directed most of “The Other Hell”, according to the commentary. Both
of these directors have sort of a schlock reputation which is held up here. The
gore isn’t as plentiful as one would think, but the film has its share of
Italian style violence. The camera work
feels like it comes from a director who isn’t afraid to try something new. This
is greatly appreciated and helps the film while also seeming to help solidify
Claudio Fragasso’s claims at being the film’s director, as he was in his
mid-twenties at the time of the film’s creation. All and all “The Other Hell” is worth
checking out for fanatics of nunsploitation, exploitation, Italian horror
cinema, and/or someone who might want to get a laugh out of it.
The
Blu-ray features are ported over from the Shriek Show disc including a
commentary with Claudio Fragasso (in Italian), a Trailer, and interviews with
Franca Stoppi and Bruno Mattei. The best
of these features is the commentary where Fragasso laughs and argues with the
moderator of the commentary. The film is an improvement from the old DVD, but
the print isn’t in the best of shape and will most likely never look better.
http://www.diabolikdvd.com/product/the-other-hell-severin-blu-ray-all-region/
https://www.amazon.com/Other-Hell-Blu-ray-Franca-Stoppi/dp/B06XC3GY9C/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1493198500&sr=8-1&keywords=the+other+hell
The Other Hell
Blu-ray
Label: Severin Films
Color 88 minutes In English Closed Captioned
All Regions Widescreen Anamorphic 1.66:1 Dolby Digital Mono
Production year: 1980 Horror Not Rated
Director: Bruno Mattei
Cast: Franca Stoppi, Carlo De Mejo, Francesca Carmeno, Susan Forget
Bruno Mattei's 'Nunsploitation' Classic Now Uncut & Uncensored In HD For The First Time Ever!
At the peak of his '80s excess, Italian sleaze maestro Bruno Mattei - using the alias 'Stefan Oblowsky' - stunned audiences with this Nunsploitation shocker about a series of brutal murders in a depraved convent. And while his cinematic legacy may remain controversial, Mattei here delivers a surprisingly stylized yet undeniably blasphemous orgy of stabbings, stigmata, Satanism, sexual violence and graphic savagery that ranks among his very best. Franca Stoppi (THE TRUE STORY OF THE NUN OF MONZA), Carlo De Mejo (WOMEN'S PRISON MASSACRE) and Franco Garofalo (HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD) star in this filthy nugget (Mondo Digital) - written by the notorious Claudio Fragasso (RATS: NIGHT OF TERROR, TROLL 2) and featuring a score 'borrowed' from Goblin - newly transferred from a 35mm print discovered behind a false wall in a Bologna nunnery!
Special Features:
Audio Commentary With Co-Director/Co-Writer Claudio Fragasso Moderated By Freak-O-Rama's Federico Caddeo
Sister Franca: Interview With Actress Franca Stoppi
To Hell And Back: Archive Interviews With Director Bruno Mattei and Actor Carlo De Mejo
Review Quotes:
GENUINELY UNHOLY... Just watching it, you feel as though you're damned to eternal Hellfire.
-Anticristo: The Bible of Nasty Nun Sinema and Culture
MUST BE SEEN TO BE BELIEVED.
-TerrorTrap.com
MAYBE NOT SACRED, BUT CERTAINLY PROFANE.
-UKHorrorScene.com
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