When we lost Jack Taylor in May of this year there was a realization of what a gap his passing left in cinema. A regular face in Euro-Cult films from the 1960’s to the 21st century, his withering glances and wry smile were often the addition to a film that made it special. Whether playing a villainous businessman or a reluctant hero he was always a welcome sight. Over the years he worked with Jess Franco, Paul Naschy, Amando De Ossorio, Ridley Scott, Monte Hellman and Roman Polanski in roles of such varied nature that only his mighty mustache was a (near) constant. Bob Sargent once again joins the show as we pick our favorite five or so Jack Taylor performances from across his career. This allows us to talk about his most entertaining roles and emphasize his contributions to movies in which he might have only been a supporting player. Among his many onscreen adventures he was menaced by a werewolf, stalked by the Blind Dead, seduced by a naked female vampire and accused of being a chainsaw murderer – but that only scratches the surface! Join the three of us as we marvel over Mr. Taylor’s lengthy resume and pine for an English translation of his autobiography. If you have any thoughts on the mighty Jack Taylor naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Hopefully Troy will be more than a pre-recorded portion of the next episode. Thanks for listening!
Our journey through Naschy adjacent Jess Franco films continues with ATTACK OF THE ROBOTS (1966)! Part of the brief spurt of Euro-Spy films that sprang up in response to Bond-mania the film features Eddie Constantine playing a slightly comedic version of his many tough guy roles. The film centers on a mysterious group of bronze-skinned automatons who are assassinating important European dignitaries. When their eyeglasses are removed, they turn into vegetative zombies and when killed their odd skin tone changes to pale white. Interpol calls in Constantine’s character Al Pereira to investigate. Throw in a seductive villainess, some mad science and Q-style gadgets and you have a breezy, fun adventure – at least for some. Not all Franco fans seem to like this one. Bob Sargent joins Troy and I as we romp our way around Alicante with Pereira and try to unravel this bizarre mystery. We discuss the year the world turned to color and how this final black & white Franco film fits into his 60’s output. Bob recommends other Eddie Constantine films and I vow to track down more of his earlier crime movies. Where is the much hoped for Lemmy Caution boxed set, already? We relate our various reactions to the film’s amusing tone and note how easily it could fit into the Pink Panther universe. This is definitely not your average Jess Franco crime thriller and that might be why we enjoyed it. If you have any comments about this or any other of Uncle Jess’ movies nashcycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. We may not let Bob chose the next Beyond Naschy topic but you never know! Thanks for listening.
The Naschycast returns to the world of Jess Franco for an erotic ramble through late 1960’s Lisbon and Berlin. Bob Sargent joins Troy and I to examine SUCCUBUS (1968) because Bob wanted to rewatch the film. Two of us had not watched it in years and the third had never even seen it before! We turned this into a trip to the unwatched DVD pile again to take a look at the starting point for a certain type of Franco cinema. Your tolerance for the director’s sense of humor and the absurd will determine your level of enjoyment. We use Stephen Thrower’s excellent book on the work of Franco named ‘Murderous Passions’ to guide us and to provide a brief synopsis. We waffle through a discussion touching on the cast connections to Paul Naschy but mostly talk about our reactions to the often surrealistic events involving S & M stage performer Lorna (). She seems to navigating a strange period in her life with reoccurring visions of a different life impinging on her supposed reality. We see her interact with various romantic partners who end up dead at her hands. Or is that really what is happening? Along the way we get striking images, amusing commentary on arthouse pretentions and philosophical silliness draped in an encroaching ennui that seems to define Lorna’s confused life. Can cinema be therapy? Along the way we are reminded to always fear mannequins but we also take heart from the Algernon Charles Swinburne poem Faustine that seems to have been a major influence on the film. Of course, we all wish a for a Blu-Ray release complete with multiple versions of this important effort. It clearly signposted many future Jess Franco films that fans laud to this day. If you have and comments naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send them. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon.
Troy noticed that the mailbag had collected several new pieces of correspondence so we decided to find out what was on your minds. Strangely, Paul Naschy seemed to be a major subject of these missives! Will wonders never cease? The email folder held five emails to read out and we respond to them to the best of our ability. My crushing inability to correctly pronounce several names is noted and corrected by a longtime listener and I promptly find other names to destroy. I should not be allowed near a podcast! We discuss keeping the Naschy flame burning and note recent online articles that a helpful fan of the show has provided. (See links below.) We also talk a bit about some upcoming Blu-Ray commentary tracks that are being released soon while giving a piece of bad news concerning a hoped for extra on another. Sometimes we have to hold on to older releases to sooth our collector minds. Our sick, sick collector minds. If you want to be part of our next email show naschycast@gmail.com is the place to send your thoughts. Thank you for listening!
We take a deep dive into Jess Franco’s THE SADISTIC BARON VON KLAUS (1963) and hope we can avoid the quicksand. Bob Sargent returns and joins Troy and I to discuss this krimi-like murder mystery. It even has a little comedy relief. Luckily, very little of that! This film seems to be less well thought of among fans of Uncle Jess’ black & white output and I’ve never understood why. It has a great cast with Howard Vernon leading the way as the most obvious suspect when young women in an Austrian town start turning up dead. Is there anything to the legend of a Von Klaus ancestor who reincarnates every few decades to terrorize the locals? Or is there a much more human reason that lovely ladies are wise to not venture out after dark? And just how sadistic will the film be allowed to go to depict the amoral depths of the killer’s lustful urges? Pretty far, it turns out! If you have any comments or suggestions naschycast@gmail.com is the place to write the show. Thank you for listening and we’ll be back soon.