Most Essential Cult Movies Of The 1970s

The '70s will always be considered the 'golden era' of the cult/exploitation era (at least of the pure sleaze grindhouse variety) and a fellow blogger has sent out a call for a list of essential titles.

http://frommidnight.blogspot.com/2010/08/hey-midnight-warriors-wanna-talk-about.html

And I love lists. This kinda thing is always subjective but here is my very own 'desert island' selection:

1970: El Topo & Gimme Shelter. Probably played together at some point.

1971: Daughters Of Darkness. Or maybe Two Lane Blacktop. Depends on the mood.

1972: Last House On The Left or Pink Flamingos

1973: Flesh For Frankenstein

1974: It's a tie between Let Sleeping Corpses Lie & Phantom Of The Paradise.

1975: Deep Red

1976: Eraserhead

1977: Martin

1978: Dawn Of The Dead.

1979: Mad Max & The Warriors

Wheew! That wasn't easy! Anyone else have others to share..?

Last House On The Beach - Soundtrack

A nasty little spin on the Last House formula - original title "La Settima Donna (The Seventh Woman)" - from Franco Prosperi. The film was retitled "Terror" for export release, but finally found a home on 42nd street under the more appropriate title "Last House On The Beach".

A gang of violent bank robbers invade a beach house, where Florinda Bolkan plays a nun/teacher to students who sit around sunbaking in bikinis. Naturally, rape and mayhem ensue... some of it filmed in slow motion for your enjoyment. Ray Lovelock has a sizeable role (even warbling on the theme tune) as the more sympathetic thug. That may be due to the inclusion of a mascara wearing sexual freak as one of the other thugs.

Music by Roberto Pregadio. While the title theme features another lovely Edda Dell'Orso vocal, the rest of the score sports some scuzzy guitar and sparse disco numbers. This release originates from a bonus disc that came with the German DVD - I've included the trailer and a rip of a short theme featured in the film that was criminally not included on the soundtrack. Why exactly the score wasn't issued for the release of the film remains a mystery. Could it be the litigious nature of the tune "Place For The Landing"...?

1 - La Settima Donna (vocals by Edda Dell'Orso)

2 - Place For The Landing (vocals by Ray Lovelock)

3 - Lo Spogliarello

4 - Favolosa Festa di Danza

5 - Costretti a Fare I'Amore

6 - Un Pomeriggio di Sole

7 - La Fuga

8 - Perfide Bestie

9 - La Settima Donna (Ripressa)

10 - Favolosa Festa di Danza (Versione Alternativa)

11 - La Fuga (Versione Alternativa)

12 - Robbery (Bonus 1)

13 - Original Trailer (Bonus 2)

LINK IN THE COMMENTS

Psycheground Mix

Something a little different this week with this mix of trippin' acid rock from early '70s Italy. Lots of heavy fuzz guitar and spaced out organ vibes for your listening pleasure.

I've also been fooling around with some audio editing software and just for fun, the tracks have been cut together in one delirious 66 minute mix. I think it turned out okay, although I'd love to hear what you think.

It's actually a bit of a mystery as to who's even responsible for these tracks. In an effort to pass themselves off as British (and possibly avoid tax duties), Italian studio artists hid behind anonymous sounding monikers like 'Psycheground Group" or "Fine Machine". Composers like Giuliano Sorgini, Alessandro Alessandroni, Piero Umiliani, Armando Sciascia, Gianfranco Reverberi have all been mentioned but it appears that the true identities may be lost to the ravages of LSD soaked time. In any case, these tunes can speak for themselves!

This is my first "library" share and I plan on including more. As you can tell from the composers mentioned, there's a lot of crossover with soundtrack composition. It's really only through the joy of blogs that I even stumbled onto the subject - and I've come across some real doozies - so it seems fitting to share them back here. A big "Thank You" to the original ripper/s!

1 - Psycheground (The Psycheground Group)

2 - Fying (Braen's Machine)

3 - Handshake (Fine Machine)

4 - Elena (Fourth Sensation)

5 - Telegraph Is Calling (The Pawnshop)

6 - Microchaos (Blue Phantom)

7 - Imphormal (Braen's Machine)

8 - Flash (Duke Of Burlington)

9 - Ray (The Psycheground Group)

10 - Georgia (Fourth Sensation)

11 - Raging Beat (Fine Machine)

12 - Metamorphosis (Blue Phantom)

13 - Fall Out (Braen's Machine)

14 - Criss Cross (Duke Of Burlington)

15 - Diodi (Blue Phantom)

16 - Marta (Fourth Sensation)

17 - Gap (Braen's Machine)

18 - Violence (Blue Phantom)

LINK IN THE COMMENTS

Panicos At The Disco Mix

Get yer boogie shoes on for this disco themed mix of soundtrack themes. I have no idea what kind of club would have been spinning these tunes - the Monster Club perhaps..?

1 - Alien (Nostromo Mix)

2 - Amityville (Frenzy Mix)

3 - Phantasm (Captain Zorro Mix)

4 - Friday The 13th Part 3 (Disco Mix)

5 - Assault On Precinct 13 (Splash Band Mix)

6 - Escape From New York - Duke Arrives (12'' Mix)

7 - Escape From New York - Title Theme (Hypnotic Mix)

8 - Profondo Rosso (City Center Mix)

9 - Tenebre (Alex Spadoni Mix)

10 - Tenebre (Phantom-Justice Mix)

11 - Phenomena '96 (Simonetti Mix)

12 - Profondo Rosso Progressive (Simonetti Mix)

13 - Profondo Rosso (Flexter Mix)

14 - Argento Megamix (Julian B Mix)

LINK IN THE COMMENTS

More Requests!

While I haven't had any joy yet from my earlier post regarding requests for some soundtracks that have slipped through my grasps, I have found a few more to include. I have plenty of stuff not listed on the blog to share/swap, so if you have any of these (rips are fine, not after the original vinyl), please drop me a line...

- Wild Beasts / Daniele Patucchi (Cam LP)

- Controrapina / Paolo Vasile (Cinevox LP MDF 33.127, 1979)

- Fuga Dal Bronx / Francesco De Masi (Beat LP)

- Queen Kong / The Peppers (Cam LP or Jap CD) ----- it's even on iTunes..!

- James Rogers - Even Unknown Terror / Various (Cam LP, 1982)

- Il Giorno Dal Cobra / Paolo Vasile (Cinevox LP MDF 33.141, 1980)

More to come, but that'll do for now...