CALIGULA (1979) Review

Directed by: Tinto Brass

Starring: Malcolm McDowell, Peter O'Toole, Guido Mannari

What can be said about Caligula? Chances are if you have heard of this you would probably know of its lavish catalogue of perversions. Sweet Jesus everything gets covered here; incest, pissing, necrophilia, fisting, etc. To call this film flat out pornography would not do it justice even in its slightest. The film does have a good deal of hardcore sex but the sex is not the subject matter of the piece although that being said there are lots of unnecessary orgy scenes. 

The cast is exceptional. There is a line up of legendary British actors including Peter O Toole, Helen Mirren, Malcom Mcdowell to name a few. The set designs are amazingly detailed, costumes are exquisite and Malcom Mcdowell's role as the tyrannical emperor Caligula is brilliantly realised. This is an amazing film and an oddity in the history of adult cinema.

The story begins with the ill emperor Tiberius in his last days. His grandson Caligula is awaiting his death as he is heir to the throne. Caligula's confidante Macron speeds the process by strangling Tiberius. So it begins. As the power and influence goes to Caligula's head during his rein his sanity takes a turn for the worst. He sends many of his senators to the gallows for no particular reason along with his brother and his friend Macron. He also had an excessive and decadent life style that was rendering Rome in debt. In one scene Caligula decides to consolidate Rome's surplus by running an imperial brothel with the senators wives as the whores. Which of course pisses the senators off. The rest of the film is the undoing of Caligula as his senators turn their backs on him and plot his eventual bloody demise. 

Although this film is considered pornography it has some brilliant cinematography which definitely lifts this film out of gutter to some where between low art and high art. I think the only thing that held this film back is the unnecessary scenes of hardcore sex. It seems they drag on for too long. If it was toned down a fraction I believe that the public and critics alike would have received it better. I'm talking about Palme d'or material. 

For those of who are familiar with the HBO television series Rome, you would find it hard to believe that this film is LESS gratuitous than that puddle of excrement. 

As a period piece this film is exceptional. 

Although massively unsuccessful in America (the market it was aimed at) it must have had some fanfare in Italy as it spawned an unofficial sequel. There are many different cuts and versions of this film. The 160 minute cut is the full film as its creators intended for viewing. The other cuts vary between 80-100 minutes which I'm sure would have been a butchered bloody mess. Mcdowell has since proclaimed that he is embarrassed about the film. That's a bit harsh. If I was him I'd be more embarrassed for being in piles of shit like Class of 1999 and Cyborg 3.

This film deserves to be watched and appreciated in its entirety. 

This might be stretching the friendship but I'm going to give this film 4/5 stars

MALABIMBA THE MALICIOUS WHORE (1979) Review

Directed by: Andrea Bianchi

Starring: Katell Laennec, Mariangela Giordano, Patrizia Webley, Enzo Fisichella

I'm not really all that familiar with these type of erotic Eurosleaze films but that's something I've decided to rectify, and what better film to begin with than one I heard described as an erotic, sleazy, Italian EXORCIST? The fact that it's directed by Andrea Bianchi (BURIAL GROUND) pretty much sealed the deal for me.

MALABIMBA opens with a séance as a family attempt to contact the spirit of Andrea's (Fisichella) deceased wife. As soon as the medium contacts a spirit however things start to get a little crazy. A woman's blouse is torn off exposing a large pair of breasts (of which we get to see a lot more of later in the film), a man's fly is pulled open and things start tumbling and flying off of shelves. A malevolent spirit is unleashed and makes its way to the resident nurse Sister Sofia (Giordano) in an attempt to possess her. Having been successfully resisted however the spirit makes its way to the younger and more vulnerable Bimba, the daughter of Andrea. Shortly thereafter Bimba begins showing some disturbing sexual tendencies which shock and disgust her family who have no idea she is possessed by an evil spirit.

The plot is very loose and there's good reason for that. This movie is first and foremost a sleazy sexploitation flick and the 'plot' is just an excuse to bind together a bunch of sex scenes. There is some unimportant subplot shoved in there somewhere but it too is also just an excuse to see more tits, pussy and cock.

Nais (Webley) is the busty woman whose bare chest we are treated to in the opening minutes of the movie. Her character is a slutty seductress who is basically willing to fuck any man she can, and since her husband is paralyzed and wheelchair-bound she has her sexy eye set on his brother Andrea. For most of her time on screen she wears little to no clothing and she also supplies a fair portion of the hardcore scenes. And when I say hardcore I mean it. The X-rated version has plenty of up close and personal penetration shots, masturbation and fellatio. They are more explicit than a movie like THEY CALL HER ONE EYE but somehow slightly less jarring which is probably due to their context (all of the hardcore scenes in ONE EYE are basically rape).

The possessed girl Bimba (Katell Laennec in her one and only film role ever) wanders around throughout the film either spying on people mid-coitus, seducing people (both male and female) and pleasuring herself with various plush toys. She is also involved in an incestuous death-by-fellatio scene (yes you read that correctly) which is equal parts disturbing and hilarious.

Throughout the movie Bimba's family obviously notice her bizarre behaviour but put it down to some sort of odd teen phase. I'll bet good ol' Dad realizes that it's not just a 'phase' when his daughter French kisses him and grabs his crotch though.

So there you have it. MALABIMBA is a cheap EXORCIST ripoff albeit a super sexy and sleazy version. If you're into Eurosleaze, sexploitation or just want to see some hardcore sex while without feeling guilty because you're not 'technically' watching porn, then MALABIMBA is for you. But if you hear the word 'possession' and expect a horror film you will be sorely disappointed. It is surprisingly a decent film though with an ending that wraps things up nicely and although there's nothing you could call a standout performance, Laennec gives a nice performance as the possessed and sexually charged Bimba.