IL PROFUMO DELLA SIGNORA IN NERO - Francesco Barilli - "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black" (1974)

 Lord Litter turned me on to tonight's Saturday Night Special, and I'll tell you the exact same thing I told him, Whatinthemotherfuckinsonofabitchinhell was that? Whoa!

"Il Profumo Della Signora In Nero" is one of THE weirdest movies I have seen lately, and I guess if I was a true researcher I would go and read what others might have to say as far as explaining a lot of it, but I don't really have time to do that, and besides, it's all just mush to me anyway! There is more than one kind of weird movie, and by weird I don't mean so cheap and stoopid that it's unwatchable, au contraire, this film is visually stunning, intriguing, and intelligent! I just didn't know what the Hell was going on most of the time, but it was still very interesting to watch! It poses many unanswered questions, and it's a freak fest!

Mimsy Farmer is Silvia Hacherman! Sylvia is a very complicated character, in fact I'm not really sure if she is a character in this film, but more of a metaphor for all kinds of things instead!

 This is the odd place that Silvia works. The movie starts off innocent enough, but then they throw everything out the window, or literally over the edge along with Silvia's Mother!

Silvia's friends and her lover are all very strange! You never know what's going on, but you know something ain't right, especially when they are not around her! There's something going on for sure!

 Silvia's boyfriend has a very cool blue Volkswagen convertible, and as you can see, most of the time the surroundings are very opulent!!

 This is Silvia's weird nightstand with a Mickey Mouse alarm clock, and a little ugly figurine that seems very important to her for some reason that will never be revealed!

Unusual people are watching Silvia, and you don't know why, or what their connection is to the other weird people she's surrounded by!

Mimsy is truly great through the whole mess! Silvia's life is a tangle of reality, bad dreams, morose memories, guilt, and fear!

Here are just a couple of random shots to show you all the amazing attention paid to details in this film! Visual details that is, not story line details!

Once the weird ball gets rolling, it just keeps picking up speed, and it's all headed straight downhill for Silvia!

Silvia's Mother is either a whore, or just has extremely bad taste in men! As a little girl, Silvia caught them in the act, and stabbed this dude in the face near his eye, and it's a very haunting memory for Silvia!

One thing that isn't weird is Silvia's cool record player!

Silvia's seemingly rather droll but kind neighbor is anything but that description, and is really a super weirdo! The neighbor was played by Mario Scaccia.

This is Silvia's neighbor Francesca, and even though you can't really tell by this shot, she actually isn't that weird! Francesca was played by Donna Jordan in the last of her two title credits. This movie might have done it!

Why are these varied people with nothing in common, all dressed up in lab coats and walking into this weird tunnel??

Then this super freaky little girl shows up? Is she real? Is she a hallucination? Is she Silvia as a little girl, a dream, a weird imaginary friend? Good luck!! The little girl was played by Lara (Ghosthouse) Wendel!

 Mimsy Farmer's performance here is every bit as good as Audrey Hepburn's in "Wait Until Dark!" 

"Il Profumo Della Signora In Nero" is the first full length movie directed by Francesco Barilli, who also has a sister who is a costume designer named Eveline, a great Uncle Bruno who is an actor, a first cousin once removed named Cecrope who is an actor, and a second cousin named Carlotta who is an actress! It's a movie kind of family!
I will not disclose the end of this movie even if it was freakin' 43 years ago. Some things you just need to find out on your own, so here you go!
Knock Yourself Out!!

DEVIL's ANGELS - Roger Corman Presents: (1967)

Welcome to Wide Open Throttle Wednesday, and tonight's feature film, "Devil's Angels!" I'm sure Roger Corman gave a special big bonus to whoever came up with that title!

The music used in  "Devil's Angels" was composed by record producer and former Lt. Governor of California, Mike Curb! Mike wrote the music for a lot of biker movies including "The Wild Angels," "The Glory Stompers," "The Born Losers," and "The Savage Seven," but it somehow never affected his conservative electability! Strange bedfellows indeed! Any of the guitar driven parts of the music are by the always phenomenal Davie Allan and the Arrows!

This shot pretty much says it all, one quite large stinking rancid vat!

"Devil's Angels" is by far not my favourite biker movie, but it is an interesting period piece!

The casting director should have been put out of his misery for deciding to choose John Cassavetes for the role of the leader of the biker gang, "The Skulls!" As good as an actor as he was, John was born in New York City, and there's nothing about him that makes you feel like he might be the leader of a West Coast motorcycle gang!

Nuthin' but pure unadulterated style! I'd be shocked if Coors Beer didn't pay for product placement, but then again, in California in 1967, it's probably what you would be drinking, either that or Olympia!

They look like a nice enough bunch of guys, maybe just a little misdirected!

Maurice McEndree had the role of the ridiculously dirty faced Joe the Mole!

Now this shot is a piece of work, to get that many bikes and people in one shot and still frame your subject is not a simple task, so kudos to cinematographer Richard Moore!

The gang is searching for a hole in the wall of happiness, but they're not exactly sure where they're going! The only real reason "Devil's Angels" is even a movie is because it was made as a follow-up to the successful "The Wild Angels," but that movie had Peter Fonda, Nancy Sinatra, Bruce Dern, and Michael J. Pollard in it, and it makes a big difference!

So where else would you look for a hole in the wall but smack dab in the middle of nowhere, and  a little burg called Brookville!

Brookville is celebrating their 27th Annual Picnic, and high up on the roster of things to do is go to the beauty contest!

Nobody's happy about a motorcycle gang showing up at this joyous event...............

....................But all the guys in the gang promise to be good!!!!

This is a great portrait of Sheriff Henderson as played by one of the hardest working men in show business, Mr. Leo Gordon! The Sheriff has agreed to let the bikers camp outside of town, as long as they don't cause any mischief! (Good luck with that one!)

New girl in town and beauty contest loser Marianne decides to take off with the cutest guy in the gang, thinking that he must be a nice guy!

Wrong! He's a biker, not Prince Charming! Stupid girl! They give her booze and pot and then after she's nice and comfortable with the whole thing, they decide to rape her!

In real life, Mimsy Farmer is a whole lot more interesting and intelligent than Marianne could ever dream of being! She was in The Outer Limits episode titled "Second Chance," and in the late 60's, she was in a greasy chain of youth in unrest flicks like"Hot Rods To Hell," "Riot On Sunset Strip," this movie, and "The Wild Racers," before traveling to Italy in the 70's and hooking up with Dario Argento and others in Giallo classics like "Four Flies On Grey Velvet" and "The Perfume Of The Lady In Black!" Although Mimsy's last acting role was in 1991, she still has Art Department credits in this decade as a sculptor for movies as diverse as "Charlie And The Chocolate Factory" and "Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides!" She even has more sculpting credits for a movie that is currently in production "Guardians of the Galaxy!" Needless to say, this is one talented lady, and she just had a birthday five days ago, so it's a little late, but Happy Birthday Mimsy!

As the gang rides off into the distance, I'll tell you that if you really want to see "Devil"s Angels," you can find it streaming on Netflix! End of story!

THE OUTER LIMITS / "Second Chance" Season 1 Episode 23 - 1964

Welp, I guess it's time to hit the Outer Limits Zone! In today's classic story, a carnival space ride becomes frighteningly real when a weird alien bird-man called an Empyrian secretly rigs it up with actual rockets. The alien carefully selects his unknowing crew of misfits including the carny ride captain who's a closet intellectual, an angry middle-aged man, and a star high school quarterback accompanied by his adoring buddy and his steady girl.

This one stars Simon (THE NIGHTSTALKER) Oakland as the Empyrian, Janet De Gore, Don Gordon, Yale Summers, Arnold Merritt, Mimsy Farmer, John McLiam and Angela Clarke.

Welcome to the Joyland carnival, it has everything a kid back then could want, rides, attractions, food, games, and even a ride into space!!.. We see the security cop making sure all the people are off the premises after closing. He goes inside the Space Ride for inspection and then mysteriously disappears... Forever!!

Okay, I showed this Tilt-A-Whirl for a reason, I hate this fucking ride!

Anyway, the Empyrian accosts a number of people with free tickets for the Space Ride...

But before the take off, the alien knocks out Dr. Crowell, the commander of the ride. Then the hostess, Mara Matthews, has to be restrained before he can proceed...

After the ship takes off, things get real for the passengers. The top pic speaks for itself! Tell 'em all about it, Eegah!!

Then, the realization sets in.. They... Are... In... Freakin'.. SPACE!!!

Buddy throws a tantrum where he attacks his best bud Tommy, then Tommy tells Buddy's girlfriend Denise that the quarterback cheated during the winning game. The alien then zaps Buddy a goodern!

Tommy totally flips out and ends up opening the airlocks, and gets sucked out into space!! A little shock to keep the hard core viewer satisfied.

So, the beans get spilled all over everything and it's revealed that the Empyrian is trying to prevent the Earth from being hit by an asteroid called Tythra. He had planned on attaining help from the earthlings on board, but it's decided that the unwilling passengers be taken back to Earth and be replaced by volunteers, which Dr. Crowell assures the alien, will be numerous! The viewer is left to believe that the problem will be solved by mutual help.

And, if you have any kids giving you trouble at home, you can get your very own Kid Zapper Medallion! - We're back on Wednesday with another Dungeon Delight, or something like that, just for you!