Sunday, July 10, 2011

NaschyCast #18 - THE PEOPLE WHO OWN THE DARK (1976)


NaschyCast 18 is coming right at ya! We dip into director Leon Klimovsky’s work again for this very good film that just seems to get better with the passage of time. A strong story is ably assisted by a strong cast including Alberto de Mendoza, Antonio Mayans, Maria Perschy and the luminous Julia Saly. Also in the film as our ‘Final Girl’ is Nadiuska who exudes sexuality and went on to play Conan’s doomed mother in John Milius’ CONAN THE BARBARIAN. I meant to bring that up in the podcast and completely forgot! Our man Naschy plays criminal businessman, gun runner, drug trafficker and all around jerk Borne/Bruno/Warner or whatever his character is called in whichever version of the film you see. Even as a member of a talented ensemble he stands out and, one could argue, comes off as a better actor than in some movies he scripted himself.

Troy and I ruminate on possible Drive-In co-features, the wisdom of overdressing for the apocalypse, living through the Cold War, rooting for unlikable characters, the history of the phone as a communication device, black & white giant ants and the satisfaction of a non-happy ending. If we ever had doubts about covering this film they were quickly dismissed when we were able to compare the shorter English language version with the longer Spanish cut. We both feel the extra scenes strengthen an already good movie and are curious to hear what others think on the subject. To weigh in drop us a note at naschycast@gmail.com or pin a message to the NaschyCast Facebook page.


Hey! We've been doing this for a year and a half now! Wow.

NaschyCast #18

2 comments:

Angel said...

Loved this NaschyCast! Where can I locate a copy of the Spanish cut?

Rod Barnett said...

Online is about the only place I can imagine finding a copy of this one. Try the 'special antenna' method if you know what I mean.