5. Baba Yaga, Devil Witch (1973)
A film that was chopped up, mucked about and largely forgotten until our good friends at Shameless restored it to its original form, Baba Yaga is a 1970s curio, based on the adult cartoon strip of the same name. The film looks awesome and is true to its comic book roots. It basically follows a photographer who falls under the spell of a witch. The witch uses her to play out lesbian sadomasochistic games with a doll that comes to life dressed in bondage gear. Sounds weird? I guess it is a bit but Italy has always had more of a taste of the fantastique than us Brits. While we were churning out social realism kitchen sink dramas in the 1960s and 1970s (I'm not bitching about these films - I love them - thank you Lord Ken Loach), the Italians were producing filth and thank God for that! Baba Yaga is not a well liked movie but I enjoyed it. A curio to be seen by the discerning.
4. Night Train Murders (1975)
An Italian rip off of Last House on the Left, the director Aldo Lado came up with the 'genius' idea of setting this piece of filth on a train. Two young girls, bound from Germany to Italy, are terrorised by a pair of egregious ne'er do wells and a weird posh nympho woman. I didn't find this film to have the same juggernaut assault on the senses as Last House but it is nonetheless unpleasant. In particular, a scene where the rapist cannot penetrate one of the girl's hymens and the posh bitch shoves a knife up the girl's cha cha and she bleeds to death. The film has the same revenge dynamics as Last House and you will be cheering as the baddies get their comeuppance. It's not a bad little horror film. The corruption of the posh nympho bitch is an interesting concept and the actress who plays her - Macha Meril - plays the part beautifully. That is where the real interest in the film lies.
3. Cannibal Holocaust (1980)
No Eurotrash list would be complete without the inclusion of Cannibal Holocaust. Banned in 40 countries! The self billed most controversial film ever made, few films have been as reviled, as revered, as discussed and debated as old Cannibal Holocaust. A New York professor travels to the Amazon to pick up camera footage taken by a lost film crew. What he finds on the footage shocks and appalls. Cannibal Holocaust is a litany of cruel acts and deeds - animal snuff, rape by stone dildo, foetus ripped out of stomach, torching of huts, rape etc. etc. we know them off by heart. What stands above the depravity and man's inhumanity to man is Riz Ortolani's beautiful score and the lush cinematography. The film is dreadfully compelling and hard to take your eyes away from. Personally I value (I couldn't say enjoy) Cannibal Holocaust but it is a film that polarises people in the extreme.
2. Mondo Cane (1962)
Directed by Jacopetti and Prosperi - the Godfathers of Mondo - this is the original shockumentary that was the progenitor of them all. It shows the human race at its most depraved and base natured, featuring stock footage of animal cruelty and bizarre rituals. Laughably innocent now compared to the likes of its bastard progeny Traces of Death, Mondo Cane shocked audiences all over the world in the early 1960s and plenty of bums were put on seats in order to watch the spectacle unfold. The narration is condescending and I have a feeling some scenes may have been tinkered with for effect but Mondo Cane is worth watching for the Riz Ortolani scored theme tune - "More" alone. Jacopetti and Prosperi would go on to produce the considerably more lurid and nastier Addio Zio Tom and Africa Addio - but that's a different story.