Ratu ilmu hitam aka Queen of the Black Magic - Liliek Sudjio - (1979)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078871/ 

Plot by Imdb: " A woman is seduced by and cast aside by a fickle lover. When the lover marries another woman who starts hallucinating during their wedding, she is accused of being a witch and thrown to her death over a cliff. A strange man rescues her, nurses her back to health, and is told that she must master black magic in order to exact vengeance on her tormentors. She casts a variety of spells over the populace--with the male population as her favorite target, and becomes the queen of black magic. But who, exactly, is the man, and does he have other plans?"

A classic ! Featuring Suzzanna, a great icon of Indonesian cinema in the 70's / 80's. This very classical tale of revenge is redeemed by a very good photography and average acting. The "curses" are imaginative as hell and even gruesome. Eh, it's dark magic or what ? Snakes, night incantations, magic potions made with creepy creatures, ecstatic trances, the all decorum of black magic is used and used well. Some scene are almost classics, like the "flying head" or the "birth of snakes"...

The oddness of the "magical" culture of Indonesia makes it even stranger for westerner and add a nice "surreal" element to this classic Indonesian horror movie.Watch it if you don't want to be cursed and die a hideous death !

Trailer

Ôgon Batto aka The Golden Bat - Hajime Sato - (1966)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167320/ 

Plot :" Dr Yamatone and his crew have built a super laser gun, to destroy the planet Icarus that threatens to collide with the Earth. Icarus orbit had been changed by Dr Erich Nazo (not kidding), a vilain from outer space who wants to conquer our galaxy. After one entire research crew disappear without traces, Dr yamatone and another crew go to the island of Atlantis (!!) to find the raw material they need to power their super laser gun. Attacked by the Evil Dr Nazo, they have to hide in a temple, where they find Ôgon Batto in a ornate Egyptian (!!!) sarcophagus. Finally awake, Ogon Battu vows to help them destroy the Evil Dr.Nazo..."

From the director of masterpiece horror "Goke, Bodysnatcher from Hell", came this comic book movie adaptation, with a bearded Sonny Chiba playing the leading part.

Ôgon Batto is supposedly the first Japanese superhero, having being created in 1930 by writer Ichiro Suzuki and illustrator Takeo Nagamatsu and maybe the first superhero ever (Superman was created in 1938).  This would be very cool. This would mean the first superhero ever had a skeleton head, witch, strangely, makes me incredibly happy. Of course, his...hum...special appearance didn't made him as popular as a few others that followed: Ultraman, Kamen Rider, etc...But thanks to this film, a nice reminder of the ancient glory of the golden bat surfaced and boy...is it a ride !

Old-school cheesy Sci-Fi mixed with Tokusatsu Eiga (costumed superheroes) and a bit of adventurous silliness, this movie looks like the 60's version of Star Wars. Only with a skeleton head, bat caped golden superhero... The plot is risible and the characters are just over the top, but there is a strange guilty pleasure to watch this Tokusatsu piece unfolding. Is it the crazyness of it all or the cheesy fx ? Is it the incredibly ridiculous main song ? Or is it just that watching this, we go back in time and become kids again. I don't know but  it's got everything one should look for in an deviant entertainment (ok, except sex, you perverts !). 

Highly recommendable piece of madness, I enjoyed tremendously this feature and laught my ass off a few time as it went even behond my wildest expectation in the "no fucking way" area.

Is it a plastic spacecraft ? Is it a monster from another galaxy in a fluffy costume ?

No, it's Golden Bat with his magic cane and his unlimited powers ! 

PS: An animated series of 52 episodes was made in the 60's. Haven't seen it. Probably won't as I am disturbed enough.

Theatrical Trailer:

Indagine su un cittadino al di sopra di ogni sospetto aka Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion - Elio Petri - Italia - (1970)

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065889/ 

Plot from Imdb: "A chief of detectives, homicide section, kills his mistress and deliberately leaves clues to prove his own responsibility for the crime."

Beware: Masterpiece !!! 

Can you get away with murder because you're one of the main piece of the repression system ?

Elio Petri is a very political director but I think this one goes way beyond his left-wind view of society. It's universal and apolitical. This movie describes the incestious relationship between the people supposed to enforce the law and the politics of State. The relation between what is supposedly politic crime and average crime is blurred and open the door to any abuse from the state. Very daring and demonstrative movie, it's point stays true until today: if the average citizen is not controlling the work of some state branches, like police, justice and/or army, the State can become a fascist state. 

Elio Petri is also a great director, so the movie is never boring, nor dull. The style of this one could be related to the Giallo but it 's not strictly one. The other aspect are really well done and stylish: the framing, the editing  witch incorporate lots of flashbacks from the love affair between the murderer/cop and his victim. Ennio Morricone's soundtrack is, again, a masterpiece and I'm surprised this tune is not more well known. The interpretation is great and Gian Maria Volonte is giving the performance of his life, as the psychotic Chief of homicide. Another must-see and a great reminder that, if we let's our guard down as citizens, the worst can happen, as the system can be corrupt at any time and turn against us. This movie is in my all-time top 10.

Extract "Repression is civilization" with English subtitles:

Amazing soundtrack main theme by Ennio Morricone: