ANDY WARHOL PRESENTS…
Looks a scream
RELEASED OUT NOW! 1973/1974 | 18 | Blu-ray
Director Paul Morrissey
Cast Udo Kier, Joe Dallesandro,
Arno Juerging, Monique van Vooren
These perverse riffs on gothic were marketed using Andy Warhol’s name, but are very much Paul Morrissey films. Shot back to back in Italy, both have an improvised feel, with the director reportedly devising scenes on his morning drive. In Flesh For Frankenstein
Udo Kier’s Baron plans to create a race that will obey him, building both male and female creatures; meanwhile, his wife is entertained by Joe Dallesandro’s studly farmhand. It was shot in 3D: cue guts (and Joe’s arse) being thrust in the viewer’s face. Provocation is a major part of the film’s appeal; in one scene the Baron sexually satisfies himself using an abdominal cavity. You can’t picture Peter Cushing trying that, can you?
In Blood For Dracula
, the Count (Kier again) visits Italy to find a virgin “bride”, and is taken in by an aristocratic family. It’s a morbidly humorous take on the vampire – a feeble, fussy figure, at one point reduced to licking vaginal blood from the floor. There’s little plot – the Count just hits on one daughter after another, none as pure as they claim... Viewers must also negotiate an array of accents: not just Dallesandro’s Brooklyn and Kier’s German, but Italian and French. Still, the main location, a 17th century villa, is a stunning backdrop, and the gloomy, romantic score is quite beautiful.
Extras Bonuses stem from the US Severin and Vinegar Syndrome releases of 2021 (oddly, anything with Morrissey is AWOL). Both have analysis by writer Stephen Thrower and interviews with the art director and AD; the latter reveals that they nicknamed Dallessandro “Big Dick”! Flesh
adds commentary by a trio of podcasters, and four more interviews. Blood likewise adds another four; the composer playing his theme on the piano is a highlight. Ian Berriman
Composer Claudio Gizzi recalls Warhol being present at production meetings, but can’t remember him ever saying a word.