The Strangler of Syggrou aka O Stragalistis tis Sygrou 1989 Directed by Dimitris Tzelas
Syggrou Ave is a street located in Athens, Greece and if
you’re looking for a sleazy good time it’s the avenue you’ll want to hang out
at. The infamous street is filled with prostitutes, shady characters, and it’s
also quite well known as a spot where transvestites and transsexuals gather. So
pack your bags and bring the whole family cause were going to rock down to
Syggrou Ave.
Daytime view from a Hotel on Syggrou Ave.
The Strangler of Syggrou aka Angelos, The Strangler is
Greece’s answer to William Lustig’s classic Maniac. Filling the shoes of Joe
Spinell in the title role is Apostolos Souglakos, a famous Greek wrestler turned actor and singer.
Souglakos did have a couple high points in his career but this film isn’t one
of them. The film was a straight to video release filled with terrible performances,
stolen music, and a couple of porn inserts. Luckily, thanks to the awesome
people of the Internet world I got a copy with fan/subs because this movie is so far off the radar an English dub or any proper subtitles for distribution would seem very unlikely. (the
fan subs are good enough for me though) Not to mention it could never really
get a legit release in America because of copyright infringement, it steals all kinds of music! In one scene we hear Tina Turner's Simply the best and in another Vangelis's Blade Runner End Theme.
"I'm looking for Kim Cattrall."
The movie kicks off with Angelos (Souglakos) walking around the
city streets with Giorgio
Moroder’s music from Cat People playing. (Paul’s
Theme-Jogging Chase/track 6) Once the opening credits end and the music fades,
Angelos makes out with a hooker and then stranglers her. Wow! In five
minutes the movie has already lived up to its name.
"Ach! Ok I won't tell the public that you ripped off The Cat People soundtrack!"
Why does the strangler strangle? His wife Mary died from
some sort of heart disease and that was enough for him to snap. He makes
mannequins for a living and then makes one in his wife’s image. He keeps it in
his bed at all times. Mary, his now mannequin wife haunts him, tells him what to
do and belittles him. When he goes out and meets a lady, he faces the guilt of cheating
on his dead (but in his mind alive) wife and that causes him to strangle the unsuspecting women. If he does
strangle you and you’re a hot chick then he will also make a mannequin in your
image but he won’t put you in the bedroom, there is another place in the house for his growing collection of plastic ladies. Unlike the Joe Spinell character in
Maniac, this Greek’s got game, he spots a model in a department store so he puts a sticky note on the window with his digits and gets a call back immediately.
They connect on their first date, this is when we get to hear Tina Turner’s “Simply the Best” as it plays in
the background and with that kind of atmosphere she wants to have sex with him
immediately. Once alone at her place he
makes up an excuse not to do the deed, so that the urge of strangling her doesn’t temp him. She wants him so bad that she puts on a porno called Mondo New Wave Harlots, this is actually an insert and not the original intent of the director but it works for me! He cares about this new girl and this newly discovered woman of interest takes the place of the Caroline Monroe character from Maniac.
"Forget about the Greek Debt Crisis and lets party!"
The Greek Paul Blart: Gyro Cop
Jacopetti & Prosperi meet Russ Meyer
The movie jumps from one clumsy scene after another as cops
try to track this killer down. The investigation begins at the flower shop because all of his female victims are left with a single
rose on their body. His usual
hangout for abducting ladies is the local disco, The Barbarella Disco. The police captain’s daughter
almost gets picked up from the dance club right after doing the Lambada (this
movie was clearly trying to cash in on the Forbidden Dance craze of the 90s) and since she is
the only one who can ID him they use her as bait.
"I keep telling you Chee-Burger Chee-Burger, Pepsi, no Coke!"
"Maybe I should hide a little better."
The movie gives up on trying to create a relationship between
Angelos and the fake Caroline Monroe. In the 3rd act they are finally about to have
their first intimate moment but his penis doesn’t rise to the occasion, she sighs
in disappointment and he strangles her
in bed. No Big Fat Greek Wedding for them! In order to cope with his grief he
gets a prostitute and has a nice bath. This is my favorite scene, it features
the music of Do Piano and their song “Again”. (Thank you Shazam!) The song
reminds me of The Kids in the Hall sketch “Tammy” with Bruce McCullogh playing
the pop star. “Again” is an 80s synth song
with a monotone depressing rhyme scheme and it's very catchy one making it a true
guilty pleasure. I crank it up to ten in the car all the time! (Shhhh don’t
tell anyone) The happy hooker gets all nice and clean but of course strangled
and then there's a peeping tom who was the whore's last john that also gets strangled. After this, the big man goes out in drag to a different section of town strangling a dude, no
rose for him, how sexist!
The chief’s daughter spots Angelos at the disco and reconnects with him putting the trap in action. The cops follow them back to his place and he introduces the girl to Mary the
Mannequin wife. Mary yells at him for bringing back some slut to their home as he tries to rub it in her face and all
his mannequins laugh and torment him in this ridiculous but very entertaining finale.
"I'll use my back hair to make you three some wigs."
"You can't cock block me!"
IF YOU HAVE TO! 6/10 on the CULT-0-METER Stupid and Silly. If you love the original Maniac you will either hate this for trying to copy it or love it as a brainless tribute. I quite enjoyed the film but its not something I'll be itching to watch again anytime soon!
Starring: Giancarlo Giannini, Claudine Auger, Barbara Bouchet
Review by: "Machine Gun" Kristin
We meet again, Barbara Bach! I reviewed another film of hers here at TOG, "The Unseen" which you can read right HERE. I knew she looked familiar (she's very pretty, yet strange looking). I randomly chose "The Black Belly Of The Tarantula" because I know the Giallo (Italian for "yellow", referring to the covers of mystery/thriller books) genre can be sometimes tiresome to watch because there's so many, yet so few that are actually solid films. I think the other reviewers of TOG were a bit put off by Giallos in general because frankly, they're just not as much fun as Italian Horrors, even though both genres sometimes blend together simply because of their geographic origin. I think I unintentionally gave myself a spelling test with this particular film because I don't think I've "Tarantula" correctly on my own once while typing this out. haha
Giancarlo Giannini hugging a stray kitty
Here we have beautiful scenery, some good looking people, but mostly chase scenes and a disconnected plot line. I find films like this purely fun to watch since they're a great study in early 1970s European style, like a living breathing "Better Homes And Gardens" book from 1971. The hyper-sexualized soundtrack by Ennio Morricone makes the film seem more disturbing and sexual than it really is. It's more or less window-dressing.
Here's two examples of songs that includes lots of moaning as well!
"Black" is one of many Giallo mystery films, not so much horror since there's little gore and more thriller type scenes therein. Also, there are a bunch of these types of films that have much more interesting titles than the actual movies themselves that mostly include animals or insects. Similarly, Fulci's more successful Giallo, "Lizard In A Woman's Skin" uses this same device to give the film a more strange aura to it that may not have been so present in the first place. The visuals in that film are definitely more substantial though. In both "Lizard" and "Black", the title is referenced in only scene, as if it was completely an afterthought. In "Lizard" it's randomly spoken by Los Bravos lead singer, Mike Kennedy. Here, its used as a metaphor for the style of murders that keep occurring with a nasty battle between a wasp and a tarantula. I'd be hard pressed to believe that the title was not created before the film's first line of dialogue was even jotted down. I think if you asked the killer of this film about the tarantula theory, he'd probably disagree. DVD company, Blue Underground though says in their summary, that the killer is "injecting beautiful women with the poison of a rare wasp". I don't remember that at all.
weird "mannequin hands"
who's hands are who's?
This is just an okay movie, and I admit the second time I watched it, it was better. A young police detective (Giancarlo Giannini) is trying to figure out a suspect in a serial murder case. The victims are all young, beautiful women who are paralyzed by a large acupuncture needle, then disemboweled. The gore level here is low, but I definitely flinched at stabbing scenes of the needle held with gloved, mannequin like hands. That's always a horrifying scene for me personally in more extreme Italian horror; that otherworldly large floating appendage hacking away at some poor girl. The large hairy arm in "Suspiria", "House By The Cemetery" and "Tenebre" all have that similar killer's body off camera style that always creeps the hell out of me. The actual disemboweling here is a bit weak though, appearing more he's painted their stomachs instead of slicing into them.
I had a hard time figuring out who was who the first time I watched it because there's at least 3 women with red hair. It was a bit frustrating. Also the overabundance of young guys with blockheads and dark hair was a bit confusing. I'm guessing this helps aid the "surprise ending", but I spotted the killer pretty quickly although when they were revealed him, I wasn't sure if I had the right person. hahaha.
From L to R: The "friend" seemingly overdubbed by a gay man, the salon manager and the wife
This review contains tons of spoilers, so see the movie first before you read it!
"These Tourist Traps are all alike. They give you a big build up but when you get there its nothing but a roadside shack with a bunch of trinkets. "
"Tourist Trap" could have easily taken place in Florida (here its California), minus the mountains of course. There's always long gone roadside attractions that once flourished, but now lie in ruins with its remnants fading in the unbearable sunlight. The loss of a family owned business is devastating (especially in the today's economic climate) to say the least. Sometimes you wonder whatever became of places like this film's Slausen's Island Oasis and especially the harsh effect on the mind of its owners. "Tourist Trap" darkly explores what can happen when a new highway is built and leaves the past's nearby tenants in the dust.
It's super hot and sticky outside, so a group of friends on a road trip stop by Slausen's (Chuck Conner) after their car suddenly stops working. They (including Bond Girl and Donna's hot mom in "That's 70's Show, Tanya Roberts) take a look around Slausen's, while he lures them further in the property away from the road with his seemingly kind demeanor. I mean, an overall wearing Larry Hagman in "Dallas" look-a-like can't be too threatening right? "Innocent", white dress wearing Molly (Jocelyn Jones) seems to buy his act the most.
We quickly find out the results of exploring an unknown house lined with dozens of lifelike mannequins. Their eyes move and they occasionally wail horribly in a way that my husband Jeffrey said sounded like a Daisy Chainsaw song. Be sure to look out the killer's mask that looks like a cross between Elvis and Leatherface. I was a little confused about all the mannequin's state of mind (of there lack of) because they're defending Slausen, even though he's the one that made them who they now are. I'll try not to give away too much more.
This movie is very creepy, but also has a comedic undertone to it. Even MST3K alums, "Rifftrax" have their own play along recording that you can check out here.
