BOMBER & PAGANINI (1976) - uniquely black comedy

BOMBER & PAGANINI
(1976, West Germany)

Why do films become obscure?
Britain's BBC2 used to run interesting European films in late night slots in the 1970's and 1980's, some of which I'd like to see again. This one in particular caught my eye because of its bleak, black humour and huge dollops of irony. While I'm trying to limit Black Hole reviews to recommendations of must-see films, this is more of a simple acknowledgment of a good film that's become obscure (outside it's own country). Maybe this will help someone out there troubled by their own vague memories of thirty years ago.


It also makes me wonder where these films go, why do they become obscure, or even completely disappear? Black & white films and silent movies are rarer on TV than they used to be. These now have to be actively hunted down rather than discovered by channel-hopping. I've learnt that films can suddenly become hard to see. 'Obscure film heaven' is a dusty shelf somewhere...


Anyhow, wanting to see this particular vague memory again wasn't so easy - I couldn't remember it's name or even the country where it was made. For years, I've been searching for a Polish film about a guy in a wheelchair and a blind guy playing football - only recently I found out it was German, out on DVD, and had nothing to do with football! I saw it on a black-and-white TV, so I was surprised that it was actuall shot in colour. The DVD has no English translation, but I couldn't wait any longer.


The set-up is simple: Bomber and Paganini are two inept crooks who attempt a jewel heist by cracking a safe. But stupidity and acetylene torches don't mix - Bomber winds up blinded, and Paganini loses the use of his legs. After a lengthy stay in the prison hospital, they reluctantly team up again, out of necessity. Paganini can see for both of them and needs Bomber to push his wheelchair. But while inside, they've been usurped from their sleazy nightclub headquarters, their only remaining allies are a few prostitutes they used to pimp, and Bomber's mother. This all may sound a bit Farrelly Brothers, but while the characters are slightly stylised, it still feels grubbily real.


The hapless duo initially struggle to make any sort of money, resorting to ridiculous penny-pinching schemes. The film meanders through several random escapades before eventually focussing again on a grand scheme for them to regain all that they've lost, and revenge themselves.


While it's full of wry observational humour, it doesn't get tempted by any slapstick humour for easy laughs. There's some great moments of physical comedy, but their disabilities are believably portrayed, particularly Paganini struggling along without the use of both legs and one arm, shrunken dejectedly into his wheelchair, partly lost inside a huge coat. He somewhat resembles a weaselly version of Robert Carlyle. Bomber reminded me more of an oafish Jean Reno (perhaps it was his Leon glasses).


The two actors also appear to perform most of their own stunts, which involve a variety of high-speed wheelchair crashes. Both actors are still working today - you may even have seen Bomber (Mario Adorf) as 'Consalvi' in Dario Argento's, The Bird With The Crystal Plumage (1970), and glimpsed Paganini (Tilo Prückner) as 'Night Hob' in The Neverending Story (1984), also shot in Germany. They're supported by an wide cast of character actors as the other slightly surreal low lifes.


Much of the film appears grittily real because of the large amount of outdoor and location filming, though it's all impeccably photographed and subtly well lit. The DVD certainly doesn't make the film look its age.


Bizarrely this German DVD (available here) includes a rambling trailer that's dubbed into English, though there are no subtitles or dub on the main feature. While this indicates it must have had an English release (somewhere), the only non-Germans with love for this seem to be those who also saw it TV in the UK.


There are a few more black and white photos from the film on the Crazy Media site - click on the small thumbnail at top right, labelled 'Screenshots'.

On location: DAWN OF THE DEAD (1978) - picture heavy

I enjoy visiting shooting locations from my favourite films, and I also enjoy shopping more than I should. Here was a chance to do both at the same time - looking around the shopping mall where half of George Romero's Dawn of the Dead was shot thirty years ago.

When I first saw the film in 1980, shopping malls were pretty new - I'd not even seen any in the UK. The concept of having everything under one roof was interesting, but using a mall as a post-apocalyptic hideout really impressed me. It seemed more of a fantasy than a nightmare (once all the zombies had been cleared out, that is).

Today the Monroeville Mall, a few miles east of Pittsburgh, can still be explored following the action in the film. The lack of windows obviously made night shoots easy - all they had to do was avoid shooting the high skylights.

All the stores except J.C. Penney have now changed hands. But luckily, Penney's is the main store featured in the film - the escalators, the inside aisles and the main interior doors were all featured.

Despite the decorating changes to the floors and balconies, the ‘psychological’ layout of the building remains. Physical layout is often cheated in movies, with additional sets and editing that alter the spatial relationships. The story usually inhabits a space that never existed. For example, the Psycho house is a fascinating building that never existed as you see it. The layout is well-known - from Norman Bates' attic room down to the apple cellar - but it could never actually be explored the way the characters do.

The mall is still popular, there's a couple of empty units but it's still very full, and is surrounded by other stores round the perimeter of the car park.

The layout stretches east-west, with three huge department stores accessible from the west (Boscov's), east (Macy's) and south (Penney's). The central north entrance is now at the bottom of a street between two new buildings, collectively known as The District. One side is restaurants, the other is a large Barnes & Noble bookstore.


This north entrance used to lead into the ice rink, instead it now leads to the food court.

The mall has two levels, with three atriums each with two escalators. It's easy to tell the atriums apart because the escalators are laid out differently in each one.

These look like the old lights, but there aren't many left.

Macy's dominates the east end of the mall.

View from the south side.

Ths is the bus stop, at the south side of the mall.

These trucks outside the back of Macy's reminded me of the lockdown scene.


This new lift is in the food court, where the ice rink used to be.


Just inside the remodelled north entrance is the only bank.

Just keep repeating, "It's only a mall, it's only a mall..."

This reminded me of the final shot in the film.

This is looking out of the lower level at the bus stop - the view is crying out for a large zombie, dressed only in his shorts.

The Boscov atrium, where the fountain used to stand. This was also the end where the clock tower was.

The escalators were positioned over to one side to make room for where the fountain was. The trampoline rig was cleared to make space for the special screening of Dawn of the Dead inside the mall.

The passage to the hideout is on the upper level.

Along the passage today is a nursery, rest rooms, and your chance to sign up! You can see the fire exit at the end.


The view out from the passage.

The central atrium (looking south).

Central atrium (looking east), JC Penney is off to the right.

The escalator slide in Penney's.

The only elevator I could find in Penney's - on the second level...

...and on the first level.

The big fountain has gone, but this pond and bridge remain.

Looking west, towards where the clock tower stood.

A security guard who has worked here since the film was shot, told me that this unit, at the west end of the second level, was the gun store in the movie.

The Macy's atrium now has a Mr Roger's Neighbourhood!

Some of the less busy entrances are rather scary.

Even more atmospheric at night... (I was in there for the Dawn of the Dead screening, not looting)

A gallery of old publicity posters in the lower level passage included this blaster from the past...

Yes, this is my idea of a holiday.


Dusk of the Dead

I visited Monroeville Mall while at the Pittsburgh Horrorhound Convention, where I met actors from Day of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead and Zombie Flesh Eaters... my coverage of the convention is here.

At the convention I saw an early cut of Paul Davis' documentary Beware The Moon: Remembering An American Werewolf in London. My review of that event, attended by David Naughton and John Landis can be found here.

ANATOMIE 2 (2003) - thrills but no chills

ANATOMY 2
(2003, Germany, Anatomie 2)

A new way to build muscles...

Anatomy (2000) was a stylish and unusual thriller. Stefan Ruzowitzky returned to direct this sequel, approaching the central premise of the first film from the other direction, rather than repeat himself. Instead of Heidelberg, we’re in a huge hospital in Berlin, here a young doctor is invited to join the inner circle of renegade surgeons.

The members of this secret society are experimenting on themselves with synthetic implants as well as performance-enhancing drugs. But it's not for the sake of life-saving advances in medicine, but to score academic prizes and lucrative drug patents. Also using methods completely against their codes of ethics, the foundations of their professions and the law. None of them can afford to get caught.

We follow the intern, Dr Hauser (Barnaby Metschurat), as he leaves his wheelchair-bound brother, who’s suffering from a muscular wasting disease, to go and work in the capital city. There's a cleverly edited montage as he starts his gruelling shift work in the casualty department.

But when he bends the rules to save the life of a little girl, he attracts the attention of the renegade researchers who think he might want to join their secret clique. The initiation test involves an overly thorough examination from Viktoria, in an echo of the bizarre sex scene in Anatomie.

The surgeons have used implants to enable each member of their inner circle to achieve different feats, while Viktoria excels at cocktails of medication to support the group’s various enhancements. They persuade Hauser to try implants for himself and his legs are tuned up - very useful when he's playing soccer. But while artificial super-powers are very seductive, it’s not a good idea if anyone changes their mind and wants out, and that's not the only catch...


Plotwise, this branch of the secret society was pretty slack in its methods and forever dangerously close to keeping its secrecy. No wonder Franka Potente (in a cameo role) wasn’t on their heels sooner.

It's an inventive story, but too unlike the first, making it a thriller with a little gore, less horror and less sex. Though there’s curiously still plenty of man-flesh on display. It’s fun while it lasts, but runs out of surprises by the end.

Anatomy 2 is on DVD in the US and UK from Columbie Tristar.

HorrorHound Weekend: Pittsburgh - convention report

The HorrorHound Movie Convention
20th - 22nd June 2008

Return of the zombies to the shopping mall

It's a long way to Pittsburgh from anywhere, especially from England, but because of the zombie theme and being only a few hundred yards away from the original Dawn of the Dead shopping mall, I simply had to go to this particular horrorcon.




Only a few hundred yards across the parking lot from the Monroeville Mall, the convention took place inside the Expo Mart for a three day event.

The guests included actors, directors and make-up artists from famous horror films, as well as artists like Joel Robinson who provided the awesome poster art for the event (pictured at the top).

Besides the main room which housed the vendors and the guests' signing tables, there were special screenings in a nearby hall. Friday there was a special American Werewolf In London (1981) evening starting with the film itself. This was followed by a Q & A session with the director John Landis and the star David Naughton, together with Paul Davis who's just finishing work on his documentary about the film, called Beware the Moon.

He had first been impressed by American Werewolf when he saw it on VHS at the age of three! Two years ago, exasperated by the lack of extras on the DVD release, he set out to interview everyone connected with the project. John Landis observed that the project was potentially doomed unless he'd first cleared up the rights issues (which has since been sorted out). Other independent documentaries are currently in limbo because of this issue. For example, Landis had seen and enjoyed Spine Tingler, all about the director William Castle, but predicted it will only be seen at conventions unless about $4 million can be found to sort out licensing issues!

Paul Davis then presented what he called a 'director's cut', an extended 105 minute work-in-progress version. Of course, the fan in him wants it to be longer, but Landis is advising a shorter cut. Only one shall win! Beware the Moon will officially be completed in Los Angeles later in the year. It's an enjoyable look at a great film, full of surprising and interesting behind-the-scenes stories told by some great raconteurs. There are clips posted at their MySpace page. I'll review it properly shortly.

John Amplas and me

Pittsburgh is of course where George Romero shoots most of his films, and many of his cast and crew still live in the area. Besides a sprinkling of zombies from Dawn of the Dead (1978), actor John Amplas was there all weekend. I especially liked his character in Day of the Dead (1985) and it was a pleasure to talk to him at this his first convention appearance. Amplas appeared in many other Romero films, notably as the title character of the modern-day vampire film Martin (1977), but nowadays he teaches acting at a Pittsburgh university.

Al Cliver, me, and Ottaviano Dell'Acqua (wormeye!)

It wasn't all about American horror films - I also met a zombie and a zombie-slayer a long way from their homeland of Italy. Al Cliver and Ottaviano Dell'Acqua both appeared in the awesome Zombie Flesh Eaters (1979). Cliver, who sported a beard in his Lucio Fulci films back then, is now clean-shaven and speaks pretty good English, thanks to his American wife. Of course, I'm used to him being dubbed into English!

Far less recognisable was the poster zombie from the film, the fearsome worm-eyed creature who still ranks as the most nightmarish undead ever. In real life, he's a good-looking Italian stuntman who appeared with his five brothers as various zombies in the film (he no longer remembers which others he played). Ottaviano is now a major stunt coordinator in Italy and was working on the new James Bond film Quantum of Solace earlier this year.

The two performers were being looked after by Mike Baronas, who has put together many of the excellent documentaries on the DVD releases of Lucio Fulci's horror films. He has his own DVD out now called Paura - Lucio Fulci Remembered: Volume 1. Again, I'll be reviewing it soon.

Me and ex-zombie Lenny Lies.
Who knew a machete in the head could bring such fame?

Saturday saw Griffin Dunne join David Naughton and John Landis to sign autographs all day. Out of the blue I mentioned to Naughton that I'd met the Ladies of The Evil Dead at a convention and he said he'd just made a movie with them - Brutal Massacre, a horror comedy. I also talked to Paul Davis and discovered that he only lives a few miles away from me in south London.

In the screening room, Doug Bradley, better known for playing the fearsome cenobite Pinhead in the Hellraiser series, presented the first completed episode of Spine Chillers, a successful attempt to bring the words of famous horror literature to life. In the first episode, Bradley reads H.P. Lovecraft's The Outsider, while it's illustrated by layers of impressionistic and evocative artwork. The effect was to bring the story to life without discarding the original text, like most screen adaptions do. A clip from The Outsider is online and Bradley hopes to tackle The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe next. He's also thinking of getting horror celebrity narrators to work on episodes in this proposed series - but I thought he was already perfect for the job.

Tom Savini (left) and Fluffy

Tom Savini then appeared cracking his bullwhip, VERY LOUDLY. He also brought along the animatronic head of 'Fluffy' (the monster in the crate from George Romero's Creepshow) newly restored by Greg Nicotero. Savini talked about how his gory make-up effects for Friday the 13th and Dawn of the Dead led to a decade of fabricating similar effects for splatter and slasher films. But nowadays he only consults on special effects work, concentrating instead on acting and directing - he talked about his appearances in From Dusk Till Dawn and the forthcoming The Lost Boys 2. I particularly like his remake of Night of the Living Dead (1990), which he didn't enjoy directing at the time, but has recently rewatched and thinks better of it.



Later on was the much-anticipated screening of Dawn of the Dead at the nearby Monroeville Mall where much of the film was shot. Hundreds turned up to the event, some dressed up as zombies. Some of the original zombie cast spoke beforehand, including Mike Christopher (the Hare Krishna zombie), Clayton Hill (the sweater zombie), Sharon Hill (the nurse zombie), and the very tall Jim Krut (no wonder he lost his head to the helicopter blades).

The charity screening was held inside, at one end of the mall where the big circular fountain used to stand. There were complaints about the fuzzy sound system and the projected picture couldn't always compete with the mall lights, which were supposed to have been dimmed. But it was still a first-time event that nearly didn't happen at all, so I was thankful to have been there. It was a treat to hear 'The Gonk' muzak being played inside the mall, and a great opportunity to do a live side-by-side comparison of how the mall has changed in thirty years.

Further photos from the weekend events can be seen on the HorrorHound website and their MySpace page.

I'll soon review the documentary Beware The Moon - Remembering An American Werewolf in London at length, and will also post my own location tour of the mall.