PAUL NASCHY COLLECTION

THE PAUL NASCHY COLLECTION: In a Halloween season curiously bereft of Euro-cult titles, BCI’s Paul Naschy Collection may be the best box set out there! Featuring five titles from Naschy’s hefty supply of ‘70s exploitation shockers, these all feature the actor sans fur (unless you count facial hair) in roles outside of his most popular creation, the werewolf Waldemar Daninsky. In Horror Rises from the Tomb he plays dual roles as the reincarnated warlock Alaric de Marnac as well as the modern naïve ancestor who awakens him. Vengeance of the Zombies deliver “three-times the Naschy” as a Hindu spiritualist, his voodoo abusing brother, and Satan himself. Blue Eyes of the Broken Doll is a well-done Argento knock off retitled House of Psychotic Women for the American market. Exorcism jumps on the William Peter Blatty bandwagon (although Naschy claims he wrote it three years earlier) but manages to differentiate itself without resorting to pea soup. And finally , fast-forwarding to the ‘80s, Human Beasts finds Naschy in his comfortable criminal-on-the-run character stumbling upon a house of dangerous eccentrics. Dubbed “the Spanish Lon Chaney,” Naschy’s films aren’t easy to swallow despite the common Euro-cult ingredients of excessive sex and violence. But curious initiates will find themselves getting into the actor’s rhythm very quickly; a blend of macho posturing and on-the-cheap gothic scares. Most of the gore is of the dime store variety, but these uncut special editions include several scenes of seat-squirming animal cruelty and generous amounts of female skin that haven’t been seen since the initial release. BCI’s transfers are eye-popping in clarity and each disc sports a number of exclusive extras like commentaries, still galleries and indispensable liner notes that put each film in perspective.