In Film We Trust

There's maybe no more maligned genre in horror - or even cinema itself - than the cannibal film that rose to prominence in 1970s Italy, most popularly exemplified by Ruggero Deodato's infamous Cannibal Holocaust. But right there in the mix, and arguably the genre's founder, was Umberto Lenzi with 1972's The Man From Deep River.
Lenzi would have a contentious relationship with the genre - both hating it, but being brought back into the fold with 1980's Eaten Alive, due to financial incentives. . It's this film that my guest Eugenio Ercolani - film historian and writer/editor of this years definitive dive into genre, Cannibal Worlds - and I, use as the catalyst to discuss not only the titled film of this episode, but the culture that gave birth to this most blackened genre and the state of Italian cinema in the 1970s - a landscape that caused the likes of Lenzi to return to a genre he despised.
So stay tuned, and get your notepad ready, as Eugenio gives In Film We Trust a thorough tour of the genre cinema of mid-late 20th century Italy.
you can find Eugenio on Instagram @Ercolanieugenio
Artwork for this episode by Chris Babalis. You can find his graphic work on Instagram @chriswitchystuff

Film historian and writer Suzanne Boleyn joins the show this week to discuss Belgian director Harry Kumel's 1971 vampire film Daughters of Darkness.
Suzanne is not only a fan of this film that explores sexuality, gender politics and possibly even fascism, she also contributed an essay for Radiance's brilliant set where she dived into the symbolism that exists in this work and what it actually means.
Which is a huge bonus for this episode, as Daughters of Darkness is ripe for analysis and a plethora of interpretations due to its relative opaqueness and symbolism that exists in almost every frame.

Dan Franklin is a music writer and author of the, thus far, definitive biography of UK doom band Electric Wizard, 'Come My Fanatics: A Journey Into The World of Electric Wizard', which contextualises the band, and their artistic realm, with the influences that informed who they are.
And one of those films that made a huge impact on the band was Don Sharp's 1973 British occult biker picture Psychomania - a film about a biker gang leader who has just cracked a long-held family secret of immortality, and he's all too willing to protolyze this occult secret to his followers in exchange for eternal life, that gives him the ability to really stick it to the man!
Expect Dan and I to discuss the impact this film had on Electric Wizard, the thematics that run through this obscure curiosity piece and the bizarre, sad and defiant life of aging star George Sanders, in his last screen role!

Richard Baylor joins the show! Richard is an underground filmmaker who made his name, an American émigré in the United Kingdom, within the British punk scene of the 1980s that would lead him to picking up the camera and making his 1990 debut Our Own Personal Hell.
Working exclusively in the short film format, we touch on many of Richard's films, all the way to arguably his most astute, and subversion film, 1993's Cirsium Delectus - based on the Sunset Strip Killings. A film that would lead Richard to a multi-year dialogue between himself and jailed serial killer Douglas Clark.
But like Richard's characters, our past and circumstance informs us. Whether that's Richard being born of rural Michigan stock, his time in the military, or cinemas very own Cinema of Transgression - it all comes through in our art, whether consciously or subconsciously. If you're familiar with Richard's work, you'll see running themes such as abuse, desolation and oppression pop up, but there's also an added ingredient to his work that we discuss.

Check out Richard's band Earth Fucker Fucker's record IVF at: https://antigenrecords.bandcamp.com/album/ivf
Pick up Saturn Core's Our World Is Drowning and Going To Hell: The Underground Films of Richard Baylor at Strangevice.co.uk
Thanks again to Chris Babalis for providing the great poster art for this episode.
Support the show at buymeacoffe.com/ifwtpod

Author of The Satanic Screen and leader of gothic band Radio Werewolf, Nikolas Schreck returns to the show!
And lucky for us, he's here to discuss the feature length debut of his late friend, and collaborator, Curtis Harrington - the terrific and surreal Night Tide!
Night Tide is a noir-ish nightmare that stars Dennis Hopper in his first lead role, as a sailor who meets the mysterious sideshow attraction Mora The Mermaid. But...could she possibly be a real mermaid, and what exactly does the ending mean!?
These questions persist due to Harrington's esoteric world building, that revels in ambiguity and symbolism, and with Schreck's insight into Harrington, both as a man, and artist, he drops many anecdotes about who Harrington really is, and maybe...just maybe, these revelations could provide some answers to Harrington's work.
Nikolas also drops the lowdown on his upcoming spiritual-sequel to his documentary Charles Manson Superstar!
So tune in for a discussion about one of cinema's greatest enigmas.
Artwork for this episode provided by friend of the podcast Chris Babalis ( Instagram: @ChrisWitchyStuff)
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