Ahh, good ol'e Thomas Weisser is at it again. Anybody remember the messed up info in Thomas Weisser's Asian Trash/Cult Cinema books? Obviously, none of us are perfect but the same bloody (and often obvious!) mistakes got carried along all the way to the latest third volume!!! Uhh, and of course I can't forget the stories my friend Nils Markvardsen told me about how Weisser had reviewed films in his spaghetti western book; films that never got made! Haha. Nils told me Weisser had written reviews based on early synopsis of films that had been planned for filming but which never actually got made!! LMAO.
I've just received the latest newsletter from his Asian Cult Cinema store and in it he writes about Bruno Mattei in order to promote that he's now selling CANNIBAL WORLD (2003). On his store page he claims that the DVD is a "A Japanese release" but funnily enough the DVD cover has the odd title "Cannibal Holocaust 2" plastered all over the Japanese title!
Lissen, Thomas, mate, If you're selling a bootleg just call it a bootleg, alright.
The film's original English title is of course CANNIBAL WORLD and the English language title on the Japanese DVD is "Cannibal Holocaust The Beginning". I believe the Japanese language title (written in Japanese characters) may very well be the same as their title for CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST but it's just adding to the confusing title HELL of alternative titles when Weisser chooses to use a title that was also used for CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST 2: THE CATHERINE MILES STORY.
Also, it's pure baloney when he states CANNIBAL WORLD is a sequel to CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST. No, it isn't. The Japanese sequel number 2 (plus his own fake number 2) doesn't make it an official sequel. If anything it's a REMAKE of Deodato's film.
For the DVD at the Asian Cult Cinema store go here.
From the ACC newsletter by Weisser:
Allow me to switch gears to World Cult Cinema.
I’d like to talk a bit about Bruno Mattei. Here is a filmmaker who worked behind more pseudonyms than any other director in the world. Between 1970 and 2007, he made 54 movies under 21 different names. For most fans of Euro exploitation, he will best be remembered as "Vincent Dawn," an alias he first used for HELL OF THE LIVING DEAD [aka NIGHT OF THE ZOMBIES] in 1980.
Cannibal Holocaust 2 Born in 1931, Bruno Mattei grew up in Rome. He began his career as a film editor for his father’s small production house in the late fifties. As he grew more accomplished, Mattei began working with many European directors. By the late '60s, he was recognized as an "editor extraordinaire," responsible for the finishing touches on over 100 different movies. In 1970, he found himself in Spain working on COUNT DRACULA for director Jesus Franco. It was Franco who convinced Mattei to try a hand at film directing. The result was a torrid sex drama called "Armida" (1970).
During his 40 years of filmmaking, Mattei dabbled in every facet of Cult Film. He made Nazi atrocity movies (PRIVATE HOUSE OF THE SS, under the name Jordan B Matthews), nunsploitation (THE OTHER HELL as Stefan Oblowsky), and an array of Spaghetti Westerns, Women-in-Prison actioners, Sex Films, Sword-n-Sandal flicks, Monster Movies and even a Jaws rip-off (called "Cruel Jaws" under the William Snyder moniker).
In the mid-2000s, Bruno Mattei decided to revisit a peculiar Italian cult phenomenon known as the Cannibal Movie (originally popularized by Ruggerio Deodato with his masterpiece CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, 1979). Mattei directed, wrote and edited the sequel CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST 2 in 2005, released under the Vincent Dawn pseudonym. Sadly, this would be among his final motion pictures.
Bruno Mattei In early 2007, his health began declining rapidly; Bruno Mattei was diagnosed with a brain tumor. Despite warnings from hospital specialists, Mattei decided on an operation to have the tumor removed. After surgery, he fell into a coma and died a few days later on May 21, 2007. He was 75.
Bruno Mattei was a radical filmmaker, responsible for many excursions into exploitation, to be seen and appreciated by all fans of extreme cult cinema. If you have not as yet experienced CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST 2 don’t wait any longer. Click the cover to the right for more information. This was his last film as both editor and director.
It lives. Even in his absence.
The two different covers; on top Thomas Weisser's "Japanese" DVD with fake English title, and below the original Japanese cover. I don't mind buying bootlegs but I get ANNOYED when a seller tells me his American bootleg is a Japanese DVD. .\_/.
When Jack hits, he hits hard! ;)
ReplyDeleteAaah, Thomas Weisser. Both entertaining and a fucking idiot.
ReplyDeleteHaha. I got this from a spaghetti western forum where they had a long thread only devoted to Mr Weisser. Check this funny post:
ReplyDeleteBy Phil H:
I just watched Days of Violence (I'll talk about it in the appropriate thread) and happened to look up Weisser's book to check something (what was I thinking??) I couldn't resist entering Weisser's synopsis here for all your benefit.
"The setting is a farm in Missouri during the Civil War. John and Clem (Peter Lee Lawrence and Lucio Rosato) are brothers. When the Union soldiers destroy the ranch and kill Clem, John retaliates by joining an outlaw gang called the Southern Rebels, led by a soldier named Butch (Luigi Vanucchi). However, the leader is more interested in robbing stagecoaches than fighting the Northern enemy. During a hold up, violence erupts and John is forced to kill a passenger. At that moment he becomes a wanted man. Even after the war he is still haunted by his past. Finally, urged by his girlfriend (Rosalba Neri), John exposes Butch as a true scoundrel and outdraws him in a showdown."
Not bad for Weisser's standards, but....
Lucio Rosato doesn't play PLL's brother he plays evil bad guy Hank. The outlaw gangleader, Butch isn't played by Luigi Vanucchi he is played by Nello Pazzafini. Vanucchi plays Captain Clifford, the main baddie and actual killer of PLL's brother. It is he who has the final shootout with PLL. Rosalba Neri is not the girlfriend of course, she is the sister in law and gets killed quite early on. The girlfriend, actually played by Beba Loncar, never urges PLL to do anything, especially not expose Butch or Clifford.
Weisser at his best!! ;D
http://www.spaghetti-western.net/forum/index.php/topic,797.20.html?PHPSESSID=mv22esrhdq6pva9tqhqk682leo61ap43
This was always an issue with ACC. I remember buyin Takashi Miike movies from them and then asking them about the autheticity as the covers where all photocopies. Obviously Weisser never answered, but sent good ole' Archie to reply istead, who claimed that the discs where all kosher. But they know it, I know it, and you know it was bollocks. Never the less, I got to see the movies which is what I wanted, but they are undoubtedly bootlegs. I have no real problem buying boots as long as I know what I'm getting. It's a bitch when supposed extras are on the cover and not on the disc... its kind of a giveaway ain't it.
ReplyDeleteAnd if I had a penny for each time one of those reviews in the asian movie books where wrong, I'd be able to by a whole pack of bootlegs from them.
:)
I remeber one of first things that pissed me off with Weisser was that he charged Europeans 5 dollars extra for his VSoM booleg tapes in order to send PAL copies. In addition to 5 bucks extra in postage each bootleg was 10 dollars more expensive. If he'd had to pay for the PAL conversions then fine, but he made them on ordinary multi system video recorders. It didn't cost him an extra $5 to make them but he sure made sure WE had to line his pockets with an additional fiver (PER TAPE, not per order!).
ReplyDeleteI loved his mag "Asian Trash Cinema" in the old days and I subscribed from #1. I believe it all went downhill when he "broke up" with Craig Ledbetter, i.e. finished their friendship, not that they were gay [not that there's anything wrong with being gay, Seindfeld. LOL].
All of his "Books" were like this. His Japanese film books were riddled with made up shit. I never saw his Japanese sex and bondage book(s), but since those seemed to be one of, if not his primary interest, I would assume he got those right.
ReplyDeleteDespite many complaints, his SW book is still in the McFarland catalog. I just got one of the catalogs in the mail a couple weeks ago and there it is for $40 in softcover.
Oh really? I bought the first edition of his ATC book and the 3'rd edition when it came out and I was surprised to see that many of the mistakes from the original book hadn't been corrected.
ReplyDeleteHowever, one thing that HAD been corrected from the original reviews is the ratings. When he wrote the original reviews he gave most of the "wild" horror films like THE RAPE AFTER, etc, really good ratings but with most of them he detracted one or two stars when the third edition came out. Obviously, it was no longer cool to show too much love for these "nasty" films. HAHA.
Who knows, he probably got those mixed up, too, Jack, lol.
ReplyDeleteSome of his reviews were just putting down the movies without even giving anything resembling what the film was about.
A friend of mine has one of the Japanese books (the one with Japanese Sci Fi/Fantasy) and it has a lot of made up info and weird mix and matching stats for the films.
I'm really astonished this guy is still up to his old tricks and not hiding under a rock somewhere with the rest of the snakes.
Ric Meyers is another one. He was one of the guys behind this martial arts convention a few years back that brought Lo Mang over here for a 'Lifetime Achievement Award' in Philly. A lot of people didn't show because Meyers was attached and assumed it was a big joke.
One thing that didn't help matters was that the event was advertised as taking place on the 5th of August, yet it was later moved up to the 25th. But the geniuses running the show couldn't be bothered to change the date on the website! Me, John from FEF and another friend went to the 'event' which barely garnered 50 people.
There were a couple other celebs there, but Lo was the main one. Meyers was there trying to look like some kind of Shaolin Abbot with a torturously long beard.
Despite the "Thank yous" in Tom's book. I had nothing to do with it other than supply the guy with a few westerns.
ReplyDeleteMan, I had a list of corrections to my N!S!T! #4/5 which was the pre-cursor to his book on asian cinema (made in the pre-internet days of 1990). They came from Horacio Higuchi, a man who knows film inside and out. None of the corrections were made. Tom made up films, changed titles (THE ACCIDENT was never called BLOOD OF THE BLACK DOG as far as I can find), etc.
So... don't expect accuracy from this guy. He did foot the bill for our my final issue of NAKED!SCREAMING!TERROR! (and refused to return my original layouts), but that's about all.
Tom is the primary reason why I finally left the 'zine scene in 1996.
Cheers,
Tim Paxton
Hey Tim!
ReplyDeleteTim, I don't want to be the reason you grow a too big a head that'll eventually explode but that issue of NAKED! SCREAMING! TERROR! was probably my most favourite zine in those early days. And your two intro articles most likely thee most re-read pieces on HK cinema that I own. My copy is kept safe inside my copy of the Mondo Macabro book. Despite Weisser's BS you can give yourself a pad on the back from me!
Tom Weisser; I'm so sorry to hear all this crap was the reason you left the zine biz. That's terrible!
Horacio Higuchi!!! Do you know where he is these days? Someone said he went to Brazil and stopped reviewing films. Do you know?