Two of the most deranged cult titles have just been released on Blu-ray care of Mondo Macabro, a company that has tirelessly unearthed rancid rarities from across the globe. One tells the story of a Balinese sorceress who sends a flying head (with the entrails trailing from it) out to do her evil bidding. The other about a crazed botanist who invites tourists to his island so that they can be sucked dry by his blood-drinking tree. They both are as welcome as the flowers in May.
Mystics in Bali (1981) An outrageous Indonesian shocker directed by H. Tjut Djalil (also responsible for the equally bonkers Lady Terminator). An American student- Cathy (Ilona Agathe Bastian) studying in Bali begs her boyfriend Mehendra (Yos Santo) to help her in her investigation of the local black magic tradition of “Leyak.” He reluctantly sets up a night meeting with her in the forest with the Queen of Leyak (Sofia W.D.), a hideous-faced, cackling crone with long bone-like fingernails.
The Queen agrees that the girl can be her disciple but puts her in a spell and then, cackling fiendishly, says, “I will have to borrow your head for a while.” Then the girl’s head disconnects from her body, trailing her entrails, and flies through the air and into the window of a house where a woman is about to give birth and literally sucks the baby out of her before flying off. (I cannot tell you how many times I have shown that scene to friends from the DVD of this).
Mehendra seeks the assistance of an Uncle versed in magic and combatting evil. Meanwhile, the withered witch is teaching Cathy tribal dances and how to transform into a pig and a snake at will. It ends in a showdown with the Uncle and Mehendra holding a vigil over a grave and battling the formidable Queen of Leyak. The final witch war is really something.
Hilariously over-the-top, this is digitally restored from the original negative and also includes a rare extended version with over 30 minutes of extra footage. There is an introduction by director Joko Anwar (Satan’s Slaves), a video essay: Monsters & Myths and an interview with director Tjut Djalil who reveals that the lead was just a German tourist who looked right for the role and was coerced to be in the film.
Island of the Doomed (1967) This terrifically entertaining Agatha Christie-like chiller is about a group of tourists visiting a secluded island in Spain where Baron von Weser (Cameron Mitchell) breeds an exotic collection of rare plants and exotic flowers. One by one the guests die in mysterious ways only to discover the killer is a giant carnivorous, blood-sucking tree cultivated by the deranged Baron.
Ironically the director is Mel Welles, best known for playing flower shop owner Gravis Mushnick in Roger Corman’s hilarious 1960 cult classic Little Shop of Horrors about another carnivorous plant nicknamed “Audrey.” Welles was a colorful beatnik, who even compiled a glossary of Beat-speak, and was a champion for the wildly eccentric performance artist and recording legend Lord Buckley. Welles also directed Lady Frankenstein starring Joseph Cotton and Mickey Hargitay.
The film was shot on location in Catalonia, Spain, and is surprisingly gory for the time. The Blu-ray is a combination of two theatrical prints (the original negative is thought to be lost) and looks pretty amazing. The colors are vibrant and the visuals sharp. The film was also known as Maneater of Hydra, Bloodsuckers and Le Baron Vampire.
There’s a terrific extra on the disc about the career of leading man George Martin, born in a poor section of Spain, who began as a gymnast, then was forced into military service during the Franco regime. He survived a horse accident (actually a nasty prank by other soldiers) which put him in a coma. Then, because of his gymnastic skills he began as a stunt-man in films and quickly rose the ranks to leading man in many spaghetti westerns. The fact that he was incredibly handsome and did his own stunts was an added bonus for directors.
Kai Fisher is a hoot as the voluptuous wife of an elderly man, first seducing their driver and then slinking around the grounds at night in a black, sheer nightgown, vainly trying to seduce the Baron (Cameron Mitchell), who only has eyes for his hybrid plants. The German, former model turned actress found a healthy career playing sexy temptresses on film. She even cut a record- Kai Fidelity– in 1970.
The disc also includes a rare 2002 interview with Mel Welles by Pete Tombs and Andy Starke at a film festival in Manchester, UK. There is a fascinating extra called “Fantastique in the Catalan Mediterranean” with Sitges Film Festival artistic director Angel Sala, who charts the many cult classics shot in the Costa Brava area including The 7th Voyage of Sinbad, Mysterious Island, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, The Light at the Edge of the Word, Suddenly, Last Summer, The Fox with a Velvet Tail, Night of the Seagulls and more.
I was one of those friends who watched the.Queen of Layak
in your living room. I couldn’t.stop laughing for hours.