Mini-Episode Interview - Mike Tutino

Explicit content warning

07/19/19 • 62 min

It’s not often we get the opportunity to meet any of the friends we’ve made over the course of making the Naschycast. When we do (and I have enough lead-time) I try to record these fellow fans’ thoughts on our favorite Spanish Horror star. Such is the case with this mini-episode interview with longtime fan of the show and major fan of Paul Naschy – Mike Tutino! Mike has been a generous contributor to the podcast over the years with several letters of comment and observation as we’ve gone along. It was a joy to finally meet him at this summer’s Monster Bash in Pittsburgh and he is more than willing to give us a list of his favorite Naschy movies. There are a few surprises in our discussion with some affection lavished on films that Troy and I have possibly given less attention than we should. Food for further thought........

Also, we mention the details of the upcoming releases of the new Naschy Blu-Rays coming out this year but – when talking about the exciting release of THE MUMMY’S REVENGE on Blu-Ray we neglected to tell listeners to go to the Ronin Flix website to purchase that disc. That is the only place you’ll be able to buy the film before it starts turning up on secondary sites for outrageous inflated prices. Don’t miss out!

If you have any comments or suggestions or if you want to let us know what your favorite lesser talked about Naschy film might be the email address is [email protected] where we’ll be thrilled to hear from you. We’ll be back next month with a new, regular episode covering a really rare Naschy film from 1975. Thanks for listening!

Previous Episode

Beyond Naschy #28 - THE DRACULA SAGA (1973)

Leon Klimovsky directed dozens of films of all genres but will forever be remembered for his substantial contributions to Spanish Horror. In collaboration with Paul Naschy he made some of the most successful and effective monster movies to come out of Europe in the 1970's. The horror tales he made without Naschy are often overlooked with THE DRACULA SAGA (1973) being a perfect example. Graced with a literate, intelligent script and the music of Bach, Klimovsky brings all of his impressive skill to making a smart and, in the end, surprising take on classic vampire mythology. This one doesn't end the way you might think it will!

Troy and I are clearly thrilled to be back in the Golden Age of Spanish Horror again. We marvel over the very strong cast that includes an actor who played Dracula multiple times over the years but is rarely talked about when discussing screen vampires. Working with the director again is the always wonderful Helga Liné as the matriarch of the cursed family, Maria Kosty as a young, dangerous part of the clan and Betsabé Ruiz as a local bar wench gone vamp. Add in Tony Isbert as a husband with a wandering eye and the talented Tina Sáinz in the lead role and you have a great group of actors giving this story their full attention. And how many Dracula films add the lamia myths to the mix? If you have any comments or suggestions we can be reached at [email protected] or on the show's FaceBook page. Thank you for listening and we'll be back soon with another very rare Naschy film!

Next Episode

Naschycast #61 - LOS PASAJEROS (1975)

After nearly ten years of covering Paul Naschy films it is no secret that we have reached the final few movies that are available for us to see. Sure, we’ve stayed away from some later efforts with very small roles for our hero that might be worthy of attention. But, of the movies made during his most productive years, there are not many left to dig into and most of those are movies that were never released in the United States or, in some cases, outside of Spain. Luckily, the fan-subbing community once again comes to the rescue allowing us to finally check another rare one off our Naschy bucket list. The film’s cast also includes the excellent Aurora Bautista in a significant role as well as Eva León and Loreta Tovar so there are some familiar faces for Spanish Horror fans.

LOS PASAJEROS (1975) is a hard to find film for many reasons. It seems to have been barely released even in Spain and to have been the first of only two feature films directed by José Antonio Barrero. Mr. Barrero contributed the screen story for this effort as well so it seems logical to attribute the film’s quirks to his sensibilities. He appears to have been aiming this movie at the arthouse crowd couching his (supposedly) big statements in arch symbolic actions that often leave viewers scratching their heads. It may be that a Spanish filmgoer in the mid-1970’s would have been able to puzzle out the meaning of what happens onscreen but we might never know. Still, there are points of interest for the hardcore Naschy fan since Mr. Molina has a substantial role as the rich patron presiding over a house filled with subservient people. Naschy commands these visitors to his isolated home to act out scenes from plays while he watches. It’s all pretty weird!

At the end of the show we reply to a pair of recent emails to the podcast. If you have comments or questions the address is [email protected] where we’ll be glad to hear from you. If you don’t want us to use your full name on the show please let us know. Thank you for listening to this episode and we’ll be back soon with another Beyond Naschy show!