A Long-Overdue Blog Post!

 Well gang, here's the blog for The Lost Movie Studio. I'll try and update this blog frequently to keep you posted on all the cool stuff I'm working on & some of the movies that will be headed your way soon.

First up are the latest uploads to the channel. Check them out below!

The Mafia Connection, aka Black Lemons, is one I just finished uploading today. It stars Antonio Sabato, Silvano Tranquili, and Florinda Bolkan in a film that served as a prototype for eurocrimers that came in later years. Sabato delivers a solid performance as a man who is trying to rebuild his life after a powerful mafia family destroyed it & stole his business out from under him. The print I used is kinda lousy, and I apologize for that, but it was the only one with an English dub, so that's why I used it. Oddly enough, this movie was released in Region 1 on DVD by Mya Video, but it is now horribly OOP & unavailable. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!

This was last night's upload--Seven Minutes To Die, a Spanish spy film from 1971 that came with full English subtitles! This movie is a classic example of the eurospy genre: handsome male leads, classy dames, gadgets galore, funky 70's music, and even a brief appearance by a very young George Hilton as the hero's partner! Can't beat that when it comes to euro-trash cinema! The source for this film was a TV rip from late-night Italian TV, so while it isn't perfect, it's still watchable, and those 70's colors really pop. Just in the few hours it's been up it's become pretty popular, so don't miss this one!

Next up are the movies I'm working on bringing to the channel. Take a look at the posters & descriptions and let me know what you think in the comments section!

KILLER FORCE, aka The Diamond Mercenaries, is up first. This 1970's flick from American International features an all-star cast that includes Peter Fonda, Telly Savalas, Christopher Lee, the alluring Maud Adams, Hugh O'Brian, and the notorious O.J. Simpson, who actually was a decent actor. The plot revolves around Fonda & his team stealing Telly's diamonds, and Telly trading his lollipop for a .357 Magnum and knocking off these thieves one by one! What does all this add up to? A hell of a good time at the old drive-in, that's what! This movie is rotting away in MGM's back catalog and will probably never see a BD release because of the connection to Simpson. Let's hope posting it to the channel gets it the credit & attention it deserves!

SAVAGE SISTERS is another American International flick from the 70's that has Gloria Hendry, Cheri Caffaro, and Rosanna Ortiz as three lovely & lethal ladies who are after a stash of millions that a despot is trying to smuggle out of his Banana Republic country. Two of the girls get kidnapped and thrown in prison, where the movie switches to a women in prison vibe for a while, before switching back to jungle action as everything heads for a big B-movie climax. The fact that Gloria Hendry is in this is worth the watch for me, but that poster art definitely sells it too, doesn't it? Wow, those were the days! Look for this flick in about a month or so.

Here's the last one I'm working on: The Hawk and The Dove, with Fabio Testi & Lara Wendel as two lovers who are fated to lose everything if they ever decide to get serious. This movie is more of a drama than anything else, but Testi delivers the goods, and Wendel plays off him well enough to keep things moving. It does have a very tragic ending, and uses the Neil Diamond song "September Morn'" to describe the rise and fall of Testi & Wendel's relationship. Look for this as an English dubbed-version soon.

And here is the best thing about the blog: THE BANNED FROM YOU TUBE SECTION! Here I will be posting one movie every month that was removed or banned from the channel for your downloading pleasure, direct from my Google Drive. 

The first one up to bat on this April Fool's Day was one of my first uploads, The Blonde Connection (aka Death Knocks Twice), and lasted quite a long time before You Tube age-restricted it & then removed it. It was never entirely clear why, but I suspect it was related to a scene near the end of the film where a completely naked woman is lying spread-eagled on a bed. Should've seen it coming, I guess...

This movie, however, served as a prototype for the gialli to come in later years, and features a script by Sergio Garrone (A Hanging For Django) and stars a very young Fabio Testi as a killer who strangles women during intercourse. Dean Reed is called in by the latest victim's father to find her fiendish killer, but there are plenty of sub-plots to throw him off the trail, including his own girlfriend falling for Testi! Ricardo Garrone, Sergio's brother, stars as the lead villain & the possible mastermind behind Testi's killing spree. Will Reed ever get his man, and can he pull his woman from Testi's seductive grip before she bites the dust? You'll have to download this one and watch it to find out!

This movie's print was sourced from an English-dubbed VHS rip w/Korean or Japanese subtitles at the bottom. It's not the best-looking source, but it's all I was able to find of this rare film. It checks in at around 700 MB, and is an .AVI file, for those of you who care about those things.

And I know you're tired of me talking, so here's the download link!

Download The Blonde Connection (1969)

...and that about does it for this very long first post. If any of you have issues/concerns/complaints, don't hesitate to sound off in the comments section below.

Until next time, I wish everyone a Happy April Fool's Day, and hope that you all stay safe & healthy in this time of crisis.

--LMS, 4/1/2021