Incognito Cinema Warriors XP Episode 3 - Bloody Pit of Horror

A Review By Nick Peron

"These Guys are good - fast-paces, funny riffing throughout. Now fellahs, would you please stop making my job look easy!" - Mike Nelson of Rifftrax & Myster Science Theater 3000.

I'm going to have to agree with Mike Nelson on this one. These guys are good. As some of you may remember, I recently did a review of the second episode of ICWXP, in which they riffed the film Lady Frankenstein, well the guys down at ICWXP were kind enough to send us an advance copy of their third episode (Which is on sale soon on their website) This episode "treats" us with the 1965 Italian horror disasterpiece Blood Pit of Horror (AKA the Scarlet Executioner, AKA The Man in the Upsetting Pants.) Some intrepid minds may remember that in the previous episode of ICWXP they riffed the movie trailer to this film as on opener for their treatment of Lady Frankenstein. The trailer did not disappoint, as the film itself delivered what the trailer promised: Pure, and somewhat frightening shit. But thankfully, you don't have to go it alone, because the ICWXP guys are there. Let's break this down to it's component parts:

The Host Segments:

The host segments in this episode are even funnier than the previous episode. Mostly due to the addition of Zed to the cast. Zed is a severed zombie head which Rick, Topsy, and Cylon find in a jar of old donut holes (For my fellow Canadian readers who are lost on what a donut hole is... It's a Tim Bit.. Without the corporate trademark name.) Zed while a cultured and well spoken zombie with a great pedigree often slips into a bout of violent and cannibalistic rants. He also becomes the butt of Rick and the bot's constant jokes and pranks, one of which involves sludge from a septic tank.

The professor gets a bit more exposure in this episode, and there's a time travel subplot ---- Well sort of... I don't want to give anything away, but his flux capacitor requires a cap. We'll leave it at that, go out and see it for yourself, you will laugh until you are shooting liquid from your nose (I did that once with Vodka. Not a very fun sensation. I would stay away from that if your watching this one.)

The other addition to the shows format is the installation of a view screen -- which is reminiscent of the Hexview from Mystery Science Theater. In this episode they get a call from the Crimson Executioner, the villain from the movie. Needless to say, he's gone through some hard times, which means more comedy for us.

The Short: This episode features a short before the film, Talking Cars and it's a educational film made by AAA Insurance, teaching children about the dangers of crossing the street, and how to see and be seen by drivers. It features a little blond boy named Jimmy who almost gets plowed by a car when he rushes to tell his friends about the exciting fishing trip he's going on with his dad. That night he has a dream where he's visited by three different cars that teach him the seen or be seen rules.

It's one of those 70's educational films that is very unintentionally funny, and Rick and the ICWXP guys rip it to shreds. When it comes to riffing shorts, I always like the kind of jokes where a little bit of dark humor is eeked into the joke making. Because most times the shorts that they are watching are targeted at elementary school children, and well they're always so nice, and wholesome and any sort of realism is watered down.

The shining moment of the short is the fact that one of the cars (A model T) sounds a lot like Richard Nixon. A great short, and the riffs are hilarious.

Bloody Pit of Horror:

And then we're on to the main event, I really applaud the ICWXP guys for picking such a film, it takes a lot of bravery to sit through something like this. Bloody Pit of Horror, is apparently a film inspired by the writings of the Marque De Sade... However, I think something got last in translation because I don't think there is anywhere in De Sade's writing involving greasy Italians parading around in skeleton costumes getting frightened by rubber bats. But then again, this film was made in Italy, a country that -- when making a movie based on Mary Shelly's Frankenstein, somehow fit cavemen into the plot... So maybe it's just as well.

The film follows a group of writers and photographers and their models looking for a spooky castle to take pictures in for the covers of their latest book. They come across and invite themselves into a castle which was the place where the Crimson Executioner was executed for his crimes many centuries before.

The castle also happens to be owned by reclusive actor Travis Anderson (played by 1955's Mr. Universe himself Mickey Hargitay in all his muscle bound glory) who believes himself to be possessed by the spirit of the Crimson Executioner. As you can imagine, hilarity ensues, as Travis (dressed up like the Executioner) offs everyone one by one with his fancy torture devices until he's finally stopped by our hero who saves the vapid and helpless girl.

The film of course is poorly dubbed, has some cheap special effects (Check out those rubber bats!) and uses every cliche in the book. Like any European exploitation film of the era, it uses the torture of beautiful women in the most twisted ways possible (barring budget restrictions of course!) to fill theater seats. Don't be fooled though, it's pretty tame, and in most cases very laughable. You are certainly not looking at the same caliber as Blood Sucking Freaks.

As being part of a generation of movie watchers who will go and see movies like Hostile and the Saw franchise films, the content of this movie hardly shocking. In fact, the more frightening aspects in this film stem from Hargitay's choice of attire. Which goes from frilly gasha girl bath robes to skin tight red tights (WITH NO CUP! IT'S LIKE PRINCE OF SPACE ONLY MORE SAUSAGY! *Shudder*) and a long and uncomfortable scene where he rubs himself with oil while ranting about being the Crimson Executioner. I can handle David Bowie stark naked shooting a girl in the face with a magnum at close range (ala The Man Who Fell To Earth) without so much as a blink, but this... this... oh boy, is somehow so much worse.

Rick and the Bots of course deliver some very excellent and hilarious riffs, they are priceless, and this release is a must have for anyone who likes movie riffing. I have seen the future of Riffing, and ICWXP is it.

And that concludes my review of ICWXP's third episode, I strongly recommend you check out their website, and if you like what you see, pick up their 2nd and 3rd episodes (Their first episode is currently sold out but will be re-released soon). Their fourth episode is in the works as I write this.

But I am not done talking about riffing just yet, for this particular update of Micro-Shock.com I'm doing a tribute to Riffers, so follow along with me as I do a review of Mystery Science Theater 3000 Vol 14, as well as our review of Rifftrax's Best Shorts Vol 1. and Cinematic Titanic's Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks.