The Other Hell

The Other Hell (Italian: L'altro inferno) is a 1981 Italian horror film written and directed by Bruno Mattei and Claudio Fragasso and starring Franca Stoppi and Carlo De Mejo.

The Other Hell
Directed by
Produced byArcangelo Picchi[1]
Screenplay byClaudio Fragasso[2]
Story by
  • Bruno Mattei
  • Claudio Fragasso[2]
Starring
Music byGoblin[2]
CinematographyGiuseppe Beradini[2]
Edited byLilliana Serra[2]
Production
company
Cinemec Produzione S.r.l[1]
Distributed byAccord Cinematografica
Release date
  • 22 January 1981 (1981-01-22) (Italy)
Running time
88 minutes[1]
CountryItaly[1]

Plot

Cast
  • Franca Stoppi as Mother Vincenza
  • Carlo De Mejo as Father Valerio
  • Francesca Carmeno as Elisa
  • Andrew Ray as Father Inardo
  • Susan Forget as Sister Rosaria
  • Franco Garofalo as Boris
  • Paola Montenero as Sister Assunta
  • Sandy Samuel as Catatonic Nun
  • Tom Felleghy as The Bishop
  • Alba Maiolini as Sister Fiorenza

Production

For a brief period in the 1970s there were about three to four Italian exploitation films per year dedicated to narratives involving nuns.[3] These 'nun exploitation films' were produced elsewhere in the United States, United Kingdom, Japan and Spain but the highest concentration came from Italy.[3][4] These films were later dubbed nunsploitation and often combined nudity, sexual subject matter and occasionally horror.[5] Claudio Fragasso wrote the screenplays for The Other Hell, finding it specifically more interesting than Mattei's The True Story of the Nun of Monza as it reminded him of Carrie set in a convent.[6]

Mattei spoke about being influenced by what he described as "Argento's concepts" on the film but that the film was not "an absolute copy of Inferno".[7] According to Rome's Public Cinematographic Register, filming began on October 23, 1979 and continued through October and November when very little about Argento's film was known except its title and some stills from the set.[1]

Both The Other Hell and The True Story of the Nun of Monza were the first films that Fragasso and Mattei shared film credits on.[6] The Other Hell was made simultaneously with The True Story of the Nun of Monza with the same actors and building for both films.[8] Claudio Fragasso and Bruno Mattei would shoot The Other Hell downstairs in the building and Mattei shot the Monza film upstairs with the two occasionally trading places if a particular area of expertise was needed.[8][1] Fragasso explained that they both shot the films simultaneously with the actors switching actors, which led to them pleasing their producers as they were able to complete the films in five weeks for the cost of one.[6] Fragsso recalled having to steal canisters of film from Mattei and other material from him, noting that "I was given very little, he had everything."[1] This form of shooting films would continue between the two directors on their prison films Violence in a Women's Prison and Women's Prison Massacre and their westerns White Apache and Scalps.[1] Mattei maintained that Fragsso was always an assistant director on these films, and nothing more.[1]

Music in the film is taken from the band Goblin, specifically from their albums Roller and Il fantastico viaggio del bagarozzo Mark.[9] Fragasso recalled the they got Goblin as they were fashionable and asked them to write music for the film, but they asked for a lot of money, leading to the production to use stock music with a few modifications specifically for The Other Hell.[9] Mattei stated that he was friends with Carlo Bixio who was the music publisher, and he gave the production the music they wanted.[9]

Release

The film passed Italian censors on July 23, 1980.[10] The Other Hell was distributed in Italy on 22 January 1981.[1]

The film has been released on home video by Vestron Home Video as The Other Hell with an 88-minute running time.[11][12]

References
  1. Curti 2019, p. 52.
  2. Curti 2019, p. 51.
  3. Nakahara 2004, p. 124.
  4. Nakahara 2004, p. 125.
  5. Nakahara 2004, p. 126.
  6. Gregory, David; Caddeo, Federico. "A Hell of a Team". Gorezone. No. 32. p. 7. ISSN 0896-8802.
  7. Giorgi, Andrea; Palmieri, Matteo; Daz, Andrea. "An Interview with Bruno Mattei". European Trash Cinema. Vol. 2 no. 5. Translated by Mora, Max Della; Smith, Adrian. p. 9.
  8. Nakahara 2004, p. 127.
  9. Curti 2019, p. 53.
  10. "L'altro inferno (1980)" (in Italian). Archido del cinema Italiano. Retrieved December 12, 2018.
  11. Stine 2015, p. 25.
  12. Stine 2015, p. 26.

Sources
  • Curti, Roberto (2019). Italian Gothic Horror Films, 1980-1989. McFarland. ISBN 1476672431.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Nakahara, Tamao (2004). "Barred Nuns: Italian Nunsploitation Films". In Mathijs, Ernest; Mendik, Xavier (eds.). Alternative Europe: Eurotrash and Exploitation Cinema Since 1945.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Stine, Scott Aaron (2015). The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s. McFarland. ISBN 1476611327.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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