Cultpix Radio Ep.23 - RIP Michele and We Blast Off to Outer Space

Cultpix Radio

Django Nudo and the Smut Peddler start on a somber note with the recent death of friend and colleague Michele de Angelis at the age of just 56. Together with Simone ("Ciao Simone,") he was the driving force behind Rome's Fantafestival, where he interviewed Smut Peddler this summer in connection with the Calvin Floyd retrospective. RIP.
Our next two cinema screenings will be a Sex Education double-bill at Stockholm's Bio Aspen on Monday 25 October with Mariah Larsson introducing "The Language of Love" (1969) and "More From the Language of Love" (1970), newly restored by the Swedish Film Institute.

In the UK Everyman Cinemas will play also-restored "Anita - Swedish Nymphet" (1972) on 18 November with Christina Lindberg to appear in person at Everyman Broadgate and Screen on the Green on the Friday. Get a chance to see, meet and hear from the greatest Swedish exploitation star of all time.
This week Cultpix goes late night, double feature, sci-fi picture show with Planet Schmanet Janet. As everyone from Jeff Bezos and Richard Branson to William Shatner boldly going where a handful of men have already gone before, we look at the fascination of trips to other planets in our solar system. Fuelled by the Cold War rivalry between USA and USSR before, these days Russians are putting film directors and actresses into orbit to beat Hollywood and Tom Cruise to it.
"Voyage to the Prehistoric Planet" (1965) and "Voyage to the Planet of Prehistoric Women" (1967) were both based on footage and special effects from the Soviet sci-fi film "Planet of Storms" (1962) that Roger Corman pilfered and shot new scenes and English dialogue for, in the latter case with an un-credited Peter Bogdanovich directing Mami Van Doren. All three are available to watch and compare on Cultpix.
"The Phantom Planet" (1961) sees astronauts arrive on an asteroid and shrink to tiny size - much like Smut Peddler when he swims in a cold Swedish lake. Italian sci-fi "Cosmos: War of the Planets" (1977) was released the same year as Star Wars, but looks much older and more primitive. Honourable mention to older titles already on Cultpix: BFI's "Masters of Venus" (1962), "Zontar: the Invader from Venus" (1967), "Battle for the Lost Planet" (1986) and the sequel "Mutant War" (1988), both from Vinegar Syndrome.
Finally, "Horrors of the Red Planet" (1965) is basically The Wizard of Oz on Mars, including an astronaut Dorothy with silver shoes, while "The Day Mars Invaded Earth" (1962) is a rare independent film shot in Cinemascope. Who needs a rocket with out-of-the-world films like this