NIGHT OF THE EXECUTIONER (1992)
Label: Mondo Macabro
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 92 Minutes 39 Seconds
Audio: Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Fullscreen (1.33:1)
Director: Paul Naschy
Cast: Paul Naschy, Manuel Zarzo, Paloma Cela, Sergio Molina, Jose Alvarez, Adriana Vega, Jose Gomez Zubisa, Marta Valverde, Nene Morales, Pepe Ruiz, Loreto Valverde
Night of the Executioner (1992) has the distinction of being the last completed film that Spanish horror icon Paul Nacshy both wrote, directed and acted in. In it Naschy portrays Dr Hugo Arranz who while celebrating his 50th birthday with his beloved wife and daughter at their home is interrupted by a sadistic gang of street criminals who break-in to their home and savage them. The thugs rape his wife and daughter, and when he protests they cut out his tongue, kill the women and leave him for dead.
Night of the Executioner (1992) has the distinction of being the last completed film that Spanish horror icon Paul Nacshy both wrote, directed and acted in. In it Naschy portrays Dr Hugo Arranz who while celebrating his 50th birthday with his beloved wife and daughter at their home is interrupted by a sadistic gang of street criminals who break-in to their home and savage them. The thugs rape his wife and daughter, and when he protests they cut out his tongue, kill the women and leave him for dead.
Arranz survives the brutal attack and recovers after a brief stay at the hospital. However, determined to avenge the deaths of his wife and daughter the doc sets about weight training, running and practicing the art of knife-throwing and target practice to hone his skills - and yes, of course we get a montage of all this! It's pretty cool to see Naschy weight-lifting as he was once a world class athlete, and he's still pretty muscular here. Once he's fit and ready for battle he hits the streets, moving among the lowlifes in an effort to find and kill the men (and woman) who took everything away from him.
This is a fun genre mash-up, we get home invasion, rape-revenge and vigilante tropes in spades, the main influence here seems to be Death Wish 2 with Naschy giving is a spin on Bronson's Kersey with his own special stamp, wearing a black blazer, black gloves and a black fedora hat - he cuts quite a figure. I love his arsenal, his favorite being a Magnum revolver and a set of throwing daggers he keeps strapped to his torse, both getting plenty of use. The rapes are quite unpleasant, there's some nudity but the rapes are not overly graphic, but they are visceral, and at key points in the film when Arranz might be feeling a bit forgiving his mind is flooded with those images, and any lingering forgiveness he might have had go right out the window.
As far a gore goes we get the aforementioned tongue severing, loads of bloody gun wounds, a mostly offscreen but still bloody castration, and a couple of throwing dagger deaths - it's all good stuff, nothing too amazing or gruesome but it's effective. It's an interesting film in that the vigilante cycle had pretty much run it's course by the time this was released in the early 90's, though the film was shot in '89, but even then it was pretty dated material and did't do much to prop up his later era career. That doesn't stop me from enjoying it now though, Naschy is terrific as the silent vigilante, he looks awesome, and the film is well-paced, and the sub-plot involving a nameless behind-the-scenes big wig has a decent payoff.
Audio/Video: Night of the Executioner (1992) makes it's worldwide Blu-ray debut on region-free Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in 1080p HD framed in 1.37:1 fullscreen, sourced from a brand new 4K scan of the original camera negative. The image is quite impressive, the source is in immaculate shape, grain is well-managed, consistent and filmic from start to finish. Colors look terrific and black levels are solid. This is another fine transfer for a Naschy gem from Mondo Macabro. Audio comes by way of Spanish DTS-HD MA 2.0 Stereo with optional English subtitles. We actually get to hear Naschy's actual voice in this film, it's not a dub, which was pretty rare. Dialogue sounds great, gunfire and moments that offer more action sound great, as does the score by Fernando García Morcillo (Howl of the Devil, The Cannibal Man, The Witches Mountain)
We get a great array of extras, starting off with another terrific Audio Commentary from The Naschycast (Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn), who always do great work on these Naschy flicks. They get into the low-budget nature of it, the mostly first and only time cast, and how this is a film with a "hero" vigilante that is sympathetic but as his quest for vengeance continues he becomes quite fascist, and how that's quite interesting. We also get a 36-min Interview with Sergio Molina, a 21-min Interview with actor Pepe Ruiz, and a 24-min Interview with actor Manuel Zarzo, plus the usual 13-min Mondo Macabro Preview Reel. The single-disc release arrives in a standard keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork,
Special Features:
- Brand new 4k transfer from film negative
- Audio Commentary from The Naschycast (Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn)
-Interview with Sergio Molina (36:17)
- Interview with actor Pepe Ruiz (20:38)
- Interview with actor Manuel Zarzo (24:19)
- Brand new 4k transfer from film negative
- Audio Commentary from The Naschycast (Rod Barnett and Troy Guinn)
-Interview with Sergio Molina (36:17)
- Interview with actor Pepe Ruiz (20:38)
- Interview with actor Manuel Zarzo (24:19)
Screenshots from the Mondo Macabro Blu-ray:
