George Eastman (born Luigi Montefiori) is not only an experienced Euro-cult actor (with around 60 film and television acting credits to his name) but also an accomplished writer, producer and even director. Although his isn't a name that you might hear mentioned very often he has been involved in some impressive movies during the course of his career, and in celebration of George Eastman Week we're about to take a look at what I believe are five of his best, and one that you should probably avoid.
ANTHROPOPHAGUS (1980) full review
Lets start out with the obvious. ANTHROPOPHAGUS (also THE GRIM REAPER, THE BEAST, MAN EATER and a slew of other titles) is one of the many occasions where George Eastman teamed up with sleaze-tastic director Joe D'Amato. The result was a film so grotesque and depraved that it swiftly ended up on the notorious 'Video Nasties' list. The truth is its not really all that extreme - especially nowadays - but its still worth a look even just to see just what kinds of atrocities a film needed to portray to end up on that infamous list. Fetus eating and autocannibalism are the order of the day and George Eastman's portrayal of the insane flesh-eating monster is near unforgettable.
THE NEW BARBARIANS (1983) full review
Italian post-apocalyptic trash is some of the best trash out there, and George Eastman is no stranger to appearing in some of the more impressive films. With a remarkable resume including ENDGAME, 2019 AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK and THE BRONX WARRIORS my favorite is easily Enzo Castellari's THE NEW BARBARIANS. Its a ridiculously 80s vision of the future complete with awful clothes, buckets of silver paint and a pulsing synth score by Claudio Simonetti. It also has Fred fucking Williamson blowing shit up with explosive arrows, and we're even treated to a scene where Eastman's villainous character gives the good guy a nice ass-raping.
RABID DOGS (1974)
Rabid dogs was filmed in '74 but was siezed by the courts before release due to the producer going bankrupt. As a result Mario Bava's masterpiece of tension and suspense didn't receive a release until 1998 which is a fucking shame because according to his son Lamberto, Mario considered this his most important work. The bulk of RABID DOGS is shot in a car after a trio of criminals pull off a heist and escape the cops. George Eastman puts on probably his most impressive acting display as he plays a violent, sadistic and perverted thug. A brilliant precursor to films like RESERVOIR DOGS Bava's thriller throws a shocking curve-ball at the end.
DELIRIUM (1987)
DELIRIUM starts out looking like a sleazy porno, with photos of nude and semi-nude women and some awful porn music. Sleazy and perverted and full of tits, Lamberto Bava's DELIRIUM actually ends up being quite a strong giallo flick with some stylish lighting and camera work and some interesting surreal scenes shown from the killer's pov. Apart from George Eastman (who doesn't really have a huge role to be honest) it also stars Serena Grandi (from ANTHROPOPHAGUS) and Daria Nicolodi (name an Argento flick and she's probably in it). If you like your giallo with plenty of skin and blood then DELIRIUM is definitely worth looking at.
STAGE FRIGHT (1987)
A stage rehearsal goes bad when the cast find themselves locked in the theatre with a killer! Michele Soavi's debut feature is a stylish mix of giallo and slasher, unsurprising when you realize he previously worked as assistant director under Italian legends Joe D'Amato, Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava. George Eastman doesn't have an acting part in this flick, rather this is one of his efforts at writing a screenplay. Murder, mystery and heavy metal is on the menu as are an entertaining array of death scenes and a killer wearing a giant owl's head mask, and all of it is captured with some excellent camera work.
And finally here's one to avoid...
For Eastman completionists it might be worth a watch just to see the man parading around like a prehistoric Hitler, wearing a fake lion head and swinging a chunk of iron as he declares war on everything (trust me it's not as awesome as it sounds), but otherwise I suggest staying far away from this Umberto Lenzi turkey. The poster art may look super fucking badass but don't let it fool you, there is no radical looking battle-axe and certainly no tits in this movie. And the icing on the shit-cake is Sam Pasco in the lead, a former gay adult film star (known as Big Max) who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag.
ANTHROPOPHAGUS (1980) full review
Lets start out with the obvious. ANTHROPOPHAGUS (also THE GRIM REAPER, THE BEAST, MAN EATER and a slew of other titles) is one of the many occasions where George Eastman teamed up with sleaze-tastic director Joe D'Amato. The result was a film so grotesque and depraved that it swiftly ended up on the notorious 'Video Nasties' list. The truth is its not really all that extreme - especially nowadays - but its still worth a look even just to see just what kinds of atrocities a film needed to portray to end up on that infamous list. Fetus eating and autocannibalism are the order of the day and George Eastman's portrayal of the insane flesh-eating monster is near unforgettable.
THE NEW BARBARIANS (1983) full review
Italian post-apocalyptic trash is some of the best trash out there, and George Eastman is no stranger to appearing in some of the more impressive films. With a remarkable resume including ENDGAME, 2019 AFTER THE FALL OF NEW YORK and THE BRONX WARRIORS my favorite is easily Enzo Castellari's THE NEW BARBARIANS. Its a ridiculously 80s vision of the future complete with awful clothes, buckets of silver paint and a pulsing synth score by Claudio Simonetti. It also has Fred fucking Williamson blowing shit up with explosive arrows, and we're even treated to a scene where Eastman's villainous character gives the good guy a nice ass-raping.
RABID DOGS (1974)
Rabid dogs was filmed in '74 but was siezed by the courts before release due to the producer going bankrupt. As a result Mario Bava's masterpiece of tension and suspense didn't receive a release until 1998 which is a fucking shame because according to his son Lamberto, Mario considered this his most important work. The bulk of RABID DOGS is shot in a car after a trio of criminals pull off a heist and escape the cops. George Eastman puts on probably his most impressive acting display as he plays a violent, sadistic and perverted thug. A brilliant precursor to films like RESERVOIR DOGS Bava's thriller throws a shocking curve-ball at the end.
DELIRIUM (1987)
DELIRIUM starts out looking like a sleazy porno, with photos of nude and semi-nude women and some awful porn music. Sleazy and perverted and full of tits, Lamberto Bava's DELIRIUM actually ends up being quite a strong giallo flick with some stylish lighting and camera work and some interesting surreal scenes shown from the killer's pov. Apart from George Eastman (who doesn't really have a huge role to be honest) it also stars Serena Grandi (from ANTHROPOPHAGUS) and Daria Nicolodi (name an Argento flick and she's probably in it). If you like your giallo with plenty of skin and blood then DELIRIUM is definitely worth looking at.
STAGE FRIGHT (1987)
A stage rehearsal goes bad when the cast find themselves locked in the theatre with a killer! Michele Soavi's debut feature is a stylish mix of giallo and slasher, unsurprising when you realize he previously worked as assistant director under Italian legends Joe D'Amato, Dario Argento and Lamberto Bava. George Eastman doesn't have an acting part in this flick, rather this is one of his efforts at writing a screenplay. Murder, mystery and heavy metal is on the menu as are an entertaining array of death scenes and a killer wearing a giant owl's head mask, and all of it is captured with some excellent camera work.
And finally here's one to avoid...
For Eastman completionists it might be worth a watch just to see the man parading around like a prehistoric Hitler, wearing a fake lion head and swinging a chunk of iron as he declares war on everything (trust me it's not as awesome as it sounds), but otherwise I suggest staying far away from this Umberto Lenzi turkey. The poster art may look super fucking badass but don't let it fool you, there is no radical looking battle-axe and certainly no tits in this movie. And the icing on the shit-cake is Sam Pasco in the lead, a former gay adult film star (known as Big Max) who couldn't act his way out of a paper bag.
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