Le campane, le campane

LE CAMPANE, LE CAMPANE (The Bells, the Bells)
A film by: Ugo Crispolti
Voice: Domiziano Cristopharo
Music by: Angelo Triscoli
Produced by: Chris Milewski
Sidd Web Productions

YouTube: https://youtu.be/zYVfda82jYk

Directed by Ugo Crispolti and shot in 1970s Italian-Style, LE CAMPANE, LE CAMPANE is an experimental short film that epitomizes the realities of life through the ears of a St. Jude Thaddeus statue (appropriately, the patron saint of lost causes.) Italian horror director Domiziano Cristopharo gives voice to said statue as it laments rather poetically about the aggravating church bells. Music a la Egisto Macchi, Ennio Morricone, Bruno Nicolai, etc. by Angelo Triscoli. While certainly darker in tone, to the director, this is a comedy.

Domiziano Cristopharo recording the voiceover.

Cimiterotico

CIMITEROTICO
A film by: Piero Pannaccio
Music by: Angelo Triscoli
Sidd Web Productions

YouTube: https://youtu.be/8qcI5oVGf3s

Produced by Sidd Web Productions, this short experimental art film by Piero Pannaccio (perhaps more of an exercise in camerawork and editing) a la Italy 1970s documentary, is a sequel of sorts to SILENCE AMONG THE GRAVES by Franck Peter. The music by Angelo Triscoli was inspired by the great Egisto Macchi, though some hints of Marcello Giombini, Riz Ortolani, and Nico Fidenco may be heard. Yes, the film is a bit suggestive, perhaps a bit irreverent, but it is what it is.

This film contains some of the best camerawork and editing of all Filmiracle / Sidd Web Productions. (At least, in my opinion.)

The Hanging Doll

THE HANGING DOLL
With: Terry Reilly, Pamela Stanford, Silvia Collatina
Written by: Chris Milewski
Based on an idea by: Jon Alcaide
Music by: Piero M. Valle
Director of Photography: Franco Massaccesi
Edited by: Grazia Vanni
Produced by: C. Lazer
Directed by: Luciano Imperoli

YouTube: https://youtu.be/bqpTzlRJ2Es

THE HANGING DOLL is an Italian-horror inspired short film directed by Luciano Imperoli and featuring Filmiracle regular Terry Reilly. Based on an idea by Jon Alcaide and written by Chris Milewski, one can expect the typical supernatural affair, but this time crafted in more of a late-80s style — something more akin to the waning days of the Italian masters Lucio Fulci, Umberto Lenzi, Joe D’Amato, and the like. As such, it comes complete with a synth score that might make Piero Montanari or Carlo Maria Cordio proud (well, it can’t be said it comes close to their talent, but you get the idea.) This film also features minor participation, in one form or another, from Pamela Stanford (Jess Franco’s LORNA THE EXORCIST) and Silvia Collatina (Fulci’s HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY.) It may not be a masterpiece, but it’s something.

"This is a low-key classic ghost story brimming with atmosphere. The Hanging Doll is gloomy and well filmed." -Severed Cinema

Incidentally, the silver clothes brush in with the knick-knacks at the end of the film once belonged to iconic silent film actress / producer Mary Pickford. 

For a lengthy interview focusing on THE HANGING DOLL, check out (re)SearchMyTrash.

Chris Milewski on set during the production of THE HANGING DOLL.

The Phantoms of Belle Voir

THE PHANTOMS OF BELLE VOIR
A film by: Franck Peter
A. G. Bell Films

This short film was taken in the haunted woods of Belle Voir in Bensalem, Pennsylvania. It is possible that, perhaps lurking in the background of some shot, one of the several specters that reputedly walk the ground might be seen.

Filmed by Franck Peter for A. G. Bell Films (on a phone.)

Silence Among the Graves

SILENCE AMONG THE GRAVES
A film by: Franck Peter
Camera: Giancarlo Lenzi
Music by: Lorna White
Sidd Web Productions

YouTube: https://youtu.be/ncf1qBHaZM0

Produced by Sidd Web Productions, Silence Among the Graves is short experimental art documentary film in 16mm Italian style by Franck Peter. Comprised solely of zooming and meandering shots of the Mt. Zion Methodist Cemetery and paired with a strange, minimalist electronic score by Lorna White (G. L. White,) the film offers a strange glimpse at this largely forgotten burial ground in Holmesburg, Philadelphia, PA. Camera by Giancarlo Lenzi.

Unquestionably a personal favorite.

The Garden, the Artist, & the Vampire

THE GARDEN, THE ARTIST, & THE VAMPIRE
A film by: Aurelio Amato
Sidd Web Productions

YouTube: https://youtu.be/W243CCvcDwo

The Garden, the Artist, & the Vampire is a film by Aurelio Amato that was pieced together from the remnants of a canceled project, hence the end result is a bit pretentious and ambiguous to say the least. With that said, there is a story in there -- inspired by Edvard Munch's "Hands" -- which can perhaps be extrapolated from the imagery. The location is what remains of the bizarre garden at Sarobia, with it's maze-like brick paths that seemingly change direction, end, and turn around with no rhyme or reason. Admittedly, the main purpose of this work as it is today was simply to occupy the filmmaker's time and to provide an exercise for improvised, abstract jazz ala Ennio Morricone / Egisto Macchi / Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza (though, perhaps nowhere close to the same level.)

In the Dreams of Those with Unblinking Eyes

IN THE DREAMS OF THOSE WITH UNBLINKING EYES (PSYCHE AND EROS)
With: Ryan Capizzi
Soundtrack by: Neptune Van Buren
Director of Photography: Franco Massaccesi
Edited by: Silvano Bertuccelli
Produced by: Chris Milewski
Directed by: Luciano Imperoli

YouTube: https://youtu.be/j5z30NctOhY

In the Dreams of Those with Unblinking Eyes (Psyche and Eros) is a short horror film that, in typical Filmiracle fashion, is oozing with atmosphere heavily inspired by Italian horror of the 1980s -- particularly the works of Lucio Fulci and Joe D'Amato. The score by Neptune Van Buren is reminiscent of the works of the great Marcello Giombini and very much helps carry the visuals along. The supernatural story, partially inspired by the classic tale of Eros and Psyche, may appear simple on the surface, but it is in actuality rather complex with several recurring motifs woven throughout. Ultimately, it ends up being somewhat, perhaps quite literally, an art film.

The film was inspired by Edvard Munch's painting "Cupid and Psyche."

"Fulcian moments and some moments in the cinema of Mario Bava" - Nino Celeste (DP Lucio Fulci's The House of Clocks, The Sweet House of Horrors)