Director(s) – Yilmaz Duru (Men Don’t Cry, Kara Dogan) and Sergio Garrone (Django the Bastard, Lover of the Monster)
Starring – Klaus Kinski (Crawlspace, Nosferatu the Vampyre), Katia Christine (Spirits of the Dead, Knight Rider), and Marzia Damon (Sex of the Witch, The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance)
Release Date – 1974
Rating – 3.5/5
Blu Release – 2.5/5
Late last year Full Moon announced the release of several horror titles on blu. Two of them were movies I had never seen before so I reached out to them for review copies. They were kind enough to send me copies over but it did take a little time because the originally pressing had ran into an issue. Once I finally got them in I couldn’t wait to throw in the 1974 film The Hand That Feed the Dead starring film legend Klaus Kinski. Thanks Full Moon for sending this one over!
**Spoiler Alert** The film follows professor Nijinski (Kinski) who has married the scarred daughter of a brilliant scientist who was killed in an explosion. Nijinski uses the deceased doctor’s laboratory to perform his experiments in skin transplants to give his wife back her looks. However, in order to make her whole again he needs living skin from beautiful women. **Spoiler Alert**
Klaus Kinski has been in some of the most iconic horror films of the 70s. He’s one of the best acting to ever step in front of a camera and his performances always overshadow his co-stars. When I heard that Full Moon was putting The Had That Feeds the Dead on blu I couldn’t wait to see him tear up the screen.
The acting in this one is great. Kinski is known for his amazing performances but here he is more grounded and realistic. The intense and energetic performance that I was expecting is not here. Instead, he approaches the role in a more dramatic fashion. It works and really fits the gothic feel of the film. His supporting cast does a fantastic job as well. The characters are rather generic but they still deliver solid performances.
The story for this one is a spin on the Frankenstein mythos meets a gothic romance in away. A doctor taking the skin from beautiful young women and crafting it to his burned wife is a morbid but deepy romantic but the film still has that Frankenstein like vibe as well. I really enjoyed it for the most part but some of the scenes do feel a little pointless. They are well acted and look great BUT they serve no purpose to the story. These handful of scenes does slow the film down.
Finally, this is not a gory film but we get some seriously fun practical effects and grisly scenes of faceless women. They are campy by today’s standards but I really enjoyed the make-up and practical effects. Overall, The Hand That Feeds the Dead is not the movie I was expecting but I still really enjoyed myself here. The story pulls you in and Kinski never disappoints. The blu from Full Moon looks gorgeous. The audio and video are crisp and beautiful. I highly recommend this release for genre fans.
Special Features:
None
