Luciano Crovato Movies

This choice chunk of Italian horror junk arrived on video courtesy of the cinematic garbage collectors at Troma, Inc. Basically a dull, pointless rip-off of the Evil Dead series, this film gets off to a wonderfully tasteless start, depicting a bizarre castration-murder performed by a female demon (Elena Cantarone) with a clawed appendage that emerges from an unmentionable location. From there, the story slides quickly downhill into the familiar campers-versus-monsters scenario (albeit padded with footage from another film and endless woodland traveling shots), in which unsuspecting vacationers stumble upon both the she-demon and her geeky adversary (Luciano Crovato). Naturally, several of the campers become possessed by the demonic forces lurking within the woods, pitting the survivors against their former companions in an audaciously gory climax. Fans of blood-drenched Italian zombie-fests may find some moments worthwhile, but endless tedious stretches may invite heavy lashings of the fast-forward button. Originally titled Notte nel Bosco, or Night in the Woods. ~ Cavett Binion, All Movie Guide

In this pseudo-farce, the heroine Mickey (Margot Kidder) takes two weeks off work to go to Malta and write a mystery novel and finds herself caught up in a series of real-life murders that she weaves into her progressing story. Caught between a parody, a children's film, and a who-dunnit, the overplayed Disney charm of Trenchcoat wears thin very quickly. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide

A newcomer in 1981, Massimo Troisi wrote, directed, and starred in this popular comedy about the trials of Gaetano (Troisi) as he runs head-on into quirky characters ranging from a driver bent on ending it all with him in the car, to his mother who considers his forthcoming trip to Florence right up there with a visit to Siberia. Once Gaetano reaches Florence from his beloved Naples, overcoming all manner of obstacles in the process, he visits his 40-ish aunt and finds, to his chagrin, that she has a lover. He leaves, as this is wholly unacceptable, and ends up staying with a born-again American Christian out to convert the Italians. Life gets a little better as he is befriended by a charming young woman (Fiorenza Marchegiani) who does not want to convert anyone, and he moves in with her. From there, Gaetano starts to overcome his shyness, understandable considering the people he knows, and he contemplates life differently after this short time away from home. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide