Wednesdays get weird when Late Shift at the Grindhouse hosts Ross Meyer, Joe Derderian, and Aaron Holmgren dig up low-budget b-movies, horror and gore-fests, and camp classics for your viewing pleasure. Buy your ticket and take a ride in our Time Machine! Punch in and earn a bonus! $3 Pabst Blue Ribbon tallboys and $3 small popcorn! PLUS -- special custom trash trailer reel curated by Ross with cheap swag and prize giveaways!

Death Smiles on a Murderer (1973)

Directed by Joe D'Amato (Zombie 5: Killing Birds)

Late Shift at the Grindhouse joins The Bijou Film Board in celebrating their 50th anniversary with a series of favorites from the year 1973. 

Free admission for University of Iowa students.

A haunting Gothic horror/giallo hybrid, Death Smiles on a Murderer is a compelling early work from the legendary sleaze and horror film director Joe D'Amato (Anthropophagus, Emanuelle in America).

"A throwback to the Italian Gothic tradition of the 1960s laced with some commercially viable helpings of nudity and gore." - Nathaniel Thompson, DVD Delirium

"Plenty of atmosphere, eerie visuals and a healthy dose of sex and gore add to this Italian sleaze-fest." - Ken Kish, Video Wasteland: Rental, Reference and Review Guide

"I feel like I need to take a long shower after watching this movie. Which isn’t a bad thing, really. It’s an effective mix of giallo and gothic romance, with plenty of sleaze and gore for those seeking those thrills." - Sam Panico, B&S About Movies

Set in Austria in the early 1900s, Death Smiles on a Murderer stars Ewa Aulin (Candy, Death Laid an Egg) as Greta, a beautiful young woman abused by her brothers Franz (Luciano Rossi, Death Walks on High Heels, The Conformist) and left to die in childbirth by her illicit lover, the aristocrat Dr. von Ravensbruck (Diacomo Rossi Stuart, Kill, Baby... Kill!).  Grief-stricken, Franz reanimates his dead sister using a formula engraved on an ancient Incan medallion.  Greta then returns as an undead avenging angel, reaping revenge on the Ravensbruck family and her manically possessive brother.  

D'Amato's film is a stately and surreal supernatural mystery which benefits from an achingly mournful score by Berto Pisano, several shocking scenes of gore, and a typically sinister performance from Klaus Kinski as a morbid doctor.  

Restoration courtesy of Arrow Films and the American Genre Film Archive

Plus the short film:

Sighs From the Depths (2023)

Directed by Richard Griffin (Disorienting Dick) - 13 min.

Ask yourself, does it matter who answers our prayers?