DVD Review: THE HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS (1976)

THE HOUSE WITH THE LAUGHING WINDOWS (1976) 
LA CASA DALLE FINESTRE CH RIDONO

Label: Shameless Screen Entertainment

Region Code: 0 PAL 

Rating: Certificate:18

Duration:106 min

Audio: Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono, 5.1 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Pupi Avati

Cast: Lino Capolicchio, Francesca Marciano, Gianni Cavin

Pup Avati's Euro-shocker The House with the Laughing Windows (1976) begins with a young art restoration expert named Stefano (Lino Capolicchio) arriving in a sleepy Italian village, having been tasked to restore a bizarre fresco painting at the local church, it depicts the bloody death of martyr St. Sebastian who was painfully slashed to death by arrows. The gory fresco is said to have been painted years earlier by a deranged local artist named Legnani, whom the villagers say was demented and created his painted agonies by torturing his subjects, that's right, he would paint his subjects in the agonizing throes of death to capture the essence of their suffering on his canvas, and some of the works featured in the film are pretty strange indeed. It is also implied that Legnani's two insane sisters assisted him and may have engaged in the most taboo of unnatural acts, incest. 

Stefano, being an artists, has an eye for detail and peculiarity, and this village is just lousy with peculiarity! Starting with the midget Solimi who hired him to restore the fresco, he's one of the first characters we meet as Stefano arrives in the village via boat, they're driven into town by Solimi's chauffeur named Coppola who ends up figuring prominently into the story. Everyone in the village is suspect, they're just a little bit weird, there's an overwhelming sense of unease throughout the film, the atmosphere is rich with an ambiguous dread that creeps up creates a surreal sense of paranoia. Perhaps the nuttiest of the bunch is Stefano's bug-nuts insane assistant at the church who spouts nonsense, a real weirdo who immediately drew my suspicion. 

Some local oddness aside Stefano has very little trouble with the ladies of the village, easily bedding not one, but two, sexy young school teachers in no time at all. First up is his slightly-slutty neighbor, a ginger-locked cutey, and when she leaves town he lands the more slightly more chaste (sort of) Francesco (Francesca Marciano), with whom he develops a relationship which lasts for most of the film, wink wink. 

The villagers, shopkeepers and restaurateurs seem like they're hiding something and at the same time you get the feeling they are quite aware of pretty much every move that Stefano makes, it's an odd feeling. Stefano encounters an old friend Antonio (Glulio Pizzirani) in town who as it turns out was the one whom recommended him for the job, as they catch up it is revealed that he too has heard about the enigmatic painter and later phones Stefano urging him to come to his apartment for he has uncovered some disturbing information about the fresco. Stefano rushes over just in time to witness Antonio plummet to his death from his upper-tier apartment window, a shadowy figure is glimpsed in the window above.

The police arrive but of course are not convinced there has been any foul-play in Antonio's death despite Stefano's concerns, unable to leave the mystery alone he sets out to uncover more of the Legnani story, eventually discovering that his body was never actually recovered and the whereabouts of his sisters are unknown, as the web of mystery slowly unravels the body count rises and we earn ourselves a true shocker of an ending!

The tense atmosphere and feelings of mistrust that director Pupi Avati generates is palpable, you can almost taste it, very few films cam muster up the paranoia and dread that this shocker oozes practically from the first scene, it brought to mind the earlier films of Roman Polanski (Repulsion, The Tenant) and Lucio Fulci's superb Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), the cinematographer capturing the gorgeous northern Italian scenery, aging architecture and water canals, it's quite a beautiful film.

 The House with the Laughing Windows (1976) first came to my attention via Euro-cult circles on the web and was often cited as a first-rate Giallo, which I think is a bit off the mark. It's more along the lines of the aforementioned Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), the folk-horror classic The Wicker Man (1973) minus the gore or Mario Bava's Gothic creeper Kill Baby, Kill (1966), and lacks many of the characteristics of what I would call a Giallo, such as a black-gloved killer, elaborately gory deaths, erotic sex, and Argento-esque camera work, all these qualities are notably absent or in short supply. Actually, the sex is pretty chase (no nudity) and the deaths are far and few between and many happen off screen. Not to say it's bloodless, it's  book-ended by a bloody sepia-tone title sequence (which brought to mind Fulci's The Beyond) and that previously mentioned shocker-ending which pays of the viewers patience ten-fold, so it's not completely absent, it's just not in copious amounts. 

DVD: The House with the Laughing Windows (1976) is presented on region-FREE PAL formatted DVD from Shameless Screen Entertainment with a new transfer restored from the original negative under the  supervision of director Pupi Avati and it's quite nice. The image is anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1) with a layer of film grain that is a bit more present during some of the darker scenes than you might like, but it's not too distracting. Colors are strong, the image is fairly sharp, and the disc sports some decent black levels though there is some crush and murkiness. I think it's unfortunate that we don't get to see this on hi-def Blu-ray, the cinematography is gorgeous and would look spectacular in 1080p with more depth and clarity. 

The disc comes with two audio options, Italian Dolby Digital Mono and 5.1 Surround with optional English subtitles. The original mono comes through clean and well-balanced while the 5.1 opens up things a bit with the minimalist but effectively creepy score bleeding into the surrounds, it's not an overly dynamic surround track but it's effective. 

Extras include a pretty great interview with the director of the film Pupi Avati conducted in Italian with English subtitles, it is both fascinating and articulate, turned me into an instant fan. It's a shame Avati didn't make more horror films, I will definitely be seeking out his other films right away, I am quite impressed with my introduction to his work. There's also a theatrical trailer and a trailer gallery with nine trailers from the Shameless catalog, some fun stuff. 

Special Features: 

- Brand New Transfer Restored Under the Supervision of Director Pupi Avati 

- New Improved English Subtitles 

- New Exclusive Interview with Director Pupi (20:25)

- Theatrical Trailer (3:27) 

- Shameless Trailer Park: The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, Almost Human, The New York Ripper, Don't Torture a Duckling, Cannibal Holocaust, The House on the Edge of the Park, Four Flies on Grey Velvet, Dellamorte Dellamore, Amsterdamned (10:27) 

Verdict: The House with the Laughing Windows (1976) gets a very nice standard-def DVD presentation from Shameless Screen Entertainment, as for the film, it's a tense, paranoid slow-burn slice of Euro-cult cinema and maybe the deliberate pace and absence of viscera might turn off a few watchers but it's layered with atmosphere and dread and I think it's a superb watch, highly recommended. 
4 Outta 5 

DVD Review: AMSTERDAMNED (1988)

AMSTERDAMNED (1988) 

Label: Shameless Screen Entertainment
Region Code: Region 2 PAL 

Rating: Certificate 18

Duration: 109 Minutes
Audio: English, Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles 

Video: 16x9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Dick Maas
Cast: Huub Stapel, Monique Van de Ven, Serge-Henri Valckke

WTF! Dutch people of the world, what was in the water of those famed canals in the 80's that lead to this? Hey, I'm not complaining, it's nutty as fuck and I sorta expected no less from the director of the Christmas crime-slasher Sint (Saint) from 2010 but even with that odd watermark in mind I wasn't expecting a scuba-diving slasher, no sirree. 

The film opens with a surprisingly effective POV shot of our scuba-slasher stalking the gorgeous nighttime canals of Amsterdam until he comes across prostitute who's already had a shitty night, but it's about to get even worse. The frog suited attacker leaps from the canal and plunges a divers knife into her flesh repeatedly before dragging her corpse back into the murky depth of the canal. The next day her mangled corpse is hung from a footbridge where it is struck by a passing tour boat. Her bloody corpse dragging along the entire length of it's windowed visage to the scream-filled horror of the boy scouts and nuns until it falls through the open-top roof, the whole set-up of the first kill and it's aftermath is a real showstopper, it gets it's hooks right into you! 

When more bodies emerge it's pretty obvious that there's a seial killer on the lose and detective Eric Visser (Huub Stapel) is brought in on the case and the film plays our more or less like an Italian style Giallo crime drama with some typical cat and mouse games between cop and killer with some stylish kills and a surprising amount of action including a fantastically over-the-top hi-speed boat chase through the canals and sometimes on the surface streets, it really puts to shame the boat chase in The World is Not Enough (1999). 

Detective Visser has a young daughter named Anneke and the film needed more of her, or at least some exploration of her character. At one point she aims a gun at her father while he's bathing in the tub, and then.... nothing, no follow-up! WTF! The film definitely has a weird sense of humor, aside from the odd gun-incident Anneke answers the phone only to tell her dad's boss that he's in the bathroom, probably masturbating! There's also a strange pursuit of a youthful offender that ends in a bakery with the perpetrator face down in a cake, eating frosting with a fun exchange between the baker and cop, I really like director Dick Maas's strange sense of humor here. 

The kills are pretty great, we get stabbings, decapitations and even a suicide by harpoon, there's no shortage of creative grue! The killer in a decked-out in a black wet suit and it comes across fantastically, like an aquatic version of My Bloody Valentine (1981) with the heavy breathing and flippers, a very cool killer indeed and quite unique. The best kill scene for me was a young women on an inflatable raft that brought to mind Friday the 13th: The Final Chapter (1984) and the infamous trampoline scene from Eli Roth's Thanksgiving (2007), great stuff.

On the downside there are some long stretches of film that put the sleepy boredom right into me but just as I feared I might be overcome by the sandman we get another great kills or some god awful 80's fashion or a quirky 80's synth music cue that brought me back from the edge of boredom, it's not a perfect film but it's  an odd 80's Dutch slasher with Giallo-esque tendencies that's certainly entertaining, loaded with action and with a decent body count and a very peculiar sense of humor.

Reversible Artwork 

DVD: There's currently no Region 1 North American edition of this nutty Dutch slasher but Shameless Screen Entertainment have come to the rescue presenting Amsterdamned (1988) uncut and in it's original aspect ratio (1.85:1) on Region 2 DVD. It's an attractive shot film and it looks great on DVD, not the most crisp or sharp image you will ever see but colors are vibrant and overall we get a nice video presentation  .

Audio options include choice of original Dolby Digital 2.0 Dutch or a dubbed English track with optional English subtitles. This edition is not exactly waterlogged with extra features but we do get a nifty behind-the-scenes making of documentary, English an Dutch language trailers, a reversible sleeve of artwork and the standard Shameless Screen Entertainment trailer reel. Would have loved to hear director Dick Maas offer up a commentary just to see what his thought process was during this film, where the idea of a scuba-slasher came from, directors like this need to be dissected and explored for further study, not really, but a commentary would have been appreciated for this nutty Dutch film. 

Special Features: 
- Reversible Sleeve of Artwork 

- Exclusive making-of by Director Dick Maas

- Newly remastered English Audio

- Dutch Trailer

- English Theatrical Trailer 

- Shameless Trailer park

Verdict: I can think of precious few late-80's slashers that can outmatch this imaginative and nutty Dutch entry, it's a definite recommend and I give it creativity points on the concept and execution alone, just when you think you've seen it all Dick Maas and the Dutch are there to prove you wrong. 3.5 Outta 5 

http://www.shameless-films.com/

DVD Review: MANHATTAN BABY (1982)

MANHATTAN BABY (1982)

Label: Shameless Screen Entertainment 

Region Code: 0 PAL

Duration: 85 Minutes

Rating: 18 Certificate

Audio: English Dolby Digital Mono

Video: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Lucio Fulci

Cast: Christopher Connelly, Martha Taylor, Brigitta Boccoli, Giovanni Frezza, Cinzia de Ponti, Cosimo Cinieri, Andrea Bosic, Carlo De Mejo, Enzo Marino Bellanich, Mario Moretti, Lucio Fulci, Tonino Pulci

Ten-year old Susie Hacker (Martha Taylor) is on vacation in Egypt with archaeologist father George Hacker (Christopher Connelly) when she meets a strange, blind woman in the city bazaar whom gifts her with an ancient amulet with weird, inter dimensional powers. While excavating a cursed Egyptian tomb George is struck blind when an ancient jewel emits a blue laser-blast to his eyes, the effect is pure 80's awesomeness, it's fun stuff, even if dated. These opening scenes in Egypt are fantastic, perhaps a bit confusing, but Lucio Fulci was at top of his game in '82, these shots are atmospheric and creepy, particularly the gorgeously shot and spooky Egyptian tombs with secret passages, serpents, trap doors and spiked booby traps. 

The family returns to New York City where Professor Hacker is told by doctors that the blindness is only temporary, which is great for him but things just get weirder for his poor daughter Susie, strange things begin happening to those around her, there's some connection between the amulet and the tomb her father was exploring, you never quite comprehend just what the fuzz is actually going on, you might, but it's never explained to any satisfactory degree, which is just fine by me. A fun note,  Susie's younger brother Tommy is played by Giovanni Frezza, that spooky creeper kid Bob from Fulci's The House by the Cemetery (1981), the one with that awful dubbing, but worry not for he's not quite so annoying here.

Manhattan Baby really does come off as a head-scratching schlocky rip-off The Exorcist (1973) and Rosemary's Baby (1968) with a nasty nod to Hitchcock's The Birds (1963) but it's a bit more than just that, there's also a poorly conceived rip-off of the elevator death scene in Damien: Omen II (1979). Lucio Fulci and cinematographer Guigliemo Mancoro put some great images on-screen, sure some of the effects are super schlocky, the glowing doors, birds on wires, and the 80's laser effects come immediately to mind, but there's some decent gore effects, too. An early scene in Egypt features a great impalement and late in the film a roomful of stuffed birds wreak exquisite suffering on a para-psychologist, in the gore department it's not a complete disappointment, just a bit restrained by Fulci standard of the time. 

Story wise there's a lot of weird and unexplained events transpiring, you won't walk away from this with any real understanding of what you've just seen but the connective tissue of the film are suspenseful and intriguing, or at least pleasantly confusing. I think Fulci gets hammered on, perhaps not unjustly, for poor storytelling and this head-scratcher, penned by longtime collaborator Dardano Sacchetti (Zombi, New York Ripper), certainly won't dissuade that line of criticism.  However, if you have love for Lucio Fulci's The Beyond (1981) and City of the Living Dead (1980) or other Italian supernatural weirdies you will enjoy this one, it's pretty slim on the gore, quite restrained for this period of Fulci, but it's thick with creepy atmosphere and schlocky supernatural fun. 

DVD: Shameless Screen Entertainment present Lucio Fulci's Manhattan Baby (1982) in it's anamorphic original widescreen aspect ratio (2.35:1)  on a region 0 PAL formatted DVD. The print looks quite nice, there's a fine layer of film grain and the print is mostly free of minor scratches and damage. The transfer features strong vibrant colors and decent black levels. The English language Dolby Digital mono audio is well balanced and clean, dubbed dialogue and effects come through clear and  Fabio Frizzi's recycled score from The Beyond (1981) and City of the Living Dead (1980) sound fine, there's the usual odd English-dubbing funkiness but that's par for the course with  80's Italian features. There's not much by the way of special features unfortunately, no commentary or featurettes, but we get a selection of trailers and a reversible sleeve of artwork, but that's it. 

Special Features:

- Shameless Trailer Gallery (13:33): New York Ripper (1982), The Black Cat (1981), Torso (1973), Frightened Woman (1969) , Night Train Murders (1975)  
- Theatrical Trailer (3:03) 
- Sleeve of Reversible Artwork

Verdict: Not on par with Lucio Fulci's The Gates of Hell Trilogy but this supernatural scholcker is nothing to sneeze at, this is fun 80's schlock and it definitely gives me hope as to what I might discover further exploring Fulci's post-New York Ripper (1982) filmography. Prepare yourself for a "what the fuck did I just watch" sorta experience, you might never quite understand many of Lucio Fulci's films, you just sorta get a feel for 'em, and this one feels just about right for the period, a medium recommend. 3 Outta 5 

Blu-ray Review: FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971)

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971)

Label: Shameless Screen Entertainment
Region Code: Region FREE
Rating: 18 Certificate
Duration: 99 minutes
Audio: English and Italian 2.1 DTS HD, Dolby 2.0
Video: 16:9 Widescreen (2.35:1) 1080p
Director: Dario Argento
Cast: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Bud Spencer, Francine Racette

Synopsis: Dario Argento's "lost masterpiece" FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET concerns rock musician Robert Tobias (Michael Brandon, LOVERS AND OTHER STRANGERS) whom one night confronts a man who's been following him for several days. Catching up to the voyeur in an abandoned theatre the man pulls a switchblade and in the ensuing struggle Robert accidentally stabs the man in the abdomen, he falls from the stage into the orchestra pit, dead. In a bizarre turn someone in the upper wings of the theatre wearing an unnerving mask shines a spotlight on the altercation and snaps several incriminating photographs of the tragic event. Robert flees the scene and tries to put the events behind him but in the following days he is overcome with paranoia and fear when the dead man's ID shows up in the mail, pictures of the crime appear and the voyeur enters his home taunting him, but to what end and why?

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971) is considered the last entry in what is known as Dario Argento's Animal Trilogy following the brilliant debut THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE (1970) and CAT O' NINE TAILS (1971). The trio of films feature music scores from the master of film music Ennio Morricone and feature protagonists drawn into a murder mystery. BIRD featured an American writer, CAT a blind puzzle maker and FLIES features a rock drummer, all familiar character types to Argento enthusiasts. Dario would again bring an American writer to Rome with TENEBRE and a musician who witnesses a brutal death with the masterful DEEP RED, with FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET the twist is that our protagonist is the defacto killer.

The film starts off with a sweetly edited title sequence set to the tune of a tasty 70's rock freak-out (by Morricone) as Robert (a drummer) and the band jam on a psychedelic art-rock tune. There's a nifty scenario played out as we see flashbacks to the sun glassed stranger tailing Robert and a mosquito Hell bent on distracting him from keeping the beat during the band rehearsal culminating in a sweet hi-hat execution eliminating the pest. It's after the band's rehearsal that Robert sees the man who's been following him, at his rope's end he gives chase to the man who leads him into an abandoned theatre and the altercation ends with the strangers unfortunate death and documentation by the masked voyeur.

Soon the ID and photos arrive at his home but no blackmail demands are made, Robert's at a loss for what the voyeur's motivations could possibly be. Why has the crime not been reported to the authorities? Later the voyeur escalates matters when he enters Robert's home only to assault and taunt him pushing him to his nerves ends. His wife Nina (Mimsy Farmer, BLACK CAT) tries to comfort him when he confides the murder and ensuing taunting but he's inconsolable. He enlists the help of an odd duo of vagrants whom live in a shack by the city's river, a man known as "God" (Bud Spencer, MY NAME IS TRINITY)) and "The Professor" (Oreste Lionello, THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS). He also enlists the aide of an odd homosexual detective named Gianni Arrosio (Jen-Pierre Marielle, MICMACS).

The incident continues to haunt Robert nightly, his fear manifesting itself as creepy images of a beheading which take seed after hearing of a beheading incident from a friend whom describes how a stiletto knife is stabbed into the victim's neck to turn their body rigid and to upturn their head just as the swordsman's blade lobs it off. It's a nightmarish and vivid image and it's an effective fortuitous image that's seen several times throughout the film. Something also thrust upon us are flashbacks to what one would assume is the killer's troubled and abusive relationship with a father figure giving scarce clues to the motives behind the homicidal frenzy.

The night that Robert confesses the murder to Nina the admission is overheard by their maid whom hatches an ill-conceived scheme to blackmail the musician which leads to a well structured and pulse-pounding pursuit through a park at night as she attempts to evade the killer whom apparently doesn't want anyone intervening in their grand scheme of revenge. It's a wonderful scene even though I felt a bit cheated when the murder happens off screen, we hear only her death cries, our tormenting voyeur now a killer. Fear not though, there's a few key death scenes that while not quite gory are definitely brutal. When the voyeur sees fit to off an accomplices that's outlived their usefulness there's a particularly sweet repeated bashing of their skull sending the victim to the ground where a thick gauge wire is wrapped around his neck and slowly turned until death, just a really effective scene.

It's  after this that we're introduced to Nina's cousin Dalia (Francine Racette, AU REVOIR LES ENFANTS), a real European nymphish beauty. We also meet the wonderfully gay detective Gianni Arrosio. I have an affection for Argento's colorful secondary gay characters whom populate many of his films, some of whom surely have been imbued with a bit too much flamboyance and not much substance or purpose but nonetheless were colorful additions to the films. Jean-Pierre Marielle as the oddball detective is one of my favorites, I really felt his death and enjoyed his tragically triumphant parting words.

Meanwhile Robert and Dalia have kindled a impromptu romance under the nose of Nina after some fun splashing around in the bathroom. Who bathes their cousin's husband, really? It's a fun and flirty trist that ends with both naked in the tub, Racette is a sight to behold, a real beauty but even her unnaturual impish looks cannot save her from the voyeur turned killer as she is stalked through Robert's home in a tense scene resulting in a PYSCHO-esque tumble down the stairs followed by a knife plunge into her soft, supple flesh. In perhaps a sweet sci-fi ode to HORROR EXPRESS a laser is used to read the last image imprinted upon her retina in death, what they discover is the titular series of four flies.

With the bodycount steadily rising and Robert's fear and paranoia at a fever pitch he resorts to awaiting and confronting the murderer in his home, it's a nice shocker ending and the culprit is truly bug nuts insane, a wonderfully over-the-top villain with a unique set of motivations stemming from a scarred childhood and an insatiable need for revenge. The finale is marked by two wonderfully stylish slow-motion shots involving a gunshot and a beautifully staged car-crash slash decapitation, it's a thing of beauty.

Blu-ray: Shameless Screen Entertainment's 40th Anniversary Edition of Argento's FOUR FLIES IN GREY VELVET presents the film in a sweet region-FREE Blu-ray. It was only just three years ago that Mya Communications released the film on DVD for the first time and that release was a revelation when compared to the fuzzy VHS copies floating around at the time. Shamless's Blu-ray is an improvement over the Mya DVD and is clearely the best the film has ever looked. It has been fully remastered in HD from the original film negative with improvement in fine detail and black levels which are deeper and less murkey. We're given the option of viewing the legendary "missing forty seconds" of inserts either through seamlessly branching or viewing them separately from the film. The standard definition footage is less than stellar but is presented in the correct aspect ratio at least.

Audio options include both English and Italian 2.1 DTS HD and Dolby Digital 2.0 with optional English subtitles for both the Italian language track and English SDH. The original English audio has been remastered exclusively for this release from the original magnetic soundtrack and while audio is not the most dynamic it is clear with few distortions, Morricone's score sounds great and the English soundtrack easily bests the Italian option.

Special features aren't in excess but enjoyable nonetheless. There are US and Italian theatrical trailers, the latter of which is a delightfully trippy and savage trailer, the UK trailers for Argento's films are usually far superior to the Englsih versions in my estimation. We also get a a poster and stills gallery, a short introduction from writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi who also offers up a nearly 42 minute exclusive interview about the film and his involvement beginning with his introduction to Argento as a journalist following the release of The Bird with The Crystal Plumage leading to Dario asking him to collaborate on Four Flies with Grey Velvet, crafting the story around the elaborate death set-pieces and the many influences on the film from Sergio Leone to pulp writers like Cornell Woolrich (BLACK ALIBI) and Raymond Chandler (THE LITTLE SISTER). There's also a brief segment wherein Luigi Cozzi talks about the similiarties in Argento's film to his own earlier film THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH which Cozzi vehemently rebukes as mere coincidence based on a similiar Woolrich literary influence, then denouncing Martino as an Argento immitator, fun stuff. For fans of Cozzi, Argento or Giallo this is a must-see, essential viewing that covers many facets of the film from casting, shooting, the effcets and even UK rockers DEEP PURPLE originally scoring the film. An interview with Dario Argento or a commentary would from Argento experts Kim Newman and Alan Jones would have been a nice addition to the extras but the Luigi Cozzi interview is pure gold.

Special Features:
- Reversible Artwork
- Introduction to the film by Luigi Cozzi.
- New, exclusive and extensive recent interview on the making of Four Flies On Grey Velvet with writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi.(41:23) 16:9
- Original English audio remastered in HD exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and available for the first time since the film’s original theatrical opening in the 1970s.
- Shameless re-build edit of the complete version of the film including four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary “missing forty seconds” (the inserts are in Standard-Definition quality). The Blu-ray will allow for seamless branching of the four inserts giving viewers two versions of the film: one all HD without the re-inserted scenes and one longer version including the inserts.
- Restoration of all individual damaged frames, most notably with respect to the removal of the black diagonal frame line (caused by the film jumping the high speed camera gate) in the final car crash sequence.
- Optional Italian audio version in HD with English subtitles.
- Italian Trailer (2:35) 16:9
- English Trailer (0:55) 16:9
- Alternate English opening and closing credits (5:00) 16:9
- Shameless Trailer Park (Blu-ray only) (11:26) 16:9
- Photo Gallery (5:43)

Verdict: Shameless Screen Entertainment's 40th Anniversary Edition Blu-ray easily demands an upgrade from Mya's previous DVD edition with a wonderful presentation and a sweet slew of bonus content that should make any Argento enthusiast pleased as punch. This wonderful edition receives high marks from me, a must-have and an underseen Argento classic. Now that Four Flies on Grey Velvet is no longer the rarity it once was I would very much like to see his maligned comedy THE FIVE DAYS OF MILAN (1973) find it's way to DVD/Blu-ray if only to say that I've finally seen it. 4 outta 5

Dario Argento's FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET 40th Anniversary Blu-ray on the way from Shameless Screen Entertainment

Brilliant news from the UK's Shameless Screen Entertainment today in the form of a press release announcing a 40th Anniversary Blu-ray Edition of Dario Argento's elusive third film FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971) with a wealth of new bonus content....

FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET (1971)

LABEL: Shameless Screen Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: January 30th 2012
RATING:Certificate 15
DURATION: 99 minutes
DIRECTOR: Dario Argento
CAST: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Bud Spencer, Francine Racette

Forty years after its release and twenty years after the film disappeared from the public eye, Shameless Screen Entertainment is releasing the first ever worldwide Blu-ray of Dario Argento’s lost masterpiece, Four Flies On Grey Velvet and, also for the first time ever, in the original version in which it was made. This special 40th Anniversary Edition has been fully remastered in HD from the original negative and includes four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary “missing forty seconds”. Additionally, the original pristine English audio has been remastered exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and is being made available for the first time since the film’s initial theatrical release in the 1970s.

Described by DVD Times as “essential viewing”, this final instalment in what is unofficially referred to as Argento’s Animal Trilogy (following “The Bird With The Crystal Plumage” and “The Cat O’ Nine Tails”) is a classic of the giallo genre, featuring music by Oscar-winning composer Ennio Morricone (The Untouchables; The Mission; The Good, The Bad And The Ugly) and starring Michael Brandon (Captain America: The First Avenger; Dempsey And Makepeace), Mimsy Farmer (The Black Cat; More), Jean-Pierre Marielle (Micmacs; The Da Vinci Code), Bud Spencer (They Call Me Trinity) and Francine Racette (Au Revoir Les Enfants; The Disappearance).

Going about his everyday life of band rehearsals and socialising with his wife, Nina (Farmer), and their hip friends, rock drummer Roberto Tobias (Brandon) notices he is constantly being followed by a strange man dressed in black. He decides to turn the tables on his stalker and follows him into an abandoned theatre, where a confrontation between the two ends with Roberto accidentally stabbing the man, who falls into the orchestra, apparently dead. Suddenly, a flash of light alerts Roberto to a figure in the upper wings of the theatre, where a mysterious person wearing a bizarre puppet mask and brandishing a camera has been taking photos of the fatal struggle. Roberto flees the scene, but the next day receives the dead man’s ID card in the post. Naturally assuming it has been sent by the unknown witness, he becomes immediately concerned by the lack of any blackmail demands and is haunted by the question of what it is the masked figure wants from him. Roberto’s fear and paranoia increase, and the mystery deepens, when his and Nina’s housemaid is found murdered in a local park and it becomes apparent that an intruder has had access to their apartment.

Four Flies On Grey Velvet (cert. 15) will be released on Blu-ray (£24.99) and DVD (£15.99) by Shameless Screen Entertainment on 30th January 2012.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Introduction to the film by Luigi Cozzi.
- New, exclusive and extensive recent interview on the making of Four Flies On Grey Velvet with writer and assistant director Luigi Cozzi.
- Original English audio remastered in HD exclusively for this Shameless release from the original magnetic soundtrack and available for the first time since the film’s original theatrical opening in the 1970s.
- Shameless re-build edit of the complete version of the film including four inserts of previously missing footage known amongst Argento fans as the legendary “missing forty seconds” (the inserts are in Standard-Definition quality). The Blu-ray will allow for seamless branching of the four inserts giving viewers two versions of the film: one all HD without the re-inserted scenes and one longer version including the inserts.
- Restoration of all individual damaged frames, most notably with respect to the removal of the black diagonal frame line (caused by the film jumping the high speed camera gate) in the final car crash sequence.
- Optional Italian audio version in HD with English subtitles.
- Italian and English trailers.
- Alternate English opening and closing credits.
- Shameless Trailer Park (Blu-ray only).

Blu-ray Review: CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980)

CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST (1980)

LABEL: Shameless Screen Entertainment
RELEASE DATE: September 26th 2011
REGION CODE: Region FREE
RATING: 18 Certificate
DURATION: 135 mins / 136 mins
VIDEO: 1080p MPEG-4 AVC Anamorphic Widescreen
AUDIO: English DTS-HD MSTR 2.0 Stereo, Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo
DIRCETOR: Ruggero Deodato
CAST: Robert Kerman, Perry Pirkanen, Francesca Ciardi, Carl Gabriel Yorke, Luca Barbareschi
TAGLINE: The Most Controversial Film Ever Made

Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST lures us in with a TV documentary telling of four American documentary film makers who have set off to the Amazon jungles to observe the indigenous cannibal tribes. The documentary team consist of docu-director Alan Yates (Carl Gabriel Yorke, IDLE HANDS), his girlfriend and script girl Faye (Francesca Ciardi, THE TUNNEL) and cameramen Jack (Perry Pirkanen, CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD) and Tomasa (Luca Barbareschi. CUT AND RUN). The four have gone missing while documenting the Amazonian tribes. The news reports spur NYU anthropologist Harold Monroe (Robert Kerman, DEBBIE DOES DALLAS) to form an expedition to rescue the group with the help of a skilled jungle guide named Chaco with a penchant for snorting cocaine (Salvatore Basile, COBRA VERDE) and his assistant Miguel. They are also involuntarily joined my a member of the Yacumo tribe who we see rather brutally captured by the Colombian military just prior to Prof. Monroe's arrival as they decimate a small party of tribesman, completely blowing the face off one of the indigenous people at close range, it's the first of many atrocities visited upon the primitive people of the film.

Not long into their jungle trek they discover the worm infested corpse of Felipe, a jungle guide who accompanied the documentary crew they seek. It's a discouraging sign to say the least, setting up camp next to a river Miguel captures and slaughters a muskrat, it's death shrieks are grotesque. Further on they observe a tribesman who come ashore on a boat, his wife in tow. He binds her with rope to a stake on the muddy embankment and proceeds to vaginally rape her with a phallus-shaped stone implement. He then packs a mud ball with slivers of wood and seems to cram into her vaginal cavity, it's bloody and gut-churning, then killing her with several strong blows to the head then placing her corpse into the wooden canoe shoving it off into the river. Chaco tells a stunned Prof. Munroe that what they've seen is tribal punishment for the woman's infidelity. They follow the tribesman who's now  travelling on foot back to the Yacumo village where they use the captive tribesman (and apparently Miguel's mighty schlong) as leverage to negotiate with the villagers for information pertaining to the missing documentarians. They learn that the film crew were indeed in the area recently and caused great unrest among the tribes.

The following day Munroe, Chaco and Miguel knowing their on the right path head further into the "Green Inferno" when they come across a macabre scene of waring cannibalistic tribes savaging each other. The Yanomamos and the Shamatari are engaged in a brutal battle with the Yanomamos on the losing end until the group intervene with a flurry of gunfire, which earns them an invite to dinner back at the Yanomamo village. What's on the menu? Human flesh, of course! The group are treated with some suspicion until Dr. Munroe earns their respect by bathing naked in the river, these primitive cultures certainly do respect the sight of some schlong, just saying. With his wiener exposed and their trust gained a group of villagers take Munroe to the grotesque and obviously gnawed on skeletal remains of the documentarian crew, they're camera equipment hanging from their remains, including canisters of films they'd shot prior to their grisly deaths. Munroe plays a tape recording of tribal chanting for the villagers who are awestruck at his mighty power that enables him to steal their voices and he is able to strike a deal for the canisters of film in exchange for cassette recorder.


Reversible Artwork Option


Next thing we know were back in New York City and Prof. Munroe strikes a deal with a broadcast TV channel who want him to host a documentary of the recovered film but he wants to screen the "found footage" before he agrees to air it for all the world to see. Here is the genius twist of the film as Munroe and the TV execs screen the "found footage" we watch it with them and experience the true horrors caught in film as we catch glimpses of the crew's journey from New York to Columbia and into the Amazon jungles in search of cannibalistic tribes, a film within a film.

Without spoiling anymore than I already have let me just say that the images caught on film are grotesque, disturbing and unsettlingly potent. There's leg amputation, beheadings, cannibalism, several graphic rape scenes, a forced abortion, murderous arson and the quite infamous impalement from anus to mouth - these are truly soul-rendering acts of human indecency and the effects works from Aldo Gasparri (MAD DOG KILLER) is astounding real, so much so that after the film's premiere in Italy it was siezed by the local magistrate and Deodato was arrested for obscenity and still later charged with making a snuff film, that's right, they believed he murdered his actors. Goddamn that's some potent cinema right there. Eventually Deodato presented the actors on live TV thereby proving his innocence.

This release contains two versions of the film; one is the original version of the film minus 15 seconds of compulsory cuts for what the BBFC calls "unsimulated animal cruelty" aka the muskrat death scene. The second versions is Ruggero Deodato's newly created "re-edit" further removing the animal cruelty beyond the compulsory BBFC cuts. Most notably the gruesome death of a turtle is now obscured by natural looking print damage and the death of the aforementioned muskrat happens off screen though it's unnerving death shriek is still heard. Also, a few frames of the spider monkey deaths are trimmed but it's no less affecting. Be forewarned my animal loving friends there are still despicable acts of cruelty exploitively perpetrated upon a turtle, muskrat, pig, spider monkeys, and a tarantula, so don't go into this thinking what you are getting is a sanitized "clean" edit, it's still plenty repugnant and that's on top of the degradation, rape and murder of the painfully stereotyped indigenous people. Either version of Deodato's most notorious film found here are still full-on cannibal exploitation films. It should be noted that most if not all the animals killed were eaten by the indigenous cast of the film if that helps you sleep better at night.

Few films are as notorious as CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and with good reason, there's no other film quite like this one, it's despicable but undeniably a cinematic masterpiece in my mind. Taking it's cue from the MONDO CANE films that came before it Deodato has infused the film with a disturbingly realistic aesthetic, the documentary footage shot on 16mm in cinema verite style puts you right there with 'em as they perpetrate impossibly heinous acts upon the indigenous people, you are complicit in the act unable to stop them from happening before your very eyes, it's a film that deeply troubles you and may have you questioning your taste in films.

The acting is top notch from a cast of inexperienced unknowns at the time (and mostly even still now) aside from Robert Kerman who was already the star if numerous adult pornos unbeknownst to Deodato. Yorke is particularly effective as the cruel documentarian, outside of the that I thought Francesa Ciardi was quite impressive and quite possibly the most relatable character if I could even dare say that about any character in the film.

BLU-RAY: Shameless Screen Entertainment's release marks this exploitation classics world debut on region FREE Blu-ray and is presented in an MPEG-4 AVC encode that's 1080p HD anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1).  Admittedly it's been a few years since I last sat down with my Grindhouse Releasing special edition DVD but I think it's quite safe to say that the film has never looked any better that what I see here. It's a gorgeous transfer from a very nice print, colors are vibrant and deep though a few instances of softness do appear throughout, as much of the film was shot on 16mm and blown-up to 35mm it's just to be expected. There's a fine layer of film grain present throughout  with some fine detail and the image is plenty sharp for a film of it's age. The two audio options are English DTS-HD MSTR 2.0 Stereo and Dolby Digital 2.0 Stereo. For the sake of the review I only listened to the DTS-HD track and it sounds fine, not overly dynamic though what would one expect from a "found footage" film realistically? Dialogue, effects and the wild sounds of the jungle canopy sound well balanced, scoring particularly well is Riz Ortoloni's fantastic score, a work of disturbing beauty from start to finish with a combination of sweet orchestral arrangements and disturbing electronics sounds. SPECIAL FEATURES:

Outside of a the very fine PQ Shameless have commissioned brand new features that are exclusive to this edition beginning with introductions to both the original version and the new re-edit from director Ruggero Deodato who in the latter explaining his reasining behind the re-edit. Film And Be Damned (40:28) is a new interview with Ruggero Deodato and actor Carl G. Yorke. The director speaks to the MONDO CANE inspiration, casting the actors, his surprise at finding out about Kerman's porn career considering his "average sized manhood", scouting locations, selling the film, creating the infamous impalement scene, the score, a deleted piranha scene and the film's reception, censoring and his trial for making a snuff film among other topics. Actor Carl Yorke discusses his experience on the film, including many difficult days on set and his interactions with the director, his co-stars and the difficulty filming the rape sxcene and choosing not to shoot the swine. The Long Road Back From Hell (40:20) is a specially commissioned documentary by Cine Excess featuring Kim Newman, Professor Julian Petley, Professor Mary Wood, Ruggero Deodato, Carl G. Yorke and actress Francesca Ciardi. It's a comprehensive examination of the film that's sure to please fans of the film.

It's definitely a sweet package and makes for a compelling argument for purchase despite being an edited version of the film, then again it's a director approved edit that he supervised himself, further stating in the press release and during the interview that the inclusion of animal slaughter in the film was at the insistence of the producers at the time and not his true vision. Here in the US we have the uncut Grindhouse Releasing special edition DVD, and we take for granted the availability of uncut films on DVD and Blu-ray to the point that unrated DVD editions are a bit of a marketing gimmick and thankfully we don't have the BBFC to contend with. This past week I've been a bit up in arms over not only George Lucas's revisionist editing but what I consider ruinous meddling with his STAR WARS films over the years, from the laserdisc edition to the new Blu-ray set and it got me to thinking about not just Deodato's "re-edit" but UK film censorship as a whole and I've come to the conclusion that THANK GOD I LIVE IN THE USA. For those in the UK this arbitrary censoring is a reality with no end in site but there is light at the far end of that slippery sloped tunnel with recent reclassification of other video nasties like ISLAND OF DEATH now finally released uncut after years of censorship. Praise should be given to UK distributors like Shameless and Arrow Video who regularly submit, re submit and take to task the BBFC in an ever vigilent struggle to give fans uncut versions of censored films.

What do you think of a Deodato's new director approved "re-edit" of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST, think it's worth a purchase? I think so but I'd love to hear what you fiolks think wether you're from the UK or elsewhere.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Introduction to the original film by director Ruggero Deodato (:09) 16x9
- Introduction to the new Director’s Edit by Ruggero Deodato. (1:49) 16x9
- “Film And Be Damned”  (40:28) 16x9 - interview with Ruggero Deodato and actor Carl G. Yorke.
- “The Long Road Back From Hell” (40:20) 16x9 A specially commissioned documentary by Cine Excess featuring Kim Newman, Professor Julian Petley, Professor Mary Wood, Ruggero Deodato, Carl G. Yorke and actress Francesca Ciardi.
- Theatrical Trailer (2:54) 16x9
- Shameless Trailer Park: HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK, DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, NEW YORK RIPPER all presented 16x9 widescreen.
- Easter Egg.

VERDICT: CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST remains a haunting and gut churning commentary on the depraved nature of civilized man and sensational journalism. It's a must-see film but it may well be a film you only watch once, that's enough for most folks I know. After all there's only so much depravity and nausea a person can take and even by hardened horror standards this is shockingly gruesome still do this day 31 years later. This was my entry into Shameless's catalog and I'm suitably impressed with the presentation and supplemental materials. I went in wary of this "re-edit" and am pleased to report it's not ruinous to the film in anyway and the newly created interview and documentary are top shelf from start to finish. It's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST on region FREE Blu-ray and playable worldwide, what more do you need to know?