If you’ve become wrapped up in Stanley Tucci’s Searching For Italy, you probably want more of Italy than just a good plate of pasta. Chances are you look at the extremely historic homes that lurk within the cities and the countryside and think “I bet that place is haunted.” Or meet a few of the locals talking to Stanley and swear there’s something supernatural about them. If you watch enough films from Italy, you’ll know there’s something creepy going on inside those palatial, decaying estates. Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales Of Terror gives us four movies that deal with haunted aspects of life in country that’s shaped like a boot. The films were made in the mid-60s when there was still a market for black and white scares.
Lady Morgan’s Vengeance (1965 – 88 minutes) is a bit of a cheat since it takes place in Scotland. But it’s made in Italian with an international cast. Susan Blackhouse (Shango‘s Barbara Nelli) gets hooked up to nobility when she marries Lord Harold Morgan (Lady Frankenstein‘s Paul Muller). The Lord wasn’t her first choice. She was really hoping to get hitched to Pierre Brissac (Michel Forain). Before they can sneak off, Pierre winds up dead. Susan goes for her backup plan and moves into his Scottish castle. Her upper crust life is extra crusty when her husband and his servants mess with her before going extreme. While you think Susan is out of the film, she makes a bit of a comeback since this is called Lady Morgan’s Vengeance. She lowers the boom on all those that wanted her elbow her from the picture.
The Blancheville Monster (1963 – 88 minutes) dips into a few elements found in the work of Edgar Allen Poe. Emilie De Blancheville (Samson vs. the Giant King‘s Ombretta Colli) returns to her family’s castle, but things have changed for the worse. The place is falling apart. The servants of her youth have been swapped out for a new staff that just are joyful. Her brother Roderic (Hatchet for the Honeymoon‘s Gérard_Tichy) is now in charge because dad’s got major issues. He swears the family is cursed and the only cure is to kill her before she turns 21. She’s not in favor of this plan. Is she going to get to blow out her birthday candles or will Dad snuff her? This is a prime slice of Gothic insanity. This was directed by Alberto De Martino before making the Mystery Science Theater 3000 classic The Pumaman with Donald Pleasence.
The Third Eye (1966 – 87 minutes) stars Franco Nero is a suaver role than Django which also came out that year. Nero plays the aristocratic Count Mino. While he lives a bit of a posh life in his countryside villa, he keeps himself busy with taxidermy. However he’s got a few issues. His mom is driving him nuts. His girlfriend Laura (The Night Evelyn Came Out Of The Grave‘s Erika Blanc) seems to be the perfect woman for the rest of his life. But the maid Marta wants Mino to herself and will go to an extreme to put him back on the market. But her plot goes wrong in a disturbing way when Mino puts his sewing and stuffing to make everything seem normal with Laura. This movie plays off quite a few Hitchcock elements. Nero does the fine work of playing a Count that goes completely off the rails while trying to create a perfect life. The disturbing core of the film builds until the shocking ending.
The Witch (1966 – 109 minutes) has academic Sergio Logan (Zombie‘s Richard Johnson) more interested in the ladies than books. He’s cruising around when notices an old woman (God’s Will Be Done‘s Sarah Ferrati) checking him out. He is not turned on by the attention. While flipping through the newspaper, he finds a classified ad that seems written just for him. It involves organizing a prominent man’s memoirs. When he knocks on the door, he discovers it’s the old lady. The journals are about her late husband’s wild times with her, Consuelo Lorente. This initially double turns off Sergio, but then he gets an eyeful of her hot daughter Aura (The Killer Reserved Nine Seats‘ Rosanna Schiaffino). He’s more than willing to spend time at their estate and go through the journals if it means getting closer to Aura. But there’s a bit of a hitch. Turns out Fabrizio (A Fistful of Dollars’ Gian Maria Volonte) is already doing the job and has a relationship with Aura. But Conseulo seems to want to upgrade her help in the Memoirs. Sergio gets startling news when an old woman who runs an antique store gives him the startling news about the mother and daughter. But instead of running for one of the other seven hills of Rome, Sergio gets drawn into the strangeness. He learns that in order to have the job, he needs to get Fabrizio out of the house. This is a spooky tale about lust and obsession in the shadow of the Vatican.
Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales Of Terror is a quartet of films that will make you ponder if Stanley Tucci will survive his searching for Italy. The films are filled with tempting casts, spellcasting witches, murderous friends, treacherous servants and dozens of reasons to not completely fall in love with Italy. The Limited Edition boxset contains quite a few souvenirs from your journey to the land of supernatural scares.
The video is 1.78:1 anamorphic. The black and white transfers are 2K restorations from the original negatives. They didn’t look this good when they were shown on TV back in the early ’70s. The audio is LPCM Mono for the Italian soundtracks. The Blancheville Monster, The Third Eye and The Witch have LPCM Mono English dubs. When you choose the English version, you also get the translated front and end titles. All the movies are subtitled in English.
Limited edition 80-page book contains essays by Roberto Curti, Rob Talbot, Jerome Reuter, Rod Barnett and Kimberly Lindbergs.
Fold-out double-sided poster
DISC 1: LADY MORGAN’S VENGEANCE
Vengeance From Beyond (4:38) is the introduction from Mark Thomspon Ashworth. He talks about how the film was never picked up to be shown in English speaking countries even if it was about Scotland. He talks of the two halves of the film.
Audio Commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas. She focuses on Italian films. She thinks this film is a “banger.” She gets into the themes of the movie.
The Grudge (21:28) is a video essay by author and producer Kat Ellinger. Talks about the horror developed in Italy and other countries in the post-war period. The success of Hammer made the Italian producers see that there was a market for scares. The Italian movies were noted for giving starring roles to women.
When We Were Vampires (24:04) is a recent interview with actress Erika Blanc. This was her first film as lead. She goes deep into her first kissing scene. She always been a fan of horror films. She remembers director Massimo Pupillo as kind.
Born to be a Villain (20:03) is a fresh video interview with actor Paul Muller. He speaks of growing up in Switzerland and wanting to run off with the circus. In his home, movies were the work of the devil since his parents were preachers. He discusses discovering cinema against their wishes.
The Pupillo Tapes (20:16) feature an edited audio interview with director Massimo Pupillo from 1993. The talk is illustrated with clips from his films. He goes into his how he did a lot of work with fake names when he didn’t feel they were up to his standards. He is frustrated that you can’t really release a movie to theaters that don’t have bare cast or notable names. He made two films for NBC.
The complete original cineromanzo, published in Suspense in April 1971. This is a photobook of the movie. It’s what we did to “watch” a movie at home before the VCR arrived.
Trailer (2:24) is in Italian. They real push the romance and the nightmares.
Image Gallery has four posters and four lobby cards.
DISC 2: THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER
Audio Commentary by filmmaker and film historian Paul Anthony Nelson. He points out how the director called it “a little film of no importance.” He points out the Poe elements.
Castle of Horror (6:49) is an introduction by Mark Thompson Ashworth. He points out how the film was originally called Horror when released in English speaking countries. He goes into the Edgar Allen Poe references.
Are You Sure That It Wasn’t Just Your Imagination (20:54) is a video essay by writer and pop culture historian Keith Allison. He goes into the slightly askew world. He speaks of how most scares during the ’50s were science fiction based until the success of Hammer.
Welcome to the Manor (13:55) is video interview with author and filmmaker Antonio Tentori. He talks about Alberto De Martino made films in all sorts of genres. He finds Horror a fascinating film because of Poe elements and
Opening credits for the US release of the film (3:11) gives the longer title after “Horror” as if it states the genre before the name.
Trailer (4:16) opens with a scream and a promise this is from the work of Edgar Allen Poe and has elements of Edgar Wallace, Robert Louis Stevenson and Alfred Hitchcock
Image Gallery has two posters.
DISC 3: THE THIRD EYE
Audio Commentary by author and critic Rachael Nisbet. She specializes in Italian genre cinema. She goes into the major players and how the title comes to play in the movie. She wants to shed light on the obscure film.
The Cold Kiss of Death (6:15) has Mark Thompson Ashworth introduce the film. He feels the film is disturbing on a psychic level.
Nostalgia Become Necrophilia (12:00) is a video essay by author and filmmaker Lindsay Hallam. She discusses the way the film sets up how things aren’t what they seem in the opening of the film. She shows how the mom is disappointed in her son’s relationship.
All Eyes On Erika (15:40) is a video interview with actress Erika Blanc. She talks about acting in photo books and small bits for spy movies. She goes into her makeup colors for working in black and white. She also dishes on her dual role.
Image Gallery has one poster and three lobby cards.
DISC 4: THE WITCH
Audio Commentary by author and producer Kat Ellinger has her talk about The Witch being her favorite restoration of recent years. It shows Italian Gothic as not being so formulaic. She mentions that some people view The Witch as a drama, but she makes a case that it is Gothic.
Witchery (3:46) is an introduction from Mark Thompson Ashworth. He points out that this is different from the other three films. He says this came out at the end of the classic horror film era and has a different feel. The movie is based on Carlos Fuentes’ Aura. Rosanna Schiaffino was married to one of the producers.
Loving the Devil (24:25) is a video essay by author and academic Miranda Corcoran about witchcraft. She deals in the transformative nature of the witch in the film.
The Rome Witch Project (18:38) is a recent video interview with author and filmmaker Antonio Tentori. He talks about how director Damiano Damiani is mostly remembered for his social commitment films that were gritty and violent. He seems in The Witch, Damiani brought in horror with a slice of life element that gets turned into gothic fantastic as Sergio gets involves with the old lady and her daughter.
Image Gallery has a press photo, a poster and a press book.
Arrow Video presents Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales Of Terror. Directed by Massimo Pupillo, Damiano Damiani, Mino Guerrini & Alberto De Martino. Starring Rosanna Schiaffino, Richard Johnson, Sarah Ferrati, Gian Maria Volonté, Franco Nero, Gioia Pascal, Erika Blanc, Gérard Tichy, Leo Anchóriz, Ombretta Colli, Gordon Mitchell, Erika Blanc & Paul Muller. Rating: Unrated. Boxset Contents: 4 movies on 4 Blu-ray discs. Release Date: October 18, 2022.
