During the ’60s and early ’70s, foreign horror was scaring up audiences in theaters around America and even part of weekend fear packages that aired on TV with the domestic frights. Home viewers didn’t get too distracted that the lips of the actors didn’t quite match the words since the images were a little fuzzy thanks to antennas. Danza Macabra Vol. One: The Italian Gothic Collection contains 4 films from the spooky side of Italy. The major title in the boxset that’s had plenty of play over the decade is Lady Frankenstein. The movie starred Joseph Cotten as Baron Frankenstein and Mickey Hargitay (father of Law & Order SVU‘s Mariska Hargitay). While you might have seen a crummy copy, Severin has gone back to the original negatives for Lady Frankenstein and the other three movies. You’ll be seeing these better than any American audience. There’s also plenty of bonus features to get you to understand how these imports played at the theater all those years ago. The boxset is due out May 30, but if you order from Severin’s website, they’ll show up sooner. Here’s the press release from Severin Films:
**** NEW TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT ****
DANZA MACABRA VOLUME 1: THE ITALIAN GOTHIC COLLECTION
In a genre known for its castles, crypts and candelabras, Italian Gothic also embraced themes of violence, madness, and sexual deviance. With these 4 films, those impulses dare to go even deeper: In 1964’s THE MONSTER OF THE OPERA, director Renato Polselli and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi craft a surreal erotic shocker set within a contemporary dance troupe. Perhaps the genre’s rarest film, the berserk supernatural narrative of 1965’s THE SEVENTH GRAVE also makes it among the strangest. For 1970’s SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER, director José Luis Merino gathers classic traditions, then strips them naked and ties them to a torture rack. And 1971’s LADY FRANKENSTEIN delivers iconic EuroCult talent on both sides of the camera for one of the most luridly entertaining shockers of the decade. The films in this collection are now fully restored from their original negatives, with 12+ collective hours of Special Features.
Special Features for THE MONSTER OF THE OPERA
*Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author of Daughters Of Darkness
*Terror At The Opera – Interview With Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
*Capodimonte Gothic – Interview With Italian Film Devotee Mark Thompson-Ashworth
*Radio Polselli – Archival Audio Interview With Director Renato Polselli
*French Trailer
Feature Specs for THE MONSTER OF THE OPERA
*Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
*Audio: Italian Mono
*Subtitles: English
*Region: A
Special Features for THE SEVENTH GRAVE
*Audio Commentary With Rachael Nisbet, Film Critic And Co-Host Of Fragments Of Fear
*Seven Graves And A Mystery – Interview With Film Historian Fabio Melelli
*English Aesthetic With Giallo Blood – Video Essay By Gothic Scholar And Author Rachel Knightly
Feature Specs for THE SEVENTH GRAVE:
*Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1
*Audio: Italian Mono
*Subtitles: English
*Region: A/B/C
Special Features for SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER
*Audio Commentary With Rod Barnett, Film Historian And Co-Host Of NaschyCast, And Robert Monell, Writer And Editor Of I’m In A Jess Franco State Of Mind
*Scream Erna Scream! – Interview With Actress Erna Schurer
*In The Castle Of Blood – Video Essay By Stephen Thrower, Author Of Books On Jess Franco And Lucio Fulci
*Trailer
Feature Specs for SCREAM OF THE DEMON LOVER
*Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
*Audio: English Mono, Italian Mono
*Closed Captions: English SDH
*Region: A
Special Features for LADY FRANKENSTEIN
*Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author of Daughters Of Darkness, And Annie Rose Malamet, Film Scholar And Host Of Girls, Guts, Giallo
*Audio Commentary With Alan Jones, Author Of Dario Argento: The Man, The Myths & The Magic, And Kim Newman, Author Of Nightmare Movies
*Meet The Baroness – Featurette With Actress Rosalba Neri And Film Historian Fabio Melelli
*Piecing Together LADY FRANKENSTEIN
*The Lady And The Orgy – Documentary Short On Director Mel Welles
*The Truth About LADY FRANKENSTEIN (2007) – German TV Documentary
*Clothed Insert Shots
*Video Short Illustrating BBFC Censorship Cuts
*Italian Opening Credits
*Bigfilm Magazine (1971) – Italian LADY FRANKENSTEIN Photo Novel
*Extensive Image Gallery
*Home Video Gallery
*Radio Spots
*TV Spot
*Trailers
Feature Specs for LADY FRANKENSTEIN
*Aspect Ratio: 1.78:1
*Audio: English Stereo, Italian Stereo
*Subtitles: English
*Closed Captions: English SDH
*Region: A/B/C
PLEASE NOTE: THIS ITEM IS A PRE-ORDER WITH A WIDE RELEASE DATE OF 5/30/2023. WE HOPE TO BEGIN SHIPPING WEBSTORE ORDERS AROUND THE BEGINNING OF MAY.
Pre-order now: https://severinfilms.com/…/products/danza-macabra-box
