lundi 1 janvier 2024

Tony Arzenta - Blu-ray, 25 mars 2024 (U.K)



Alain Delon stars as efficient and ruthless mob assassin Tony Arzenta. With a young family, Tony wants to leave his life of crime to ensure his young son will not get caught up in the revenge killing that so often accompanies people in his position. But the bosses don't make it easy and Tony finds himself on a bloody mission that takes him across Europe to eradicate his former employers. Delon delivers a haunted performance that is as stoic as the iconic assassin role he played for Jean-Pierre Melville in Le Samourai though firmly within the Italian crime film poliziottesco framework, Tony Arzenta delivers thrilling set-pieces and an emotional core that carries the narrative trajectory to the final nail-biting frame. This underseen crime classic from genre master Duccio Tessari (A Pistol for Ringo, Death Occurred Last Night) features an incredible supporting cast of poliziotteschi regulars including Richard Conte (The Boss), Umberto Orsini (Violent City), Corrado Gaipa (Illustrious Corpses), and many others. Now newly restored it is finally released in the UK for the first time. 

LIMITED EDITION BLU-RAY SPECIAL FEATURES

  • New restoration, presented on Blu-ray for the first time in the UK
  • Uncompressed mono PCM Italian and English audio options
  • Archival interview with Alain Delon from 1973 discussing his work as an actor and producer and his future career 
  • A new interview with Eurocrime authority Mike Malloy on the film’s place within the poliziottesco canon  
  • Select-scene commentary with critic Peter Jilmstad on the incredible supporting cast of the film
  • Trailer
  • Newly translated English subtitles for Italian audio and English SDH subtitles for English audio
  • Reversible sleeve featuring designs based on original posters
  • Limited edition booklet featuring new writing by scholar Leila Wimmer 
  • Limited edition of 3000 copies, presented in full-height Scanavo packaging with removable OBI strip leaving packaging free of certificates and markings

Director: ‎ Duccio Tessari - Actors‏: ‎ Alain Delon, Richard Conte, Umberto Orsini, Corrado Gaipa... - Country: Italy - Year: 1973 - Genre - Thriller - Language: ‎ Italian - Subtitles: ‏ : ‎ English - Media Format: ‎ Blu-ray - Run time: ‎ 1 hour and 53 minutes - Release date: ‎ 25 Mar. 2024 - Studio: ‎ Radiance Films


Radiancefilms.co.uk


dimanche 17 décembre 2023

Savage Guns: Four Classic Westerns Vol 3, 19 décembre 2023 (U.K)



Maniacal outlaws thirsting for blood! Corrupt capitalists profiting from the suffering of the common folk! Desperate people pushed to violent revenge! The Italian western has never been grittier than in this quartet of later-period cult classics, in which the trademark cynicism of the genre escalates into the radical pessimism of the late 1960s / early 1970s world.

In Paolo Bianchini's I Want Him Dead (1968), American actor Craig Hill (The Bloodstained Shadow) stars as an ex-Confederate soldier who vows revenge after his sister is raped and murdered, in so doing setting him on a collision course with a dastardly plot to disrupt peace talks between the North and South. Next, in Edoardo Mulargia's El Puro (1969; a.k.a. The Reward's Yours... The Man's Mine), western icon Robert Woods (My Name is Pecos) gives arguably his greatest performance as a legendary gunfighter forced to emerge from hiding after the bounty hunters on his tail murder the tender-hearted barmaid (Rosalba Neri, Smile Before Death) who offered him a new life.

Then, in Mario Camus' Wrath of the Wind (1970), genre superstar Terence Hill (They Call Me Trinity) shows his darker side as an assassin who finds his conscience when he and his brother (Mario Pardo, Knife of Ice) are hired by a ruthless landholder (Fernando Rey, The French Connection) to kill the leaders of a growing labor movement. Finally, Fabio Testi (What Have You Done to Solange?) and Tomas Milian (Don't Torture a Duckling) star in Lucio Fulci's Four of the Apocalypse (1975), in which a quartet of misfits go from sharing the same jail cell to embarking on a savage odyssey that will lead to torture, rape and cannibalism. Preyed upon by a ruthless bandit, the foursome fight for their lives - until the time comes for revenge.

Four of the Italian western's hardest, cruelest, bloodiest classics erupt from the screen in this feature-packed box set from Arrow Films. Featuring dazzling High Definition restorations and a wealth of brand new bonus materials produced specially for this release, Savage Guns delivers - from both barrels!

 

PRODUCT FEATURES :

 

  • High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of all four films
  • 2K restorations of all four films from the original 35mm camera negatives, with El Puro newly restored by Arrow Films for this release
  • Italian and English front and end titles on all four films
  • Restored original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks on all four films
  • English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
  • Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
  • Brand new introductions to each film by journalist and critic Fabio Melelli
  • Illustrated collector's booklet featuring new writing on the films by author and critic Howard Hughes
  • Fold-out double-sided poster featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
  • Limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original artwork and a slipcover featuring newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx

 

DISC 1 - I WANT HIM DEAD

  • Brand new audio commentary by critics Adrian J. Smith and David Flint
  • The Man Who Hated Violence - brand new interview with director Paolo Bianchini
  • Cut and Shot - brand new interview with editor Eugenio Alabiso
  • Nico Unchained - archival interview with composer Nico Fidenco
  • English theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery

DISC 2 - EL PURO

  • Two versions of the film: the 98-minute cut, presented in Italian and English, and the longer, 108-minute version, assembled from the original camera negative and an archival print and presented in both Italian and a newly created hybrid English/Italian mix*
  • Brand new audio commentary by critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
  • Brand new interview with actor Robert Woods
  • Brand new, in-depth appreciation of the soundtrack and its composer, Alessandro Alessandroni, by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon

DISC 3 - WRATH OF THE WIND

  • Alternate, 106-minute Spanish-language version of the film, featuring additional and extended scenes not found in the Italian or English versions
  • Brand new audio commentary by author and critic Howard Hughes
  • The Days of Wrath - brand new interview with camera operator Roberto D'Ettorre Piazzoli
  • They Call It... Red Cemetery! - a short film from 2022 by filmmaker Francisco Lacerda, serving as a love letter to the spaghetti western genre
  • Alternate "Revenge of Trinity" opening titles, newly restored for this release
  • Image gallery

DISC 4 - FOUR OF THE APOCALYPSE

  • Brand new audio commentary by author and producer Kat Ellinger
  • It Takes Four - previously unreleased interview with production manager Roberto Sbarigia
  • Brand new, in-depth appreciation of the film by author, critic and Lucio Fulci scholar Stephen Thrower
  • Brand new, in-depth appreciation of the soundtrack and its composers, Franco Bixio, Fabio Frizzi and Vince Tempera, by musician and disc collector Lovely Jon
  • Newly restored theatrical trailer
  • Image gallery

* For some scenes and dialogue lines in the long version, the Italian audio is either lost or was never produced. These are presented in Spanish with English subtitles.

 

PRODUCT DETAILS : Run Time: Total: 600 mins approx. / Directors: Paolo Bianchini, Edoardo Mulargia, Mario Camus, Lucio Fulci / Certificate: 18 / Actors: Craig Hill, Robert Woods, Terence Hill, Fabio Testi... / Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1, 2.35:1 / Subtitle Languages: English, English SDH / Theatrical Release Year: 1968 / Main Language: Italian / English, Spanish / Number of Discs: 4 / Region: B / Brand: Arrow Video / Release date: ‎ December 19, 2023

 

ARROWFILMS.COM

 

 

lundi 13 novembre 2023

Hércules contra los hijos del sol - Filmoteca española, 23 de nov. de 2023 (Madrid)



«Sala:B» y el péplum,

Hércules contra los hijos del sol (Osvaldo Civirani, 1964). Int.: Mark Forest, Giuliano Gemma, Angela Rhu, Anna Maria Pace. España, Italia. 35 mm. VE. Color. 80’
La rebelión de los gladiadores (Vittorio Cottafavi, 1958). Int.: Gianna Maria Canale, Ettore Mani, Rafael Luis Calvo, Mara Cruz. España, Italia. 35 mm. Color. 98’

«Presentamos uno de los subgéneros más clásicos de los cines de barrio, el péplum o “cine de romanos”, en un programa doble coproducido con Italia lleno de exóticas aventuras y fornidos gladiadores en minifalda.

Hércules contra los hijos del sol es uno de los últimos trajes a medida del culturista (y luego tenor) Mark Forest, sucesor de Steve Reeves en el trono de héroes musculosos de la antigüedad. Forest había sido gogo-boy de Mae West en Las Vegas, para luego protagonizar varios Hércules y Macistes de segunda fila. En 1964, cuando la prolífica fórmula se empezaba a agotar, se intentaron mestizajes improbables como este, donde el héroe naufraga en el continente americano para toparse con los incas y el mismísimo Atahualpa. Este improbable periplo da como resultado una de las aventuras más exóticas, delirantes y coloridas de la saga, aliñada con paisajes, matte-paintings y vestuarios de puro cómic, en los que se podría reconocer la influencia de un Mario Bava. Ojo a las secuencias musicales que son todo un espectáculo. Para más inri, la habitual compañera femenina queda eclipsada por Giuliano Gemma como príncipe inca, constantemente obnubilado por los brazos y la espada de Hércules. A pesar de la peluca inca que luce, Gemma se convertirá a continuación en una de las raras bellezas masculinas del spaghetti western.

En contraste con la visión pop y sin prejuicios de la anterior, La rebelión de los gladiadores es un pequeño clásico del cine de romanos, dirigido por uno de sus máximos exponentes: Vittorio Cottafavi, que inició con ella una serie de péplums más comprometidos con la historia y menos con la fantasía mitológica. Sin perder el ritmo de aventuras y las peleas de circo romano, La rebelión de los gladiadores incluye sólidas tramas de conspiraciones e intrigas femeninas con villanas de altura, algo poco frecuente en este subgénero tan varonil». (Álex Mendíbil)
 

Presentación a cargo de Víctor Matellano, escritor y cineasta, y Álex Mendíbil, comisario de «Sala:B». Duración aproximada de la presentación: 20’ (Total sesión: 200’).


Jueves, 23 de noviembre de 2023 - Cine Doré, Sala 2.
Filmoteca

vendredi 27 octobre 2023

Danza Macabra Vol.2: The Italian Gothic Collection, 12 déc. 2023 (USA)



3 CLASSIC FILMS / 1 LANDMARK MINI-SERIES.
Rediscovered. Restored. Reclaimed. 

In this second collection of Italian Gothic shockers, you’re invited to grab your candelabra and enter cobweb-shrouded worlds of violence, madness and sexual deviance that remain unmatched in genre history: Gothic goddess Barbara Steele stars in Antonio Margheriti’s certified masterpiece CASTLE OF BLOOD and its Italian version DANZA MACABRA, both restored and scanned in 4K and presented in UHD for the first time ever. JEKYLL is 1969’s award-winning four-part RAI-TV sceneggiati from writer/director/star Giorgio Albertazzi that contemporizes the classic tale of man’s darkest impulses. Writer/director Corrado Farina reinvents the Dracula legend as a modern-day capitalist conspiracy with his startling and long out-of-print 1971 debut THEY HAVE CHANGED THEIR FACE. And a sizzling Rosalba Neri is seduced by Satan himself in 1972’s THE DEVIL’S LOVER, finally available restored and uncut. All four titles are now presented in their North American Premieres, newly mastered from the best available elements with over 13 collective hours of Special Features.

 


Discs 1-3: CASTLE OF BLOOD (1964) 

It was begun by Sergio Corbucci (DJANGO), completed by Antonio Margheriti (THE LONG HAIR OF DEATH) and remains one of the true masterpieces of Gothic Horror. Now both versions – the Italian DANZA MACABRA and the U.S. release CASTLE OF BLOOD – can be experienced like never before: When a cynical journalist accepts a wager that he won’t survive the night in a haunted castle, it will unlock an odyssey of sexual torment, undead vengeance and a dark seductress (the legendary Barbara Steele) who surrenders the gravest of pleasures. Georges Rivière (THE VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG) co-stars in “a classic cornerstone of the EuroHorror Renaissance” (DVD Savant), scanned in 4k from the original negative and restored by Cinématographique Lyre in collaboration with Severin Films, with 3+ hours of new and archival Special Features that include a selected scene commentary by Steele.  

Disc Specs:

  • Runtime: 91 mins (DANZA MACABRA), 83 mins (CASTLE OF BLOOD)
  • DANZA MACABRA Audio: Italian Mono, Partial English Mono / Optional English Subtitles, Closed Captions
  • CASTLE OF BLOOD Audio: English Mono / Closed Captions
  • Region A
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Disc 1: UHD (Film + Special Features)

  • Audio Commentary With Rod Barnett Of NaschyCast And The Bloody Pit, And Adrian Smith
  • Trailer
  • TV Spot

Disc 2: Blu-ray (Film + Special Features)

  • Audio Commentary With Rod Barnett Of NaschyCast And The Bloody Pit, And Adrian Smith
  • Selected Scene Commentary With Actress Barbara Steele And Barbara Steele Archivist Russ Lanier
  • Exploring The Castle Of Blood – Interview With Stephen Thrower, Author Of Books On Jess Franco And Lucio Fulci

Disc 3: Blu-ray (Special Features)

  • The Director Who Didn't Like Blood – Interview With Edoardo Margheriti, Son Of Director Antonio Margheriti
  • Enigmatic Elegance: Unveiling The Haunting Legacy Of Barbara Steele In The Italian Gothic – Video Essay By Rachael Nisbet, Film Critic And Co-Host Of Fragments Of Fear
  • Return To The Castle – Location Featurette
  • Antonio Margheriti Remembers CASTLE OF BLOOD And Barbara Steele
  • Trailer 
  • TV Spot

 

Discs 4 & 5: JEKYLL (1969) 

In 1969, Italian actor/writer/director Giorgio Albertazzi – best known to international audiences as the star of LAST YEAR AT MARIENBAD – took Robert Louis Stevenson’s gothic novella and transformed it into a four-part contemporary allegory of duality, depravity and man’s darkest impulses: When a series of brutal attacks are committed by a lunatic named Edward Hyde, the investigation leads to molecular biologist Henry Jekyll. But have the doctor’s unorthodox experiments unlocked even greater horrors? Massimo Girotti (BARON BLOOD, LAST TANGO IN PARIS), Ursula Davis (AN ANGEL FOR SATAN) and Marina Berti (NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS) co-star in this award-winning sceneggiati featuring stark black & white cinematography by future Poliziottesci maestro Stelvio Massi, now presented from RAI-TV tape masters with new English subtitles for the first time ever. 

Disc Specs:

  • Runtime: 262 mins
  • Audio: Italian Mono / Optional English Subtitles
  • Region A/B/C
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1 

Special Features:

  • Dr. Jekyll And Mr. Albertazzi – Interview With Actor Giuliano Disperati
  • Building The World Of JEKYLL – Interview With Set Designer Emanuele Taglietti 
  • The Double Spiral Staircase Of Jekyll And Hyde – Video Essay By Joseph Dwyer

 

 

Disc 6: THEY HAVE CHANGED THEIR FACE (1971)

Though he made only two feature films, writer/director/novelist Corrado Farina (BABA YAGA) rocked the Italian horror genre with his “astounding” (Taliesin Meets The Vampires) and long out-of-print 1971 debut: A mid-level automotive company employee is summoned to the mountain villa of owner Giovanni Nosferatu (Adolfo Celi of THUNDERBALL and DANGER: DIABOLIK fame) only to discover a glossy netherworld where capitalism is the new vampirism, consumers are its unwitting victims and escape may be impossible. Giuliano Disperati (VIOLENT ROME) and Geraldine Hooper (DEEP RED) co-star in this startling reinvention of the Dracula mythos co-written by Giulio Berruti (KILLER NUN) and influenced by Farina’s earlier career as an advertising executive, now scanned in 2K from the best-existing 35mm elements – approved by his son, RAI film critic and preservationist Alberto Farinafor the first time ever in America. 

Disc Specs:

  • Runtime: 96 mins
  • Audio: Italian Mono / Optional English Subtitles
  • Region A
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Special Features:

  • Audio Commentary With Director Corrado Farina Moderated By Alberto Farina
  • Audio Commentary With Kat Ellinger, Author of Daughters Of Darkness
  • The Farina Method – Interview With Film Critic Alberto Farina, Son Of Director Corrado Farina
  • Bloodsucking Capitalists – Interview With Actor Giuliano Disperati And Editor/Screenwriter Giulio Berruti 
  • Outtakes Of De Sade 
  • Short Films By Corrado Farina
    • IL FIGLIO DI DRACULA (THE SON OF DRACULA)
    • GIRO GIRO TONDO (RING AROUND THE ROSIE)
    • IL CANTICO DELLE CREATURE (THE CANTICLE OF THE CREATURES)
  • PRAISED BE MY LORD – Documentary Directed By Corrado Farina (84 mins)
  • Commercials Directed By Corrado Farina

 

 

Disc 7: THE DEVIL’S LOVER (1972)

Previously available only in edited versions and poor-quality transfers, it remains one of the most obscure and bizarre Italian gothics of the ‘70s: When a trio of free-spirited young women – led by a smoldering Rosalba Neri of LADY FRANKENSTEIN fame – insist on spending the night in a castle rumored to be owned by the Devil himself, their cobweb-and-candelabra lark triggers a nightmare of lust, violence, vampirism and the ultimate ecstasy of Satanic seduction. Edmund Purdom (FRANKENSTEIN’S CASTLE OF FREAKS), Robert Woods (COUNTESS PERVERSE) and Carla Mancini (ERIKA) co-star in this unique shocker “taken from the theatrical work of the Grand Guignol” also known as LUCIFERA: DEMON LOVER – written/directed by Paolo Lombardo (THE EMBALMER), produced by Dick Randall (PIECES) and featuring a soundtrack by Elvio Monti (CRISTIANA DEVIL NUN), now scanned uncut in 2K from the vault negative for the first time ever in America. 

Disc Specs:

  • Runtime: 78 mins
  • Audio: Italian Mono / Optional English Subtitles
  • Region A
  • Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1

Special Features:

  • Audio Commentary With Annie Rose Malamet, Film Scholar And Host Of Girls, Guts, Giallo
  • Lady Of The Night: The Feminism Of Rosalba Neri – Video Essay By Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
  • Out Of The Woods – Interview With Actor Robert Woods

Disc 8: THE DEVIL’S LOVER Soundtrack CD




PLEASE NOTE: This item is a PRE-ORDER with an official WIDE street date of 12/12/2023. We hope to begin early shipping all webstore orders of this item sometime around mid-late November.


  Severin films