Arrow video has released another of their fantastic Blu-ray box sets. This one, GOTHIC FANTASTICO, presents four rare and unique examples of 1960s Italian horror cinema.
What makes this set special is that it does not deal with the usual suspects associated with the Italian Gothic. None of these films included star Barbara Steele, and none of them were directed by either Mario Bava, Riccardo Freda, or Antonio Margheriti. I feel that this just makes the set more intriguing--out of this quartet I had only seen one of the titles before. These movies may not be very well known (especially to English-speaking audiences), but each of them is worthy of attention.
The four films are:
LADY MORGAN'S VENGEANCE (aka LA VENDETTA DI LADY MORGAN): In 19th Century Scotland, a beautiful heiress (Barbara Nelli) marries an older family friend (Paul Muller) after her true love is supposedly killed. The new husband was behind the attack on Lady Morgan's beau, and he has sinister designs on the woman herself. Lady Morgan's spirit, however, will not go easy. This tale has elements of other Italian Gothics such as NIGHTMARE CASTLE and CASTLE OF BLOOD. It also stars Eurocult notables Erika Blanc and Gordon Mitchell. Directed by Massimo Pupillo.
THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER (aka HORROR): This is the one film in the set I had already seen--I even wrote a blog post on it a few years ago. Another beautiful young woman (Ombretta Colli) travels to 19th Century Scotland to be confronted by various family secrets and a mysterious-acting older brother (Gerard Tichy). This film, influenced by the Edgar Allan Poe movies directed by Roger Corman, is the most atmospheric in the set, with a huge amount of footage devoted to nightgown-clad lovelies wandering about in the dark. With Euro Gothic legend Helga Line. The English dub of this title (included on this disc) has the story set in northern France. Directed by Alberto De Martino.
THE THIRD EYE (aka IL TERZO OCCHIO): This contemporary-set tale deals with the Norman Bates-like Mino (Franco Nero), a mentally-unbalanced young man who is affected by three different women--actually four, since Erika Blanc plays two roles, lookalike sisters. This rather perverse story was directed by Mino Guerrini.
THE WITCH (aka LA STREGA IN AMORE): Another modern-day story. A ladies man living in Rome (Richard Johnson) gets more than he bargains for when he comes under the spell of a forbidding older woman (Sarah Ferrati) and her extremely beguiling "daughter" (Rosanno Schiaffino). This is a slow-moving, talky affair (at 110 minutes it is by far the longest film in the set). It comes off more like an art film than a standard thriller. It does have a dreamy, insidious feel to it. It also features acclaimed Italian actor Gian Maria Volonte, and it was directed by Damiano Damiani.
Each of the four films in this set are in black & white, with the correct aspect ratio for each. Overall the movies look and sound excellent--three of the films have both the Italian and English voice tracks, with subtitles (LADY MORGAN'S VENGEANCE only has a Italian audio track.)
Each film has its own disc, with its own case. The sleeves for the cases have different artwork on both sides.
As expected, this set has a copious amount of extras. Each movie gets a brand new audio commentary, along with all sorts of featurettes, interviews, trailers, and image galleries. The set comes with a 80-page booklet, illustrated with photos from the films. The booklet features an essay by film historian Roberto Curti detailing the development of the Italian Gothic film genre, and four other essays analyzing each of the films. There's also a double-sided mini poster included, with artwork for THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER and THE THIRD EYE.
Arrow keeps cranking out one amazing Blu-ray release after another (and they keep affecting my credit card balance). This will easily wind up on my top five video releases list at the end of the year. I'm particularly pleased that for GOTHIC FANTASTICO they chose four films that, in North America at least, have almost no history on home video. In this day and age, any past Gothic horrors I have not seen getting a major showcase on Blu-ray is a rare treat.
Well, I finally got around to digging into this box set. I watched all of the films last week and many of the extra features as well. None of the audio commentaries, but I may get to those later. I appreciate having three of the films in English dubs so I could concentrate on the imagery. My favorite of the four is The Blancheville Monster. Much of the acting was over the top, but that just added to the fun. It has the best locations and cinematography of all the films. What a surprise seeing Helga Line looking much like she did in Nightmare Castle! She had that mysterious look down to a science. I also enjoyed The Third Eye. Franco Nero looked like he was trying hard for an Oscar nomination! This movie had a good, weird story, and Erika Blanc is terrific. Lady Morgan's Vengeance was quite good. Again, Erika Blanc!! The story definitely turned into a sort of rehash of Castle of Blood, but it had an interesting, unique slant to it. The film I like least is The Witch. Maybe because it was the most disturbing. It had such a claustrophobic obsessive atmosphere, it made me uncomfortable to watch it. No doubt that was the whole point! But maybe I'll give it a second watch. In fact, I will give all of them a second watch, beginning with The Blancheville Monster. Thanks again for recommending this. A worthy addition to the collection!
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