Saturday, December 30, 2023

House of Psychotic Women

DISC 1: IDENTIKIT (1974)
In what remains the most obscure, bizarre and wildly misunderstood film of her entire career – and perhaps even ‘70s Italian cinema – Elizabeth Taylor stars as a disturbed woman who arrives in Rome to find a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all. Academy Award® nominee Ian Bannen (THE OFFENCE), Mona Washbourne (THE COLLECTOR) and Andy Warhol co-star in this “unique, hallucinatory neo noir” (Cult Film Freaks) – barely released in America as THE DRIVER’S SEAT – directed by Giuseppe Patroni Griffi (‘TIS PITY SHE’S A WHORE), adapted from the unnerving novella by Muriel Spark (The Prime Of Miss Jean Brodie) and featuring cinematography by three-time Oscar® winner Vittorio Storaro (APOCALYPSE NOW, THE LAST EMPEROR), now restored in 4K by Severin Films.
Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Audio Commentary With TCM Underground Curator Millie De Chirico
A Lack Of Absence — Writer And Literary Historian Chandra Mayor On Muriel Spark And The Driver's Seat
Trailer
Runtime: 102 mins

DISC 2: I LIKE BATS (1986)
Directed and co-written by Grzegorz Warchol – the Polish actor best known for his performance in THREE COLORS: WHITE – this 1986 Perspektywa Film Group production combines splashes of absurdist black comedy with jolts of old-school gothic horror for a slyly contemporary take on the female bloodsucker mythos. Katarzyna Walter stars as a happily single young vampire who works in her aunt’s curio shop when not feeding on various suitors and sleazebags. But when she falls for a handsome psychiatrist, she’ll discover that no affliction is more horrific than love. Co-scripted by feminist writer/activist Krystyna Kofta and featuring poet, songwriter and cabaret icon Jonasz Kofta in his sole film role, I LIKE BATS is now scanned in 2K from the only 35mm print known to exist.
Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Audio Commentary With Kamila Wielebska, Actor And Co-Editor Of A Story Of Sin: Surrealism In Polish Cinema
TV Spot
Runtime: 81 mins

DISCS 3 & 4: FOOTPRINTS (1975) – U.S. CUT AND ITALIAN CUT
In the most criminally underseen giallo of the ‘70s, Florinda Bolkan (A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN, FLAVIA THE HERETIC) stars as a freelance translator who wakes one morning missing all memory of her past three days. But will a trail of odd clues lead her to a place where perception and identity are never what they seem? Nicoletta Elmi (DEEP RED), Evelyn Stewart (THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH), Lila Kedrova (THE TENANT) and Klaus Kinski co-star in this “visually stunning gem” (Mondo Digital) – also known as FOOTPRINTS ON THE MOON – directed by Luigi Bazzoni (THE FIFTH CORD) with cinematography by three-time Oscar® winner Vittorio Storaro (THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE), now scanned in 4K from the original camera negatives.
Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
To The Moon — Interview With Actress Ida Galli
Nicoletta Elmi: Italian Cinema's Imp Ascendent — Video Essay By Film Scholars Alexandra Heller-Nicholas And Craig Martin
Audio Commentary With Film Historian Kat Ellinger (Italian Cut)
Light Of The Moon — Interview With Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro
Trailer
Runtime: 93 mins (U.S. Cut) / 96 mins (Italian Cut)

DISC 5: THE OTHER SIDE OF THE UNDERNEATH (1972)
It’s been called “harrowing” (The Guardian), “seriously disturbing” (Blu-ray.com) and “part documentary, part primal scream” (Screen Slate). More than half a century later, it remains all that and more: In 1972, screenwriter/feminist/radical theater icon Jane Arden adapted her own multimedia stage production "A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches" into a nightmarish exploration of reason, chaos and her own battles with mental illness unlike anything audiences have seen before or since. Sheila Allen (CHILDREN OF THE DAMNED), Ann Lynn (THE BLACK TORMENT), renowned visual artist Penny Slinger and Arden herself star in the only British feature film of the 1970s solo-directed by a woman, recently restored in 2K by the British Film Institute.
Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Extended Workprint Version Of The Film
Sheila Allen Interview
Natasha Morgan Interview
Extended Sequences
Penny Slinger Live At The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies
PENNY SLINGER: OUT OF THE SHADOWS Trailer

Runtime: 111 mins

No comments:

Post a Comment

City of the Dead

1960 d John Llewellyn Moxey c Patricia Jessel, Dennis Lotis, Christopher Lee A young college student arrives in a sleepy Massachusetts to...