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

Dracula - Vintage Horror Classics

Films Included:
Nosferatu 1922
d: FW Murnau
Holds up today as one of the greatest horror films of all-time.

The Vampire Bat 1933
d: Frank R Stayer
In this suspenseful horror classic, a panic sweeps across the small village of Klineschoss because many people have been found dead, their bodies drained of all their blood. As an investigation ensues, more victims continue to die as the villagers attempt to hone in on a suspect.

Messiah of Evil 1973
d: Gloria Katz, Willard Huyck
A beautiful young woman named Arletty arrives in a strange beach town to visit her estranged father, but soon discovers that it is inhabited by blood-thirsty monsters that come out under the moon craving flesh and waiting for their messiah of evil.

Satanic Rites of Dracula 1973
d: Alan Gibson
Scotland Yard teams up with vampire expert Van Helsing (Peter Cushing) to discover who or what lies behind a recent outbreak of violent crimes. What they uncover is nothing more horrendous than Count Dracula himself (Christopher Lee).

Grave of the Vampire 1972
d: John Hayes
A vampire named Kroft returns from his grave and interrupts a couple making out in the cemetery, killing the man and raping the woman. Kroft's female victim becomes pregnant and gives birth. The child, James Eastman, is half man/half vampire. He can go out in the daylight but must feed on blood. Like Blade he is on a vendetta to kill the vampire who made him. When father and son finally come together in a dramatic showdown, will killing his father be enough to save Eastman's soul?

The Thirsty Dead 1974
d: Terry Becker
Attractive young women in Manila are being kidnapped off the streets. Their destination is a mystery. If blood-thirsty cults and beautiful girls are your thing, then this movie will surely entertain.



Harold and Maude

1971
d: Hal Ashby
c: Ruth Gordon, Bud Cort

Young, rich, and obsessed with death, Harold finds himself changed forever when he meets lively septuagenarian Maude at a funeral.
Love transcends time.

High Spirits

1988
d: Neil Jordan
c: Peter O'Toole, Daryl Hannah, Steve Guttenberg

When a hotelier attempts to fill the chronic vacancies at his failing castle by falsely spreding the word that it's haunted. Except it actually is. The ghosts start having sex with the guests, and then the living and dead trade places. Weird.

Tomb of Ligeia

1964
d: Roger Corman
c: Vincent Price, Elizabeth Shepherd

Dude with light sensitivity wears silly glasses and is being possessed by his dead ex-wife's cat. His new wife is accidently sacrificed, but he comes to his senses and offs himself to save her.

She Beast

1966
d: Michael Reeves
c: Barbara Steele (for like 5 minutes)

This movie used Barbara's name in vain. Its crap.

Curse of the Crimson Altar/Crimson Cult

1968
d: Vernon Sewell
c: Barbara Steele, Christopher Lee, Boris Karloff

Dude relaizes that his brother has gone missing and decides to head out into the English country-side to try and find him, landing in a weird party, death cult that idolizes a blue (and beautiful) Barbara Steele!

The Women 1939

d: George Cukor c: Norma Shearer, Joan Crawford, Rosalind Russel