By MICHAEL GINGOLD
Never formally released before, a Lamberto Bava anthology series is making its worldwide Blu-ray premiere.
Severin Films has announced an August 26 release date for HIGH TENSION, a collection of four movies originally made for Italian TV in the late 1980s by DEMONS auteur Lamberto Bava. But the quartet’s graphic violence and disturbing themes led them to be blocked from broadcast; now Severin has restored all of them with 2K scans from the original camera negatives, with Italian and first-ever English soundtracks. Each film is accompanied by special features, and the set also includes a soundtrack CD curated by Simon Boswell, featuring music from HIGH TENSION as well as THE MASK OF SATAN, DEMONS 2, DELIRIUM and others.
The movie synopses: “Tomas Arana stars as a horror director stalked by evil forces in THE PRINCE OF TERROR, written by Dardano Sacchetti and featuring grisly FX by Sergio Stivaletti. In THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T DIE, adapted from a short story by poliziotteschi novelist Giorgio Scerbanenco, the survivor of a home invasion seeks vengeance. Daria Nicolodi stars in SCHOOL OF FEAR, about a student academy with a dark secret. And in the giallo shocker EYE WITNESS (pictured above), Barbara Cupisti stars as a blind woman who ‘sees’ a murder.”
Bonus features are:
THE PRINCE OF TERROR:
- Audio Commentary With Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of SO DEADLY, SO PERVERSE: 50 YEARS OF ITALIAN GIALLO FILMS
- The Adventure Of Anfri: Interview With Director Lamberto Bava On HIGH TENSION
- We Call Him Maestro: Lamberto Bava On THE PRINCE OF TERROR
THE MAN WHO WOULDN’T DIE:
- The Scerbanenco Touch: Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
- Stephen King Italian Style: Interview With Screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti
SCHOOL OF FEAR:
- The Tale Of Evil Children: Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
- Play The Game: Interview With Screenwriter Roberto Gandus
- When Bava Met Boswell: Interview With Composer Simon Boswell
EYE WITNESS:
- Audio Commentary With Mondo Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson And Troy Howarth, Author Of SO DEADLY, SO PERVERSE: 50 YEARS OF ITALIAN GIALLO FILMS
- The Last Giallo: Interview With Director Lamberto Bava
- Love Is Blind: Interview With Actress Barbara Cupisti
Retail price is $104.95, but the set is now available for pre-order at the Severin webstore for just $73.
