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Fulci films, “THE BEAST MUST DIE” and more coming on Severin Blu-rays; full details, art, trailers

Friday, July 17, 2020 | Blu-ray/DVD, News

By MICHAEL GINGOLD

Vintage Lucio Fulci shockers and a new movie celebrating his legacy are among a quintet of Severin Films Blu-rays seeing wide release next month, following limited availability during the company’s Mid-Year Sale.

Severin will issue Simone Scafidi’s FULCI FOR FAKE, Fulci’s AENIGMA (pictured) and DEMONIA, director Paul Annett’s Amicus werewolfilm THE BEAST MUST DIE and Jess Franco’s SHINING SEX on August 25. FULCI FOR FAKE follows an actor (Nicola Nocella) who is cast as the infamous filmmaker and researches his life, incorporating rare home movies and behind-the-scenes footage and interviews with many of Fulci’s collaborators. AENIGMA, set at a New England girls’ school, is about a comatose student taking telepathic revenge (including death by snails) against those who made her that way, while DEMONIA focuses on archaeologists beset by the spirits of crucified demonic nuns. BEAST MUST DIE casts Peter Cushing, Calvin Lockhart, Charles Gray, Anton Diffring, Marlene Clark and Michael Gambon in the story of a lycanthrope hunt in which the hairy one’s identity is a mystery, and SHINING SEX is a tale of paranormal eroticism starring Lina Romay and Franco himself. All of the films have been fully restored and newly scanned from original elements; special features are:

FULCI FOR FAKE:

  • Interview with Director Simone Scafidi
  • Crew interviews
  • “Camilla Fulci Uncut”: The first and only video interview with Lucio Fulci’s daughter
  • “Lucio Fulci & Friends”: Interview outtakes with Sergio Salvati, Fabio Frizzi, Paolo Malco, Michele Soavi and Enrico Vanzina
  • “The Eye of the Witness”: Biographer Michele Romagnoli recalls his relationship with the director
  • “Looking For Lucio”: Rare home movies from Fulci’s private life and location scouts, with accompanying commentary by Romagnoli and Fulci
  • “Lucio Fulci’s Audio Tapes”: Audio highlights from conversations between Fulci and Romagnoli for the writing of Fulci’s memoir
  • Zombie Parade at the Venice Film Festival
  • Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnN9vzGmARY

AENIGMA:

  • Audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of SPLINTERED VISIONS–LUCIO FULCI & HIS FILMS and Mondo-Digital.com’s Nathaniel Thompson
  • “Writing Nightmares”: Interview with screenwriter Giorgio Mariuzzo
  • “Italian Aenigma”: Appraising late day Fulci featurette
  • Trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ehaf7hVdltI

DEMONIA:

  • Audio commentary by Stephen Thrower, author of BEYOND TERROR: THE FILMS OF LUCIO FULCI
  • “Holy Demons”: Interview with uncredited co-writer/assistant director Antonio Tentori
  • “Fulci Lives”: Interview with Lucio Fulci on set of DEMONIA
  • “Of Skulls and Bones”: Interview with camera operator Sandro Grossi
  • Original trailer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_qAVUr5fU

THE BEAST MUST DIE:

  • Audio commentary by director Paul Annett and filmmaker Jonathan Sothcott
  • “And Then There Were Werewolves”: Audio essay by horror historian Troy Howarth
  • “Directing the Beast”: Archival interview with director Paul Annett
  • Audio interview excerpt of Milton Subotsky on BEAST MUST DIE, interviewed by Philip Nutman
  • Audio interview with producer Max J. Rosenberg, interviewed by Jonathan Sothcott
  • Original theatrical trailer with optional commentary by genre scholars Kim Newman and David Flint

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8wWkReLwqw

SHINING SEX:

  • Audio commentary by authors/podcasters Robert Monell and Rod Barnett
  • “In the Land of Franco Pt. 3”
  • “Shining Jess”: Interview with Stephen Thrower, author of MURDEROUS PASSIONS AND FLOWERS OF PERVERSION
  • “Never Met Franco”: Interview with filmmaker Gerard Kikoine
  • Very NSFW outtakes
  • “Franco at Eurociné”: Interview with producer Daniel Lesoeur
  • Filmmaker Christophe Gans on Franco
  • Trailer

Michael Gingold
Michael Gingold (RUE MORGUE's Head Writer) has been covering the world of horror cinema for over three decades, and in addition to his work for RUE MORGUE, he has been a longtime writer and editor for FANGORIA magazine and its website. He has also written for BIRTH.MOVIES.DEATH, SCREAM, IndieWire.com, TIME OUT, DELIRIUM, MOVIEMAKER and others. He is the author of the AD NAUSEAM books (1984 Publishing) and THE FRIGHTFEST GUIDE TO MONSTER MOVIES (FAB Press), and he has contributed documentaries, featurettes and liner notes to numerous Blu-rays, including the award-winning feature-length doc TWISTED TALE: THE UNMAKING OF "SPOOKIES" (Vinegar Syndrome).