Rosalba Neri News # 25 - AMUCK ! Is Here On Blu-Ray

     
    It's been a long time coming for a decent looking uncut release of this weirdly preserve Silvo Amandio 1972 Giallo, but 88 Films have recently released their beautiful new region free blu-ray edition. Featuring an absolutely gorgeous scope transfer that forever banishes to the depths of a Venice canal those previous PD eyesores that we've had to endure, it lends a whole new appreciation for the film along with the added bonus of two of the most beautiful women in 70's European cinema in the presence of Rosalba Neri and Barbara Bouchet now both in glorious HD.

    In a previous post (which was based upon that sickly green/yellow cropped Eurovista DVD), I commented on how dreary & dismal looking the short sequences in Venice looked and it's amazing here what the difference is as we're shown an open, airy and sunny cityscape with blue skies and sparkling canals which now contrasts nicely against the claustrophobic setting of the house where the majority of the plot unfolds. Aldo Giordani's (ATOM AGE VAMPIRE) cinematography is finally given a worthy medium and with the heightened quality, I constantly felt the need to pause and gaze upon certain shots in the film or study the bric-a-brac filled home (and record collection !) of Rosalba and Farley Granger.
    Originally titled ALLA RICERCA DEL PIACERE (THE PURSUIT OF PLEASURE) it was re-titled AMUCK ! for its American release by distributor Group 1 who mounted a lurid hyperbole filled campaign including this classic example of how to cut (or CUT ! as the case may be) a trailer.
   88 Films disc includes both Italian and English audio options with the corresponding subtitles along with delightful newly produced interviews with Rosalba and Barbara and a Q & A with Barbara from the Manchester Festival of Fantastic Films in 2010.
   Available from the usual places including the fine folks over at Diabolik DVD this is already looking to be the release of the year - and plus we have the newly released 2 MALES FOR ALEXA Blu-ray from X-Rated, 99 WOMEN from Blue Underground (with CASTLE OF FU MANCHU just announced) and LADY FRANKENSTEIN coming later this year from Nucleus Films all of which make for a cavalcade of hi-def Rosalba in 2017.
   In the very near future Camera Obscura will be releasing its own version of AMUCK ! on blu with some added features and a bonus CD containing Teo Uselli's score (a portion of which was used in THE BIG LEBOWSKI soundtrack). Great times to be a Euro-cult fan !!

Rosalba Neri News # 23 - 88 Films AMUCK ! Blu-Ray

   

    Some good news from 88 Films as they've posted some news concerning the Blu-ray release of Silvio Amadio's trippy and perverse 1972 gaillo AMUCK ! (aka ALLA RICERCA DEL PIACERE). Starring this blogs favorite actress along with Barbara Bouchet and Farley Granger, it's one of the best Italian giallos of the 70's and is my personal favorite Rosalba role. According to 88 Films over on their Facebook page, the film passed the BBFC uncut with "strong sex, nudity and sexual violence" (how 'bout that !).
   Amazon UK has the pre-order up with a Feb. 27th release date and a Camera Obscura release will follow up in March. Both will feature new HD transfers from the original camera negative along with both the uncompressed Italian and English mono soundtracks and newly created English subs -which means you can toss those old bootlegs in the trash. The 88 Films release will feature an interview with Barbara while the Camera Obscura release will have the participation of Rosalba (with presumably more extra features to follow).
     With a release later this year of LADY FRANKENSTEIN from Nucleus Films and the recent release of Blue Underground's 99 WOMEN these are truly wonderful times we live if your a Euro-cult (and Rosalba !) fan.
     Awhile back I did a post on AMUCK ! based upon the old grungy Eurovista quasi-bootleg DVD that features a dead center cropped transfer and that sickly green/yellow tint to everything. Below are some screen caps from 88's new transfer that were posted on their Facebook page. I'm tingling with anticipation for this release.

Rosalba Neri News # 19 - New TOP SENSATION & AMUCK Blu Rays On The Way !!

      More Rosalba Goodliness In HD !!

     Over on their Facebook page, Shameless Screen Entertainment has revealed a future release of TOP SENSATION (aka THE SEDUCERS) on blu-ray at some point in the near future. A classic slice of Italian exploitation from 1969 starring BOTH Rosalba Neri and Edwige Fenech, this was previously released on DVD by Camera Obscura  in 2013.
     Originally released theatrically in 1969 the film played in several different versions depending on the country, with the U.S. version as distributed by Jerry Gross under the title THE SEDUCERS being the most explicit (this version was released years ago on VHS by Something Weird). Camera Obscura released the less explicit Italian cut only on DVD (which is now out of print) with the more explicit scenes as VHS sourced extras (along with an alternate German cut) as after an extensive search the materials what they found was less than pristine - although their DVD release was fine-looking and eons better than the murky bootlegs that proceeded it.
     With the Camera Obscura release now OOP, it'll be interesting to see what Shameless releases as far as version, running time and source. We can only hope that if not this release, then sometime in the future a pristine print of the Jerry Gross version will be unearthed.

      Speaking of Camera Obscura, their Facebook page reveled an upcoming release on blu ray & DVD of AMUCK (aka ALLA RICERCA PIACERE) with the positively giddy news that it will be sourced from the ORIGINAL (!) camera negative. This trippy and perverse 1972 Italian giallo contains one of Rosalba's finest performance and plus stars the always welcome Barbara Bouchet and a nice evilly smarmy performance by Farley Granger from Alfred Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN. Under its U.S. title of AMUCK this had a quasi-bootleg release on DVD years ago on the Eurovista label which featured a dead center transfer from a tape source that destroyed the film's widescreen compositions along with a sickly green/yellow tint. Last year Code Red issued a DVD under the alternate title MANSION OF MADNESS that featured a nice looking anamorphic widescreen transfer, that while being edited for running time (most likely for double & triple bills back in the day) did leave intact all the "best" sequences.
      Camera Obscura have also posted a lovely shot of Rosalba doing an interview for this upcoming release and plus they have confirmed this will contain the English dub as an option. If their past release of TOP SENSATION is any indication this is going to be an outstanding release both in terms of AV quality and packaging.

       

Rosalba Neri News # 16 - Rosalba & AMUCK in 'Scope at Last !!

   In a surprise release Code Red has put out a rather nifty double feature DVD consisting of the really insane Italian/Hong Kong (via Shaw Bros.)/ Mexican (!?!) co-production from 1974 SUPER STOOGES VS. THE WONDER WOMEN (which really has to be seen to be believed). Released under the banner of "Spaghetti Cinema" its the second feature on this disc that's the most interesting (at least to this blog) as it consists of an anamorphic widescreen copy (albeit cut) of Silvio Amandio's fascinating & weirdly perverse 1972 giallo ALLA RICERCA DEL PIACERE.
   Released in the U.S. by Group 1 as AMUCK ! (and the title on the Code Red DVD case) the version included on this disc bears a MANIAC MANSION title card. Re-released under several titles & edits (including 78 min. LEATHER AND WHIPS version for the S&M crowd) the version here clocks in at 85 minutes as opposed to the original 98 minute running time of AMUCK ! The original cut was released on a bootleg DVD years ago by Eurovista (an off-shoot of the now defunct Luminous Film Wurks), while although uncut was sourced from a dead center VHS transfer of the film's 2.35:1 aspect ratio which meant that often inanimate objects such as chairs & lamps are visible while characters converse off screen. The disc's transfer was also hampered by a sickly greenish yellow tint over the majority of it.

    Code Red's source print while cut is a revaluation as far as compositions & color are concerned and while plagued in certain spots with some off/faded colors, print damage and emulsion scratches (mostly at the reel changes) for the most part looks very good, is highly watchable and image-wise is a massive upgrade over the Eurovista DVD. I haven't had time to do a comparison but all the major plot sequences (along with the requisite nudity & blood) appear intact with just some peripheral scenes chopped here & there a bit as this version was most likely just cut to make it more compatible with double & triple features while leaving all "the good stuff" intact.
    Starring both Rosalba and Barbara Bouchet (who are both at the height of their beauty here) along with a creepy performance by Farley Granger (from Hitchcock's STRANGERS ON A TRAIN) and filled with a druggy claustrophobic atmosphere of decadence & perversion this is one of the highlights of 1970's Italian giallo (and one of Rosalba's best roles).

All the above screen grabs are from the Code Red DVD

Happy (Belated) Birthday Barbara Bouchet !! MILANO CALIBRO 9 - 1972

AKA CALIBER 9  

    Born on this past Fri. the 15th of Aug. in 1943 in Germany she and her family moved to San Francisco after WWII and as a teenager she became a dancer on the THE KPIX DANCE PARTY show and won The "Miss Gidget" beauty contest. In 1962 she moved to Hollywood and appeared in such films as 1965's IN HARM'S WAY as Kirk Douglas's cheating wife & CASINO ROYALE from 1967. She also made numerous TV appearances including THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E. and STAR TREK. In 1970 she relocated to Italy where she made a name for herself starting in various gaillos, poliziotteschis ("cop" movies) and thrillers among them BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA (1971), AMUCK (1972 - with Rosalba Neri !), THE LADY IN RED KILLS SEVEN TIMES (1972), DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING (1972) and THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS (1972). She had a small role in Martin Scorsese's GANGS OF NEW YORK from 2002 and continues to work to work steadily up till today. 

  

     MILANO CALIBRO 9 (CALIBER 9) was one of 13 (!) films Barbara appeared in during 1972 (as partially seen in the brief list above) and was the first part of a loose trilogy by director Fernando Di Leo that was followed by LA MALA ORDINA (MANHUNT - U.S. Title THE ITALIAN CONNECTION 1972) and ILL BOSS (THE BOSS 1973). Although he dabbled in other genres (most notably spaghetti westerns and the weird gaillo ASYLUM EROTICA from 1971 - with Rosalba Neri !) his best work was undoubtedly the crime films he made during the 70's.
    Filled with garish clothes & decor, machine guns, violent shootouts & beatings, car chases and larger then life characters the Italian police/crime films of the 70's have been rather sorely unrepresented on region 1 DVD, but Blue Underground released some awhile back (including Enzo De Castellari's excellent STREET LAW) and Raro has brought out two blu-ray sets collecting the best of Di Leo's crime films.

    1972's CALIBER 9 is one of his best and along with an excellent performance by Barbara (this is my favorite of hers) it features gritty and restrained performance by Gastone Moschin as the lead protagonist which is balanced out by a delirious scenery chewing Mario Adrof as his nemesis. Moschin plays Ugo Piazza (love that name !), a gangster who upon being released from prison finds himself the center of attention from both the police and the mob as they believe he knows the whereabouts of $300,000 that went missing during an elaborate money changing scheme shown in the prologue.

    Mario Adorf (who was Peckinpah's initial choice for Mapache in THE WILD BUNCH) plays Rocco who engages in an elaborate and brutal game of cat and mouse with Piazza as he seeks to learn the whereabouts of the missing money (which may or not be known by Piazza). Overseeing everything mafia-wise is the "The Americano" played by Lionel Stander (who pre - HART TO HART had quite a career going in Italy during the 70's).
   Although the basic story is an oft used crime/mob plot the film moves at a terrific pace as it only gets bogged down in a series of what seems like endless debates between the two main police characters concerning communism vs. fascism - which was a common underlying theme in many of these movies.  Moschin (best known for playing Robert DeNiro's early NYC nemesis in THE GODFATHER PART II) is excellent as the ex-con who while initially coming across as a mindless hulking thug (as are most of the male characters) actually carefully plans out each move and its fascinating watching him pit various characters against one another.

    Barbara plays Nelly a go-go dancer (who lives in a mind bogglingly decorated apt.) and was Piazza's girlfriend and while not being entirely faithful to him while he was in prison she does come back to him (although her means to an end aren't exactly 100% kosher). Her go-go dancing sequence as filmed with tilted and sideways camera angles along with pulsating lights is one of the highlights of the film (and probably 70's Italian cinema in general).
   Still currently living in Italy, in the mid 80's she came out with a line of exercise videos and books and opened up a health club in Rome.