Rosalba Neri News #33 THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS and THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A on Blu-ray

 

As part of their Black Friday releases Vinegar Syndrome has announced their second Giallo box which will contain Ferdinando Merighi’s sleazy & gory THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS released in 1972. It will be taken from the negative of the uncut French version which has never before released on home video. Also included will be THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A from 1974 which is a rare Giallo that was directed by an American, the infamous exploitation king William Rose who brought forth RENT-A-GIRL' THE HOOKERS and the lost THE SMUT PEDDLER).  

While neither film is never going to be considered in the upper echelon of the Giallo genre they're both loads of fun and both feature Rosalba, although her role in THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A is best described as a glorified cameo. THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS is the better of the two and has a wonderfully sleazy vibe to it and to top it off there's a great cast including Barbara Bouchet, Antia Ekberg, and Evelyn Kraft.

Both should have gorgeous transfers and no doubt will have some nice extra features and impressive packaging. Let's hope Rosalba is included in some extra features. The third film in the box will be the satisfyingly violent MY DEAR KILLER directed by Tonino Valerii. 

Rosalba Neri News # 32 THE FU MANCHU CYCLE 1965 - 1969 on Blu fom Indicator

 

   Collecting the five Fu Manchu titles produced by Harry Alan Towers, Indicator has announced this release for 19 Oct. 2020.  Directed by Don Sharpe, Jeremy Summers, and Jess Franco these feature Christopher as the title villain with Nigel Green, Douglas Wilmer, and Richard Greene playing his arch-nemesis Nayland Smith.
   A mixture of pulpy adventure and James Bond with a sprinkling of Euro-horror they are collected together in this limited (6000 units) edition box set. Containing a plethora of extras (some of which will address the controversies now attached to the character) including commentaries, interviews, image galleries, the first chapter of the silent Fu Manchu serial from 1923 and nice fat book among others.   
    Rosalba appears (with some really odd costume choices) in the last film in the cycle with Jess Franco's THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU from 1969. There's a new 2020 interview listed with her in extras which is a definite plus.

Rosalba Neri News # 31 CASA D'APPUNTAMENTO aka THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS 1972 On Blu

    Upcoming in 2020 Vinegar Syndrome has announced the release of Feridnando Mergighi's 1972 giallo CASA D'APPUNTAMENTO (aka THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS). Featuring an all-star including Anita Ekberg (LA DOLCE VITA), Evelyne Kraft (THE MIGHTY PEKING MAN), Howard Vernon (THE AWFUL DR. ORLOFF) and one of this blog's other favorite actresses Barbara Bouchet (and reunited with Rosalba from Silvio Amadio's weird & trippy AMUCK from 1972). Sadly, they do not share any screen time is this upcoming release. There's a post on this here.

    The film also stars Humphrey Bogart look-alike Robert Sacchi who in full Bogart mode here is a minor annoyance, highly ludicrous or combination of the two depending on your feelings. In spite of its cast, the film is a rather minor Giallo but it's always good to check another one off Rosalba's filmography as far as HD. The cast alone makes this one highly watchable and there's some neat twists & turns, plus it features even more red-herrings then usual in the plot.

   Produced by American huckster/producer Dick Randall who specialized in low budget exploitation films, the plot concerns the murder of a prostitute at a high-class Paris brothel. Rosalba pays a nightclub singer Marianne and with giving too much away we also get to see a Carlo Rambaldi prosthetic Rosalba head. Randall also had a hand in producing two other Rosalba vehicles with LADY FRANKENSTEIN from 1971 and THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A in 1974. 

Rosalba Neri News # 30 LA CASA DELLA PAURA (THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A) 1974 On Blu

    X Rated Kult has announced the upcoming release of THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A for later this fall. Although a release date of Nov. 8 has been posted over on Blu-ray.com there is no pre-order as of now on Amazon. X-Rated doesn't have much of an internet or social media footprint and their initial media book style releases tend to disappear quickly with a standard package release following.

   Although a European production it features a couple of Americans in the mix being the last movie directed by skin-flick specialist William Rose (THE SMUT PEDDLER and RENT-A-GIRL) and it was produced by Dick Randall (THE FRENCH SEX MURDERS and FRANKENSTEINS CASTLE OF FREAKS) who had a hand in bunches of features starting in the early 60's such as THE WILD WORLD OF JAYNE MANSFIELD before heading to Europe where he spent the majority of his career.

    Owing a bit more to ROSEMARY'S BABY (with a bit of Val Lewton's THE SEVENTH VICTIM mixed in) then the giallos its most often lumped in with it works a pretty decent little thriller with creepy atmosphere but things never quite completely gel like you would hope. Daniela Giordano (YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY) plays a young woman who after being sent to prison on trumped-up charges goes to live in creepy rooming house overseen by Giovanna Galletti (KILL, BABY...KILL!). Rosalba plays a social worker for Giordano and Karin Schubert (THE COLD EYES OF FEAR) also appears. 

     The Blu-ray DVD package will be released in a media book format with the four covers shown in a limited edition (usually 333 or 666 or some such number) and later a standard edition with the book. It was previously released on a now OOP DVD from Mondo Macabro.

The above screenshots are from the Mondo Macabro DVD 

Rosalba Neri News # 29 LADY FRANKENSTEIN On Blu

 

    While I've been eagerly awaiting the Nucleus Films release of this classic slice of Rosalba Italian Gothic, I-Catcher Media have released a packed to the gills mediabook edition. Packaged in a choice of two covers in a limited edition of 499 each it's still available on Amazon DE as of this posting. I went for the top one which features some beautiful Italian poster art that has nothing to do with the actual movie as it looks like something from a bodice ripping romance novel. 

   Along with a 32 page German text booklet the package also includes the uncut 99 minute version of the film (the same length as the upcoming Nucleus release) on Blu along with a boatload of extras spread across the Blu and two DVDs. The audio based extras including a commentary from actor Herbert Fux and interviews with Fux, Mel Wells and Rosalba (among others) are not English friendly but there's also scans of 100's of poster, pressbooks and assorted promotional material from around the world. Audio on the the disc is German/English with optional English subtitles. 

   Also included are scads of trailers, TV spots, alternate openings and extensive filmographies for Fux, Rosalba, Joeseph Cotton and Mickey Hargitay. Numerous Easter Eggs are also included in the filmographies which pull up trailers for the respective films (many of which seemed to sourced from YouTube or other dodgy sources). 

  Sadly the Blu while colorful contains a healthy dose of DNR slathered over the image resulting in a waxy look which is especially evident on the faces. In addition there's an annoying anti-pirate short film that is played at the start of the film and cannot be skipped or past. While I'm happy with this purchase for my Rosalba collecting obsession & the extras, I'm still eagerly awaiting the Nucleus edition which I'm sure will be the definitive release.

All above screen caps are from the I-Media Blu

Rosalba Neri News # 28 - Nucleus Films Lady Frankenstein Blu Final Specs

  On their Facebook Page Nucleus Films have reveled the final specs and artwork for the upcoming release of LADY FRANKENSTEIN on blu-ray. From the Indiegogo page:

Complete and Restored 99 minute Directors Cut

Complete and Restored 84 min New World Pictures American  Theatrical Cut

Italian and English 24 bit LPCM Audio options

Audio Commentary with Alan Jones and Kim Newman

Optional English Subtitles

The Truth About Lady Frankenstein (2007) - German TV Special (42 mins)

Featurette 1 -  Piecing Together Lady Frankenstein (35 min)

Featurette 2 -  The Lady and The Orgy (8 min)

Alternate "Clothed" Scenes

BBFC film cuts (1972)

Gallery 1 - Promotional Materials

Gallery 2 - Home Video Cover Scans

Gallery 3 - Bigfilm Magazine (1971) - Lady Frankenstein Photo Novel

English Trailer

Italian Trailer + English subtitles

German Trailer + English subtitles

US Trailers (2)

US TV Spot (1)

US Radio Spots (2)

Limited Indiegogo Edition also includes:

Contributor Credits (if you ordered that perk)

Limited slipcase, individually numbered

Limited set of 5 postcards

  Lot's of good stuff included with the 99-minute version being the longest ever released on home video. The past couple of years have been a bonanza for Rosalba in HD.
 
  At the same time Nucleus is also releasing a Blu of Giulio Questi's giallo DEATH LAID AN EGG which is similarly loaded with extra goodies.