Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

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dwk
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Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#1 Post by dwk » Thu Apr 30, 2020 10:18 am

The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection
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PLEASE NOTE: THE FIRST 1000 STORE ORDERS (INCLUDING THE LENZI/BAKER BUNDLE) WILL INCLUDE AN EXCLUSIVE SET OF 4 POSTCARDS FEATURING INDIVIDUAL COVER ART OF EVERY TITLE.

Italian writer/director Umberto Lenzi helmed popular peplums, created extreme poliziotteschi, and invented the Italian cannibal phenomenon. Hollywood actress Carroll Baker was the Golden Globe® winning/Academy Award® nominated star of BABY DOLL, GIANT and THE CARPETBAGGERS. Together in the late ‘60s/early ‘70s, they made four landmark films that changed the erotic thriller and giallo genres forever. For the first time, experience the complete Lenzi/Baker collaboration on six discs featuring restored uncensored versions, alternate edits, remastered soundtracks, exclusive Special Features and more.

ORGASMO (1969): In their first startling collaboration, Carroll Baker stars as an American widow who arrives at her late husband’s luxurious Italian estate and surrenders to an orgy of ménages à trois, madness, and murder. Writer/director Umberto Lenzi boldly fills the screen with bourgeois depravity, daring sexuality and unnerving twists for the worldwide hit At The Mountain Of Madness calls “so odd, disturbing and well-made, with that delirious giallo feel that’s like a drug.” Lou Castel (A BULLET FOR THE GENERAL), Colette Descombes (MONIKA) and Tino Carraro (THE CAT O’ NINE TAILS) co-star in this landmark psychosexual thriller – released in the U.S. with extra nudity as PARANOIA and also included here – now scanned from the internegative of Lenzi’s Director’s Cut for the first time on Blu-ray.

Disc Specs for Orgasmo:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Italian mono on Italian cut, English mono on English cut
Subtitles: Subtitles for Italian audio / SDH for English audio
Region A

Special Features for Orgasmo:

Director’s Cut
Audio Commentary with Film Critic, Author & Academic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
US X Rated Version + SDH subtitles
Audio Commentary with Mondo-Digital’s Nathaniel Thompson & Troy Howarth, Author of ‘So Deadly So Perverse: 50 Years Of Italian Giallo Films’
Giallo Fever: Interview with Director Umberto Lenzi
US Trailer
BONUS CD SOUNDTRACK: Orgasmo Remastered Soundtrack

SO SWEET… SO PERVERSE (1969): Following the international success of ORGASMO, the second Umberto Lenzi/Carroll Baker collaboration is a kinky retelling of DIABOLIQUE featuring lush Paris locations, trippy flashbacks, a swinging score by Riz Ortolani (MONDO CANE, CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST) and an all-star EuroCult cast that includes Jean-Louis Trintignant (THE GREAT SILENCE, THE CONFORMIST), Erika Blanc (KILL, BABY…KILL!), Horst Frank (THE CAT O’ NINE TAILS) and Helga Liné (NIGHTMARE CASTLE). Executive produced by Sergio Martino (THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH) from a screenplay by Ernesto Gastaldi (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK), this “full-blown classic giallo and one of Lenzi’s best” (B-Mania) is now fully restored in a new 2k scan from the original negative.

Disc Specs for So Sweet… So Perverse:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Italian mono DTS, English mono DTS
Subtitles: Subtitles for Italian audio / SDH for English audio
Region FREE

Special Features for So Sweet… So Perverse:

Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of ‘All The Colors Of Sergio Martino’
Lenzi’s Lenses: Backstage Chat with the Director at The 1999 Nocturno Film Festival
Equilateral Triangle: Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi on Lenzi
Trailers
Alternate Credit Sequence
BONUS CD: So Sweet… So Perverse & A Quiet Place To Kill Remastered Soundtracks Plus Bonus Track: Knife Of Ice (Main Title Theme)

A QUIET PLACE TO KILL (1970): In her third collaboration with director Umberto Lenzi, Carroll Baker stars as a glamorous racecar driver entangled in a lurid affair with her ex-husband (Jean Sorel of BELLE DU JOUR and A LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN), his wealthy new wife, and a twisted web of lust, murder and deception. Luis Dávila (EAGLES OVER LONDON) co-stars in this 1970 Italian/French/Spanish co-production – released in Italy as PARANOIA, though not to be confused with the 1969 U.S. re-title of ORGASMO – featuring a taut screenplay co-written by Bruno Di Geronimo (WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE?) and Marcello Coscia (LET SLEEPING CORPSES LIE), plus edgy cinematography by Guglielmo Mancori (WILD BEASTS) with Aristide Massaccesi/Joe D’Amato (ANTHROPOPHAGUS), now scanned from the original camera negative for the first time ever in America.

Disc Specs for A Quiet Place to Kill:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Italian mono DTS, English mono DTS
Subtitles: Subtitles for Italian audio / SDH for English audio
Region FREE

Special Features for A Quiet Place to Kill:

Audio Commentary with Author & Critic Samm Deighan
Sex and Conspiracy: Interview with Director Umberto Lenzi
Alternate Credit Sequence
Alternate Clothed Scene
Short Deleted Scene

KNIFE OF ICE (1972): From its opening Edgar Allen Poe quote to the insane climactic twist, this fourth and final collaboration between co-writer/director Umberto Lenzi and Golden Globe winner/Academy Award® nominee Carroll Baker is “something quite unique” (Gore Girl), with Baker as a traumatized mute being stalked through the Spanish countryside by a black-gloved sex maniac who may be a member of a Satanic cult. Evelyn Stewart (THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH), Eduardo Fajardo (NIGHTMARE CITY), George Rigaud (HORROR EXPRESS, EYEBALL) and Silvia Monelli (YESTERDAY, TODAY & TOMORROW) co-star in this “offbeat and fascinating giallo thriller” (All Movie), now scanned in 2K from the original negative with all-new Special Features.

Disc Specs for Knife of Ice:

Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Italian mono DTS, English mono DTS
Subtitles: Subtitles for Italian audio / SDH for English audio
Region A

Special Features for Knife of Ice:

Carroll and Umberto’s Final Stab: Interview with Stephen Thrower, Author of ‘Nightmare USA’
Until the Silence Screams: Interview with Director Umberto Lenzi
Trailer
Alternate Credit Sequence

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Adam X
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Re: Severin Films

#2 Post by Adam X » Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:41 am

Wow. It’s wonderful how there can still be a group of films you’ve mostly been unable to see, and then a label goes and releases them all in a boxset!

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tenia
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Re: Severin Films

#3 Post by tenia » Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:57 pm

I thought one of the CDs would be for Knife of Ice, since it got included in the recent French BD release.

I'm otherwise quite happily surprised to see movies so far difficult to obtain in good conditions to be so lavishly treated and boxed. When it rains, it pours.

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Mr Sausage
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Severin Films

#4 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Apr 30, 2020 1:13 pm

I thought I'd seen all four of these, but turns out I was confusing So Sweet, So Perverse with one of Lenzi's non-Baker giallos, Spasmo. Funnily, I think I like Spasmo more than the three I've seen from the set above, mostly for its Bava touches and uncharacteristically excellent cinematography. Still middling, tho', like all the Lenzi giallos I've watched. Anyway, my capsules from the Horror list project for the three I've seen:


Knife of Ice (Umberto Lenzi, 1972): Routine giallo from Umberto Lenzi, a prolific genre director in the Italian industry. It was one of four or so giallos Lenzi made with actress Carol Baker in the early seventies. This was slightly before Lenzi become a full-on exploitation filmmaker, so there is no sex or nudity and next to no blood. Indeed, the murders all happen off-screen--not what you'd expect from the maker of Cannibal Ferox and Nightmare City. It's about the only unexpected thing you're going to find, here. This is one of those giallos where the evidence is so equivocal that whoever the killer ends up being is ultimately arbitrary. So it's amusing that the character the filmmakers do reveal to be the culprit is the one person who could not possibly have committed all of those murders given what we'd seen up to that point. I guess the filmmakers were hoping their audience wasn't paying much attention.

A Quiet Place to Kill (Umberto Lenzi, 1970): Not quite a giallo, even if you'll often find it listed as one. Part of Lenzi's series with Carol Baker, it's a tepid thriller involving murder plots, counter-plots, twists, turns, and all that. There are two admirably done suspense sequences and a good amount of filler. The cinematography, using locations somewhere on the Spanish coast, I think, is pretty. Everything else is workmanlike. Mostly an excuse to revel in early seventies 'mod' decadence.

Orgasmo (Umberto Lenzi, 1969): I've decided I can't stand scenarios where someone is held against their will, especially if it's by people wearing a constant annoying smirk that's just begging to be smacked off [should've reread this before making my just daft decision to watch Funny Games]. This is the first of Lenzi's series with Carol Baker, followed by So Sweet, So Perverse and A Quiet Place to Kil, and Knife of Ice. A pair posing as brother and sister take up with the newly widowed Baker, seduce her, blackmail her, turn her into an alcoholic, and just all around torment her for obscure reasons. The casual cruelty in this film mounts to such absurd heights that it becomes genuinely comic, which was welcome because the thing was otherwise unenjoyable. Everyone, Baker included, does their best to be as annoying as possible. Even the police turn out to be scumbags, tho' the movie doesn't seem to realize it. It's not much of a giallo, either. I'd complain more, but it's my fault for choosing to watch an Umberto Lenzi film in the first place.

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swo17
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Re: Severin Films

#5 Post by swo17 » Thu Apr 30, 2020 3:22 pm

There's something about packaging up a bunch of bad films like this that makes me badly want them

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DRW.mov
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Re: Severin Films

#6 Post by DRW.mov » Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:45 pm

swo17 wrote:
Thu Apr 30, 2020 3:22 pm
There's something about packaging up a bunch of bad films like this that makes me badly want them
These movies are genuinely great, I would in no way categorize them as bad or “so bad they’re good”. The majority of the Baker collaborations fall in the category of “F Giallo”, a definition along gender lines that makes the distinction between the knife wielding whodunnits of Argento (aka “M Giallo”), and the more slow burn melodramas of the 60s giallo boom, more heavily influenced by Hitchcock, Clouzot, and gothic literature.
There’s a lot to be found in these films and I cannot recommend enough diving into them with an open mind and an overall interest in the broader aspects of the genre. Orgasmo, in particular, is not easily forgotten.

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Re: Severin Films

#7 Post by swo17 » Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:47 pm

Well all the better then. These are unfamiliar to me and I was just going off of Mr Sausage's assessment. But I of course also had the Al Adamson set in mind (none of which I have seen either)

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#8 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 30, 2020 4:53 pm

Severin’s Limited sets are safe expenditures— you’ll at minimum be able to get your money back on eBay, in my experience

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Severin Films

#9 Post by Mr Sausage » Thu Apr 30, 2020 6:48 pm

DRW.mov confirmed as Stephen Thrower.

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Adam X
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Re: Severin Films

#10 Post by Adam X » Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:35 pm

I can relate to Mr Sausage’s impression of these films, as it’s much the way I felt about Lenzi’s work to begin with, myself. While I can’t speak to these four as I’ve not seen them, but I’ve found that much like Jesus Franco, the more I see of his films, the more I want to see, and the more I find to appreciate in them.

Now I’m well aware comparing my experience with Lenzi to Franco is far from a ringing endorsement round these parts, I don’t mean to say they’re similar filmmakers; just that my appetite for their work found in me a similar reaction.

If anyone needs any suggestions of films to try outside these ones if you’re on the fence, of the 9 I’ve seen, I can recommend Spasmo, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist & Gang War in Milan.

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin Films

#11 Post by domino harvey » Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:47 pm

Turns out I’ve seen four Lenzi films! I didn’t like any of them, but not at Franco-levels (thank God!). I wasn’t wild about Baba Yaga but Caroll Baker in sleaze mode plus a slew of French leading men does have me intrigued

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Re: Severin Films

#12 Post by nitin » Fri May 01, 2020 1:40 am

I put in an order along with their upcoming release of The Strange Vice of Mrs Wards and their previous release of All the Colors Of the Dark so that I could get free international shipping. I don’t believe the first two would be in the upcoming half yearly sale anyway so thought I would be better off this way.

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Mr Sausage
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Re: Severin Films

#13 Post by Mr Sausage » Fri May 01, 2020 6:29 am

Adam Grikepelis wrote:
Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:35 pm
I can relate to Mr Sausage’s impression of these films, as it’s much the way I felt about Lenzi’s work to begin with, myself. While I can’t speak to these four as I’ve not seen them, but I’ve found that much like Jesus Franco, the more I see of his films, the more I want to see, and the more I find to appreciate in them.

Now I’m well aware comparing my experience with Lenzi to Franco is far from a ringing endorsement round these parts, I don’t mean to say they’re similar filmmakers; just that my appetite for their work found in me a similar reaction.

If anyone needs any suggestions of films to try outside these ones if you’re on the fence, of the 9 I’ve seen, I can recommend Spasmo, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist & Gang War in Milan.
I dunk on Lenzi, but truthfully, I don't hate his films. Like, he's not Bruno Mattei or Joe D'amato. I mainly find him unexceptional. His giallos are fine, middle of the road stuff. Occasionally, as in Spasmo and A Quiet Place to Kill, they can look quite pretty, and, yeah, Seven Blood Stained Orchids is solid. But they don't stand out; there's no gimmick or some bit of outrageous style to distinguish them. Even middling giallos like The Red Queen Kills Seven Times or The House with Laughing Windows have some memorable, stand out quality, tho' they fumble it. Among giallo directors, I'll take Sergio Martino and Aldo Lado over Lenzi. There's just more there.

Nightmare City and Cannibal Ferox are bad, bad films, but the former is a lot of fun, I'll give it that.

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Adam X
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Re: Severin Films

#14 Post by Adam X » Fri May 01, 2020 7:37 am

I don't disagree with you.

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Adam X
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Re: Severin Films

#15 Post by Adam X » Fri May 01, 2020 12:09 pm

It just occurred to me that this set has two films that regularly get confused due to both being being released as Paranoia (in different territories) and starring Carroll Baker. They went with the alternate titles of Orgasmo & A Quiet Place to Kill.

So of course now poor Jared at Mondo Macabro is having to implore people not to cancel pre-orders for their Lenzi title, An Ideal Place to Kill. 88 Films even announced they were releasing the wrong film, when they stated they were working on Paranoia. I think distributors must’ve been running out of ideas when they were dealing with Lenzi’s thrillers.

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#16 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 01, 2020 12:45 pm

Worth noting that unlike a lot of recent Severin boxes, it appears this one isn't a limited edition, so it may be worth waiting for a cheaper price on Amazon or even later for a Severin direct sale

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dwk
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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#17 Post by dwk » Fri May 01, 2020 1:23 pm

The video they posted mentions it is limited to 4000 copies. Don't know why it doesn't mention it in the product details.

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#18 Post by domino harvey » Fri May 01, 2020 1:37 pm

Well, that’s good to know, thanks for the correction!

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Altair
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Re: Severin Films

#19 Post by Altair » Fri May 01, 2020 2:05 pm

domino harvey wrote:
Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:47 pm
Turns out I’ve seen four Lenzi films! I didn’t like any of them, but not at Franco-levels (thank God!). I wasn’t wild about Baba Yaga but Caroll Baker in sleaze mode plus a slew of French leading men does have me intrigued
I have to say Baba Yaga is one of my favourite Italian horror films from the period, so fun and inventive and Baker really goes full throttle in it. As for the Lenzi/Baker collaborations, I've only seen Orgasmo, many years ago, in the form of a bootleg which was pieced together from various sources to form a 'compelete' version, but I remember enjoying it, a well-made, if derivative, Euro-thriller.

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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#20 Post by chatterjees » Sat May 02, 2020 8:41 pm

dwk wrote:
Fri May 01, 2020 1:23 pm
The video they posted mentions it is limited to 4000 copies. Don't know why it doesn't mention it in the product details.
Also, out of those 4000, only first 1000 copies for the bundle or eligible for the postcard set. I want those postcards very badly as I collect movie poster postcards.
BTW, just to promote some blind buys, this is the best box set they are releasing after the Amicus set. It seems to me that they have adapted the Italian Giallo genre to make money primarily in the US market. Although I like the idea very much, there is a little issue. I am going to end up with a big overlap. I have already spent some years importing most of them from UK. Thankfully I only own one from this set and haven't watched the other 3 titles. So, I will happily pay that amount of money for this set. I am also sure that these 3 titles will definitely come out in near future from 88 Films.

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Adam X
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Re: Severin Films

#21 Post by Adam X » Wed May 06, 2020 10:27 am

tenia wrote:
Thu Apr 30, 2020 12:57 pm
I thought one of the CDs would be for Knife of Ice, since it got included in the recent French BD release.
According to a post on the BD forums, it's seems it's just a "Best of Italian cinema" compilation.
Severin wrote:We've received some enquiries as to what exactly we have on our 2 bonus CDs in The Complete Umberto Lenzi / Carroll Baker Giallo Collection. There's some confusion among soundtrack collectors because Piero Umiliani's score for ORGASMO has never been released at all in any format, with the exception of 7-inch singles of the two pop songs featured in the film. CD1 is the entire Umiliani score plus the pop songs across 22 tracks. Nothing from A QUIET PLACE TO KILL has ever previously been released in any format either but on CD2 we have 2 versions of the song "You" and 3 separate sequences of the score. SO SWEET... SO PERVERSE was released on CD a long time ago (on the Hexacord label) and then once on vinyl. Our collection of tracks, also on CD2, is identical to that. The master recordings of the complete score of KNIFE OF ICE are lost but as a bonus we have included the main title theme from on CD2 also. This means on top of the stellar films themselves, our box scores you two soundtrack world premieres, one long unavailable reissue and a bonus track.

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tenia
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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#22 Post by tenia » Wed May 06, 2020 10:56 am

Interesting, thanks for the info !

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Re: Severin Films

#23 Post by M Sanderson » Sat Jun 13, 2020 3:35 am

Mr Sausage wrote:
Fri May 01, 2020 6:29 am
Adam Grikepelis wrote:
Thu Apr 30, 2020 11:35 pm
I can relate to Mr Sausage’s impression of these films, as it’s much the way I felt about Lenzi’s work to begin with, myself. While I can’t speak to these four as I’ve not seen them, but I’ve found that much like Jesus Franco, the more I see of his films, the more I want to see, and the more I find to appreciate in them.

Now I’m well aware comparing my experience with Lenzi to Franco is far from a ringing endorsement round these parts, I don’t mean to say they’re similar filmmakers; just that my appetite for their work found in me a similar reaction.

If anyone needs any suggestions of films to try outside these ones if you’re on the fence, of the 9 I’ve seen, I can recommend Spasmo, Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, The Cynic, the Rat and the Fist & Gang War in Milan.
I dunk on Lenzi, but truthfully, I don't hate his films. Like, he's not Bruno Mattei or Joe D'amato. I mainly find him unexceptional. His giallos are fine, middle of the road stuff. Occasionally, as in Spasmo and A Quiet Place to Kill, they can look quite pretty, and, yeah, Seven Blood Stained Orchids is solid. But they don't stand out; there's no gimmick or some bit of outrageous style to distinguish them. Even middling giallos like The Red Queen Kills Seven Times or The House with Laughing Windows have some memorable, stand out quality, tho' they fumble it. Among giallo directors, I'll take Sergio Martino and Aldo Lado over Lenzi. There's just more there.

Nightmare City and Cannibal Ferox are bad, bad films, but the former is a lot of fun, I'll give it that.
not sure I'd regard House with Laughing Windows as a middling Giallo. Far from it.

agreed on Lado and Martino. I've found Martino a revelation discovering him on Blu-ray. Via Cattet & Forzani.

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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#24 Post by Professor Wagstaff » Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:41 pm

Did anyone order this directly from Severin and get their copy? It was officially released today, but I haven't heard anything about reviews or people receiving their orders.

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domino harvey
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Re: Severin: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection

#25 Post by domino harvey » Tue Jul 07, 2020 4:47 pm

There was apparently a big stink over a recent sale and slow shipping as a result. I think we just found out where all those out of work TT fulfillment shippers found employment!

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