Maverick director Robert Aldrich’s one foray into grand-scale epic filmmaking is returned to crystal clarity in this fine import disc, a restoration from original Italian film elements. Stewart Granger’s Lot allies his Hebrew tribe with the notorious cities of evil, and almost loses his soul to Anouk Aimée’s wicked Queen Bera. Pier Angeli is the slave who becomes Lot’s wife, and Rossana Podestà is the daughter taken by Stanley Baker’s rapacious prince. Second unit director Sergio Leone whips up a terrific battle scene (maybe), Ken Adam provides the spectacular sets and Miklós Rózsa the powerful music score. And yes, the explosive finish involves hellfire, brimstone and the Biblical Pillar of Salt.
Sodom and Gomorrah
Explosive Media
All-region Blu-ray
1962 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 154 and 117 min. / Street Date December 9, 2021 / Available from Amazon.de /
Starring: Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli), Anouk Aimée, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà, Rik Battaglia,...
Sodom and Gomorrah
Explosive Media
All-region Blu-ray
1962 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 154 and 117 min. / Street Date December 9, 2021 / Available from Amazon.de /
Starring: Stewart Granger, Pier Angeli (Anna Maria Pierangeli), Anouk Aimée, Stanley Baker, Rossana Podestà, Rik Battaglia,...
- 1/1/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Review by Roger Carpenter
During the first half of the 60’s Mario Bava created several genuine horror classics that remain high-water marks in the genre over a half century later. Films such as Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963), The Whip and the Body (1963), and Blood and Black Lace (1964) either pushed the boundaries of horror or helped to establish cinematic tropes still used in modern horror. Always saddled with shoestring budgets and bad deals, Bava nevertheless remained optimistic in the face of his cinematic struggles. A case in point is the troubled production of Kill, Baby…Kill! which ran out of money midway through the shoot. The cast and crew were so loyal to Bava they worked for free to finish the film—a film, by the way, which only had a 30-page script with no dialogue when filming commenced. Bava had the actors make up their own lines, preferring to resolve...
During the first half of the 60’s Mario Bava created several genuine horror classics that remain high-water marks in the genre over a half century later. Films such as Black Sunday (1960), Black Sabbath (1963), The Whip and the Body (1963), and Blood and Black Lace (1964) either pushed the boundaries of horror or helped to establish cinematic tropes still used in modern horror. Always saddled with shoestring budgets and bad deals, Bava nevertheless remained optimistic in the face of his cinematic struggles. A case in point is the troubled production of Kill, Baby…Kill! which ran out of money midway through the shoot. The cast and crew were so loyal to Bava they worked for free to finish the film—a film, by the way, which only had a 30-page script with no dialogue when filming commenced. Bava had the actors make up their own lines, preferring to resolve...
- 11/7/2017
- by Movie Geeks
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
When a filmmaker creates a number of movies that qualify for masterpiece status, it becomes nearly impossible to quantifiably conclude which one stands above the rest as his or her single greatest achievement. We have our favorites, of course, but can any of us really name which of Hitchcock’s films is his definitive best? Or Kurosawa’s? Or Spielberg’s? The same is true of Mario Bava, the great Italian director who made films across a number of genres but who is best known for his work in horror. How does one name a single “best” movie from the man responsible for Black Sunday and Blood and Black Lace and The Whip and the Body and Black Sabbath? It’s like naming a favorite child.
While his 1966 movie Kill, Baby... Kill! isn’t always named as being one of Bava’s best, it absolutely deserves to be part of the conversation and is,...
While his 1966 movie Kill, Baby... Kill! isn’t always named as being one of Bava’s best, it absolutely deserves to be part of the conversation and is,...
- 7/21/2017
- by Patrick Bromley
- DailyDead
Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero: Filmed mostly on the streets in newly-liberated territory, Roberto Rossellini’s gripping war-related shows are blessed with new restorations but still reflect their rough origins. The second picture, the greater masterpiece, looks as if it were improvised out of sheer artistic will.
Roberto Rosselini’s War Trilogy
Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 500 (497, 498, 499)
1945-1948 / B&W / 1:37 & 1:33 flat full frame / 302 minutes / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available from the Criterion Collection 79.96
Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani; Dots Johnson, Harriet White Medin; Edmund Moeschke, Franz-Otto Krüger.
Cinematography: Ubaldo Arata; Otello Martelli; Robert Julliard.
Film Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Original Music: Renzo Rossellini
Written by Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio, Federico Fellini; Klaus Mann, Marcello Pagliero, Alfred Hayes, Vasco Pratolini; Max Kolpé, Carlo Lizzani.
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Criterion released an identical-for-content DVD set of this trilogy in 2010; the new Blu-ray...
Roberto Rosselini’s War Trilogy
Rome Open City, Paisan, Germany Year Zero
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 500 (497, 498, 499)
1945-1948 / B&W / 1:37 & 1:33 flat full frame / 302 minutes / Street Date July 11, 2017 / available from the Criterion Collection 79.96
Starring: Aldo Fabrizi, Anna Magnani; Dots Johnson, Harriet White Medin; Edmund Moeschke, Franz-Otto Krüger.
Cinematography: Ubaldo Arata; Otello Martelli; Robert Julliard.
Film Editor: Eraldo Da Roma
Original Music: Renzo Rossellini
Written by Sergio Amidei, Alberto Consiglio, Federico Fellini; Klaus Mann, Marcello Pagliero, Alfred Hayes, Vasco Pratolini; Max Kolpé, Carlo Lizzani.
Directed by Roberto Rossellini
Criterion released an identical-for-content DVD set of this trilogy in 2010; the new Blu-ray...
- 6/19/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Originally titled La Casa Della Paura/The House of Fear, The Girl in Room 2A is American director William Rose’s 1974 giallo. Produced by Dick Randall, the man behind the infamous Pieces and Don’t Open‘Til Christmas, it’s his entry into the Italian thriller boom of the 1970’s that was spearheaded by Dario Argento with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.
Beautiful Margaret Bradley (Daniela Giordano) has just been released from jail on a trumped-up drug charge and is sent to live at a boarding house run by a mysterious woman named Mrs. Grant (Giovanna Galetti). Mrs. Grant has a middle-aged son, Frank (Angelo Infanti) who has taken a shine to the new boarder. Settling into her new life, it isn’t long before this peaceful new home becomes a nightmare of hallucinations and nefarious goings on.
In one genuinely creepy scene, Margaret imagines being back in jail...
Beautiful Margaret Bradley (Daniela Giordano) has just been released from jail on a trumped-up drug charge and is sent to live at a boarding house run by a mysterious woman named Mrs. Grant (Giovanna Galetti). Mrs. Grant has a middle-aged son, Frank (Angelo Infanti) who has taken a shine to the new boarder. Settling into her new life, it isn’t long before this peaceful new home becomes a nightmare of hallucinations and nefarious goings on.
In one genuinely creepy scene, Margaret imagines being back in jail...
- 3/26/2012
- by Derek Botelho
- DailyDead
Written and directed by: William Rose
Cast: Daniela Giordano, John Scanlon, Angelo Infanti, Giovanna Galletti and Raf Vallone
The Girl in Room 2A is quite a tease. Her reputation as a violent giallo is unfounded. The girl may be rough, but she’s no giallo.
She’d like for you to believe that she’s a disturbing precursor to the torture porn genre. If such a distinction gets her some notoriety, I’ll not argue with her. She’s been through quite enough already. But cinematic sleaze merchants have been torturing beautiful, buxom women onscreen for decades. So her trauma (while not insubstantial) really isn’t anything unique. Her biggest problem, aside from her muddled identity, is that she’s just not very bright.
The film starts out in rough fashion with an attractive young woman leaving her apartment. She is abducted violently by several men and thrown into a...
Cast: Daniela Giordano, John Scanlon, Angelo Infanti, Giovanna Galletti and Raf Vallone
The Girl in Room 2A is quite a tease. Her reputation as a violent giallo is unfounded. The girl may be rough, but she’s no giallo.
She’d like for you to believe that she’s a disturbing precursor to the torture porn genre. If such a distinction gets her some notoriety, I’ll not argue with her. She’s been through quite enough already. But cinematic sleaze merchants have been torturing beautiful, buxom women onscreen for decades. So her trauma (while not insubstantial) really isn’t anything unique. Her biggest problem, aside from her muddled identity, is that she’s just not very bright.
The film starts out in rough fashion with an attractive young woman leaving her apartment. She is abducted violently by several men and thrown into a...
- 3/23/2012
- by Bradley Harding
- Planet Fury
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