Throughout the late 1960s and into the 70s, the Italian giallo movement transported viewers to the far corners of the globe, from swinging San Francisco to the Soviet-occupied Prague. Only one, however, brought the genre s unique brand of bloody mayhem as far as Australia: director Flavio Mogherini (Delitto passionale) s tragic and poetic The Pyjama Girl Case. The body of a young woman is found on the beach, shot in the head, burned to hide her identity and dressed in distinctive yellow pyjamas. With the Sydney police stumped, former Inspector Timpson (Ray Milland, Dial M for Murder) comes out of retirement to crack the case. Treading where the real detectives can t, Timpson doggedly pieces together the sad story of Dutch immigrant Glenda Blythe (Dalila Di Lazzaro, Phenomena) and the unhappy chain of events which led to her grisly demise. Inspired by the real-life case which baffled the Australian police and continues to spark controversy and unanswered questions to this day, The Pyjama Girl Case is a uniquely haunting latter-day giallo from the tail end of the genre s boom period, co-starring Michele Placido (director of Romanzo Criminale) and Howard Ross (The New York Ripper), and featuring a memorably melancholic score by veteran composer Riz Ortolani (Don t Torture a Duckling). SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS: Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentation Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films New video interview with author and critic Michael Mackenzie on the internationalism of the giallo New video interview with actor Howard Ross New video interview with editor Alberto Tagliavia Archival interview with composer Riz Ortolani Image gallery Italian theatrical trailer Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Collector s booklet featuring new writing by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
The horrors of war take on a whole new meaning for Vietnam vet Norman Hopper (John Saxon) whose quiet domestic life in Atlanta is shattered by the return of Charlie Bukowski a combat buddy who dredges up terrifying flashbacks of flesh eating and bloodshed in the war-torn jungles. Now on the run from the law Charlie begs Norman to help him get out of town with another fellow veteran Tom (Tony King). Soon the ragtag team of cannibals are fighting for their lives spreading a deadl
The opening credits of Spanish Fly promise "Leslie Phillips vs. Terry-Thomas", making this the British comic innuendo version of King Kong vs. Godzilla or Frankenstein vs. the Wolf Man, with the two masters of fnarr-fnarr lecherous English lounge lizardry pitted against each other. It's a sunstruck, terminally silly slice of fluff of the stripe that passed for a sex film in 1976 ("Go and butter yourself", someone says) but seems almost comically innocent these days. The sort of film that boasts special credits for women's fashions by Cornelia James and underwear by Janet Reger, it tells the story of a gap-toothed con man (Thomas) exiled to sunny Spain. He adds ground-up cantharides to undrinkable plonk to create a market for aphrodisiac wine, and impotent underwear tycoon (Phillips) benefits from the effects of the product as he gets to grips with four lovely models, until his wife (Sue Lloyd) shows up and a side-effect means he starts barking like a dog. The stars are game, but the material--from a story by producer Peter James, now a horror novelist--is skimpier than the starlets' bikinis and none of the pretty girls has any comic timing (though they all get topless scenes). Students of British pop culture will note the bizarre juxtaposition of hiring an uncredited Francis Matthews, the upright voice of Captain Scarlet, to dub the roles of a gay Spanish photographer and (for one bad gag) a disgusted dog. On the DVD: The picture is fullscreen. There are no extras.--Kim Newman
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