Arrow Video Weaves a GOTHIC FANTASTICO Out of Four Italian Tales of Terror (review)

You know Mario Bava, you know Barbara Steele, you know Christopher Lee, but the golden age of Gothic Italian horror cinema also brought us some lesser known though no less atmospheric fright flicks like the four in this boxed set.  In LADY MORGAN'S VENGEANCE, a young bride is terrorized and driven to the brink of madness by her husband but she gets the last word from beyond the grave.  In THE BLANCHEVILLE MONSTER, a young heiress returns to her ancestral castle with her friends only to discover that her brother is trying to keep her from discovering a family curse.  In THE THIRD EYE, a sheltered aristocrat loses his domineering mother and his fiancee on the same day and develops a habit of stalking and killing beautiful women with the help of his housekeeper.  In THE WITCH, a womanizing writer hired to catalogue a private library of an aging widow falls under the spell of her beautiful daughter leading to a web of manipulation, murder, and witchcraft.  Franco Nero, Richard Johnson, Paul Miller, Erika Blanc, and Rosanna Schiaffino star among other Euro horror familiar faces.

REVIEW LINK: Arrow Video (US) Region A/B Blu-ray (CineVentures Blog)

GOTHIC FANTASTICO: FOUR ITALIAN TALES OF TERROR Blu-ray specs: 

• Disc One - Lady Morgan's Vengeance:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English Subtitles
• Audio Commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• "Vengeance from Beyond" video introduction by Mark Thompson Ashworth
• "The Grudge" video essay by author and producer Kat Ellinger
• "When We Were Vampires" video interview with actress Erika Blanc
• "Born to Be a Villain" interview with actor Paul Muller
• "The Pupillo Tapes" audio interview with director Massimo Pupillo
• Original Cineromanzo, published in Suspense in April 1971
• Theatrical Trailer
• Disc Two - The Blancheville Monster:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles (for English dub) and English Subtitles (for Italian dub)
• Audio Commentary by filmmaker and film historian Paul Anthony Nelson
• "Castle of Horror" introduction by Italian film devotee Mark Thompson Ashworth
• "Are You Sure It Wasn't Just Your Imagination?" video essay by writer and pop culture historian Keith Allison
• "Welcome to the Manor" video interview with author and filmmaker Antonio Tentori
• American Opening Credits
• Theatrical Trailer
• Image Gallery
• Disc Three - The Third Eye:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles (for English dub) and English Subtitles (for Italian dub)
• Audio Commentary by author and critic Rachael Nisbet
• "The Cold Kiss of Death" introduction by Mark Thompson Ashworth
• "Nostalgia Becomes Necrophilia" video essay by author and filmmaker Lindsay Hallam
• "All Eyes on Erika" interview with actress Erika Blanc
• Image Gallery
• Disc Four - The Witch:
• 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 Widescreen
• English and Italian LPCM 1.0 Mono
• Optional English SDH Subtitles (for English dub) and English Subtitles (for Italian dub)
• Audio Commentary by author and producer Kat Ellinger
• "Witchery" introduction by Italian film devotee Mark Thompson Ashworth
• "Loving the Devil: Ageing and Sexuality in La Strega di Amore" video essay by author and academic Miranda Corcoran
• "The Rome Witch Project" interview with author and filmmaker Antonio Tentori
• Image Gallery
• Comes in limited edition packaging with reversible sleeves featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Colin Murdoch, an 80-page book featuring new writing on the films by Roberto Curti, Rob Talbot, Jerome Reuter, Rod Barnett and Kimberly Lindbergs, as well as a foldout double-sided poster.