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Italian Classics ‘Opera’ and ‘The Case of the Bloody Iris’ Get UK Blu-ray Release
On November 19th Shameless Film is going to provide two brand-new Blu-rays of Italian horror goodness for those in the UK (or with region free players). First up is The Case of the Bloody Iris from director Giuliano Carnimeo. This film brings together Edwige Fenech and George Hilton for the third time in this ’70s sleaze gem featuring lush cinematography from Stelvio Massi. This Shameless features a 2K restoration and marks the worldwide Blu-ray debut.
When two young women are viciously slain in a luxury high-rise, a beautiful young model (Edwige Fenech of 5 Dolls for an August Moon) moves into one of their vacated apartments – and soon finds that she is now being stalked by the mysterious killer! The suspects include her ex-husband (a member of a group sex cult), a predatory lesbian neighbor, the deformed son of a sinister widow, and even the building’s handsome architect (George Hilton) who suffers from a paralyzing fear of blood. Can she expose the masked maniac with a taste for luscious women and depraved murder before she becomes his next victim? Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo (under the pseudonym Anthony Ascott) and written by Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso, The Whip and the Body), this shocking giallo is also known as Erotic Blue and What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing on Jennifer’s Body?
Special Features:
- A new candid chat with George Hilton
- A new scintillating chat with star Paola Quattrini
Tech Specs:
- 1080p HD
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Running time: 94 minutes and 38 seconds
- Audio: English and Italian
- Optional English subtitles
The second release hitting shelves on November 19th is Dario Argento’s masterpiece, Opera. Being released under the Shameless offshoot label Cult Films, Opera was restored in 2K referencing Argento’s personal print. The film will be release on Blu-ray and VOD. Opera is my personal favorite from Argento’s filmography and I’ve been waiting for Cult Films to release it. The company previously released the best version of Argento’s Suspiria.
A young opera singer gets her big chance when the previous star of a production of Verdi’s Macbeth is run over by a car. Convinced the opera is bad luck she accepts, and becomes the target of a psychopath – a man she has been dreaming of since childhood…
Special Features:
- ‘Aria of Fear’ – brand new candid interview with Dario Argento, revisiting his work from a fresh viewpoint
- ‘Opera Backstage’ – a unique behind the scenes documentary about Dario Argento directing Opera
- Restoration featurette: from raw scan to the regarded, restored and reframed final vision
Tech Specs:
- 1080p HD
- Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
- Running Time: 107 minutes and 13 seconds
- Audio: English and Italian
- Optional English subtitles
Are you ready to go back?
After a record-breaking box office run and an extended cut re-release, A24 and director Kane Parsons’ Backrooms is heading home to Digital.
Backrooms will be available to rent or buy this Tuesday, July 14.
In the film, Chiwetel Ejiofor stars in Backrooms as the owner of Cap’n Clark’s Ottoman Empire, who discovers a strange doorway in the basement of the furniture showroom. He sets out to explore the mysterious, liminal space, walking headfirst into a creepypasta nightmare.
Renate Reinsve (A Different Man) also stars in Backrooms.
Will Soodik wrote the screenplay.
I wrote in my review, “Backrooms is at once complex and sparse, but never repetitive. It might be set in 1990, but it effectively captures modern anxieties and isolation in a way that frequently makes your skin crawl. While the journey ultimately loses steam by its cryptic end, Parsons’ visual representation of the human psyche disturbs like no other.”
YouTube prodigy Kane Parsons makes his feature directorial debut based on his creepypasta-inspired video series, which debuted in 2022 and has amassed over 190 million views to date.