Spasmo (Umbero Lenzi) - Scorpion Releasing

[Oscar Rothman]

what is a SPASMO? Find out when it hits BluRay in early 2015 as Scorpion Releasing, in conjunction with Rewind Films, presents Umberto Lenzi's SPASMO!

https://www.facebook.com/scorpionrel...62265180599606

Spasmo trailer - Umberto Lenzi - YouTube

[pro-bassoonist]

Spasmo Blu-ray



Outstanding film

Pro-B

[cakefactory]

Oh wow, just yesterday I was looking at amazon for the DVD and decided not to buy it since it was 40 bucks used. I'm all over this, hope they can get some more of those media blasters Giallos like lizard in a woman's skin.

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Oh wow, just yesterday I was looking at amazon for the DVD and decided not to buy it since it was 40 bucks used. I'm all over this, hope they can get some more of those media blasters Giallos like lizard in a woman's skin.

Canal have a very good master for Lizard... and the current DVD release looks very nice. But this is a very big title and more than likely it would be quite difficult/expensive to license the master (it is a rather recent one).

Outstanding Lenzi film and a superb soundtrack!



Pro-B

[frakking toaster]

Great news! Always down for more Lenzi films.

[Kriztoffer Swank]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Canal have a very good master for Lizard... and the current DVD release looks very nice. But this is a very big title and more than likely it would be quite difficult/expensive to license the master (it is a rather recent one).

Outstanding Lenzi film and a superb soundtrack!



Pro-B

Love this DVD, far better video quality than MB's so-called remastered edition, and more complete footage.

Never heard of Spasmo and I'm not terribly familiar with Umberto Lenzi's work outside of a small handful of titles, but I'm always down for more Italian cult/horror/gialli on Blu-ray.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Canal have a very good master for Lizard... and the current DVD release looks very nice. But this is a very big title and more than likely it would be quite difficult/expensive to license the master (it is a rather recent one).

Outstanding Lenzi film and a superb soundtrack!


Pro-B

I need to get a region free dvd player one of these days, I don't have anything that can play PAL other than my computer atm. I'll have to check that DVD out. The media blasters version wasn't the worst looking DVD ever or anything but it certainly was sketchy, especially in the "restored" scenes.

[RiFiFi1955]

Wow I come home from class to see this news!!!!!!!!!!! Fantastic...mind blown!
And seeing as it is Scorpion and they had been VERY consistent in regards to quality, this look great!

[RiFiFi1955]

And Lizard Yes would make a great Blu, sure but there are very nice DVD's out there... what we really need is AMUCK already...fantastic Giallo with nothing but fullscreen VHS transfers

I would love Scorpion to restore that one! Just thinking about it....okay I got to stop!

[frakking toaster]

I really want don't torture a duckling and the killer must kill again.

[billyearle]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Canal have a very good master for Lizard... and the current DVD release looks very nice. But this is a very big title and more than likely it would be quite difficult/expensive to license the master (it is a rather recent one).

Outstanding Lenzi film and a superb soundtrack!



Pro-B

Super stoked for Spasmo, and sad to hear the "forecasting" on Lizard's BD prospects. I might try waiting a couple of years on Lizard, or buy this or the JP DVD from an HD master I think (prob the same as this one).
I sadly can't afford to keep up with all the very expensive Giallo BDs coming out from Germany. I don't know most of those films and they don't get reviewed, so I can't tell which of them might be worth the price for me. Hope they could get a cheaper US/UK release. But Spasmo will be a must buy, been waiting for that. I remember the movie being one of my favorite Giallos when I was on a rental kick years ago, and the Morricone album with that poster art is a fave too.
Oh yeah, 7 Notes in Black is coming from Germany soon. Unless a "domestic" release is coming, that would be a must buy.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by RiFiFi1955

And Lizard Yes would make a great Blu, sure but there are very nice DVD's out there... what we really need is AMUCK already...fantastic Giallo with nothing but fullscreen VHS transfers

I would love Scorpion to restore that one! Just thinking about it....okay I got to stop!

Yeah, "Amuck" was one of the first movies I tried to get a hold of a few weeks ago when I was on a Barbara Bouchet kick (I had to make do with buying DVDs of Don't Torture a Duckling/Black Belly of the Tarantula and the raro Caliber 9). It's odd that it hasn't made it to DVD, it regularly gets mentioned in horror books (and of course Quentin Tarantino has loudly plugged it). If nothing else, it's got a major cult actress in extended lesbian scenes, you'd think someone would see the value in releasing it, but maybe the elements just aren't there.

It would be nice to see a release of "The Lady in Red Kills 7 Times" that doesn't come in a two pack with a silly plastic figurine and cost an arm and a leg for a subpar transfer too, but hey!

The important thing here is Spasmo is a great announcement and after Planet of the Vampires and Girly I'm really starting to like this Scorpion guy

[pro-bassoonist]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

I need to get a region free dvd player one of these days, I don't have anything that can play PAL other than my computer atm. I'll have to check that DVD out. The media blasters version wasn't the worst looking DVD ever or anything but it certainly was sketchy, especially in the "restored" scenes.

As Kriztoffer Swank mentions above, it is a very nice release, and there is in fact more complete footage. The only issue here is that as all PAL-encoded DVD releases, it is sped up. And if you know Ennio Morricone's score -- and this one is quite famous -- it is easy to tell. Other than that it is very clearly superior to the old R1 release.

MORRICONE/ DELL'ORSO -"Una Lucertola con la Pelle di Donna" (1971) - YouTube

Back to Lenzi: The period from around 1965 to 1975 is the one I like the most. A number of his films feature really big (future) stars, but you can see their wilder side. And while Lenzi very rarely had the money he needed to shoot these films as he wanted, they are very stylish. If restored and brought to Blu-ray, they will look and sound fantastic.

I could not pick up the recent DVD release of his So Sweet... So Perverse, which apparently has a new official English dub, but this is a film that would look lovely on Blu-ray. With Jean-Louis Trintignant, and Erika Blanc and Carroll Baker (and this film is from a period when they both looked impossibly beautiful).



There is also Orgazmo (on this side of the Atlantic it was retitled Paranoia), again with Carroll Baker and Lou Castel from Fists in the Pocket (Criterion really need to upgrade this excellent film). The Italian DVD, however, is not in the proper aspect ratio (it is PAN/SCAN-ed).



Anyhow, it is wonderful to see that some of these films are coming to Blu-ray. Almost always they have fantastic soundtracks and it is a treat when one can hear them in lossless audio

Pro-B

[JimDiGriz]

This film title is just...hilarious but it might be a British thing

[logboy]

Originally Posted by billyearle

I sadly can't afford to keep up with all the very expensive Giallo BDs coming out from Germany. I don't know most of those films and they don't get reviewed, so I can't tell which of them might be worth the price for me. Hope they could get a cheaper US/UK release. But Spasmo will be a must buy, been waiting for that.

... I would prefer BDs of any Giallo I missed the dvd for first time around and have recently looked at Germany, but so far ge only spotted films I've already seen and I'm nog really a double-dip buyer. can you point out any releases you've spotted, in case there's any of interest to me? I onky know a couple of shops online for German releases.

[ZeTi]

Cool, more 70s Italy in Hi-Def. I'm all in.

[Blu Titan]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Spasmo Blu-ray



Outstanding film

Pro-B

Def something I will enjoy .Can't wait to buy it.

[logboy]

Originally Posted by pro-bassoonist

Outstanding Lenzi film and a superb soundtrack!

Pro-B

expanded (almost 90 minutes) version of the OST in the last year, via beat records on limited CD >

http://www.beatrecords.it/shop.asp?l...odotto=CDCR123

... and more recently on vinyl (black or coloured vinyl), via death waltz records.

http://deathwaltzrecordingcompany.co...eluxe-edition/

i'm keen on lenzi before the 80's, particularly the giallo and polizioteschi films, but can never keep track of the editions that are subbed, dubbed or just decent with their transfers. caught up with a couple of german DVDs recently - expensive, but reliable transfers i hear. would buy into the OST CDs but i've not seen many of the films that they're connected to.

[Brian81]

Yipee! Not a great giallo, but it has its moments and it's kitschy. I will pick this up. This was a Media Blasters title. Hopefully they can get others, like 'Solange', 'Lizard in a Woman's Skin', and 'Zombi 3'....


It also makes me wonder if Severin will get to 'The Psychic' someday. Wish they'd release that one under it's Italian title, though. I'm glad I saw it that way before knowing the US title, which would have spoiled the whole movie for me.

[Brian81]

Originally Posted by Kriztoffer Swank

Love this DVD, far better video quality than MB's so-called remastered edition, and more complete footage.

Never heard of Spasmo and I'm not terribly familiar with Umberto Lenzi's work outside of a small handful of titles, but I'm always down for more Italian cult/horror/gialli on Blu-ray.

Is there a comparison online between the MB and the SC? I've always thought the MB remastered looks good for a DVD. MB releases didn't always suck, and the 'Remastered' DVD of this one and the excellent looking 'Murder Rock' were two prime examples IMO. I actually still have both MB releases, as the first had a nice version of the 'Schizoid' cut...