La pretora (1976) Lucio Fulci

[Boggle]

This thread is dedicated to the discussion of a blu-ray release of Lucio Fulci's La Pretora starring Edwige Fenech:

[Show spoiler]

[AlexIlDottore]

I think Stephen Thrower was unfairly harsh in his review. No mention of Fenech's acting prowess either. What the hell?

[Boggle]

Originally Posted by AlexIlDottore

I think Stephen Thrower was unfairly harsh in his review. No mention of Fenech's acting prowess either. What the hell?

I'm being tongue in cheek when I say this throws his credibility into question, but I won't lie, it's a little disconcerting. I don't think his Fulci book will be as definitive as the Bava book was, but I'd like to be proven wrong.

Anyway, I'd be interested to know how many people on this forum would be interested in crowd-funding a release of La pretora. Just curious to gauge the interest here. Anyone feel like chiming in?

[AlexIlDottore]

I've only had a quick look at my book, as I just haven't had the time, but yeah, I was a little put off at how easily and brutally he dismissed a film that obviously has many fans for various reasons. The two Fenech's aren't the only reason, obviously.

As for a crowdfund, who can we pester?

[javi92]

Just saying that I would absolutely crowdfund this if someone took that chance [hint, hint]

[Boggle]

Originally Posted by javi92

Just saying that I would absolutely crowdfund this if someone took that chance [hint, hint]

Alright! Well, that's three of us...

[splintersan]

Count me in.

Any of you seen Fulci's White Fang films? Curious about those.

Do we know who owns the rights to The Eroticist in the US? I heard Severin lost those a few years ago.

[Boggle]

Originally Posted by splintersan

Count me in.

Any of you seen Fulci's White Fang films? Curious about those.

Do we know who owns the rights to The Eroticist in the US? I heard Severin lost those a few years ago.

I saw White Fang when the Fulci retrospective came to town. It's hilarious. For the most part it's what you'd expect: an adventure film geared towards kids. However since this is Fulci, he just can't help himself and the violence is way too much for this type of fare. All in all, it's a pretty fun Western romp with Franco Nero. The ending actually prompted a round of applause from the audience I was with.

[splintersan]

Originally Posted by Boggle

I saw White Fang when the Fulci retrospective came to town. It's hilarious. For the most part it's what you'd expect: an adventure film geared towards kids. However since this is Fulci, he just can't help himself and the violence is way too much for this type of fare. All in all, it's a pretty fun Western romp with Franco Nero. The ending actually prompted a round of applause from the audience I was with.

That sounds exactly like what I want out of it. What films were at that retrospective? I saw you mention it in another thread recently.

[Boggle]

Originally Posted by splintersan

That sounds exactly like what I want out of it. What films were at that retrospective? I saw you mention it in another thread recently.

I had to consult my list. This was back in 2016. Most of these were 35mm, some of them were digital. If I recall correctly, Beatrice Cenci, Don't Torture A Duckling and La pretora were digital.

The New York Ripper (1982)
Beatrice Cenci / Conspiracy Of Torture (1969)
Zanna Bianca / White Fang (1973)
Non si sevizia un paperino / Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972)
Luca il contrabbandiere / Contraband (1980)
Uno strano tipo / A Strange Type (1963)
Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro / Massacre Time (1966)
Gates Of Hell / City Of The Living Dead (1980)
The Beyond (1981)
The House By The Cemetery (1981)
Zombie (1979)
La pretora / My Sister In Law (1976)
Conquest (1983)

Earlier in the year I also saw a 35mm print of The Black Cat (1981).

[splintersan]

Originally Posted by Boggle

I had to consult my list. This was back in 2016. Most of these were 35mm, some of them were digital. If I recall correctly, Beatrice Cenci, Don't Torture A Duckling and La pretora were digital.

The New York Ripper (1982)
Beatrice Cenci / Conspiracy Of Torture (1969)
Zanna Bianca / White Fang (1973)
Non si sevizia un paperino / Don’t Torture A Duckling (1972)
Luca il contrabbandiere / Contraband (1980)
Uno strano tipo / A Strange Type (1963)
Le colt cantarono la morte e fu... tempo di massacro / Massacre Time (1966)
Gates Of Hell / City Of The Living Dead (1980)
The Beyond (1981)
The House By The Cemetery (1981)
Zombie (1979)
La pretora / My Sister In Law (1976)
Conquest (1983)

Earlier in the year I also saw a 35mm print of The Black Cat (1981).

What a line up! Extremely jealous. I've been trying to convince my local revival theater to screen Zombie. A theater about an hour and half away screened it in the fall and I almost made the 3 hour round trip to see it on the big screen. I haven't watched Contraband yet, waiting for a bluray. Same for Conquest, although I've seen bits and pieces of that randomly in the past. What did you think of Beatrice Cenci, A Strange Type and Massacre Time. I have watched Four of the Apocalypse and rather enjoyed, still haven't watched my import of Silver Saddle but it's on the list. Curious how Massacre Time stacks up against Four.

[2-perf]

Count me in.

[Boggle]

Originally Posted by splintersan

What a line up! Extremely jealous. I've been trying to convince my local revival theater to screen Zombie. A theater about an hour and half away screened it in the fall and I almost made the 3 hour round trip to see it on the big screen. I haven't watched Contraband yet, waiting for a bluray. Same for Conquest, although I've seen bits and pieces of that randomly in the past. What did you think of Beatrice Cenci, A Strange Type and Massacre Time. I have watched Four of the Apocalypse and rather enjoyed, still haven't watched my import of Silver Saddle but it's on the list. Curious how Massacre Time stacks up against Four.

I've seen Zombie a few times theatrically and every time I swear I see the same red, faded print. I wouldn't dissuade anyone from seeing it on the big screen, but the truth is that your blu-ray probably contains a far better presentation. On the other hand, the prints I've seen of Gates Of Hell, The Beyond and House By The Cemetery were relatively immaculate.

Contraband is awesome. An extremely violent film. The print I saw was of the Italian language version. The Blue Underground dvd was English only, so I hadn't seen this before. In this instance the Italian dub is far superior and actually makes a significant difference IMO.

Conquest is totally bonkers and a personal favorite. It's not the best Fulci, but I love it. So, so weird. No restraint.

Take my opinion with a grain of salt, but I actually hated Massacre Time and this is coming from a big fan of Fulci and Nero. For me the story was just stretched too thin and I became totally disinterested.

Beatrice Cenci is one of Fulci's most accomplished films, dealing with a rather harrowing story and subject matter. As such, I found it extremely unpleasant, but it's a strong film.

A Strange Type is a low budget, black and white Italian comedy from 1963. It's very early in Fulci's career and bears virtually no resemblance to his later work. I found it pretty silly and obnoxious, but mildly amusing at times.

[splintersan]

Zombie was a DCP that BU sent to the theater so it would have looked very good. I saw Creepshow projected in 35 last October and it was a used and abused red tinted mess but I kind of love that, especially since my local theater that does these screenings doesn't have the nicest equipment or seating so it adds to that old run down theater charm that is missing in todays theatrical experience. I saw Critters there a year ago and that print was so scratched and had hiss through the entire audio track but that didn't stop me from having a big smile on my face through the entire screening.

[Hedji]

I'd be on board for this. It looks like a lot of fun.

[cropduster]

I'm totally down for this.

[cropduster]

Here's the awesome Spanish poster

[AlexIlDottore]

So does anybody have any ideas of how this can be pushed past it's "appreciation thread" stage?

[ZeTi]

Originally Posted by AlexIlDottore

So does anybody have any ideas of how this can be pushed past it's "appreciation thread" stage?

1. Start ya own label.
2. Buy the rights.
3. Crowdfund the restoration.
4. Add subtitles as per contract. Preferably not dub-titles.
(optional) Complain about selling only about 300 copies, sad to say.

[cropduster]

So first things first, does anyone know who actually owns the film or the rights to the film? Going by what I've found so far, the production company listed for the film is called Coralta Cinematografica. According to imdb, they were the same production company for other Fulci films such as Four of the Apocalypse, Challenge to White Fang, and Dracula in the Provinces, as well as Salon Kitty, Ten Little Indians, Vow of Chastity, etc., some of which have had dvd/blu-ray releases. The Italian dvd of La Pretora lists Coralta Cinematografica as the studio who released the dvd.

Typing Coralta Cinematografica into a search engine brings up this website which has Coralta listed under uniFrance Films:

https://en.unifrance.org/directories...inematografica

Only 3 films are listed on that page, not including La Pretora. Typing uniFrance La Pretora in a search engine yields no results. uniFrance's Edwige Fenech page doesn't list La Pretora:

https://en.unifrance.org/directories.../edwige-fenech

Apparently the film was distributed by Dear. No luck on any info on them so far.

I'll post anything else I find after doing some more digging.