6.3 | / 10 |
Users | 2.5 | |
Reviewer | 2.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Delirium director Renato Polselli delivers yet another delectable slice of cinematic sleaze with this sadomasochistic shocker set in a gothic castle, and culminating with the sacrifice of seven naked virgins during a bloody satanic orgy. Lurid depictions of whippings, torture, and beatings abound in a truly diabolical tale of inhuman cruelty starring Euro sleaze-queen Rita Calderoni and prolific actor/bodybuilder Mickey Hargitay.
Starring: Mickey Hargitay, Rita Calderoni, Raul Lovecchio, Christa Barrymore, Consolata MoscheraHorror | 100% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: LPCM 2.0
English
25GB Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region free
Movie | 2.5 | |
Video | 3.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 0.5 | |
Overall | 2.5 |
Get ready for some of the most incomprehensible cult-sleaze you've ever seen. 1973's Black Magic Rites is an acid
trip of a gothic horror movie, with washes of psychedelic color, seizure-inducing editing, and a nightmare plot that only makes
sense via dream logic. As a film, it's undeniably awful—cheap and poorly structured, with some of the worst acting to ever
splatter on the screen—but as an exploitation cinema experience? It's consciousness expanding. And by
consciousness expanding, of course, I mean it'll make your brain explode. Look, I don't want to oversell the
film—it really is terrible in just about every objectively or subjectively measurable way—but it's so batshit out-there, so
deliriously kooky, that fans of Euro-trash b-grade moviemaking owe it to themselves to see it at least once.
The film's director, Renato Polselli, is practically unrecognized outside of Italy and cult-horror circles—he's best known for the
proto-slasher Delirium—but while he never had the international success of, say, Mario Bava or Dario Argento or
Lucio Fulci, he shares their giallo sensibilities, including a love of lurid color, stylized atmosphere, and nudie ladies getting
tortured onscreen. Think arthouse-meets-grindhouse, all sex and death and bloody sadism.
Kino Lorber, in conjunction with Redemption Films, has given Black Magic Rites an all-new high definition remaster from the 35mm negative, resulting in a 1080p/AVC-encoded transfer that looks quite nice considering the film's age, budget, and genre. As usual with Kino releases, the film is essentially presented as-is, so you will notice white/black specks and small scratches, but the damage is minimal and never distracting. (Besides, if you watch a lot of these kinds of films, you're used to it.) On the plus side of Kino's lack of post-process tinkering, there's been no noise reduction, edge enhancement, or other forms of unnecessary filtering. The image looks natural, with noticeable grain and no obvious digital compression artifacts or haloes from over-sharpening. Overall clarity is somewhat soft—mostly because the focusing is rarely precise, with several outright blurry shots throughout—but when the image is dialed in, closeups do display fine textures and otherwise strong detail. As you'd hope, the film's lurid, giallo-inspired palette is reproduced wonderfully, with vivid reds and greens and blues and no banding whatsoever in fine color gradients. Contrast is balanced well too. I'm not sure why the film is presented in 1.78:1 and not the original 1.66:1 aspect ratio, but otherwise, this seems like another true-to-source, warts-and-all transfer from Kino.
Black Magic Rites is presented with an uncompressed Linear PCM 2.0 stereo track. Like the picture, the audio is limited by the film's age and production techniques, but this is a listenable-enough mix. What you'll notice immediately is the film's rather schizophrenic soundtrack, which switches styles in just about every scene, from a sort of low-key funk—backed by breathy, orgasmic sighs—to weird, jazzy stop-and-start piano tunes and guitar-riffing acid rock. There's not much low-end in the music, the highs are a bit muddy, and the pitch of the synthesizers sometimes wobbles conspicuously, but que sera, sera, right? At least there are no overt hisses, crackles, or drop-outs here. The Italian dialogue has all been obviously ADR'd in after the fact, but the voices are mostly clear and understandable. The disc includes optional English subtitles, but no other subs or dubs.
The only extras on the disc are high definition trailers for Black Magic Rites, Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Lisa and the Devil, The Nude Vampires, and Shiver of the Vampire.
1970s Italian horror produced more than its share of oddities, but Black Magic Rites—also known as The Reincarnation of Isabel—is one of the weirdest, an incomprehensible gothic (s)exploitation experiment cast in acid- freakout colors and edited with machine-gun-speed, headache-inducing cutting. It's most certainly not for everyone—not even all fans of the genre—but for those with an all-abiding love of trashy Euro-sleaze cinema, it's worth seeing at least once. Of course, whether or not you need to own it is something else entirely. Kino/Redemption's Blu-ray release is short on special features, but the film's new high definition transfer makes Renato Polselli's stylistic excesses more vivid than ever. Recommended only for connoisseurs of the cult and obscure.
Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel Trecento... / The Reincarnation of Isabel | Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1973
Riti, magie nere e segrete orge nel Trecento... / The Reincarnation of Isabel | Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1973
The Devil's Playground
1973
Evil Heritage
1976
Le viol du vampire | Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1968
La nuit des traquées | Indicator Series | Limited Edition
1980
1971
1971
The Mask of Satan / La maschera del demonio | The Mario Bava Collection
1960
Bram Stoker's Dracula
1974
Daughters of Dracula
1974
Malenka / Malenka, the Niece of the Vampire / Malenka, the Vampire / The Vampire's Niece
1969
Lèvres de sang | Limited Edition | Indicator Series
1975
1970
The Legend of Blood Castle | Standard Edition | Ceremonia sangrienta
1973
Les lèvres rouges | Remastered Special Edition | 4K Restoration
1971
Il boia scarlatto
1965
Terror in the Crypt | Standard Edition
1964
Il lago di Satana
1966
El espanto surge de la tumba
1973
1973
Collector's Edition
1970