Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		5.0
Overall		3.5

Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman October 16, 2022

This is the time of year when spookiness is almost literally in the air, but it may also be an appropriate time to consult any number of experts prone to helping identify genres, at least for those who may be interested in battening down exactly what this or that generic term might refer to. The recently reviewed megaset from Severin All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror spent a good deal of time in both an accompanying documentary as well as several commentary tracks trying to define exactly what "folk horror" might or might not be, with some fairly divergent opinions emerging, but perhaps thankfully, there seems to be at least a bit more consensus about what constitutes so-called "gothic horror". In that regard, Mark Thompson Ashworth provides introductions for the four films Arrow has aggregated for the Gothic Fantastico set, and in one of them he cites Touchstones of Gothic Horror, a book by David Huckvale which lists tropes like staircases, storms, ruins, heaving cleavage and ornate coffins, most of which at least are on display in this quartet at various times.

For reviews of the four films in this set, please click on the following links:

Lady Morgan's Vengeance Blu-ray review

The Blancheville Monster Blu-ray review

The Third Eye Blu-ray review

The Witch Blu-ray review

Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Video quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Audio quality of each film is assessed in the above linked reviews.

Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

Supplements included on each disc are detailed in the above linked reviews. Additionally, this is yet again another very handsomely packaged release from Arrow which also includes reversible sleeves for the keepcases, a double sided folded mini poster, and a really expanisve well done 80 page booklet. Everything is housed in a sturdy slipbox.

Gothic Fantastico: Four Italian Tales of Terror Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

This is another release from Arrow where the whole may actually be greater than the sum of the parts. None of these films is an unheralded masterpiece, but they each have interesting aspects, and each has its own rather distinctive visual style. As usual, Arrow has assembled some really interesting and authoritative supplements, which, along with generally solid technical merits, make this release Recommended.