7.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Who was Joe D'amato- Aristide Massaccesi under his civil status? A genius of horror in the USA, a master of eroticism in France, the king of porn in Italy. A man with a thousand pseudonyms capable of making over 200 films while simultaneously holding the roles of producer, director, author, director of photography and even camera operator. An artisan of cinema as he liked to call himself, capable of working on all film genres. From spaghetti western to post-atomic, decamerotic to glossy eroticism, and blockbuster porn to bloody horror. Guided by the aesthetics of extremes and supported by an undeniable technical ability, Joe D'Amato pushed himself, and the viewer, beyond all limits following with dedication three rigid principles that have become his stylistic code: Amaze, Shock, Scandalize.
Starring: Eli Roth, Michele Soavi, Jean-François Rauger, Luca Damiano (II), Roberto Di GirolamoForeign | 100% |
Documentary | 6% |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.78:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as both this standalone release and as part of Severin's The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle. Severin sent the
huge box set for purposes of this review, and I am assuming the standalone release has the same content.
Kier-la Janisse gave film fans one of the most outstanding boxed sets of the last few years with All the Haunts Be Ours: A Compendium of Folk Horror, a late 2021
release that ended up making my Best of 2022 list. Janisse is back now with another gigantic boxed set, one that's even bigger than the folk horror
compendium, and one that may appeal to a certain niche audience who may not have been especially interested in that earlier set. Those who may
remember the rating system of days of yore will probably recall the "M" designation, which meant "for mature audiences only", and if I may be
permitted an orthographic joke that is admittedly a bit arcane, some might argue that Emanuelle gave up one of her "m"'s in favor of
three x's, at least with regard to
some cuts
of the many Black Emanuelle films. For those not conversant with the history of this perceived franchise, and who may be scratching
their
heads at my "joke" (what else is new?), Black Emanuelle was a pretty blatant attempt to cash in on Emmanuelle, and in order to avoid any potential legal hassles one of those original
"m"'s in the title character's name got dropped. Furthermore, as supplements on many of the discs included in this set offer, there were hardcore
XXX
inserts
(in more ways than one) that at least some of the Black Emanuelle productions offered. Joke explained, hopefully. Perhaps even more
comedically
than my fitful attempt at humor, the Black Emanuelle series ended up offering many more films than its perceived progenitor, and 24 of
them (with additional cuts) are aggregated in this at times overwhelming collection. This is a collection where the quality of the films may be highly
debatable, though it's salient to note that the supplements both overtly reference and are in and of themselves examples of perhaps unexpected
critical scrutiny this franchise has engendered, and anyone interested in this kind of bizarre franchise mash up of what might be called porno,
mondo and gonzo will most likely find this an amazing set to dive into.
Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Severin Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.78:1. Severin's almost overwhelming book The Black Emanuelle Bible included with this set offers a brief description of the transfer, as follows:
Source: 1080 provided by Wave Cinema / Fairway Film/ Trulove.As with many documentaries culled from a variety of sources, Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess has an undeniably heterogeneous appearance at times, but all of the contemporary interview material looks nicely defined and sports a healthy if at times somewhat subdued palette. The archival video and film clips are in widely variant levels of quality, with some of the archival video of D'Amato in particular looking lo-res and kind of ragged. My overall score is 4.25.
Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess features DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1 and DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 options, mostly in Italian. The surround track may be a bit of overkill for this talking head heavy documentary, but it does occasionally open up some of the film clips. Otherwise, both tracks provide secure support for all spoken material, with the understanding that some archival audio may not have the crispness of the contemporary material. Optional English subtitles are available.
Inferno Rosso: Joe D'Amato on the Road of Excess may not be overly revelatory, but it's kind of sweetly affecting and it provides some insight into what D'Amato was like personally and professionally. Technical merits are generally solid and the supplements very enjoyable. Recommended.
(Still not reliable for this title)
The Real Emanuelle
1974
La Mujer de la Tierra Caliente
1978
The Dirty Seven / La belva dalla calda pelle
1982
Suor Emanuelle
1977
Emanuelle e le porno notti nel mondo n. 2
1978
Notti porno nel mondo
1977
Unleashed Perversions of Emanuelle
1983
La via della prostituzione
1978
Emanuelle nera: Orient reportage
1976
Gola Profonda Nera
1977
Love Camp / Die Todesgöttin Des Liebescamps
1981
Le notti porno nel mondo nş 2
1978
Voglia di guardare
1986
Sexy Erotic Love
1980
Emanuelle nera nş 2 / The New Black Emanuelle
1976
Black Emanuelle White Emanuelle / Velluto nero
1976
Black Cobra Woman / Eva nera
1976
Emanuelle nera
1975
1977
Caged Women / Emanuelle in Hell / Violenza in un carcere femminile
1982