21 March 2008

Our reviewer Gort's favourite DVD label Shameless have embarked on a labour of love with their restoration of Piero Schivazappa's 1969 The Frightened Woman (aka Femina Ridens). Indeed, Schivazappa has been so impressed with the results of their resurrection that he pronounced that "This IS the version of my film to watch." Just as well it's being released on UK DVD in April, then.

The beautifully sensuous Dagmar Lassander stars as Maria, the living sex toy of Dr. Sayer (Philippe Leroy) who delights in killing women at the point of orgasm.  Sayer's prolonged campaign of degradation pushes Maria right to the edge of death but the spell she casts on him will lead to the most extraordinary climax of a lifetime! Stylish, imaginative and deliciously twisted, this kitschy 60s pop art erotica-fest boasts gorgeous set design, an even more alluring leading lady and a heady desire to please the viewer with increasingly bizarre and dangerous sex games.

Thanks to the work of genre expert Marc Morris, the Shameless version of The Frightened Woman runs at 86m 03secs compared to the 83m 25secs run time supplied by the licensor. What became clear as Shameless compared all the known versions of the film was that various moments had been lost at different points in all of them. Some were merely shaved seconds; others changed the nuance of a scene or missed out important footage. In order to create this new Shameless version they have used a wide variety of source materials that widely vary in quality but they believe that the end result shows off the film in the complete form it has long deserved to be celebrated in including the correct colour palette.

Shameless have kept director Piero Schivazappa informed throughout the process and asked him to watch through it for them and see if he could give it his seal of approval. He kindly sat through it, with script in hand and felt that, "it is as faithful as it can be to the original script", and was very happy to see the film brought back to life in this Shameless version.

Shameless Screen Entertainment will release The Frightened Woman on DVD at the RRP of £12.99 on 14th April, 2008. The Shameless director-approved cut will run at 86m 03secs and is being released uncut by the BBFC for the first time in the UK. Presentation of the film is in restored 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen with a restored 2.0 mono soundtrack. The DVD includes an original theatrical trailer.

A new DVD sleeve celebrating elements of original artwork has been created but as is now a regular feature of Shameless releases, purists can enjoy reverse artwork using an unadulterated Italian poster bearing the Femina Ridens title.