ARROW VIDEO'S YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM... DVD REVIEW

Yet another Edwige Fenech related post? So many lately... Ok, let's start with her boobs. Or something that I like actually more - the way she couldn't really cover them (on purpose, I guess):

Are you still here? Ok, let's go to the subject. I live in the Czech Republic and our Blu ray market is a disaster. Almost nothing interesting. The distributors have to sell the movies both as Blu rays and DVDs to sell something. Therefore I don't have any Blu ray player, and hence I bought the Arrow DVD and not Blu Ray. I guess the only difference between them is the resolution. I was really interested in the extra features, so I picked up this through a special e-shop, purchasing foreign discs in the Czech Republic.

I wrote something on the movie in the previous post, so I won't do it again. Not that it's not worth it, it's a pretty good one with great acting (not an usual thing in the Italian genre cinema), good music, interesting characters and some great scenes. Not my favourite movie by Sergio Martino (that would be All the Colors of the Dark), but I liked it better than Torso. I have to rewatch The Case of the Scorpion's Tail, since I liked Mrs. Wardh much more the second time.

I'll go directly to the extras. The movie itself is presented with beautiful clean image and nice sound, original mono, both in English and Italian. Interesting fact is that if you choose Italian version, you'll see Italian opening credits, if you choose English, you'll see the English credits, with the title "Gently Before She Dies". The English subtitles are also present, I'm not sure, maybe Italian as well?

Then we have here a few interesting documentaries. The first one, running cca 30 minutes, is a new interview with the director Sergio Martino. He discusses making the movie, its success, his relationship with Fenech and Pistilli and adds some interesting information on his other movies.

Second one is taken from the 2005 US DVD release by NoShame, another 30 minutes long featurette with Martino again, then screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi and Edwige Fenech herself. In 2005 she didn't look like 56 years old. She looked some 20 years younger. Marvellous. Martino, Gastaldi and Fenech are speaking Italian, so there are English subtitles.

The third featurette is a commentary with images on the career of Mr. Martino. I haven't heart it, since there are supposed spoilers for some movies that I haven't seen yet. So I have to watch The Sweet Body of Deborah first. Uh, it's starring the boring pretty face Jean Sorel and the Barbie Carroll Baker. But also Luigi Pistilli, George Hilton and Evelyn Stewart / Ida Galli. She was gorgeous. Well, seems I'll have to make it, only because I'm interested in this documentary.

The fourth one is a commentary on the career of Edwige Fenech. Lots of information, lots of her nude body in the images and clips. Yes, the titles of her comedies are awful. Giovannona Long-Thigh dishonored with honor. The Inconsolable Widow Thanks All Those Who Consoled Her. Just awful. The comedies are also horrible themselves. Even the Fulci one. Double Edwige can't save it.

Then there is an Eli Roth commentary. 10 minutes. Why did they include it? Well, he talks about his love for Martino's movies, and then about his attempt of making a Martino movie in Hostel 2. The guy has some self-confidence, eh? Well, he's the Bear Jew. Maybe he speaks even better than Tarantino, who gets always over-excited. Nice clip from a filmmaker who likes this movie, but nothing that valuable.

THE GOOD:
Apart from this, the cover is reversible and the other side has an image from the original poster. So I reversed it. Looks marvellous now.

Image, languages, original mono, many interesting extras.

THE BAD:
NTSC Format. It was released in Europe, after all. Maybe they didn't want to speed it up to make it PAL.
Not much information on Anita Strindberg. Martino and Fenech remember her just briefly. Where is she? Why did she disappear in 1981? Whatever happened with her? Sad.

THE UGLY:
The front cover with a new design. Too modern, too slasher-like, who is the woman supposed to be? Anita? Edwige? Good that I could reverse it.

Rating: Movie 8/10, DVD 9/10. I'm satisfied.