Mario Bava Remastered

Kino Lorber Releases Three Films, newly mastered in HD, by Acclaimed Italian Horror Filmmaker Mario Bava on Blu-ray and DVD: Hatchet for the Honeymoon, Black Sunday and Lisa & The Devil (with The House of Exorcism).

Street date: September 18th

"It has been a privilege to revisit the films of Mario Bava and to create new HD masters that showcase his distinctive visual style to maximum effect," said Kino Lorber Vice President and Executive Producer Bret Wood. 

"We are especially grateful to International Media Films and Euro London Films Ltd. for allowing us access to the archival 35mm film elements, and we look forward to remastering additional titles in the Bava canon."  

 

The street date for each of these films is September 18th. 

Hatchet for the Honeymoon comes mastered in HD from the original 35mm negative, and includes an audio commentary track by Tim Lucas (Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark), the original theatrical trailer, and original trailers of other Bava films. The Blu-ray SRP is $24.95, and the DVD SRP is $19.95.

 

Black Sunday comes to Blu-ray and DVD with a SRP of $24.94 for the Blu-ray and $19.95 for the DVD, mastered in HD from a 35mm archival print. Special features include audio commentary by Tim Lucas, the original trailer, and trailers of other Mario Bava films.

Lisa and the Devil and The House of Exorcism come in a special double feature edition, with a SRP of $29.95 for the Blu-ray and $24.94 for the DVD. Both films were mastered in HD from the original 35mm negatives. Special features include an audio commentary on Lisa and the Devil by Tim Lucas; audio commentary on House of Exorcism by producer Alfredo Leone and actress Elke Sommer; "Bava on Bava: An Interview with Lamberto Bava" (by Daniel Gouyette); original theatrical trailers; original trailers of other Bava films; and a House of Exorcism radio spot.

 

THE FILMS 

Stephen Forsyth stars as John Harrington, the head of an affluent fashion house, who harbors an uncontrollable bloodlust for women in bridal veils. Only by murdering a succession of them, each in a grisly manner, can he delve deeper into his subconscious and bring to light the primal scene that spawned his very specific homicidal fetish. With its director doubling as cinema- tographer, Hatchet is one of Bava's most visually sumptuous films.   

Black Sunday (1960)

In one of the most auspicious directorial debuts in movie history, Mario Bava bridged the gap between the gothic horror picture and the European art film withBlack Sunday (aka La maschera del demonio or The Mask of Satan). Made in 1960 and now considered a cult classic, it continues to reverberate through the cinema, inspiring and influencing new generations of filmmakers. 

In an absolutely mesmerizing performance, Black Sunday stars Barbara Steele as Asa Vajda, a beautiful woman tortured and executed as a witch–but not before pronouncing a curse upon those who have condemned her, a curse that is fulfilled some 200 years later. 
 

1. Mastered in HD from an archival 35mm print 
2. Audio commentary by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark 
3. Original theatrical trailers from this other Bava films  

Lisa and the Devil and The House of Exorcism (1973)

Regarded as Mario Bava's most personal and unconventional film, Lisa and the Devil (Lisa e il diavolo) is a diabolical thriller flavored with the dreadful imagery and tormenting logic of an endless nightmare. 

Elke Sommer stars as a tourist in Spain who, upon seeing the image of a bald, grinning devil in an ancient fresco, wanders away from her group and finds herself drawn into a confounding labyrinth of mystery–lured ever deeper by a mysterious figure (Telly Savalas) who may in fact be the fresco's Satan made flesh. 

After some distributors found Lisa and the Devil too mystifying for release, producer Alfredo Leone (with Bava's uncredited assistance) hired veteran actor Robert Alda, shot additional scenes, and transformed Lisa into The House of Exorcism, capitalizing on the popularity of demon possession films.  While sharing much of the same material, the films have come to be looked upon as two distinct entities, beautifully illuminating the stylistic diversity of the Bava/Leone partnership.

1. Audio commentary on Lisa and the Devil by Tim Lucas, author of Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark
2. Audio commentary on The House of Exorcism by producer Alfredo Leone and actress Elke Sommer
3. "Bava on Bava: An Interview with Lamberto Bava" (by Daniel Gouyette) 
4. Original theatrical trailers from this other Bava films 
5. House of Exorcism radio spot