Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Mondo Digital's Nathaniel Thompson & Film Writer Troy Howarth
- Audio Commentary with Film Writer Kat Ellinger
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From the Castle to the Academy – Interview with Master Producer Paul Maslansky
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The Castle of The Mystery Man – Roberto Curti, Author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema, on Writer/Director Warren Kiefer
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BONUS: CD Soundtrack
Disc Specs:
- Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
- Audio: English Mono
- Closed Captions
- Region Free
- Run time: 90 mins
Disc 2: Challenge the Devil aka Katarsis (1963)
In the most obscure film of his early ‘60s Italian period – if not his entire career – Christopher Lee stars in this brilliantly bizarre combination of neo-realist crime thriller, tawdry Christian melodrama, fizzy cabaret musical and trippy gothic horror, culminating in a gang of bongo-crazed delinquents menaced by a white-haired Lee as a sinister Victorian who may be Satan himself. George Ardisson (HERCULES IN THE HAUNTED WORLD) stars in this staggering 1963 oddity that marked the sole screen credit of writer/director Guiseppe Vegezzi, who attempted suicide shortly before its release. Also known as KATARSIS and little-seen for over 50 years, it is now scanned in 2K from the Italian negative for the first time ever.
Special Features:
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Dance with the Devil – Interview with Roberto Curti, Author of Mavericks of Italian Cinema
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The Importance of Being Giorgio – Interview with Giorgio Ardisson Over Two Decades
- Trailer
Disc Specs:
- Aspect ratio: 1.66:1
- Audio: Italian Mono
- Closed Captions / English Subtitles
- Region Free
- Run time: 79 mins
Disc 3: Crypt of the Vampire (1964)
In a lavish gothic shocker inspired by Sheridan Le Fanu’s immortal novella Carmilla, Christopher Lee delivers a rare ‘hero’ turn as nobleman Count Karnstein whose foreboding castle teems with ancestral curses, unnatural desires, philosophical hunchbacks and grisly acts of vengeance. Adriana Ambesi (FANGS OF THE LIVING DEAD) co-stars in this 1964 Spanish-Italian co-production – also known as TERROR IN THE CRYPT and CRYPT OF HORROR – directed by Camillo Mastrocinque (AN ANGEL FOR SATAN) as Thomas Miller & Robert Spafford from a screenplay by giallo master Ernesto Gastaldi (ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK) as Julian Berry and Sergio Leone protégé Tonino Valerii (MY NAME IS NOBODY) as Robert Bohr, now featuring a 2k scan from a fine-grain 35mm master print.
Special Features:
Disc Specs:
- Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
- Audio: English Mono / Italian Mono
- Closed Captions / English Subtitles
- Region A
- Run time: 85 mins
Disc 4: Sherlock Holmes and the Deadly Necklace (1962)
Shortly after their hit collaboration on THE HOUND OF THE BASKERVILLES, Christopher Lee and director Terence Fisher (HORROR OF DRACULA) returned to Holmesiana for Lee’s sole feature film portrayal of the world’s greatest detective. Shot in Berlin with Hammer regular Thorley Walters as Dr. Watson, Lee considered it to be “one of the best things I’ve ever done because I tried to play Holmes really as he was written – as a very intolerant, argumentative, difficult man.” Senta Berger (WHEN WOMEN HAD TAILS) and Ivan Desney (THE MARRIAGE OF MARIA BRAUN) co-star in this 1962 West German-French-Italian co-production produced by Artur Brauner (VAMPYROS LESBOS) from a screenplay by Curt Siodmak (THE WOLF MAN) and based on Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s Valley Of Fear, now scanned in 2K from the German negative.