High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava Is the Pick of the Week

Mario Bava was one of the greatest Italian directors. I especially love his work in the horror genre.  He essentially created the giallo genre with The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Blood and Black Lace. His son, Lamberto, continued his father’s legacy, making horror films throughout the 1980s. He often collaborated with Dario Argento, including two of his best films, Demons & Demons II.

His cinematic releases weren’t always popular with critics or audiences, but he was often able to continue making films for television. Italian television in the 1980s must have been wild for a lot of great horror directors made TV-movies that contain a lot more violence and sex than you’d ever see in America at that time.

Severin Films is releasing four made-for-TV films from Lamberto Bava (The Prince of Terror, The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, School of Fear, and Eye Witness) this week in one nice-looking boxed set.

Now, I’ve not seen any of these films, but one imagines that since they were all made for TV, and since they are being boxed together instead of being sold separately (and since I – a fan of the genre – has never heard of them), these films are probably not lost classics. But as a fan of the genre, of the director, and of seeing even the most obscure films from good directors getting an HD release, I’m thrilled this is coming out.  And I’m happy to make it my pick of the week.

Also out this week that looks interesting:

The Card Player 4K UHD: Speaking of Dario Argento, the once-great director has had a difficult time of it over the last couple of decades. Somewhere in the 1990s, he seems to have lost his spark. The Card Player (2003) is not a good movie. It involves a woman playing a (very early 2000s) video poker game in order to catch a serial killer. It has a few nice stylistic touches, but mostly it’s pretty bad. But in the same way I love that Severin is putting out a Lamberto Bava boxed set of TV movies, I’m thrilled Vinegar Syndrome is giving even mediocre Argento films the UHD treatment.

The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (2003)/The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning (2006) 4K UHD: I’ve not seen this remake of Tobe Hooper’s seminal horror film, nor its sequel/prequel. The remake got absolutely terrible reviews and I didn’t even know the sequel existed until now.  But if you do know about them and like them, Arrow Video has your release.

Monty Python and the Holy Grail: 50th Anniversary Edition: I suppose every nerdy teenager eventually discovers Monty Python and falls in love with this comedy. I still remember my youth minister showing this and The Life of Brian to me, and a few select members of the youth group when I was about 17. It was like nothing I’d ever seen before: weird, absurd, and absolutely hilarious. Sony Pictures is giving it the anniversary treatment with a new 4K release and plenty of extras. 

The Karate Kid Ultimate 6-Movie Collection 4K UHD: All six films in this never-ending franchise are getting the UHD treatment and a nice looking boxed set.

Saving Face: The Criterion Collection presents this film about an unwed, pregnant 48-year old widow who is forced to live with her sister when her father kicks her out of the house. The sister isn’t so keen on those living arrangements either, so she promptly sets the lady up with every eligible bachelor in the city.

Compensation: The Criterion Collection presents this drama about the life of a deaf African woman living in 1900 and how it parallels with another woman living in 1990.