House of Psychotic Women: Rarities Collection Volume 2 [4-Disc Blu-ray Box Set]
In this second collection inspired by her “groundbreaking” (Screen Anarchy) book that “forever changed the landscape of film analysis” (Bloody Disgusting), producer/curator Kier-La Janisse presents a new quartet of international classics – along with nearly 11 combined hours of Special Features – that explores startling depictions of female neurosis on screen: Amanda Plummer gives a searing performance as a disturbed drifter on a cross-country killing spree in BUTTERFLY KISS, the breakthrough debut from director Michael Winterbottom. Legendary Czech actress Iva Janžurová portrays a pair of rival sisters in Juraj Herz’ crazed gothic melodrama MORGIANA. In Ben Maddow, Sidney Meyers and Joseph Strick’s ‘dramatized documentary’ THE SAVAGE EYE, Barbara Baxley stars as a bitter divorcee adrift in Los Angeles’ dark underbelly. And with the landmark Spanish thriller THE GLASS CEILING starring Carmen Sevilla, writer/director Eloy de la Iglesia crafts an unsettling story of paranoia, madness and murder. All 4 films in HOUSE OF PSYCHOTIC WOMEN RARITIES COLLECTION VOLUME 2 have been scanned from their original camera negatives and are presented on Blu-ray for the first time ever in North America.
Disc 1: BUTTERFLY KISS (1994)
In his “breathtakingly original” (Variety) debut feature, writer/director Michael Winterbottom (24 HOUR PARTY PEOPLE, THE KILLER INSIDE ME) shocked audiences with the startling drama The New York Times called “a twisted British answer to THELMA & LOUISE”: Amanda Plummer (PULP FICTION) delivers “a brave performance that sears itself permanently into the viewer's consciousness” (Austin Chronicle) as a disturbed drifter whose seduction of a lonely convenience store clerk (an equally daring Saskia Reeves of Slow Horses) triggers a cross-country odyssey of obsession, madness and murder. Ricky Tomlinson (RIFF-RAFF) co-stars in this “provocative masterpiece” (The Advocate) co-written by 2x BAFTA nominee Frank Cottrell-Boyce (WELCOME TO SARAJEVO) and featuring cinematography by 2x Oscar® nominee Seamus McGarvey (ATONEMENT), now scanned in 2K from the original camera negative by The British Film Institute and approved by Winterbottom and McGarvey.Disc Specs:
Runtime: 88 mins
English Stereo | Closed Captions
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Introduction By Writer Frank Cottrell-Boyce
Audio Commentary With Film Historian Kat Ellinger
Between Everyday And The Extreme – Michael Winterbottom On Directing BUTTERFLY KISS
No Judgement – Amanda Plummer Remembers Portraying Eunice
You're Not Judith – Saskia Reeves On Portraying Miriam
Pestilence Through Petrol – Julie Baines On Producing BUTTERFLY KISS
Front Light And Black Sky – Seamus McGarvey On Shooting BUTTERFLY KISS
TrailerShort Film
PLEASURES OF WAR (Ruth Lingford, 1998)Disc 2: MORGIANA (1972)
From internationally award-winning filmmaker Juraj Herz (THE CREMATOR, THE NINTH HEART) comes this “haunting” (Senses Of Cinema), “gorgeously baroque” (Starburst) and “deliriously exciting cult gem” (Culture Fix), considered to be the final film of the Czech New Wave: When their wealthy father dies, cruelly jealous Viktorie will lead her naïvely trusting sister Klára – both portrayed in “a frightening, stellar performance” (At The Mansion Of Madness) by legendary Czech actress Iva Janžurová – into a gothic nightmare of deception, blackmail and murder. Josef Abrhám (Václav Havel’s LEAVING) and Josef Somr (CLOSELY WATCHED TRAINS) co-star in this “terrific chamber piece that horror fans still haven't caught up to” (Mondo Digital), newly scanned in 4K from the original camera negative by The National Film Archive in Prague.Disc Specs:
Runtime: 101 mins
Czech Mono | English Subtitles
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Audio Commentary With Stranger With My Face Festival Director Briony Kidd And Cerise Howard, Co-Founder Of The Czech And Slovak Film Festival Of Australia
Little Drop Of Poison – Actress Iva Janžurová Remembers MORGIANA
The Stone Forest – Newly Commissioned Short Film On Shooting Location Pobiti Kamani, Animated By Leslie Supnet And Narrated By Kier-La Janisse
NIGHTMARES – Juraj Herz' 1970 Vampire Rock Musical Made For Czech TVShort Film
REST IN PEACE (Rachel Amodeo, 1998) New 2K Scan Of This Cult Favorite By Rachel Amodeo And Dame DarcyDisc 3: THE SAVAGE EYE (1959)
In 1959, a trio of outsider filmmakers – formerly blacklisted screenwriter Ben Maddow (THE ASPHALT JUNGLE), Oscar® nominated editor/director Sidney Meyers (THE QUIET ONE) and future Oscar® winning director Joseph Strick (INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS) – wrote, produced, edited and directed the ‘dramatized documentary’ that San Francisco Cinematheque calls “a masterpiece of verité cinema”: Adrift and bitter after her recent divorce, a woman (Barbara Baxley of NORMA RAE and NASHVILLE) confronts the grim realities of existence amongst the poetic grotesqueries of urban Los Angeles. The voice of Gary Merrill (ALL ABOUT EVE) co-stars in this “unique and unusual must-see” (FilmFanatic) – filmed on location by a team of cinematographers that included 2x Academy Award® winner Haskell Wexler (MEDIUM COOL) – now scanned in 4K by Severin Films from the original camera negative provided by the Academy Film Archive.Disc Specs:
Runtime: 67 mins
English Mono | Closed Captions
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1Special Features:
Audio Commentary With Film Curator/Historian Elizabeth Purchell
Judith X – Locations Video Essay By Esotouric's Kim Cooper
Archival Interview With Co-Director Joseph Strick
Trailer
Trailers From Hell Commentary By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic WomenShort Films
INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS (Joseph Strick, 1970)
Archival Interview With Director Joseph Strick On INTERVIEWS WITH MY LAI VETERANS
MISS CANDACE HILLIGOSS' FLICKERING HALO (Vincenzo Core And Fabio Scacchioli, 2011)Disc 4: THE GLASS CEILING (1971)
In his landmark 1971 feature, writer/director Eloy de la Iglesia – who would go on to create such subversively disturbing films as CANNIBAL MAN, THE CREATURE and the Quinqui classics NAVAJEROS and EL PICO 1 & 2 – brought an unnerving new perspective to female madness: When her husband leaves on a business trip, a frustrated housewife – an award-winning performance by Carmen Sevilla, star of CROSS OF THE DEVIL and NO ONE HEARD THE SCREAM – begins to obsess over unfamiliar noises in their apartment building and suspects that an upstairs neighbor has committed murder. Dean Selmier (THE BLOOD SPATTERED BRIDE), Patty Shepard (CRYPT OF THE LIVING DEAD), Fernando Cebrián (TRISTANA) and Emma Cohen (HORROR RISES FROM THE TOMB) co-star in this milestone Spanish thriller, now scanned in 4K from the original camera negative.Disc Specs:
Runtime: 95 mins
English Mono, Spanish Mono | Closed Captions, English Subtitles
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1Special Features:
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Audio Commentary With Shelagh Rowan-Legg, Author Of A Forthcoming Monograph On Director Eloy De La Iglesia, And Faculty of Horror's Alexandra West
Connected At The Soul – Patty Shepard As Remembered By Her Sister, Judith Chapman
Alternate Scenes From The TV Version
TrailerShort Film
ANTA MUJER (Agustí Villaronga, 1976)
In My Skin [2-Disc 4K UHD w/Exclusive Diagonal Split Slipcase] [Limit of 2500]
You may be shocked. You might turn away. But you will never forget the “uniquely disturbing” (Indiewire), “spectacularly grotesque” (Los Angeles Times), “superbly acted and brilliantly made” (Cult Projections) debut film by writer/director/star Marina de Van: After a disfiguring leg injury, a young woman (de Van) develops an unsettling secret relationship with her own body in which pain is pleasure, mutilation is love and hungers of the flesh have a mind of their own. Laurent Lucas (CALVAIRE) and Léa Drucker (Catherine Breillat’s LAST SUMMER) co-star in this “beautiful and terrifying body horror tour-de-force” (Village Voice) scanned in 4K from the original camera negative for the first time ever, with 7 hours of Special Features curated exclusively for this edition.
Disc 1: 4K UHD (Film + Special Features)
Commentary By Writer/Director/Star Marina De Van
Commentary By Film Critic/Fantasia International Film Festival Programmer Justine Smith
Exclusive Faculty Of Horror Episode On IN MY SKIN With Andrea Subissati And Alexandra West
French Trailer
U.S. TrailerDisc 2: Blu-ray (Film + Special Features)
Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
Commentary By Writer/Director/Star Marina De Van
Commentary By Film Critic/Fantasia International Film Festival Programmer Justine Smith
Exposed Skin – Interview With Marina De Van
Fear Of A Female Cannibal – Barbara Creed, Author Of The Monstrous-Feminine, On IN MY SKIN
Under The Surface – Video Essay By Dr. Alexandra Heller-Nicholas, Author Of 1000 Women In Horror, 1895-2018
Exclusive Faculty Of Horror Episode On IN MY SKIN With Andrea Subissati And Alexandra West
French Trailer
U.S. Trailer
Marina De Van's Student Shorts
BIEN SOUS TOUS RAPPORTS (1996)
RÉTENTION (1997)
Short Films
CADAVRE EXQUIS (Léa Mysius, 2013)
A FERMENTING WOMAN (Priscilla Galvez, 2024)
Commentary For A FERMENTING WOMAN With Director Priscilla Galvez And Star Sook-Yin LeeDisc Specs:
Runtime: 95 mins
Audio: French 5.1, French Stereo
4K Video: Dolby Vision
English Subtitles
Region Free
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
Entertaining Mr. Sloane [Blu-ray w/Slipcase]
From the legendary pen of Joe Orton – hailed by The Guardian as “the first rock star playwright” – comes the “sophisticated and devastating” (New York Magazine) film version of the tale that has shocked and delighted audiences for over half a century: When voracious middle-aged Kath (Beryl Reid of THE KILLING OF SISTER GEORGE) invites a strapping young stranger named Sloane (Peter McEnery of NEGATIVES) to move in, the arrival of her upper-crust brother Ed (Harry Andrews of THE RULING CLASS) will lead to a most unexpected triangle of lust, murder and pickled onions. Alan Webb (WOMEN IN LOVE) co-stars in this “sharp, wild and effervescent comedy” (Cinevue) adapted by BAFTA nominee Clive Exton (Jeeves & Wooster) and directed by Douglas Hickox (ZULU DAWN, THEATRE OF BLOOD), now scanned in 2K from the original camera negative with 4+ hours of new and archival Special Features.
Disc 1: Blu-ray
Audio Commentary With Film Historian Nathaniel Thompson And Orton Scholar Dr. Emma Parker
Archival Interview With Actor Peter McEnery
All My Sloanes – 60 Years Of Joe Orton's Mr. Sloane, Featuring Malcolm McDowell And Maxwell Caulfield
Archival Interview With John Lahr, Author Of Prick Up Your Ears: The Biography Of Joe Orton
Archival Interview With Leonie Orton Remembering Her Brother Joe
Ortonesque – Screenwriter David McGillivray On The Lasting Influence Of Joe Orton
Act Of Character – Rosie White On The Inimitable Identities Of Beryl Reid
Archival Locations Featurette With Richard Dacre
Threads Of Desire: Costuming And Sexuality In ENTERTAINING MR. SLOANE – Video Essay By Costume Historian Elissa Rose
TrailerDisc Specs:
Runtime: 94 mins
Audio: English Mono
Closed Captions
Region A
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1
