A Lizard in a Woman's Skin UK DVD
 

Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan, Una breve vacanza, The Damned, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion) is a sophisticated politician’s daughter who experiences a series of vivid, psychedelic nightmares drenched in depraved sex orgies and LSD. The dreams turns into a nightmare featuring the death of her neighbour, Julia Dürer (Anita Strindberg, The Eroticist). The next day Julia is found brutally murdered in her own apartment.


The investigation, conducted by Inspector Corvin (Stanley Baker, The Guns of Navarrone, Zulu), leads to Carol’s arrest, however she is released after a mysterious man confesses to Scotland Yard that he is the murderer. Not convinced of Carol’s innocence, Corvin continues to investigate the murder and unearths new disturbing clues … Did Carol really do it or is she being framed? Where do her dreams end and reality begin?.


This thriller from Lucio Fulci (Perversion Story, The Beyond, Zombie Flesheaters) is acclaimed as a masterpiece of the Italian giallo thriller genre and its psychedelic Ennio Morricone score ranks among the best of Il Maestro’s work.


** In order to produce the most complete version of the film ever available on DVD, shots have had to be inserted from different sources. In some places only Italian audio is known to exist, in which case we have retained and subtitled the scenes. The restoration has been overseen by acclaimed film writer Marc Morris.



Extras: Trailer / Italian Audio option

Tech specs: R/T: 98 mins / Aspect ratio: 1.85:1 / Region: 2 / Pal / English & Italian audios / Mono // Catalogue number: OPTD 1742 / Cert: / Price: £19.99

Love that artwork.:nod:

I have it on good authority that this release could have been a tad more special had the company been willing to spend a little, they didn't, so we get charged £20 for a barebones DVD when we can import a features ridden version for half that. :doh:

Too bad all companies aren't like Arrow and Shameless huh?

I'll still buy it for the artwork and the fact that it looks like it will be the longest version ever released on dvd .:)

I think with this release the effort and money has been put into fully restoring the film and inserting elements missing from previous editions.

Packaging aside, the extra features on my import copy weren't that special anyway, so I'm looking forward to seeing what the new footage adds to the movie.

If it's a longer cut then great, but I was under the impression it was the same cut as the re-release that Media Blasters put out after their edited first release?

Where's the boy-wonder Marc too when we need him? I certainly like to know how much different this cut will be to the other two cuts I have. :)

The other point to make is that it's good tp have a quality edition of the film on store shelves so new people can be exposed to great cinema. I'm always pleased when a company put their neck out for a niche title like this.

Ohh I really love that cover. I am little concerned it'll more or less a port of SS re-release, still it'll be nice to own a UK edition.

This is a great giallo and this new edition seems to look much better than anything that was released so far.
I'm buying...

Couldn't agree more matey, but the price is going to hinder the films chance at any sort of success I feel.

Regardless, it's about time it got a UK release on DVD! :thumb:

Its £11.99 on HMV online but thats still steep for barbones release.

To be honest I rarely watch extra's more than once and most extra's (there are exceptions) are not very good either so I don't really mind.

The great news is Marc worked on this release and did all the re-building - the film looks amazing - prepare to fall in love all over again! :pop2:

This is my favourite Fulci, so I'll be buying. :nod:

This is worth supporting - if a company like Optimum can see the benefit of putting out a film like this who knows what could come next?

Night Of The Demon? :madgrin:

Eh no... and to be honest I wouldn't know!

I've never seen it but I'm buying it purely because of the artwork and Florinda Bolkan :D

Scene comparison between the longer (Italian) and cut (US theatrical) prints here.

One of my favourite Fulci flicks. Will definitely be buying this.

I made some enquiries with Optimum about the new version and how it differs from existing editions out there. They said:

"Our master is significantly different, being both longer and in widescreen while their long version was 4:3."

Definetly.Optimum who are owned by Studio Canal have a VAST back catalogue.

I had the R1 Version and traded it without even watching it,so I'll definetly be buying this!:nod:

I watched the restoration at the ICA cinema, gorgeous looking print.

I'd agree - really never looked better.

Saw it in the cinema twice (one from 35mm and then in Feb). I have the Shriek Show edition of it and will stick with that. Optimum could have imported across the US extras and opted not to.

And miss out on the film looking this good and with the extra footage? No way - it's fall in love time when you see it.

I'm sure it looks great but, like I said, the (corrected) Shriek Show copy has done me this well so far and I've no interest in upgrading unless there's some new goodies or it's far cheaper!!!

The GFT print was just a stop-gap - what's on the disc is far nicer and hopefully if this does well then maybe more will be forthcoming from the vaults of Optimum.

... Only this time with some extras! :pray:

regardless of how complete this version is i cannot see it as anything more than a wasted opportunity and a very lazy release. if optimum had secured the longest print yet available and wanted to capitalise on that then they should have commissioned a special edition befitting of the release, lizard falls into a specialist market so optimum really should have done something to encourage people who already have to film to purchase another version, i refuse to double dip for substandard lazy releases, i already own the shriek show disc and i will not line optimums pocket for a bare bones release, arrow are setting the standand for great special editions, lets not regress to this type of release

Maybe they went all old school with this release? ;)

Extra's:
Motion Menu
Chapter selection
Trailer
Italian language option

There's lots of dvd's like that in my collection.

I don't mind the lack of extras if the film's restoration is good.

There's nothing lazy about working for a year to get such a release approved, tracking down the best materials and then painstakingly assembling the best version of the film out there - indeed nothing Marc Morris touches is lazy - it's usually always the best!

I don't see other big labels making the effort to bring such curious to the market - if this works - better things can follow and that is true of other labels that have joined up on here - with good feedback the titles and releases have improved.

I love extras on these old classics, but the movie and transfer quality is the priority. So if the better looking version is lacking extras, I still buy it.

I have to say that, on a personal level, I don't care if a DVD contains extras or not. The main thing for me has always been the presentation of the film itself.

Having said that, I do hope that the new R2 release features a transfer in the correct aspect ratio, rather than being cropped or expanded to fill the 16:9 frame. I believe that the Shriek Show remastered DVD features a transfer in the correct ratio.

That is not right! The new SS print is in ´widescreen !

Shriek Show released two DVD versions of Lizard, one of which included the Anamorphic abridged 'Schizoid' cut and the longer version which was in full-frame, which on the Shriek Show disc wasn't mastered well at all (very fuzzy). I believe Sam is referring to this particular cut of the film.

Well, why would he refer to that version if he knows that SS re-released a second very nice uncut widescreen version?

The second version they released is actually a sort of composite of the US and Italian version and is cut.
All versions released up to now have been missing footage in some way or another.
(Thanks to amateur detective Ciavazzaro!)

Oh really? What is missing?

This wat Ciavazzaro (who has been researching the different versions) has to say about the second Media Blasters release:

"Well now let's talk about the media blaster ultimate relase,that i considered the worst dvd version of la lucertola.
It runs 1.43 but it is an horrible frankenstein version,because it have in the same movie scenes from the italian and the american version,and this is not right,because the movie must be in his english version or in his italian version i think.
So:
In order to have the "uncut version" they take the scenes from the same sources that was used by general in Italy.
So there many cuts:
The 3 second scene with anita and florinda on the bed
The 3 second scene during the orgy
The bloodier dream sequence of 5 seconds
The scene in wich anita open the coat 15 seconds
The Sorel-Monti kiss scene is cut
Only
The blood dripped from the knife in the murder sequence 3 seconds,is restored in this version.
Then they had put the extended lesbian scene at the beginning that absolutely didn't appear in the italian one,and for the scene of the orgy they used the italian editing."