SHAM010 - The Frightened Woman (Femina Ridens)

[Philo MacDuff]

Greetings,

I just learned you were releasing this film in February. I'm a big fan and have made a detailed shot by shot comparison between two versions of the movie, the Radley Metzger Audubon Films English language print entitled "The Frightened Woman" released on DVD in the U.S. by First Run Features and the Italian language VHS print bearing the title FEMINA RIDENS.

I posted my comparison on the DVD Maniacs forum. It can be found here.

In short, I found that neither release represents a complete version of the film (or as complete as it could be anyway.) There is footage on the Italian FEMINA RIDENS print that is missing from the Frightened Woman DVD and the reverse is also true, footage is missing from the Italian VHS that can be seen on the DVD.

In my comparison I found approx 3 min 30s extra footage included on the Italian FEMINA RIDENS print not included on the DVD.
On the other hand I found approx 2 minutes of footage on the DVD not included on the VHS. There are also music differences, some on account of the edits made, others are complete substitutions.

I'm aware of the VHS released from Salvation Films that was initially cut 16 seconds by the BBFC. I think that even with those 16 seconds restored the film will still be missing footage. Even with those extra seconds added in the Italian VHS only differs by 12 seconds.

I'd love to know more about the print you have for your release. Does the fact you're using "The Frightened Woman" title mean it will be the Metzger print or will the film itself carry the FEMINA RIDENS title in the credits? I assume it won't suffer from the awful washed out lack of color that is on the print used for the First Run Features DVD. Were you able to find a print that is the most complete version released to this date? Do you have its runtime?

It would be amazing to see a FEMINA RIDENS release that includes all the existing footage from both versions and restored to full vibrant color. I realize this may not be possible but I thought I'd share the results of my fascination with this film in case its of any benefit for your future release.