NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Shameless Blu-ray (January 2024): Shameless have transferred Piero Schivazappa's The Frightened Woman to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "New 4K-Restored Version". Eric compared two DVD editions of The Frightened Woman to (also entitled 'The Laughing Woman') HERE. As compared to the Mondo Macabro 2022 1080P, the Shameless colors are more balanced (and maroons / pinks didn't turn purple.) There may be more consistent grain texture. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate. It looks very good but I can't say which is closer to theatrical. I suspect fans will be just as pleased with the Shameless  HD presentation image quality. 

NOTE: We have added 48 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Shameless also offer DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (but 24-bit) in the original Italian and an English language DUB. The Frightened Woman has aggressive moments but they come through fairly hollow - which I believe would be accurate to the production. What is highly remarkable is the score by Stelvio Cipriani (Colt 38 Special Squad, The Night Child, Nightmare City, The Blood Stained Shadow, Killer Cop, Rabid Dogs, Baron Blood, A Bay of Blood) that adds notably to the viewing experience via the lossless transfers. Shameless offer optional English (SDH) and English-translated subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

Shameless have no commentary and include the same half-hour interview with writer/director Piero Schivazappa where he talks about producer/ writer Giuseppe Zaccariello as an 'unusual person', the treatment of the film and his later work. New is a 1/2 hour Dagmar Lassander 'world-exclusive' interview as she talks about the feminism inherent in The Frightened Woman, her role and career. The package is in one of their yellow Blu-ray covers with a slipcase.

Piero Schivazappa's The Frightened Woman is a wildly over-the-top fetish extravaganza. It has sets that evoke Mario Bava's Danger: Diabolik. The film is glorious in its Italian pop-art beauty - and this emphasizes varied themes that range from perversity to romance with elements of horror, Giallo, satire, kink, subjugation, dominance and much more. I really enjoyed revisiting The Frightened Woman and the slight a/v  improvement of the Shameless Blu-ray plus new Dagmar Lassander interview. Still a bizarre, transgressive and delightful viewing experience. Both  Blu-rays have value - and we certainly recommend the film to adventurous cinephiles.

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ADDITION: Mondo Macabro Blu-ray (April 2022): Mondo Macabro have transferred Piero Schivazappa's The Laughing Woman to Blu-ray. It is cited as being from a "Brand new 4k transfer from film negative, digitally restored". Eric compared two DVD editions of The Laughing Woman to (entitled 'The Frightened Woman') HERE. We compared some captures with Mondo Macabro's 1080P transfer below. It's a significant improvement over SD. Every visual facet is improved on the single-layered Blu-ray with a supportive bitrate five times that of the Shameless DVD. Colors are richer, detail crisper and there is texture.  

NOTE: We have added 72 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Mondo Macabro offer DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (16-bit) in the original Italian and an English language DUB. Mondo Macabro offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Mondo Macabro Blu-ray offers a new commentary by Kat Ellinger, who was probably the perfect choice considering Euro-cult genre of The Laughing Woman. Actually, Kat discusses how this film that resists genre classification, she identifies gender issues and spends a lot of time on Radley Metzger, the pioneering American filmmaker and distributor of popular artistic, adult-oriented films of the 60's and 70's. Kat makes comparisons to Buñuel and Bava, how many adult-envelope-pushing films of this genre link to deeper political themes. She sees an interesting comparison to Mary Harron's 2000 film American Psycho with Christian Bale regarding the absurd levels of masculinity - extensive grooming regime etc. of the protagonist. She sees The Laughing Woman as a comedy - a satire - with a playfulness and absurdity to the film. Once she has said this - it appears obvious now. She observes the end credits referencing Plexus (Henry Miller) and much more. Included is a half-hour interview with Writer/Director Piero Schivazappa where he talks about producer/ writer Giuseppe Zaccariello as an 'unusual person', the treatment of the film and his later work. I enjoyed the 25-minute video essay on the film's production design from Rachael Nisbet talks about the transformative movement in Italy, how the mise-en-scène indicates the shifting roles of the relationship and much more. There are segments of the animated photo-novel by Jacques Spohr, trailers in both English and Italian and the package has both Mondo Macabro previews and exclusive new cover art from Justin Coffee.

Gary Tooze