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

ADDITION: Severin Blu-ray (April 2023): Severin have transferred four Italian Gothic genre films to Blu-ray. It has The Monster of the Opera (1964), The Seventh Grave (1965), Scream of the Demon Lover (1970) and Lady Frankenstein (1971) on individual Blu-ray discs. The last film, Lady Frankenstein was released on Blu-ray by Nucleus Films in 2018 (reviewed HERE) and we have compared some captures below. The Monster of the Opera and The Seventh Grave are in black and white and the transfers are decent with high bitrates, decent contrast layering and visible texture. The latter has some inherent softness and both show minor surface scratches, speckles and frame-specific damage. Scream of the Demon Lover  is very grainy and looks like it was transferred from 16mm. I don't have evidence but it does not look like 35mm to me. Lady Frankenstein has the lost the greenish hue of the Nucleus 1080P but shows digitization with waxy facial skin (although improved tones) and little in the way of grain. It does export a bit of depth and what looks like some less-intrusive compression artifacts. I may be getting picky as the HD presentations were certainly watchable but those sensitive to digitization should be aware. Check out our screen captures to get an idea. 

NOTE: We have added 156 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Severin use DTS-HD Master dual-mono tracks (24-bit) for all four films in the original Italian language. Scream of the Demon Lover and Lady Frankenstein include English (default) DUBs. The films have flourishes of Gothic style effects - laboratories, fireplaces, creaky floorboards etc. The Monster of the Opera has a fair amount of musical numbers throughout. For The Monster of the Opera the score was by Aldo Piga (The Vampire and the Ballerina, Terror-Creatures From the Grave, Curse of the Blood Ghouls). On The Seventh Grave the music was credited to Leopoldo Perez Bonsignore who only composed for three feature films. In Scream of the Demon Lover the score was by Luigi Malatesta (Gungala, the Black Panther Girl.) The score is by Alessandro Alessandroni (The Virgin of Bali, The Devil's Nightmare.) on 1971's Lady Frankenstein. Severin offer optional English (SDH) subtitles on their Region 'A' Blu-rays of The Monster of the Opera and Scream of the Demon Lover and Region FREE Blu-rays of The Seventh Grave and Lady Frankenstein.

The Severin Blu-ray offers commentaries for all four films with two for Lady Frankenstein. On The Monster of the Opera there is a commentary with Kat Ellinger (author of Daughters Of Darkness) who talks about how the film was plagued with production and budgetary issues, shot in 1961 but not released until 1964 and she discusses how director Renato Polselli made some trashy cinema but also showed signs of brilliance and eventually made some pornographic films. It's another of her revealing commentaries with interesting observations. On this Blu-ray there are also interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi for 1/2 hour entitled Terror At The Opera, with Italian Film Devotee Mark Thompson-Ashworth for 1/4 hour entitled Capodimonte Gothic and lastly there is a 20-minute archival audio interview with director Renato Polselli (Radio Polselli.) Lastly on the The Monster of the Opera Blu-ray disc is a French trailer.

On The Seventh Grave Blu-ray disc there is a commentary with Rachael Nisbet, film critic and co-host of the Fragments Of Fear Giallo Podcast. She discusses the genre, writer / director Garibaldi Serra Caracciolo (as Finney Cliff) and this being his only film etc. The film was shot in three and a half weeks at Balsorano castle and Olimpia Studios in Rome. Seven Graves And A Mystery is a dozen-minute interview with film historian Fabio Melelli. English Aesthetic With Giallo Blood is a 1/4 hour video essay by Gothic Scholar and author Rachel Knightley (Beyond Glass.)

The Scream of the Demon Lover Blu-ray has a commentary with Rod Barnett, film historian and co-host of the NaschyCast and The Bloody Pit podcasts and Robert Monell, writer and editor of the I'm In A Jess Franco State Of Mind blog. There is a discussion seeing similarities to the Brontë sisters novels; Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, pre-feminism, and as a classic gothic novel. They talk about the structure of the story, the sexuality and erotic nature, the cut version without nudity, the Drive-In era, Roger Corman and much more. I enjoyed listening to them. There is also a 20-minute interview with Erna Schurer who played lead Ivanna Rakowsky (as Jennifer Hartley in US.) It's entitled Scream Erna Scream! and is in Italian with optional English subtitles. She discusses her career and memories of the production of The Scream of the Demon Lover. She is still with us at 80-years old. We also get a 40-minute video essay By Stephen Thrower (Flowers of Perversion, Volume 2: The Delirious Cinema of Jesús Franco and Beyond Terror: The Films of Lucio Fulci.) He shares details on the director José Luis Merino who helmed a lot of 'boys-own' adventure films although it was his horror films that bridged the gap making it to the US market. He talks about Erna Schurer and her strong female character. It is excellent. Lastly is a trailer for The Scream of the Demon Lover.

The Lady Frankenstein Blu-ray disc has two audio commentaries - the first with Kat Ellinger, and Annie Rose Malamet, film scholar and host of Girls, Guts, Giallo. They discuss it within the canon of Italian Gothic, its transgressive nature, sadomasochistic and hedonistic themes in The Lady Frankenstein. The second commentary was on the 2018 Nucleus Films Blu-ray with Alan Jones, author of Dario Argento: The Man, The Myths & The Magic, and Kim Newman, author of Nightmare Movies. They share details of the cast, crew and mention the era and genre including Hammer Films and Roger Corman's association. Meet The Baroness is a 20-minute featurette with actress Rosalba Neri (playing under the pseudonym Sara Bey in the US version) and film historian Fabio Melelli. It is in Italian with optional English subtitles. She talks about her career; sword and sandal / Hercules, films, Spy films, Spaghetti Westerns and Erotic horror films. Many of the other supplements are also on the Nucleus Blu-ray including The Truth About Lady Frankenstein is a 3/4 hour German TV Special from 2007 directed by Reginald Ginster and it has interviews with Herbert Fux, Mel Welles, Rosalba Neri and others. It is mostly in German with English subtitles. There is a new 35-minute featurette - Piecing Together Lady Frankenstein with Julian Grainger (author of Murderous Passions) discussing Lady Frankenstein. There is another featurette entitled The Lady and The Orgy running over 8-minutes as well as an Italian Lady Frankenstein Photo Novel showing the pages to and the interesting dissection of the BBFC's 1972 'Theatrical Censor Notes' - in late 1971, Lady Frankenstein was submitted to the BBFC by Scotia Barber and was eventually granted an "X" certificate for theatrical distribution. It shows the cuts that were required for its release. Severin doesn't know exactly to what extent these scenes would have been cut, but they show the uncensored clips for viewers to determine what would/could have removed. Also included are brief 'Clothed Scenes' - it is not known whether these alternate "clothed" takes have ever been seen before. It is possible they might have been used in some early TV broadcasts, or would have been inserted into some theatrical release prints in territories where nudity would be a problem due to censorship restrictions. I believe that this is the first time they have been seen on any home video format. Included are Italian opening credits, an image gallery, Radio and Spots plus a lengthy The Lady Frankenstein trailer.

Severin's Danza Macabra - Volume 1: The Italian Gothic Blu-ray Collection has a Hammer horror hybrid, beauties Rosalba Neri and Erna Schurer, Joseph Cotten as Baron Frankenstein!, grave-robbers, inheritance, voyeuristic peep holes in the wall, castle dungeons with torture chambers, untrustworthy servants, depravity, demons, vampires, love slaves, seduction for the purposes of murder (to obtain a brain to transplant!,) scantily clad young women, hints of lesbianism, cheesy monster make-up... all surrounded by period costumes, influences and atmosphere representing the golden age of Italian horror's gothic period. If that sounds appealing then this set is for you. Severin have stacked their 4-disc Blu-ray collection with commentaries, interviews, video essays, documentaries and more. A keeper for me - I can throw these on at any time. Recommended to the right crowd of 60's Euro horrors.

Gary Tooze