Oasis of Fear - Irene Papas

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S E A R C H D V D B e a v e r

(aka "Un Posto Ideale per Uccidere" or "Dirty Pictures" or "An Ideal Place to Kill")

directed by Umberto Lenzi
Italy 1971

These DVDs are compared to the Blu-ray HERE

British schoolboy Dick (Ray Lovelock, LIVING DEAD AT MANCHESTER MORGUE) and nymph Ingrid (Ornella Muti) head to Catholic Italy to deal Copenhagen-purchased pornography to pay their way. When their stock runs out, they produce some of their own using Polaroids and photo booths. When they run into trouble with the authorities and then have their remaining money stolen by bikers, Dick and Ingrid take to the road and run out of gas near the isolated villa of military wife Barbara Slater (Irene Papas) who has just murdered her husband. The initially apprehensive Barbara seems to warm to the free-love philosophy of the younger Ingrid and Dick (to whom Barbara seems attracted) but they soon discover that Barbara is trying to set them up and they turn the tables on her but the cat-and-mouse game is only just beginning. A departure from the previous Lenzi giallo films featuring Carroll Baker, OASIS OF FEAR incorporates elements from the Lenzi-directed ORGASMO with Carroll Baker but inverts the perspective by having the audience sympathies lie with the free-loving youngsters rather than the captive Barbara but it also looks forward to the more downbeat Lenzi thriller like SPASMO in which a not-so-innocent protagonists are hopeless trapped and manipulated (SPASMO's bird motif even echoes this film's stalk-and-chase sequence set in an aviary). There is much fun to be had here with the attractive presences of Muti, Papas, and Lovelock (with his iconic Union Jack jacket) - all three of which are provided some great close-ups and group Techniscope compositions by NIGHT PORTER cinematographer Alfio Contini - some teasing nudity, and Bruno Lauzi's loungy score is augmented by two versions of the main theme song, a trippy sitar piece, and a catchy dance number.

Eric Cotenas

Posters

Theatrical Release: 18 August 1971 (Italy)

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DVD Comparison:

Shameless Screen Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL vs. Alan Young Pictures - Region 2 - PAL

Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!

(Shameless Screen Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Alan Young Pictures - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)

DVD Box Covers
Distribution	Shameless Screen Entertainment Region 0 - PAL	Alan Young Pictures Region 2 - PAL
Runtime	1:24:36 (4% PAL speedup)	1:23:45 (4% PAL speedup)
Video	2.24:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 7.46 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s	2.37:1 Original Aspect Ratio 16X9 enhanced Average Bitrate: 6.85 mb/s PAL 720x576 25.00 f/s
	NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes.
Bitrate: Shameless Screen Entertainment
Bitrate: Alan Young Pictures
Audio	English (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)	Italian (Dolby Digital 5.1); Italian (Dolby Digital 2.0 mono)
Subtitles	none	Italian, none
Features	Release Information: Studio: Shameless Screen Entertainment Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.24:1 Edition Details: • Trailer (newly created) • Shameless Fact Track (subtitle commentary) • Trailers for STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER, BABA YAGA, WATCH ME WHEN I KILL, TORSO, THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN, and THE DESIGNATED VICTIM DVD Release Date: 24 November 2008 Amaray Chapters 12	Release Information: Studio: Alan Young Pictures Aspect Ratio: Widescreen anamorphic - 2.37:1 Edition Details: • none DVD Release Date: Amaray Chapters 12

Comments

These DVDs are compared to the Blu-ray HERE

Picture quality-wise, Shameless' transfer of OASIS OF FEAR is not as good as the OOP Alan Young Pictures DVD but that transfer wasn't great in the first place. They likely uses the same master (except for the English credits which appear to be newly created on a textless background of the opening credits montage - actor Umberto Raho is credited twice) as the faded right edge of the frame suggests which might be indicative that this particular Carlo Ponti title has not been well-cared for through the years (or the licensors did not make use of the original negative). Shameless was able to restore one never-before-seen sequence featuring nudity from an Irene Papas body double (the same body double used for the underage Ornella Muti) but the sequence seems unfinished. Since the transfer is derived from the Italian version, it is missing a couple brief scene extensions that appear only in the English version and features an exchange between Ray Lovelock and Ornella Muti's characters that appears only in the Italian version.

Burned-in subtitles are provided both for the Italian-version-only scenes as well as for some exchanges that played in Italian even in the English version (which had optically printed subtitles on English language prints). The composited English language track on the Shameless disc is also missing Lovelock's opening narration which does not have an equivalent on the Italian tracks on the Italian disc. A Shameless Fact Track subtitle commentary is provided and imparts some interesting trivia but is also very jokey about the groovy seventies fashions, "bubble gum" music, and dancing (a similar but more informative track appears on Shameless's disc of BABA YAGA). A newly-created trailer for the film along with trailers for 6 other Shameless releases are also included. The R2 Italian disc does not feature any extras other than a 5.1 upmix which sounds fuller but not very directional. Despite missing footage and so-so picture quality, the Shameless edition is a good overall presentation of the film (especially for English speaking viewers) but not as impressive as their restorations/special editions of BABA YAGA and FOOTPRINTS.

- Eric Cotenas

DVD Menus
(Shameless Screen Entertainment - Region 0 - PAL - LEFT vs. Alan Young Pictures - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)