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(aka "Assassinio al cimitero etrusco" or "Scorpion with Two Tails" or "Murder in an Etruscan Cemetery")
directed by Sergio Martino
Italy/France 1982
Joan (Elvire Audray) dreams of
an Etruscan ritual where the sacrificial victims have their
necks broken and their heads twisted completely around. The
next day in Volterra, her husband Arthur (John Saxon)
discovers the tomb from her dream. While talking to Joan
long distance (she's in New York), he is murdered in the
same manner after telling her that he will not ship some
crates unless her father sends him a telex with money to
excavate the tomb. Not content with her father's (Van
Johnson) reports, Joan flies to Italy with Mike (Paolo Malco),
who was doing research for Arthur. They discover Arthur was
a guest of the Countess Maria Valumna (Marilu Tolo) and he
was murdered at her villa (which some might recognize from
SLAUGHTER HOTEL and the end of THE GIRL IN ROOM 2A).
Her father's associate Heather (Wandisa Guida) tries to
downplay any suspicions Joan has which isn't easy when Joan
has more visions and one of their guards is murdered in the
same manner as Arthur. Joan discovers that Arthur had a
jeweler make a chain for a two-tailed scorpion amulet which
she recognizes from the dream. When Joan's father turns up
in Italy, it turns out that he and the countess are involved
in the drug trade and that cocaine was supposed to be
shipped with crates of archaeological artifacts. They
pressure Joan into leading them to the tomb where they
believe the crates are hidden. En route they are shot at by
a motorcyclist who turns out to be Heather who also ends up
with her head twisted around when she gets to the tomb
before them. There is another shootout at the tomb where a
possessed Joan calls upon the Etruscan gods to strike down
the desecrators of the tomb which causes a cave-in with Joan
the only survivor. After recovering from a bullet wound,
Joan and Mike visit the tomb which is being excavated by the
Italians including Paolo (Claudio Cassinelli) who shows Joan
an Etruscan fresco which she resembles (albeit with black
hair) wearing the same two-tailed scorpion necklace she is
wearing. |
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DVD Comparison:
MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL
Big thanks to Eric Cotenas for all the Screen Caps!
(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - LEFT vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
DVD Box Covers |
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Distribution |
MYA Communication Region 0 - NTSC |
Flamingo Video Region 2 - PAL |
Runtime | 1:37:42 | 1:33:51 (4% PAL speedup) |
Video |
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
1.78:1 Aspect Ratio
16X9 enhanced |
NOTE: The Vertical axis represents the bits transferred per second. The Horizontal is the time in minutes. |
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Bitrate:
MYA Communication
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Bitrate:
Flamingo Video
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Audio | English Dolby Digital 2.0 mono; Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
Italian Dolby Digital 2.0 mono |
Subtitles | none | Italian, none |
Features |
Release Information: Studio: MYA Communication Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details: Chapters 12 |
Release Information: Studio: Flamingo Video Aspect Ratio:
Edition Details:
DVD Release Date: Chapters 16 |
Comments |
The visual quality of the two DVDs of this film are comparable with the Italian disc having ever so slightly lighter contrast (and perhaps minutely sharper). I'm not sure of the shooting gauge but this is a 97 minute feature condensation of a 200 minute Italian TV miniseries (according to references, it was never shown in its full form and publicity materials feature stills from scenes that do no appear in the feature cut) and it seems to have been framed with 1.85:1 framing as a possibility (VHS releases were open-matte). Although "Christian Plummer" is credited as the director on Italian prints (and likely French prints as this was an Italian/French co-production), director Sergio Martino is credited under his own name in the English export prints. MYA's disc wins easily due to the English audio track (no subtitles for the included Italian track, though) and for featuring 20 minutes of scenes from the TV version (including a longer title sequence which shows more details of the Etruscan rituals and three other scenes valuable to the plot; much of the feature version is scored with Fabio Frizzi tracks from CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD although it seems Frizzi wrote more original music than the other bits heard in the feature as the deleted scenes feature some unfamiliar synth-heavy cues). The film was released in the U.S. direct to video under the SCORPION WITH TWO TAILS title (which was also the title of the original TV miniseries cut) by Palisades Entertainment. |
DVD
Menus
(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC
- LEFT vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - RIGHT)
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Screen Captures
(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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(MYA Communication - Region 0 - NTSC - TOP vs. Flamingo Video - Region 2 - PAL - BOTTOM)
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