Severin Films has announced a brand-new box set collection of films called the “House of Psychotic Women: Rarities Collection.” This five-film collection is set to release on August 30 and will be curated and produced by Kier-La Janisse, and Collider is excited to present an exclusive first look at the set.
The box set is also tied to the upcoming 10th anniversary of Janisse’s 2012 book, House of Psychotic Women, which took a deep dive look at some of the genre’s most famous women through the personal lens of Janisse. It is also a tie-n with the impending release of her new expanded edition of the acclaimed book. House of Psychotic Women is described by its official synopsis as an “autobiographical exploration of female neurosis in horror and exploitation films.” Molly Ringwald said that the book was for the “horror aficionado as well as the horror curious. Janisse weaves her own life into an intensely personal exploration of the genre, challenging the reader to reconsider the films in all of their complexity. I devoured this compelling, surprising, and moving book.” Ten years after it hit shelves, the book is still held in high regard as the quintessential look at the topic.
To celebrate the book’s anniversary, Janisse now presents four of the “strongest and strangest explorations of onscreen delirium and hysteria.” Each film in this collection has been restored from original vault elements, with all-new introductions by the author and hours of Special Features produced exclusively for this collection. This will also mark the first time that all of these films will be arriving on American Blu-ray.
The films that will be included in the box set include the Elizabeth Taylor-starring 1974 film Idenikit directed by Giuseppe Patroni, with its official synopsis saying the film follows a “disturbed woman who arrives in Rome to find a city fragmented by autocratic law, leftist violence and her own increasingly unhinged mission to find the most dangerous liaison of all.” The second film in the set is I Like Bats, the dark comedy-horror film from 1986 directed and co-written by Grzegorz Warchol that sees a female vampire played by Katarzyna Walter fall in love. The box set also includes both the original Italian version and the US Cut of Luigi Bazzoni‘s Footprints (1975) which stars Florinda Bolkan as a freelance translator who wakes one morning missing all memory of her past three days.
The final film is the collection is The Other Side of the Underneath, the 1972 film that Jane Arden adapted from her stage production A New Communion for Freaks, Prophets and Witches which acts as a “nightmarish exploration of reason, chaos and her own battles with mental illness unlike anything audiences have seen before or since.” The only British feature film of the 1970s solo-directed by a woman, it stars Sheila Allen, Ann Lynn, renowned visual artist Penny Slinger and Arden herself.
Exclusive bundles are also available directly from the shop which includes signed copies of the House of Psychotic Women book, a book bag, an Identikit Scarf, I Like Bats Reproduction Czech Poster, and a Footprints-inspired Sleep Mask. Below you can check out the trailer and find the full list of the entire box set as well as the full list of special features that come in the box set for each film:
TK Trailer TK
Disc 1: Idenikit
- Introduction By Kier-La Janisse, Author Of House Of Psychotic Women
- Audio Commentary With TCM Underground Curator Millie De Chirico
- A Lack Of Absence – Interview With Writer And Literary Historian Chandra Mayor On Muriel Spark’s The Driver’s Seat
- Trailer
Disc 2: I Like Bats
- Introduction By Janisse
- Audio Commentary With Kamila Wielebska, Actor And Co-Editor Of A Story Of Sin: Surrealism In Polish Cinema
- TV Spot
- Introduction By Janisse (US Cut)
- “To The Moon — Interview With Actress Ida Galli“ (US Cut)
- “Nicoletta Elmi: Italian Horror’s Imp Ascendant — Video Essay By Film Scholars Alexandra Heller-Nicholas And Craig Martin“ (US Cut)
- Audio Commentary With Film Historian Kat Ellinger (Italian Cut)
- Light Of The Moon — Interview With Cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (Italian Cut)
- Trailer (Italian Cut)
Disc 5: The Other Side of the Underneath
- Introduction by Janisse
- Extended Workprint Version Of The Film
- Sheila Allen Interview
- Natasha Morgan Interview
- Extended Sequences
- Penny Slinger Live At The Miskatonic Institute of Horror Studies
- “Penny Slinger: Out of the Shadows” Trailer
The “House of Psychotic Women: Rarities Collection” box set will be available on August 30 and can be pre-ordered now by checking the Severin Films website. Check out the new trailer for the upcoming horror film box set down below:
