In the Folds of the Flesh (Blu-ray)

Night-time. A peal of thunder. A castle by the sea. A severed head rolls across a carpeted floor. A blood-stained sword lies next to it… Meanwhile police are in hot pursuit of a criminal who is evading capture on a speeding motorbike. He takes refuge in the overgrown castle grounds. And he sees a dark-haired woman burying a corpse in a shallow grave. 13 years later, after being recaptured and serving his sentence, the man returns to the castle, intent on blackmail. And maybe a few other things. The above synopsis only covers the first few minutes of this wild psychedelic nightmare. Frequently described as one of the craziest of all Italian “giallo” thrillers, In the Folds of the Flesh is all that and more. Several dismembered heads are featured. Visitors arrive at the castle, only to be murdered in a variety of gruesome ways. Characters turn out not to be who they said they were… incest, madness, flashbacks, Etruscan skeletons and even a Nazi death camp are all woven into the fabric of the film. A sterling cast, led by dueling divas Pier Angeli and Eleonora Rossi Drago, liven up the proceedings and make this one of the most entertaining films of its genre. This is a world premier restored from the original negative.