A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1971
Director: Lucio Fulci
Writers: Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, José Luis Martínez Mollá, André Tranché
Cast: Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel, Anita Strindberg

Release Date: February 9th, 2016
Approximate running time: 104 Minutes 11 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.95

"Carol Hammond, the sexually frustrated wife of a successful London lawyer, is having bizarre, erotic dreams about her uninhibited neighbor, Julia Durer, who presides over noisy, sex and drug filled parties in the house next door. One night, Carol’s dreams culminate in violent death and she wakes to find her nightmares have become reality – Julia has been murdered and Carol is the main suspect." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "HD transfer from film negative".

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 22.5 GB

Feature: 20.2 GB

Le Chat Qui Fum released A Lizard in a Woman's Skin on Blu-ray in 2015, and Mondo Macabro uses the same source for their transfer. And though these two transfers originated from the same source, they are not identical. Mondo Macabro’s transfer boasts more vibrant colors and stronger black levels, and the grain is more pronounced. Also, Mondo Macabro’s transfer incorporates 1 minute and 17 seconds of footage that is not present in the aforementioned Le Chat Qui Fum Blu-ray release. It should also be noted that this extra footage comes from a lesser source and is the same footage that was included as part of the Optimum Releasing A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin DVD release.

Audio: 4/5 (LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a LPCM mono mix in Italian and a LPCM mono mix in English. Range-wise, both of these audio mixes sound very good and robust when they need to. With Ennio Morricone’s score benefiting most from these audio mixes, the dialog is always clear, everything sounds balanced, and there are no issues with background noise or distortion. Included with this release are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a Mondo Macabro preview reel, two radio spots (1 minute 34 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), alternate Italian opening credits (1 minute 23 seconds, Dolby Digital mono) three theatrical trailers (4 minutes 54 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), an interview with actor Tony Adams titled From Burton to Baker (12 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), an interview with author Stephen Thrower titled When Worlds Collide (29 minutes 9 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, no subtitles), a documentary titled Shedding the Skin (33 minutes 47 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo English, French and Italian with non-removable English subtitles) Shedding the Skin comes with optional commentary with Kris Gavin, an interview with Lucio Fulci titled Dr. Lucio Fulci’s Day for Night (32 minutes 5 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles) and an audio commentary with Kris Gavin and Pete Tombs.

Summary:

Lucio Fulci is most remembered for his gore-soaked classics like The Beyond and Zombie 2. Most of his films from this later period of his career have been released on DVD, while a few of his more prominent early works are still languishing in obscurity. Over the course of his career, Lucio Fulci would only direct a handful of giallo films: Don’t Torture a Duckling, The New York Ripper, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, One on Top of the Other, and Seven Notes in Black. It is in the giallo genre that Lucio Fulci excels most as an artist, directing some of the best films of his career. Lucio Fulci would also work with Florinda Bolkan in another giallo, Don’t Torture a Duckling.

Out of the six giallo films that Lucio Fulci directed, each one has its own distinct style that sets it apart from his other entries in this genre. A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin sees Lucio Fulci not only follow some of the traditional giallo standards, but he also spends an ample amount of time experimenting with his various collaborators on this film. One of Lucio Fulci’s most important collaborators is his editor. A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin would mark the first of nineteen collaborations between editor Vincenzo Tomassi and director Lucio Fulci. His rhythmic pacing for A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin adds to the film's dreamlike quality. 

Some of the credit for the look of A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin can be attributed to the film's cinematographer, who also shot Dario Argento’s influential giallo Profondo rosso and Lucio Fulci’s delightfully disturbing The New York Ripper. He employs a number of common techniques, such as split-screen and wave-like frame distortion, to help disorient the viewer. Lucio Fulci’s films have never been as colorful as his contemporary Dario Argento’s films. A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is Lucio Fulci’s most colorful film that I have seen to date.

It is hard to believe that A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is the only time legendary composer Ennio Morricone ever worked with Lucio Fulci. The finished score is nothing short of perfect as Ennio Morricone employs to its fullest the sweet voice of a female whose vocal pattern is more like a chant than actual spoken words. The rest of the score goes from melancholy heartbreak arrangements to menacing string arrangements that sound like fingernails across a chalk board. A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is one of Ennio Morricone’s most diverse and accomplished scores.

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is blessed with a marvelous cast that includes Florinda Bolkan (Footprints), Stanley Baker, Jean Sorel (Belle de Jour), and Anita Strindberg (The Case of the Scorpion's Tale). Stanley Baker is best known for his role in the film Zulu as Inspector Corvin. His character has an unusual quirk in which he can be heard whistling through A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin. This little nuance helps define his character's personality, and at times the whistling can become unnerving. My appreciation for Florinda Bolkan as an actress grows with each new film I see her in. Her performance is what the whole film hinges on, and it is totally to her credit that A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin works as well as it does.

Lucio Fulci is now receiving the acclaim that has eluded him his whole life. He was a diverse director who made masterpieces out of virtually nothing, and with A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, he creates one of the golden age of giallo’s finest moments that has to be seen to truly appreciate it.

A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin gets an exceptional release from Mondo Macabro that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of informative extras, highly recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer