Sexomania / Lady Desire – Mondo Macabro (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Greece, 1974 (Sexomania), Italy/Greece/West Germany, 1969 (Lady Desire)
Directors: Mario Retsilas (Sexomania), Dimitri Papakonstantis (Sexomania), Harry Newman (Lady Desire)
Cast: Maria Ioannidou, Vasilis Mitsakis, Stavros Farmakis, Rena Kosmidou, Joanna Papa, Vagelis Traiforos, Giorgos Armadoros (Sexomania), Alan Byron, Edward Cummins, Christine Dean, Elizabeth Finney, John Hyman, Vera Krouska, Thomas Nicholson, Ivano Staccioli, Margaret Taylor (Lady Desire)

Release Date: September 9th, 2025
Approximate Running Times: 83 Minutes 45 Seconds (Sexomania), 83 Minutes 14 Seconds (Lady Desire)
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1 Aspect Ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (Both Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Greek (Both Films)
Subtitles: English (Both Films)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $29.99

Sexomania: "Concerned for the mental health of his beautiful wife Lena, successful entrepreneur and neglectful husband Dimitris Sotos consults a psychiatrist. Determined to get to the root of the problem, the expert physician attempts to shed light on Lena's troubled childhood and her turbulent, secret love life. As a result, a vivid kaleidoscope unfolds as the social prejudices, emotional trauma, broken dreams, and unspoken passions that shaped Lena's character come to light. But the question remains. Can the unconventional psychotherapist help Lena rid herself of the ungovernable urge to seek pleasure in all the wrong places?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Lady Desire: "Living in self-imposed exile, hiding from the rest of the world in her eerily vacant Athens mansion, Christina, an affluent, sad-eyed heiress, is shocked to discover that an audacious burglar has stolen her precious collection of jewelry and family heirlooms. To get to the bottom of this challenging case, the inquisitive local police commander decides to dig deep into the opaque past of the cryptic young woman, following half-baked leads and half-truths. As the experienced officer tries to connect the dots, unexpected discoveries about Christina’s personal life come to light. However, Christina is a hard nut to crack, and the commander has no other choice but to resort to unconventional methods to shed light on the mysterious robbery. Now, it is up to Lieutenant Dimitris to help find the truth. Can he crack the case?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (Both Films)

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Brand new 2k restoration from original negative of both films."

Sexomania and Lady Desire come on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 40.1 GB

Feature: 18.9 GB (Sexomania), 18.7 GB (Lady Desire)

Both film sources look excellent; flesh tones look correct, image clarity, contrast, black levels, and compression are solid, and they look organic, free of any digital noise reduction. When it comes to colors, they are nicely saturated.

Audio: 4.25/5 (Both Films)

Each film comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Greek with removable English subtitles. Both audio tracks are in great shape; dialogue always comes through clearly, everything sounds balanced, and ambient sounds are well represented.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a theatrical trailer for Sexomania (3 minutes 15 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Greek with removable English subtitles), a stills and poster gallery for Sexomania with music from the film playing in the background, a tribute to actress Maria Ioannidou (4 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital mono, text and images with music playing in the background), and a tribute to actor Costas Prekas (3 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital mono, text and images with music playing in the background).

Summary:

Sexomania: An affluent man concerned about his wife's state of mind sends her to a clinic where a psychiatrist helps her get to the root of her trauma.

Although this film's title gives you the impression that what lies within is an exploitation film, there is surprisingly little in the way of salacious content. At the heart of this film is a story about a woman who's neglected by her husband, and on top of that, she’s battling trauma from her past as everything comes to a head when we meet her. That said, this film is better described as a psychological melodrama.

The performances are serviceable; the only one of note is Maria Ioannidou, who portrays the protagonist, a woman named Lena. Although she more than holds her own when it comes to physical presence, she really is not given much to do in the way of exposition; the bulk of her character's backstory is flashbacks portrayed by another actress.

The narrative is equal parts set in the present and the past, and though these appear to have been shot separately and only edited together after the fact. The more interesting of these two are the flashbacks, which get to the heart of the protagonist's trauma, while the moments in the present are mostly the protagonist sitting in a room with her psychiatrist. That said, although these two halves blend better than expected, the finale feels rushed.

Lady Desire: Someone breaks into a mansion and steals jewels, exposing the personal life of an heiress living in self-imposed exile.

The opening setup does an excellent job setting the foundation for the events that follow. The narrative takes on a Rashomon-like approach once things shift to the police investigation in which characters tell their versions of the same event. That said, these different accounts blur the truth; everything comes together nicely by the time the finale arrives.

Another strength of the narrative is how it casts blame on characters, notably the protagonist. Instead of concern over her stolen jewels, she is more angry about the intrusion into her private life. Although she is initially set up as a recluse with no connections, the further the narrative digs into her life, the more it becomes clear she's not who she pretended to be.

There is not much information out there about Lady Desire, making the identification of the cast difficult. When it comes to the performances, they often exceed expectations. That said, the most memorable is the actress who portrays the heiress.

From a production standpoint, Lady Desire is a film that does extremely well when it comes to its resources. The premise is well-executed, and the narrative does a superb job holding your attention. The visuals, which have several striking moments, have a film noir-like quality to them. Although there are some romantic rendezvous, it is nothing that is ever salacious. Ultimately, Lady Desire is a well-crafted, engaging melodrama.

Mondo Macabro pairs together two rarely seen Greek films and gives them solid audio/video presentations. Recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer