The Blood Rose: Limited Red Case Edition – Mondo Macabro (4k UHD)

Theatrical Release Date: France, 1970
Director: Claude Mulot
Writers: Claude Mulot, Jean Larriaga, Edgar Oppenheimer
Cast: Philippe Lemaire, Anny Duperey, Olivia Robin, Elizabeth Teissier, Michèle Perello, Valérie Boisgel, Gérard-Antoine Huart, Jean-Pierre Honoré, Jacques Seiler, Michel Charrel, Véronique Verlhac, Roberto, Johnny Cacao, Howard Vernon

Release Date: June 9th, 2026
Approximate Running Time: 94 Minutes 5 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 2160 Progressive / HEVC / H.265
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono French, DTS-HD Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $33.00

"An artist's obsession with beauty drives him into the arms of evil! When his new bride's face is hideously disfigured in a fire, Frederic Lansac, a famous society painter, is determined to restore her beauty. He seeks out a notorious plastic surgeon who is on the run from the authorities. Using Lansac's remote castle as a base, the two of them hunt down and imprison a series of young girls. Their skin is to be used in experiments aimed at restoring the face of Lansac's wife." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 5/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, “New 4K restoration from the original negative."

The Blood Rose comes on a 66 GB dual layer 4K UHD

Disc Size: 56.5 GB

Feature: 43.7 GB

The source looks excellent, flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, contrast, black levels, image clarity, and compression are solid, and the image always retains an organic appearance.

Audio: 5/5 (DTS-HD Mono French), 4.5/5 (DTS-HD Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in French and a DTS-HD mono mix in English. Both tracks sound clean, clear, balanced, and robust when they should. Included are removable English subtitles for the French language track and removable English text for the French language track while watching the English language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include a publicity parade of stills, posters and video sleeves; a double feature radio spot with The Body Stealers (55 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a US theatrical trailer (1 minute 47 seconds, Dolby Digital mono English, no subtitles), a French theatrical trailer (2 minutes 53 seconds, Dolby Digital mono French with removable English subtitles), an archival interview with filmmaker Didier Philippe-Gérard (25 minutes 55 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an interview with actress Brigitte Lahaie titled Memories of Claude Mulot (9 minutes 33 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an interview with Hubert and Georges Baumann (11 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an interview with producer Edgar Oppenheimer (25 minutes 30 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), an interview with cinematographer Jacques Assuérus (27 minutes 18 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo French with removable English subtitles), reversible cover art, a set of 4 art cards, a slipcover, and a 24-page booklet with an essay titled Claude Mulot and The Blood Rose written by Pete Tombs.

Summary:

Claude Mulot directed The Blood Rose. His other notable films include The Contract, Sins of the Flesh, and Knife Under the Throat.

After a tragic accident disfigures his wife, an eccentric painter blackmails a disgraced doctor whose controversial experiments could restore her former beauty.

When it comes to the visuals, The Blood Rose is a film that is filled with striking imagery and overflowing with atmosphere. Although the aesthetic of The Blood Rose was clearly influenced by Gothic cinema, its striking use of color sometimes evokes the vivid palette characteristic of Mario Bava’s work. Another strength of the visuals is how the disfigured wife’s face is rarely shown after the accident, and when she is in the room, the images onscreen represent her fuzzy perspective due to her loss of sight.

Sections of The Blood Rose’s narrative unfold through flashbacks, the majority of which take place during the first thirty minutes. There is a simplicity to the story at hand that makes the far-fetched premise easier to accept. The Blood Rose’s premise is reminiscent of films like Eyes without a Face and Jess Franco’s Orlaff films. Though The Blood Rose’s advertising proclaimed it as the first sex-horror film, many Jess Franco fans might argue that he made these types of films first. While watching The Blood Rose, it becomes clear that Jess Franco's films may have significantly influenced director Claude Mulot in creating The Blood Rose.

Besides featuring a bevy of attractive women, the cast of characters in The Blood Rose also includes two deformed midget servants. Although The Blood Rose has many memorable moments, the scene that stays with me is where a young woman, posing as a writer researching châteaux, looks around the château for clues about her missing sister. Only lit by dim candlelight while she walks around in a see-through nightgown, the cinematography is striking.

The Blood Rose features a melancholy main theme that perfectly sets the stage for what is about to unfold. Besides the magnificent main theme, the score as a whole does a superb job maintaining the tone. Jean-Pierre Dorsay composed the score for The Blood Rose, whose filmography consists of four entries. It is a shame that he did not compose another score after The Blood Rose.

When it comes to the performances, the cast are all excellent, especially Philippe Lemaire (When You Read This Letter) in the role of Frédéric, an eccentric painter who becomes obsessed with restoring his wife’s beauty. Another performance of note is Howard Vernon (She Killed in Ecstasy) in the role of Professeur Römer, a disgraced doctor whose controversial experiments led him to lose his medical license and go to prison.

From a production standpoint, The Blood Rose is a film that exceeds the sum of its parts. The premise is superbly released, and the narrative does a phenomenal job building to an unbelievable ending that is truly out of this world. Spoiler: The ending features a showdown between the two midget servants and their master. Other craziness that occurs during this knock-down, drag-out fight includes the unfortunate demise of the doctor, thus ending the experiments and any chance to repair the wife’s disfigured face. End of Spoiler: Ultimately, The Blood Rose is a cautionary tale about the consequences of obsession.

The Blood Rose gets an exceptional release from Mondo Macabro that comes with a solid audio/video presentation and informative extras. Highly recommended.

Note: This edition is limited to 1200 copies.

Note about the 4K screenshots: It is not possible to make Dolby Vision or HDR10 screenshots that faithfully match the experience of watching a film in motion on a TV. Instead of not having any screenshots, all of the 4K screenshots are m2ts taken with a MPC-HC player and lossless PNGs.

Written by Michael Den Boer