Delirium

Details

This listing is for the standard edition Blu-ray. The limited edition slipcover (designed by Robert Sammelin) was limited to 6,000 units and is sold out. The two versions are identical, aside from the slipcover.

A vicious sex-killer has been preying on pretty young women, leaving a trail of nude and mangled bodies. Little do they know that respected local physician, Dr. Herbert Lyutak has been responsible for the ongoing violence. His wife, Marcia, senses something amiss about her husband’s erratic behaviors and mood swings, but her frustration mainly lies in his impotence, which prevents them from enjoying a satisfying marriage, and which she believes might be triggered by her husband’s bizarre and sadomasochistic nightmares. After a witness emerges who fingers Dr. Lyutak as having been seen with the latest victim, the police finally feel convinced that they've got their man. However, no sooner than the good doctor is in custody does another murder occur; one with jarring similarities to Lyutak’s own crimes...

Long considered one of the most shocking and controversial gialli to emerge from the genre’s golden age, Italian provocateur Renato Polselli’s (Monster of the Opera) DELIRIUM has come to be considered its director’s crowning achievement and a high point of on-screen perversity in the annals of giallo history. Featuring Polselli’s frequent collaborator, Rita Calderoni (The Reincarnation of Isabel), who co-stars alongside former Mr. Universe, 'Mr. Jayne Mansfield', and all-around exploitation superstar, Mickey Hargitay (Bloody Pit of Horror), this ghoulish blend of gothic tropes and twisted, sex-fueled slashing makes its worldwide Blu-ray debut from Vinegar Syndrome, meticulously restored from its 35mm original camera negative and featuring a blood-spattered array of new and archival extras.

directed by: Renato Polselli
starring: Rita Calderoni, Mickey Hargitay, Raul Lovecchio, Carmen Young, Christa Barrymore, Tano Cimarosa, Marcello Bonini Olas
1972 / 102 min / 1.85:1 / Italian Mono

Additional info:

• Region Free Blu-ray
• Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
• Presented in its original Italian language soundtrack with newly translated English subtitles
• Commentary track with film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth
• "The Polselli Clan" - a portrait piece on director Renato Polselli by his daughter Vanessa Polselli
• "Fear and Delirium in Cinecittà" - a never-before-seen archival interview with actor Mickey Hargitay
• "The Polselli Factor" - Filmmaker and film historian Luca Rea on the career of his friend Renato Polselli
• "Gothic Polselli" - Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi on his gothic collaborations with Renato Polselli
• "The Theorem of Delirium" - archival interview with director Renato Polselli and actor Mickey Hargitay
• Alternate 86-minute American version of DELIRIUM - sourced from video
• Reversible sleeve artwork
• Newly translated English subtitles