UK: Baba Yaga from Shameless

[MarcMorris]

On 27 April 2009 Shameless will issue Corrado Farina's Baba Yaga in a version re-created specially for this DVD by director Farina.

The S&M Classic Restored, Re-graded, Re-edited and Re-Imagined

The line between perverted dreams and fevered reality are torn apart as a beautiful witch (Carroll Baker, Baby Doll) gets her sapphic claws into a beautiful young photographer in this rampant adaptation of the classic Guido Crepax comic-book.

Now 35 years after original release director Corrado Farina has re-edited his film exclusively for Shameless, re-inserting footage cut by both the producers and censors, to bring us for the first time his vision as he would really have liked it seen. Restored, Re-graded, re-edited and re-imagined this is Baba Yaga: The Final Cut on a features-packed UK DVD!

When the beautiful Valentina spurns the advances of the enigmatic witch, a curse is put on her camera and all those who pose for her are damned. Pursued by the sensuous seduction of Baba Yaga at every turn, she must either submit to her S&M desires or confront the repressed lesbian feelings buried deep within. Carnal lust explodes as she must choose between external decadence and staid reality, with her very soul at stake as witchcraft casts its spell.

Combining the haunting atmosphere of Polanski with the sexual styling of Argento on crystal meth, it's all here: gorgeous lesbians, Nazi fantasies and even sinister sewing machines! Baba Yaga is 70's Euro-sleaze at its very best, showcasing stunning cinematography and is a must for everyone let down by the distinctly prudish Barbarella when it comes to erotic Euro-comics.

Baba Yaga: The Final Cut (cert. 18) will be released uncut on DVD (£12.99) by Shameless Screen Entertainment on 27th April 2009. The new edit of the film will be presented remastered in 1.85:1 with choices of either English or Italian 2.0 sound with optional English subtitles.

Extra features are headed up with an introduction to the film by Corrado Farina plus an all-new in-depth interview. Also included on the disc are two Corrado Farina documentaries, Freud A Fumetti (Farina explores the comic artwork of Crepax) and the never before seen Fummettophobia (translates as "Comics-Phobia"), a Shameless Fact Track by The Wilson Bros, a collector's photo gallery and a Shameless original trailer gallery which includes a teaser for the upcoming release of Luigi Bazzoni's Footprints!

Baba Yaga: The Final Cut: play.com (http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=1418&awinaffid=84842&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.play.com%2FDVD%2FDVD%2F4-%2F6040462%2FBaba-Yaga-Reloaded%2FProduct.html)


http://images.play.com/covers/6040462m.jpg (http://www.awin1.com/cread.php?awinmid=1418&awinaffid=84842&clickref=&p=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.play.com%2FDVD%2FDVD%2F4-%2F6040462%2FBaba-Yaga-Reloaded%2FProduct.html)

[loops]

Another excellent release from Shameless, that i will definitely be buying.:)

[Harold Monroe]

great stuff, count me in. love this one

[Someone Weird]

This is one title that doesn't really interest/excite me, but I will pick it up anyway to complete the Shameless collection...who knows, it may turn out to be a gem. Will wait and see.

Also, and no disrepect meant to the Wilson bros., but the fact tracks seem like really pointless extras to me. I don't generally bother with audio commentaries at the best of times: they are either deadly dull or I can't be arsed to sit through a film twice just to listen to someone twittering over it, and the idea of re-watching a film just to read sporadic bits of text that you can find printed elsewhere in book/mag form seems like a mammoth waste of time. These things could just as easily be placed on the extra's menu as text essays, as with other discs.

[D'Amato lives!]

I often watch a film for the first time with commentary, and then watch it without. I find the information text on Doctor Who dvds, for example, very informative, especially when it relates to the scene in question or topic that the scene brings up.... and it's nice to see any kind of an extra on a Shameless release. :)

[reaper72]

Some interesting nuggets of info on the last Wilson-track.Keep up the good work lads.;)
I'm sure this transfer will turn out as good as the other Shameless titles.It's been in the pipeline for a llloooooonnngggg time now.This is the reverse sleeve btw......

[claire]

Very nice.

This is one of the early highpoints in what is turning out to look like a very strong year for genre DVDs.

[claire]

I just watched the Shameless disc (review coming at SGM shortly).

Very impressed - a fantastic acheivement by Shameless, Marc etc ... a must-have, in my opinion. :)

[MarcMorris]

Thanks - I sweated blood putting that disc together. ;)

I'm working on Luigi Bazzoni's FOOTPRINTS now...

[claire]

Honestly, I'm bowled over by the Baba Yaga disc. Shamefully, most sites don't seem to be listing it correctly (Amazon, HMV, Play) - Almar's been informed. It would be a travesty to see this one get overlooked.

Great news about Footprints, the disc opens with a trailer for it ... and I want it already. Great to know you're involved. :)

[loops]

I won a copy on Shameless' forum, cant wait to see it:D

[Dave Jay]

Saw this a couple of weeks ago (late as ever, but with limited funds I often have to wait until I can pick things up cheaply). Am I the ONLY one who found this to be a bit of a bore? A sloooow-moving movie that has no real feel for the fumetti genre it was attempting to recreate? A few nice scenes here and there, and great to see George Eastman in an early role but... no great shakes.

[tobiaswragg]

Genre writers Stefan Jaworzyn and Kim Newman included it in a list of the 50 most boring films, compiled for Shock Xpress magazine.

[Dave Jay]

Ahhh, I'm not alone then! :)

[loops]

Saw this a couple of weeks ago (late as ever, but with limited funds I often have to wait until I can pick things up cheaply). Am I the ONLY one who found this to be a bit of a bore? A sloooow-moving movie that has no real feel for the fumetti genre it was attempting to recreate? A few nice scenes here and there, and great to see George Eastman in an early role but... no great shakes.


I thought it was boring, although i shouldnt complain as won it on their site.

[Dave Jay]

Know what you mean, loops - I won THE RAGE on the Shameless site and thought it was bloody awful, but it felt rather ungrateful to say so!

[loops]

I did tell them i didn't like it.

[WilsonBros]

Well, even if you didn't like the movie, Nick's fact-track can raise a few chuckles. ;)

Kev W

[Mark Ashworth]

I like it, but I think Corrado Farina's HANNO CAMBIATO FACCIA ("They've Changed Faces") is much better.
It's not very well known because it was never dubbed into English, but fans are very accepting of subtitles these days so that wouldn't be a problem.

[Someone Weird]

I've had this sitting on the shelf unwatched for ages....I still can't work up much enthusiasm to watch the damn thing, especially after sitting through Footprints, another one I thought would be dull (and was correct!) but brought just to complete the Shameless set (well, the first 20 anyway).

[Dave Jay]

I think a fair few of the titles from the first Shameless 20 were merely okay rather than great - finally got round to watching OASIS OF FEAR last night and it passed the time okay... had a few wonderfully kitsch moments in it but ended a little abruptly in a rather "meh" manner.

I've got 15 titles out of the first 20 and the ones that I've really dug (off the top of my head) are:

THE DESIGNATED VICTIM
FLAVIA THE HERETIC
WATCH ME WHEN I KILL!
THE NEW YORK RIPPER
The second half of TORSO
...and PHANTOM OF DEATH and NIGHT TRAIN MURDERS had their moments.

I'll no doubt buy the remaining five at some point to complete the collection... but they can keep the likes of BEAST IN SPACE...

[Someone Weird]

Their later releases of Beast In Space and Satan's Baby Doll are pointless. I like both films and have both the soft/hard edits of each, but even if I didn't, I personally wouldn't bother with these alternate edits. Leave these sex/horror titles to the likes of Severin, I say!

The Designated Victim was good, but the inferior quality inserts that kept getting rammed in to make it 'the most complete version possible' just bugged the hell out of me and made me think, just leave it out and shove it in the extras! And the fact tracks were a silly idea. Audio commentaries are often insufferable enough, so I'm not going to watch a film a second time just to read some sporadic bits of text that could gave been written on a piece of paper and put inside the case! Forsooth Shameless, I'm a busy man, stop trying to eat my time! Ha!

Don't get me wrong, I like Shameless and there are some good releases in that initial 20, but that initial batch finished with a whimper rather than a bang. Still, together they look nice on a shelf, and the tin 'Bronx' is neat, but I doubt I will get any more of their releases - as they mostly re-issue stuff I already have!!!

[Dave Jay]

Yeah, if I remember correctly, there's also an inferior insert right at the end of DESIGNATED VICTIM that kinda ruins the rhythm of the climax... certainly didn't improve the film. But it impressed me nonetheless...

[WilsonBros]

And the fact tracks were a silly idea.

Hmm, Nick & I could well get offended by that remark... ;)

Kev W

[Dave Jay]

The BRONX WARRIORS tin was also great and looked fantastic - but it has to be said that the sound quality for NEW BARBARIANS was actually better on the previous VIPCO release. The cracking electro Simonetti soundtrack booms out on that one, whereas it sounds rather tinny on the Shameless release...