DELIRIUM (1972)
Director: Renato Polselli
Anchor Bay Entertainment

During the early 1960s, Italian director Renato Polselli (often using his anglicized name Ralph Brown) delivered a duo of erotic vampire films spawned by the immense popularity of Hammer's HORROR OF DRACULA. The titles included THE VAMPIRE AND THE BALLERINA, and the rarely seen VAMPIRE OF THE OPERA. By the early 70s, Polselli was both producing and directing offbeat sexploitation films that mixed eroticism and violence to unique effect.

Due to its out of control narrative, DELIRIUM is a very fitting title. It stars Mickey Hargitay (who also appeared in several other films for the director) as Herbert Lyutak, a respected psychologist who is helping the police find a killer in a series of murders of young women. One evening, Lyutak offers a lift to a naive girl and after trying to flee his vulgar advances, he hunts her down, strips her and beats her to death on rocks of a river bank. Lyutak is entrusted to the police, but they have no idea that he himself is homicidal.

Lyutak's wife Marcia (the lovely Rita Calderoni, also in Polselli's THE REINCARNATION OF ISABEL) is so loyal to her husband, that she says nothing when she discovers his bloodstained shirt. More murders occur, including another harassed woman calling from a phone box. She too is brutally slaughtered, however, Lyutak was at the police station at the time, entering another killer into the scene. What evolves is more murder and sexual mayhem in a delirious, winding plot. Calderoni has S&M dreams, typical of Polselli's way-out style. Naked female bodies, chains and soft lesbianism are overseen by a hysterical, bare-chested Hargitay, recalling his madman torturer persona from BLOODY PIT OF HORROR. Somewhat like a giallo in execution, DELIRIUM's murders are disturbing even though they aren't extremely graphic, and the film has gained a favorable reputation among Euro sleaze fans who like things extra maniacal.

Never before released on home video in the U.S., Anchor Bay has done its homework and presented two different versions of the film on the same DVD package--both are significantly different. The English-language U.S. print has Vietnam War footage (some real, some staged) of Hargitay's character becoming a shell-shocked soldier. It also is much shorter, narrowing down the significance of some scenes and limiting the activities of supporting characters. The U.S. version also contains two extra murders--one of a character not even seen in the other cut.

The longer, Italian-language or "International" cut of the film is better devised and therefore preferable. This version omits the Vietnam War references, adds a lesbian relationship between Calderoni's character and her maid, as well as the masturbation of a female victim being strangled. The Italian version also adds another dimension to the murderer(s) and the ending is completely different as well.

As the different cuts of the film vary, so does the image quality. The International version obviously was struck from a new negative and looks virtually flawless. The picture is letterboxed at 1.85:1 and 16x9 enhanced, with sharp colors and clarity. Also, 1.85:1 and 16x9, the U.S. version is not nearly as impressive as its counterpart. The print used is somewhat grainy and not as well-defined, and colors are a bit muted. Footage had to be excised from an inferior Dutch video source (with Dutch subtitles), but this is mostly limited to the opening Vietnam sequence and a few bits in between. The mono audio on both versions is fine, with the Italian version (containing optional subtitles) being more robust. The audio on the English-dubbed version (complete with Hargitay's own thick Hungarian accent) is a little flatter but perfectly fine. All in all, Anchor Bay has done an excellent job presenting both versions of this cult wonder.

The bonus extra on this disc is a fine featurette entitled "The Theorem Of Delirium." This is about 14 minutes long and features all-new interviews with producer/director Polselli and star Hargitay. Polselli speaks in Italian (with English subtitles), while Hargitay speaks English. The feeling that you get from both men is that they enjoyed working with each other and the actors (In contrast, Polselli refers to overpaid actors as "primadonnas") and despite the harsh subject matter, it was a memorable experience. Amongst his recollections, Hargitay says that he actually suggested the Vietnam angle when it came to making an alternative version. (George R. Reis)

BACK TO REVIEWS

HOME