Femina Ridens aka The Laughing Woman (1969)

"Excellent 4K Scan of a 1960s Cult Curio"

Also aka THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN, Piero Schivazappa's bizarre examination of the battle of the sexes, and apparently star Dagmar Lassander's own personal favourite of her films, gets a 4K Blu-ray release from Shameless.

Dr Sayer (Philippe Leroy) who at the start of this could be a Bond villain but is actually the director of a philanthropic foundation, gets blown out by his booked weekend entertainment and so instead he invites Maria (Lassander) a member of his staff, to come and stay with him. Little does she know that his weekend entertainment consists of subjecting women to a variety of tortures and humiliations. Or does she?

Made at the tail end of the 1960s, FEMINA RIDENS no doubt seemed very daring and forward thinking for its time, despite being heavily informed by the popular cinema of the period. Mind you, it's unlikely a huge walk-in vagina dentata would ever appear in a big budget spy movie (except perhaps one by Jess Franco).

Viewed now, the film is so of its time that it's almost like watching a film from another planet. It's a decidedly kinky piece featuring crazy production design and some of the most uncomfortable and impractical-looking furniture you'll ever see. The ending feels as if it's there just to justify the prior onscreen depiction of a whole series of the director's obsessions and doesn't quite work, but since when did an Italian film of this era need to make sense?

Shameless proudly announce at the start of this that they were the first UK company to release FEMINA RIDENS in its director-approved form. That's because the previous Salvation films DVD has 16 seconds cut, but the subsequent Shameless release also included extra footage. The disc comes with both English and Italian dialogue tracks. The English dub is actually very good, and even if you're a subtitle 'purist' it's worth watching the film this way.

Extras consist of a new 28 minute interview with Lassander as well as a 32 minute interview with director Schivazappa.

Piero Schivazappa's FEMINA RIDENS is out on Blu-ray from Shameless on Monday 8th January 2024