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Poor, poor Lucio Fulci. He spent the first half of the ’90s ill from his fight with diabetes; his last film Door into Silence, came out in ’91. Longtime rival Dario Argento offered an olive branch for the two to work on a project together; they wrote a story (and Fulci crafted a screenplay), but sadly Fulci passed away in March of ’96 before production started. But horror is persistent, and after Argento had FX maestro Sergio Stivaletti step behind the camera, the world was given Wax Mask (1997), a gnarly yet elegant period piece that manages to pay tribute to not only the fractured madness of Fulci, but Hammer as well. Now it can be yours with a glorious 4K transfer and a treasure trove of goodies from the upstanding citizens of Severin Films.

If one was to drag the ’50s Hammer films kicking and screaming across the floor and dropped them off in an Italian extrava-grossout,...

A breezy five-episode compilation movie about swindles plays out in five film capitals, under the eye of five different directors including Claude Chabrol and Jean-Luc Godard. But Roman Polanski’s Amsterdam segment couldn’t be included, which is a shame. It’s in B&W ‘scope, and everybody gets to bring their favorite cameraman and composer along.

The World’s Most Beautiful Swindlers

Blu-ray

Olive Films

1964 / B&W / 2:35 widescreen / 95 108, 124 min. / Street Date April 25, 2017 / Les plus belles escroqueries du monde / available through the Olive Films website / 29.98

Starring: Mie Hama, Ken Mitsuda, Nicole Karen, Gabriella Giorgelli, Jan Teulings, Arnold Gelderman, Guido Giuseppone, Giuseppe Mannajuolo, Jean-Pierre Cassel, Catherine Deneuve, Francis Blanche, Sacha Briquet, Jean-Louis Maury, Philomène Toulouse, Charles Denner, Jean-Luc Godard, Jean Seberg, László Szabó.

Cinematography: Raoul Coutard, Tonino Delli Colli, Jerzy Lipman, Asakazu Nakai, Jean Rabier

Film Editor:

Original Music: Serge Gainsbourg, Pierre Jansen, Krzysztof Komeda, Michel Legrand, Keitaro Miho, Piero Umiliani...