Brilliant scientist, Professor Bernard Hichcock, harbors a secret fascination with the corpses of beautiful young women. His perverse desires are so strong that he has developed a unique serum capable of placing people into a death-like state; a drug he has decided to experiment with on his wife, Margaretha. However, after accidentally giving her a lethal dose, the doctor panics and covers up his wife’s death. Hichcock soon remarries, this time to the orphaned Cynthia, whom he brings to live with him at his isolated castle. Shortly after her arrival, Cynthia begins to experience increasingly strange and ghastly goings-on. While her new husband dismisses these seemingly supernatural occurrences, Cynthia becomes convinced that someone - or something - is lurking in the castle and her loving husband might know more than he’s letting on…
A crucial early work in the Italian gothic horror canon, THE HORRIBLE DR. HICHCOCK, from director Riccardo Freda (Tragic Ceremony) and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh), is a macabre period chiller which stars Barbara Steele (Black Sabbath) alongside Robert Flemyng (The Blood Beast Terror), Silvano Tranquilli (So Sweet, So Dead), and Harriet Medin (Blood and Black Lace). Graced with eye-poppingly colorful cinematography from Raffaele Masciocchi (The Ghost), Vinegar Syndrome proudly presents the UHD debut of this twisted and suspenseful classic in a brand new and exclusive 4K restoration of its original negative, and loaded with fresh extras including interviews with second assistant director Marcello Avallone and star Barbara Steele!
directed by: Riccardo Freda
starring: Barbara Steele, Robert Flemyng, Silvano Tranquilli, Harriet Medin, Maria Teresa Vianello, Spencer Williams, Aldo Cristiani, Evaristo Signorini, Giovanni Querrel
1962 / 1.85:1
Italian Cut: 87 min / Italian Mono + English Mono
American Cut: 76 min / English Mono
Additional info:
- 2-disc Set: 4K Ultra HD (UHD100) / Region A Blu-ray
- 4K UHD presented in High-Dynamic-Range
- Newly scanned & restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative
- The 87-minute Italian cut features both its Italian and English language tracks and is available on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs
- The 76-minute American cut with its English language track and is available on both the UHD and Blu-ray discs
- Commentary track with film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
- "The Horrible Dr. Freda" - an interview with second assistant director Marcello Avallone
- "The Most Honorable Julyan Perry" - an interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
- "Necropolises and Necrophiliacs" - filmmaker Marcello Avallone on Italian horror and his experiences of working within the genre
- Scene select commentary track with actress Barbara Steele, moderated by Barbara Steele archivist Russ Lanier
- English "Raptus" title sequence
- Italian trailer
- Still gallery
- Reversible sleeve artwork
- Newly translated English subtitles
