Mondo Italiano Review: Blood, Bullets and Boogie from Italy Delivers Italian Crime Cinema on Blu-ray and 4K

My ancestors might not have invented motion pictures (we invented the telephone, but that’s a debate for another time), although we did give them our own unique flavor, as is our way. Recent weeks have brought us an assortment of tasty imports from il Bel Paese on Ultra HD and 1080p discs. Let’s dig into this eclectic Italian buffet, served up with operatic flair.

Bay of Blood Limited Edition 4K (Severin Films)

It’s Zillow gone wild as a greedy assortment of relatives, opportunists, and unsuspecting vacationers brutally slay one another in a series of grisly homicides in order to secure ownership of a wealthy heiress’s coastal estate. This 1971 giallo murder mystery holds an interesting place in horror history, deconstructing the genre with its subversion of the usual conventions while also giving rise to the slasher subgenre. Director/co-writer Mario Bava is, in fact, credited as the father of the “body-count” movie, and his penchant for promiscuous young adults wandering into a secluded, wooded retreat only to be picked off one by one—shot frequently through a disorienting, first-person killer’s perspective—is oft-copied, as are some of his specific kills.

To bring those to life, future Oscar winner Carlo Rambaldi designed a baker’s dozen of graphic set pieces, delivered with minimal cutaways. Combine all that with Bava’s high-art visual style on a shoestring budget, a cynical black-comedy tone, and a twist ending, and you’ve got an essential addition to any horror collection.

Severin’s impressive five-disc limited edition includes the English version and both the original and re-released Italian cuts, all in 4K as well as HD. There’s an expert commentary on the English discs and loads of new/archival supplements on both HD Blu-rays, among them cast/crew interviews and featurettes, plus storyboards. Exclusive to this boxed set is the soundtrack CD of the lush, loungey score composed by frequent Bava collaborator Stelvio Cipriani.

Furthermore, this limited edition arrives with an authentic (and fully functional) reproduction of the vintage Carnage* barf bag as distributed in select theaters, scanned from what may be the only original still in existence.

*One of several alternate titles for Bay of Blood dreamed up by the marketing team, along with Twitch of the Death Nerve, Blood Bath, and even Last House on the Left Part II.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy: $34.99 at Amazon (September 1, 2026)

Italo-Crime Collection 4K (Kino Lorber Studio Classics)

The prolific, genre-fluid screenwriting duo of Vincenzo Mannino and Gianfranco Clerici turned their typewriters to several gritty poliziotteschi (“police-style”) thrillers made during the peak era of Eurocrime cinema. The international casts include Italian stars alongside well-known stateside thespians Stuart Whitman, Martin Balsam, John Saxon, Martin Landau, and a deliciously evil Henry Silva.

Lock and load for:

• The Counsellor (Il consigliori, 1973)
• Blazing Magnum (Una ombra nell’ombra, 1976)
• Weapons of Death (Napoli spara!, 1977)

Directed by Alberto De Martino, the first two are pretty blatant ripoffs of Hollywood hits The Godfather and Dirty Harry, respectively. In The Counsellor, a disillusioned consigliori tries to leave the mob, triggering a bloody syndicate war that pulls him back in to save his padrino. Blazing Magnum finds a ruthless Canadian detective (go with it) launching a violent investigation to avenge the death of his sister. Back in Naples, a relentless cop wages war against an unpredictable mob kingpin in Mario Caiano’s Weapons of Death. All are uniquely captivating, displaying that rough cinematic edge that only ’70s crime dramas managed to harness.

These are new 4K scans of the original camera negatives, presented in standard dynamic range, in their original Italian with available English dubs and optional subtitles. Magnum and Weapons share a single disc, and all three movies have a new historian audio commentary track. The third disc is an HD Blu-ray with an entire alternate version of Blazing Magnum (“Shadows in an Empty Room”), plus video essays, featurettes, and archival interviews.

Worth mentioning, the three movies are being released individually by Kino Lorber day-and-date as well, but as HD Blu-rays only.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy: $49.99 at Amazon (September 22, 2026)

Disco Italiana and The Music Machine Blu-rays (Severin Films)

Back when I did celebrity interviews, I never had as many people asking to tag along as when I met John Travolta, his enduring foundational popularity built largely upon his back-to-back hits Saturday Night Fever and Grease. For further proof of just how big a deal he became, check out Severin’s four-disc Blu-ray/CD discoploitation box, dedicated to the late-’70s subgenre of low-budget films rushed into production to cash in on the global craze that J.T. inspired. Dubbed “Disco Italiana” (not sure why the noun and adjective don’t agree, but this isn’t a lesson in Italian grammar), it collects some peculiarly familiar stories and one familiar mug:

• American Fever (1978)
• Grease Rock (Brillantina Rock, 1979)
• John Travolto: The Face With 2 Left Feet (L’importante è non farsi notare, 1979)

In American Fever, a young mechanic with big dreams gets mixed up in some crazy schemes while moving up the ranks of the local disco scene. Grease Rock follows a conspicuously hair-gelled dude who pursues a wealthy American girl through street-gang rivalries and high-stakes dance-offs. Which brings us to John Travolto: The Face With 2 Left Feet, wherein a shy, clumsy cook takes advantage of his resemblance to a certain movie star to win the heart of a popular DJ. Each includes our choice of English or Italian mono audio.

Pure goofy ’70s fun.

The 12-track John Travolto soundtrack CD is split between the score by Burtt Asch (née Berto Pisano) and songs like “Disco Quando” and “Hot Cha Cha.” All three movies have commentary by well-credentialed authorities, plus a portion of an on-camera interview with Alan Jones, author of Discomania: Fantastic Beats and Where to Find Them.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy: $37.49 at Amazon (July 28, 2026)

The Music Machine Blu-ray (Severin Films)

To be fair, discoploitation was not limited strictly to Italy, and The Music Machine (1979) is the definitive British example, produced at a time when pop cinema was pivoting more into mod revivals or punk rock. Another lovable loser aims to hustle his way into our hearts, this time an aimless North London bloke who teams with an upper-class partner to challenge the reigning dance champ and win a career-making competition. Like the three films noted above, Music Machine charms with its wholly unironic depiction of the dance floor as a sanctuary of total freedom.

Several of the actors, the choreographer, and a songwriter are interviewed, along with a returning Jones, who also takes us on a tour of the movie’s Camden Town locations.

Our Ratings

★★★★★★★★★★ Movie

★★★★★★★★★★ Picture

★★★★★★★★★★ Sound

★★★★★★★★★★ Extras

Where to buy: $14.99 at Amazon (July 28, 2026)

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