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The Black Emanuelle films aren’t really a series in the proper sense of the word. True, they all star Indonesian-Dutch actress Laura Gemser, and she usually plays a globetrotting photojournalist called Emanuelle. (The single “m” in her name was used to avoid infringing on the copyright of Just Jaeckin’s 1974 softcore sensation Emmanuelle starring Sylvia Kristel.) But there’s no notion of continuity between installments (often the product of different teams of writers and directors), and, even though a core group of actors does turn up time and again, they always play different, unrelated characters. What unites these films, apart from Gemser’s presence, is their dedication to exploring sexuality in a frank and uninhibited manner.

Severin’s new box set, The Sensual World of Black Emanuelle, brings together all 21 of the Laura Gemser films, most of them newly restored from 2K scans of the original materials, as well...

One of the strangest unresolved storylines from The Godfather franchise is why Michael never sought revenge on Fabrizio, the man who killed his first wife Apollonia. A key subplot in the original Godfather sees Michael (Al Pacino) gunning down drug baron Sollozzo in retaliation for an attempt on his father Vito's life. He then flees to Sicily, where he falls in love with Simonetta Stefanelli's Apollonia. Tragically, she's later killed in a car bomb planted by Michael's bodyguard Fabrizio (Angelo Infanti), who betrayed him to his enemies. While Michael gets revenge on those who ordered the hit, Fabrizio is never seen again.

This might seem like a strange oversight, but both Godfather and Godfather Part 2 did in fact feature scenes where Michael gained his revenge. A deleted scene from the first movie revealed that Fabrizo owned a pizzeria in New York. During the climactic massacre of the Five Families,...

Charles Bronson plays a real-life Mafiosi in a period picture with a fine script, some good performances and a production so sloppy that the whole thing could be called The Anachronism Papers. Joseph Wiseman and Lino Ventura bring additional tough-guy star-power, and Bronson actually commits himself to the role — quite a change of pace for one of his later pictures.

The Valachi Papers

Blu-ray

Twilight Time

1972 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 125 min. / Street Date June 13, 2017 / Available from the Twilight Time Movies Store 29.95

Starring: Charles Bronson, Lino Ventura, Jill Ireland, Walter Chiari, Joseph Wiseman, Gerald S. O’Loughlin, Amedeo Nazzari, Fausto Tozzi, Pupella Maggio, Angelo Infanti, Guido Leontini.

Cinematography: Aldo Tonti

Film Editor: Johnny Dwyre, Monica Finzi

Original Music: Riz Ortolani, Armando Trovajoli

Written by Stephen Geller from the novel by Peter Maas

Produced by Dino De Laurentiis, Roger Duchet

Directed by Terence Young

In 2001 I received the plum assignment of editing a...

Originally titled La Casa Della Paura/The House of Fear, The Girl in Room 2A is American director William Rose’s 1974 giallo. Produced by Dick Randall, the man behind the infamous Pieces and Don’t Open‘Til Christmas, it’s his entry into the Italian thriller boom of the 1970’s that was spearheaded by Dario Argento with The Bird with the Crystal Plumage.

Beautiful Margaret Bradley (Daniela Giordano) has just been released from jail on a trumped-up drug charge and is sent to live at a boarding house run by a mysterious woman named Mrs. Grant (Giovanna Galetti). Mrs. Grant has a middle-aged son, Frank (Angelo Infanti) who has taken a shine to the new boarder. Settling into her new life, it isn’t long before this peaceful new home becomes a nightmare of hallucinations and nefarious goings on.

In one genuinely creepy scene, Margaret imagines being back in jail...

Written and directed by: William Rose

Cast: Daniela Giordano, John Scanlon, Angelo Infanti, Giovanna Galletti and Raf Vallone

The Girl in Room 2A is quite a tease. Her reputation as a violent giallo is unfounded. The girl may be rough, but she’s no giallo.

She’d like for you to believe that she’s a disturbing precursor to the torture porn genre. If such a distinction gets her some notoriety, I’ll not argue with her. She’s been through quite enough already. But cinematic sleaze merchants have been torturing beautiful, buxom women onscreen for decades. So her trauma (while not insubstantial) really isn’t anything unique. Her biggest problem, aside from her muddled identity, is that she’s just not very bright.

The film starts out in rough fashion with an attractive young woman leaving her apartment. She is abducted violently by several men and thrown into a...