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Lizard in a Woman's Skin (A) AKA Una Lucertola con la pelle di donna AKA Le venin de la peur AKA Una lagartija con piel de mujer AKA Schizoid (1971)
In the annals of the abnormal there is no more erotic nightmare than the strange lusts of a... "Lizard in a Woman's Skin"Director: Lucio Fulci
Year of Copyright: 1971
Year of Production: 1970
OVERALL: Draw-
OVERALL: Draw
*R1 "Remastered" and R2 UK releases include the longest version of the film (both the earlier R1 and other R2-releases are missing some footage) with R2 UK being about 10 seconds longer while R1 has English friendly extras from the Italian-release.
*Original R1 2-disc set has exclusive documentary and some trailers.
Note, that the English dub is said to be the prefered way to watch the film.
AKA-titles:
-Carole (France)
-Una Lagartija con piel de mujer (Spain)
-Les Salopes vont en enfer (France)
-Le Venin de la peur (France)
Please see the image-comparison (and info about the different versions) from: here
AND please read the lengthy censorship-notes from the "Cuts"-section of the comparison (SPOILERS!). -
CUTS:
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R1 America- Media Blasters - 2 versions of the film:
*"Shorter US Theatrical version" (95:35 NTSC), which is missing the following scenes (info from Casey Scott/dvddrive-in.com & Michael Mackenzie/whiggles.com):
-The majority of the opening lesbian encounter between Florinda Bolkan and Anita Strindberg.
-The gore and much of the Bolkan-Strindberg nudity during the murder sequence.
-The entire viscerated dogs sequence.
-The entire sequence involving Carol realising her guilt in the Julia Durer murder before the police discover it (quite a lot of dialogue is lost).
*"Longer Italian version" (97:52 NTSC). See the notes from the Italian DVD. -
R1 Remastered America- Media Blasters - (info from Michael Mackenzie/Tim Lucas)
*Fully uncut (103:18 NTSC, excluding 0:08 logo). This remastered version is derived from the Italian "Federal Video" restoration, which itself made use partially of the MGM master supplied to "Shriek Show/Media Blasters" for the 2-disc R1 version with additional Italian footage. Another minute of footage has been added to this remaster in addition to the Italian composite (resulting in a version that contains almost every snippet of footage known to exist).
*There are still a few seconds missing here: a comparison between this release and "Disc 2" of the previous "Shriek Show/Media Blasters" release reveals that, in the earlier VHS-sourced version, the shot of Anita Strindberg kneeling at Florinda Bolkan's feet lasts several seconds longer, continuing to follow her as she slowly stands up, running her hands up the inside of Bolkan's coat as she does so (on the VHS version, this shot lasts 22 seconds; in every other release, it runs for a mere 8 seconds). This piece of footage is mentioned by Professor Paolo Albiero in his discussion of the film's censorship as being removed at the demands of the Italian censor.
*The English 5.1 and mono tracks have been re-conformed to fit this longer restoration version. There are English subtitles for the Italian track as well as subs for instances of Italian audio on the English track.
(Info from - Tim Lucas/Video Watchdog):
*The following is a breakdown of some points of comparison between the new version and its predecessors, which has been assembled with the help of Shriek Show's Richard York:
2:08-2:30 The scene of Carol walking through the masses of naked people in the train's passageway has been lengthened by 22 seconds.
4:00-4:30 During the first lesbian encounter between Carol and Julia, there is an additional shot exposing Florinda Bolkan's backside as Anita Strindberg pulls the fur coat off her shoulders. This shot appeared in neither version of the film included in Shriek Show's previous release, though an abbreviated version of the shot appeared in SCHIZOID. It should be mentioned that Federal's R2 version was lacking some moments of Bolkan writhing and moaning in her bed before she wakes up, which were included in SCHIZOID.
9:08-9:18 and 9:48-10:16 During these time codes, some shots not seen in SCHIZOID -- most of which involved nudity of some sort -- were reinserted into the quick-cut montage.
10:38-11:04 The scene of Strindberg removing her top, walking toward a man and kissing him was not in Federal's R2 version but was included on their DVD as a "deleted scene." The scene was already present in SCHIZOID.
17:09-17:30 The Francis Bacon-inspired nightmare sequence in SCHIZOID omitted the shot in which a blue-faced Ely Galleani was shown to be cradling a tumult of gooey intestines spilling from her midsection, as well as much of Carlo Rambaldi's gigantic swan-thing. This material was reinserted.
17:32-19:26 As mentioned earlier, in SCHIZOID, the murder of Julia by Carol was treated to a rippling optical effect, presumably to obscure nudity and violence -- and possibly to heighten the ambiguity of whether or not it's a dream. On the Federal R2 disc, this scene cuts back and forth between rippled and non-rippled material in an effort to reincorporate footage found only in the SCHIZOID cut. The Italian master provided to Shriek Show contained the entire scene unrippled, which is what they have opted to include in their new release -- providing a wholly unobstructed view of the proceedings.
26:10-26:21 The scene of Jean Sorel, Ely Galleani and Silvia Monti walking and talking, expressing concern for Florinda Bolkan's character was not previously included in SCHIZOID or the Italian version included on Shriek Show's original release. The dialogue scene exists only in Italian and thus had to be inserted into the otherwise English-language film in Italian with English subtitles.
26:22-30:06 Immediately following the above scene is the paranoid dinner sequence during which Carol receives the phone call from her neighbor, then frantically looks for her notes. This scene was in Shriek Show's earlier standard-framed Italian version, but not in SCHIZOID.
30:24-31:19 A tense-looking Florinda is smoking cigarettes on a sofa while Silvia sits at a table. Ely brings Silvia a drink and some brief dialogue is exchanged. This nearly minute-long scene was likewise not on any previous version and had to be subtitled. This scene leads up to Florinda barging in on the crime scene.
32:17-32:24 Inserted back into the scene of Carol's visit to the crime scene were 7 seconds of her being conforted by her husband (Sorel) and a disquieting close-up of Julia's dead body.
53:53-54:06 This scene of Sorel and Monti's extramarital lovemaking was extended by 13 seconds of additional kissing and rolling around.
58:26-59:12 Finally, the infamous scene of Carol's accidental discovery of the clinic's room of conscious, vivisected dogs -- not included in SCHIZOID -- has been reinserted. - R2 France- Le Chat qui Fume - No cuts (98:48 PAL).
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R2 Italy- Federal Video - "Longer Italian version" - but not fully complete:
Compared to "Shriek Show/Media Blasters"-disc (and the "Italian version" on "Disc 2"), "Federal Video" has a few additional scenes:
*Brief lead-in to the tense dinner scene at the Hammond household (features an exchange between Sorel and Ely Galleani as they head to the table).
*Some additional footage of Carol getting anxious while Frank is over visiting the crime scene (missing is the first part, in which Galleani enters the room, sits down at the table with Silvia Monti and starts a conversation with her).
However, 2 scenes are also MISSING some material:
*The dream sequence (which features Carol murdering Julia Durer) is a combination of the US print and - where material is missing - a slightly rougher-looking (but uncut) Italian print. Scene uses a combination of "underwater" (=shorter US-version features a "underwater" effect laid over the image as part of a further attempt at optical censoring) and "non-underwater" (=original) footage, which means that a few seconds of fondling have been accidentally lost. This scene is included in its original form in the "Shriek Show/Media Blasters" -release ("Italian version" on "Disc 2").
*The sequence during the drunk-induced orgy at Julia's flat (while the Hammonds are having dinner) is missing an extended shot of a near-nude Julia (Anita Strindberg) approaching a man lying on the floor and kissing him - Much of her journey towards him, and the start of the smooching, were cut (! This applies to BOTH "Italian versions" on "Federal Video" AND "Shriek Show/Media Blasters" -releases, BUT is included in the shorter "US-version" ("Shriek Show/Media Blasters" - Disc 1). Note, that this missing shot is included as a deleted scene on both "Federal Video" and "Shriek Show/Media Blasters" -releases.
(All this research and info by Michael Mackenzie/whiggles.com). - R2 United Kingdom- Optimum Releasing - No cuts (99:33 PAL, equivalent to 103:42 24 fps). Approx 10 secs longer than Shriek Show (Remastered) - see details under that entry - sourced from the Studio Canal negative (other versions mainly sourced from MGM master of US version.)
- R4 Australia- Umbrella Entertainment - No cuts. Fully uncut (Shriek Show/Media Blasters transfer) (103:20 NTSC)
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R1 America- Media Blasters - 2 versions of the film:
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Comparison added by Jari_Kovalainen on 25/02/05
Comparison last updated by James-Masaki_Ryan on 06/08/24UPDATE LOG:
25/09/10: First attempt at R2 UK entry & revised verdict...
Please ensure you read our disclaimer.
08/09/15: R2 France added
05/05/22: Dates, tagline, co-production titles.
06/08/24: Added Asutralia.
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