Slaughter Hotel [Blu-ray] [1971] [US Import]

I love this film, but both copies I ordered have three segments where there's no sound at all. In the exact same spot of the film. Raro needs to take care of this problem NOW. It's a gorgeous print and I want to recommend it, but bear in mind that it seems this is problem on all discs.

“Slaughter Hotel” is a 1971 Italian horror film featuring creepy Dr. Francis Clay (Klaus Kinski), who’s in charge of an asylum for suicidal and disturbed women. There’s a team of strange doctors, unprofessional nurses and a hunky gardener ready to perform “services” to help these ladies recover. Director Fernando DiLeo introduces a mad, raving murderer, typically dressed in black and using the institution’s old-fashioned armory decoration as slashing tools, with several gruesome deaths taking place in full graphic splendor. Margaret Lee and Rosalba Neri are among the frequently unclothed cast, and there are numerous grisly murders — including decapitations — and a finale that can best be described as an orgy of blood.

Typical of Italian exploitation horror, “Slaughter Hotel” tends to use the horror genre as an excuse to parade extensive nudity. The unrated film is in English and Italian, with English subtitles.

This Blu-ray release contains deleted scenes; the featurettes “Asylum of Fear” and “Lady Frankenstein’s Memoirs;” and an illustrated booklet.

I'm a huge fan of Italian genre films of the 70's & 80's, whether it be horror, giallo, crime, action, fantasy, science fiction and, yes, sex comedies. When they are done right, they can be memorable experiences that transcend normal film watching and even if they are bad, they were still better than their American counterparts. I have always believed those that attack Italian genre films of those two decades as being "rip-offs' or "carbon copies" of American films miss the point. They may have followed the blueprints, but these films always brought something unique to the table that most U.S. films didn't dare to show, whether it be wall-to-wall nudity, simulated sex that almost crossed into X-Rated territory, graphic gore that most American horror films would take nearly a decade to catch up with and leading characters that weren't always likable. That is why when these Italian films made it to U.S. theaters, they were cut to pieces (slaughtered to Hell, if it were), missing good healthy pieces of sex, nudity and gore which made these films special in the first place, just to obtain an R-Rating. SLAUGHTER HOTEL was one of those films. When it found a U.S. theatrical distributor in 1973, it was missing over 5 minutes of footage, and when it was re-released to theaters a few years later, it was missing 10 minutes (some VHS and budget DVD versions using the title ASYLUM EROTICA were the version missing 10 minutes of footage). When SLAUGHTER HOTEL was released to U.S. theaters in 1973 (it was made in 1971), it was advertised as some sort of telling of the then-famous Richard Speck murders of eight innocent nurses, but that couldn't be farther from the truth. Which is why it is such a joy to finally see these film in their original, uncut Italian versions, thanks to DVD & Blu-Ray, so we get the full meaning of the films. The film opens with a mysterious figure in black, complete with cape, hood and gloves (a giallo staple), as we watch him break into a castle-like female clinic (actually a mental institution), where he goes into a room full of medieval weapons (don't ask me why a mental institution has a medieval weapons room, but it does!) picks up a hand axe and heads up the velvet-roped stairs. He spies a totally nude Anne (Rosalba Neri; LADY FRANKENSTEIN - 1971) writhing in bed, as the camera lovingly gives us close-ups of Anne's nether regions (while the frenetic editing of the killer's POV is shown in every direction possible, to convey his mentally off-balanced nature). Just as he is about to kill Anne, the morning alarm and lights go on, as nurses pushing trays of medication fill the hallways, forcing the unseen killer to retreat. We then witness Ruth (Gioia Desideri), who is unwillingly being driven to the "clinic" by her husband, who tells her that her doctors in Switzerland ordered her to stay a few weeks in this clinic for rest and relaxation because it has a very good recovery rate. Ruth calls it a "loony bin" and grabs the steering wheel, nearly driving her and her husband into oncoming traffic. Her husband gets control of the steering wheel in time and once they make it to the clinic, he angrily dumps her off and drives away, saying "I'll see you next week." When a male orderly tries to take her to her room, Ruth grabs a log and tries to hit him over the head, but this orderly has seen every trick imaginable and pulls the log out of her hand. Yes, Ruth has some major anger issues. As a matter of fact, every woman in this clinic, whether patient or nurse, have issues of their own. Patient Anne is a stark raving nymphomaniac (she has a long freak-out scene in the shower in the beginning of the film which leaves nothing to the imagination). Cheryl (Margaret Lee; DORIAN GRAY - 1970) tried to kill herself and her husband (Piero Nistri) wants her to be released immediately because she has power of attorney of a thriving business (My "fishiness alarm" just went off!). Mara (Jane Garret) has Daddy issues and has spent much of her young life at the clinic because her father travels all over the world. These women, and many more, are under the care of Professor Osterman (John Karlsen; THE CHURCH - 1989) and his assistant, Dr. Francis Clay (a restrained Klaus Kinski; SCHIZOID - 1980). It's also apparent that some of the nurses are lesbians and quite like their jobs, as they touch their female patients' naughty bits while giving them massages (the cameraman must really love his job because he spends an awful lot of time focusing on these naughty parts!). Things begin going into a downward spiral rather quickly when one of the nurses is beheaded by a scythe held by the black-clad killer, while nympho Anne strips naked in the greenhouse to have sex with the gardener (John Ely). He has to slap Anne several times to get her to leave because he doesn't want to lose his job (When the male orderlies find Anne, she tries to force herself on them!). We also find out that the married Cheryl may be having an affair with Dr. Clay. The killer sneaks into Ruth's bedroom, strangles, then stabs her with a medieval dagger, and cuts off her panties. The next to die is Professor Osterman's chauffeur Augusto (Fernando Cerillo; WATCH ME WHEN I KILL - 1977), who is pushed into a spiked iron maiden of Nuremberg in the Medieval Room, as his blood flows and collects at the bottom (don't worry, we'll see his impaled body later in the film). The killer then goes into Cheryl's room to murder her with a sword, but she's not there (she's with Dr. Clay), so he goes to Mara's room, but she is getting it on with dyke Nurse Helen (Monica Striebel) in some naughty bubble bath action. The frustrated killer then goes to Anne's room (where we just witnessed her doing an explicit "self-service" scene that would have automatically slapped this film with an X-Rating if left intact), where he chops her graphically with the small hand axe (but not before she tries to hit on him!). After Nurse Helen and Mara dance to music from Mara's African ancestry, they get down to some girl-on-girl action in bed (another really explicit sexual scene which would have slapped the film with an X-Rating). After they are done, Mara looks out her window, only for a crossbow bolt to come flying through the window and impale her in the neck (the bolt protrudes out of the other side). Nurse Helen screams out in terror as Professor Osterman, Dr. Clay, the gardener and the rest of the staff rush to see what is going on. Professor Osterman recognizes the crossbow bolt as coming from the Medieval Room, so he, Dr. Clay and Cheryl head there, where they discover Augusto riddled with holes (including a large one in the back of his head). Osterman also notices blood on some of the other weapons and that one of the swords is missing. So just exactly who is the killer? Is it Professor Osterman? Or Dr. Clay (don't count him out because he disappeared for a short amount of time when he was alone with Cheryl)? The gardener? How about Cheryl? The police arrive and the Inspector (Ettore Geri) wants to use Cheryl as bait for the killer's next strike. Will the killer succeed or fail? What are his motivations? I'm not going to say, but this one is pretty easy to figure out if you read the entire review. Let me just go on to say that the killer briefly escapes police custody, kills two cops and viciously murders eight to nine female patients and nurses with a medieval mace as they are cowering in a room (very brutal and unexpected), before being gunned down with at least twenty shots by the police (shown in slow motion just before the film ends). While not a great giallo film by anyone's standard, it is still a quite weird one. Director/screenwriter Fernando Di Leo (NAKED VIOLENCE - 1969; MANHUNT - 1972; MILANO CALIBRO 9 - 1972; THE BOSS - 1973; SHOOT FIRST, DIE LATER - 1974; KIDNAP SYNDICATE - 1975; THE VIOLENT BREED - 1984; KILLER VS. KILLERS - 1985), who passed away in 2003, makes some mighty strange choices in this film, which is why it is so memorable. For one, the nudity and sex goes way beyond what we here in the States would find tolerable in 1973 in a non-porn film and that is why almost all of it is missing in the R-Rated theatrical cut (The VHS, from Gorgon Video, was as close as you would get to seeing more nudity than you did in theaters, but it was still heavily edited), as cinematographer Franco Villa (MALABIMBA: THE MALICIOUS WH**E - 1979) does many close-ups of female "self-service", where nothing is left to the imagination. That was a no-no, even in R-Rated films of the 70's. Di Leo also had esoteric choices in music (by Silvano Spadaccino), as part of the film sounds like muzak from an elevator and other times it is a cacophony of percussions and other loud sounds, followed by seconds of extreme silence and then loud sounds again (I first thought that there was something wrong with the pressing of my Blu-Ray, but learned quickly that it was intentional). Editor Amedeo Giomini (CROSS CURRENT - 1971) also spastically cuts the film in weird angles, as each woman seems to be having strange nightmares about things that happened at the clinic. If you pay close enough attention, you will spot the killer way before the police do (Di Leo uses Kinski as a red herring to good effect). If you like your films full of explicit sex, nudity and graphic violence, you can do no better than this film, which bears the original Italian title "La Bestia Uccide A Sangue Freddo" (translated as "The Beast Kills In Cold Blood"). The film is in English, but if you decide to watch it with optional English subtitles, you will notice some of the character's names change in the subtitles than what they actually say on-screen. Also known as COLD BLOODED BEAST. Totally worth buying for your library. Also starring Sandro Rossi, Giulio Baraghini, Lina Franchi and Carla Mancini. Available on uncut Blu-Ray from Raro Video in a beautiful 2.35:1 widescreen print, the only true way to watch it. This version is Not Rated for so many reasons.

Just have a question what is the showing time of movie? Is it the full length or cut version?

great film and service