When it comes to the unique definitive Renato Polselli experience of histrionics, eroticism, violence, and
sadomasochism, movies like Delirium
(1972), The Reincarnation of Isabel (1972), and even The Truth According to Satan (1972) are the best examples of Polselli films that have
created a small but loyal fanbase. These have long been some of my favorite
cult films, but I also adore the romantic black and white early Italian horror
efforts from Polselli The Vampire and the Ballerina (1960)
and The Monster of The Opera (1964).
The seed for this auteur’s characteristic style of madness and set spectacles
was planted in Monster of the Opera,
the film itself still planted in the fun dance-meets-classic-monsters gimmick
featured in Vampire and the Ballerina,
but something wildly unhinged was taking shape. The entertaining delirium, screaming
mad characters, and disorienting editing that is Polselli’s signature would essentially be fully realized in Delirium and Reincarnation, but for the longest time there was a missing piece
of the filmography that Polselli fans
were literally deprived of for many, many years, a once lost film
called Mania.
Sanitized by the
censors and given a limited theatrical run in 1974, Mania quickly disappeared and was long considered lost until a 35-mm print surfaced in 2007 in a film archive in Rome, Cinema Trevi – Cineteca
Nazionale. It was going to be released on DVD by No Shame soon after, but they
went out of business before that could happen. Miraculously a crude version of Mania showed up on YouTube without
English subtitles back in September of last year. Thankfully, just recently,
Terence linked me to a decent version with subs (which is also now on YouTube),
and I honestly now feel like a significant void in my life has been filled.
