High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava (Blu-ray Review)

Reviewed by: Tim Salmons
Review Date: Oct 21, 2025
Format: Blu-ray Disc

Director

Lamberto Bava

Release Date(s)

1996/1997/1999/1999 (August 26, 2025)

Studio(s)

Hamster Productions/La Cinq/Reteitalia (Severin Films)

Film/Program Grade: C+
Video Grade: B+
Audio Grade: B
Extras Grade: B
Overall Grade: B+

severinfilms.com

Review

During the late 1980s, filmmaker Lamberto Bava made a series of films originally meant to be aired on Italian television, later known collectively as Alta tensione, or High Tension. Due to less restrictions on European TV productions, as well as the possibility of releasing these films internationally, they wound up containing excessive uses of gore and sexual content, and they were too much even for European television. As such, they weren’t actually seen in their native country until the late 1990s. Outside of Italy, they existed as gray market bootlegs for the most hardcore of Italian horror fanatics, that is until now. Severin Films’ High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava boxed set contains all of the films uncut on home video for the first time, including Il maestro del terrore (The Prince of Terror), L’uomo che non voleva morire (The Man Who Wouldn’t Die), Il gioko (School of Fear), and Testimone oculare (Eye Witness).

In The Prince of Terror, successful horror filmmaker Vincent Owen (Tomas Arana), the self-crowned and titular “Prince of Terror,” has a reputation for abusing and firing his employees, including screenwriter Paul Hilary (David Brandon), who’s had enough of him and vows vengeance against him. Strange things begin happening around Vincent in his every day life, and after a dinner party at his home where he and his wife Betty (Carole André) and their daughter Susan (Joyce Pitti) reside, Paul and disgruntled actor Eddie Felson (Ulisse Minervini) invade their home to terrorize and torture them, not knowing that Vincent is harboring a deadly secret. Also among the cast are Marina Viro, Virginia Bryant, Pascal Druant, and Augusto Poderosi.

Because of how absolutely bonkers it is, there’s a dream-like surrealness to The Prince of Terror. Its ultimate narrative drive is a meta commentary of sorts on the relationships between directors and screenwriters, and since screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti had tumultuous relationships with many of his collaborators, including Bava, it’s reflected in the film’s content—in which a screenwriter takes revenge against his overbearing director. It’s later revealed that Paul actually had no real power over Vincent at all, and that Vincent will be taking his own form of revenge, albeit in a gloriously over-the-top manner. Paul is then subjected to an absolutely absurd version of a Hell of Vincent’s making. Splatter effects pepper this wildly nonsensical home invasion thriller that’s akin to some of Lamberto Bava’s other gonzo horror films, including Demons, Demons 2, and Delirium, but in more of a deliriously phantasmagorical fashion.

In The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, a gang of thieves invade a wealthy man’s home to steal priceless art under the direction of Madame Janaud (Martine Brochard). One of the members of the gang, Giannetto (Gino Concari), hides one of the paintings in the garage, intending to come back for it later, but his plans backfire when he’s nearly killed while assaulting the housemaid and her tied-up husband kicks him in the back of the head. The gang, headed up by Fabrizio (Keith Van Hoven), dumps his body in the woods, and he wakes up in the hospital with partial amnesia, slowly regaining it once someone attempts to murder him. Meanwhile, Madam Janaud is none too pleased that one of the paintings is missing, tasking Fabrizio with finding it or he won’t be paid, but Fabrizio and the rest of the gang find themselves being stalked and murdered by an unknown killer.

While many will praise many of the set pieces and gore in The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, others will argue that the ends don’t entirely justify the means due to how hopelessly awful all of the leading characters are. It’s as if Bava and screenwriter Gianfranco Clerici, adapting from Giorgio Scerbanenco’s short story, set out to make a film that’s entirely devoid of sympathetic characters. It’s difficult to care about a protagonist who’s blatantly a larcenous rapist, especially when he has a loving girlfriend waiting for him to return. The giallo aspect of the story would make more sense if we believed even for a second that Giannetto might be the one behind it, but since we’re with him every step of the way, the other gang members fearing that it’s him out for revenge never really works. It’s a plot that wants to have its cake and eat it too, meaning that it wants to have complete scumbags for characters, but also side with them. Needless to say, it fails.

In School of Fear, Diana (Alessandra Acciai) is the newly-arrived teacher at the prestigious Giacomo Stuz, a private school where her predecessor died under mysterious circumstances. Overseen by the headmistress (Daria Nicolodi), the school’s children are all highly intelligent young people, but Diana begins to suspect that there may be something more sinister about them when of the students goes missing. Diana attempts to befriend them, but it goes wrong when they decide to introduce her to “The Game.” Diana also confides in Mark (Jean Hebert), a police investigator who initially doesn’t believe her claims that the children are up to no good unless she can find some kind of proof. It leads her down a very dark path, and as the students continue to taunt and terrorize her, she begins having flashbacks to her own disturbing and difficult past.

One’s appreciation of School of Fear will more than depend on their tolerance for stories about villainous children, and I’m certainly not one of them. Things aren’t helped due it never being concrete just how diabolical these children really are. It’s a little wishy-washy in that regard, ultimately petering out without a satisfying conclusion. It’s also not very clever in that you know from the jump that the children are behind all of deadly machinations, which feels like a misdirect. It’s so obvious from the start that it can’t just be that, but as it turns out, it is. The film offers some nice visuals and good performances, but rather blandly centers on the idea that outsider adults see children as nothing more than innocent angels. It’s preposterous given the lengths that they go to in order to drive Diana out of her mind. And since, as it turns out, there wasn’t an adult involved in their “Game,” School of Fear winds up as a missed opportunity.

In Eye Witness, Elisa (Barbara Cupisti) and Karl (Giuseppe Pianviti) are unintentionally locked in a shopping mall after closing time when Elisa witnesses the vicious murder of a secretary at the hands of her manager (Alessio Orano). Found by the security guard and immediately branded as suspects, Police Commissioner Marra (Stefano Davanzati) brings them in and questions them, not realizing that Elisa is blind. Since Karl already has a police record, they hold him on suspicion while putting Elisa into protective custody. Though she’s blind, she tries to convince Marra that Karl isn’t the one responsible and that she will know who the murderer is when she’s in his presence. And when the mall manager realizes that there was a witness, he sets out to find her and kill her. Also among the cast are Antonella Antinori, Francesco Casale, Loredana Romito, and Wanja Mary Sellers.

A familiar plot to anyone who’s seen a murder mystery or two, Eye Witness is as aggressive with its violence as it is erratic in its storytelling, mostly due to the relationship between Marra and Elisa. They rapidly snap back and forth between anger and tenderness and we’re meant to believe that they’re falling for each other, while Marra spends most of his time overtly frustrated. It’s tedious stuff, and difficult to get through because it’s so tonally insulting. That said, this film has an ending that is your entire price of admission, owing much to the ending of Freaks, which if you know how that film ends, you can probably guess what happens. Eye Witness is also less of a whodunit and more of “whenwilltheydoit,” or from Marra’s perspective, “howcatchem.” The villain is appropriately nasty, complete with a hidden trunk full of murderman paraphernalia, while Barbara Cupisti is charming in the leading role, which makes up for the film’s lesser qualities.

All four films were shot by cinematographer Gianfranco Transunto on 35mm film, processed photochemically, and presented in the aspect ratio of 1.66:1. Severin debuts them all on Blu-ray with 2K scans of the original camera negative, and presented on a dual-layered BD-50 discs. Across the board, each presentation is solid with only minor issues, and being that all of these films have been virtually unseen for decades, these new HD masters revelatory. Bitrates tend to sit between 30 and 40Mbps with high levels of fine detail and decent grain structures. Each film features shadowy cinematography, and the excellent contrast allows for detail, even in the deepest of backgrounds and nighttime sequences. Grain can sometimes be heavy with some speckling, but each film’s color palette offers a nice range of hues in the various environments. The opening credits for The Prince of Terror are a little rough and there are some cracked frames during Eye Witness, but the majority of these presentations are stable and clear.

Audio is included in English or Italian 2.0 mono DTS-HD Master Audio with subtitles in English SDH for the English audio and English for the Italian audio. For The Prince of Terror, the English track is the better balanced of the two, whereas the Italian track has more obvious hiss. Both tracks exhibit sibilance, as well, but the clear choice in terms of clarity and performance is the English option. For The Man Who Wouldn’t Die, the Italian track is louder while the English track has some sibilance issues. For School of Fear, the English track is louder and much more dynamic, while the Italian track is more muddled. However, both are equally clean. And for Eye Witness, the Italian track is less dynamic than the English track. In all cases, the English tracks are the preferred option, especially since they appear to be the intended audio for each film.

Severin Films’ Region-Free 5-Disc Blu-ray boxed set release of High Tension: Four Films by Lamberto Bava houses four Blu-rays and one CD in four separate black Amaray cases within hardbox packaging that opens from the top. All artwork for the box and the inserts was designed by Eric Adrian Lee. The following extras (in HD) and audio tracks are included on each disc:

DISC ONE: THE PRINCE OF TERROR (BD)

Audio Commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
The Adventure of ANFRI (16:46)
We Call Him Maestro (17:52)

Writers and film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth delve more into this period of Italian horror filmmaking more than the film itself, though they do occasionally speak about its content as it’s happening onscreen. They also make a defense for Lamberto Bava’s work, and explore screenwriter Dardano Sacchetti’s relationship with various directors. In The Adventure of ANFRI, Bava details his relationship with producer Andrea Piazzesi and the work they did together. In We Call Him Maestro, Bava talks more specifically about The Prince of Terror.

DISC TWO: THE MAN WHO COULDN’T DIE (BD)

The Scerbanenco Touch (22:17)
Stephen King Italian Style (15:24)

In The Scerbanenco Touch, Bava discusses the film’s literary origins and putting the production together. In Stephen King Italian Style, Bava briefly talks about screenwriter Dardano Saccheti before cutting to a vintage interview with Saccheti in which he discusses his career with various directors, with Bava occasionally interjecting.

DISC THREE: SCHOOL OF FEAR (BD)

The Taleof Evil Children (18:15)
Play the Game (9:45)
When Bava Met Boswell (31:56)

In The Tale of Evil Children, Bava talks about his exposure to other films and how his childhood affected him personally in regards to the film, which he’s grown to appreciate more over time. In Play the Game, screenwriter Roberto Gandus discusses being inspired by Alfred Hitchcock’s Rope and how the story for the film eventually was made. When Bava Met Boswell is a long-form interview with composer Simon Boswell about his career collaborating with Bava.

DISC FOUR: BOSWELL/BAVA (CD)

Snow (La maschera del demonio aka The Mask of Satan) (3:11)
Red Sun (Demoni 2 aka Demons 2) (3:22)
Opening Titles (L’uomo che non voleva morire aka The Man Who Wouldn’t Die) (4:38)
Main Theme (Il gioko aka School of Fear) (2:21)
Dinner (Una notte al cimitero aka Graveyard Disturbance) (2:11)
Shopping (Testimone oculare aka Eye Witness) (2:20)
Breakfast (A cena col vampiro aka Dinner with a Vampire) (3:58)
Hitch (Per sempre aka Until Death) (4:25)
Orch Chase (Le foto di Gioia aka Delirium) (1:47)
Demonica (Demoni 2 aka Demons 2) (2:06)
Sax in the Bath (Le foto di Gioia aka Delirium) (2:36)
Titles (La casa dell’orco aka The Ogre) (3:12)
Witch Burning (La maschera del demonio aka The Mask of Satan) (2:43)
One Eyed Jill (Le foto di Gioia aka Delirium) (3:47)
Imagination (Una notte al cimitero aka Graveyard Disturbance) (3:50)

This compilation offers a range of music cues by composer Simon Boswell from films made with Lamberto Bava.

DISC FIVE: EYE WITNESS (BD)

Audio Commentary with Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth
The Last Giallo (15:42)
Love Is Blind (12:26)

In their second and final audio commentary, writers and film historians Nathaniel Thompson and Troy Howarth spend more time speaking about aspects of Italian filmmakers and their work in context of the era in which it was made more than the film itself, but they do manage to highlight certain moments and talk about the cast and crew. In The Last Giallo, Lamberto Bava talks about the film’s origins, working with material involving blind people, and his cast. In Love Is Blind, actress Barbara Cupisti discusses her career briefly.

Long-time fans of Italian horror and thrillers will gladly devour High Tension, especially since none of the films have been available to seen anywhere in the world in any kind of decent quality. For that alone, this set is worthy of their attention.

- Tim Salmons

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