Death Laid an Egg (Blu-ray)

Directed by: Giulio Questi

Country: Italy / France (1968)
Running Time: 104 minutes + Extras
Region: B

See them tear each other apart. The see what they do with the pieces.

From Giulio Questi, acclaimed director of DJANGO, KILL! (IF YOU LIVE SHOOT!) comes one of the most startling and shocking Italian thrillers you will ever see. It craftily subverts conventions and transcends its genre roots with a tale of genetically modified meat, greed and murder at a rural poultry farm!

Anna (Gina Lollobrigida, TRAPEZE, BEAT THE DEVIL) and Marco (Jean-Louis Trintignant, THE CONFORMIST, TRANS-EUROP-EXPRESS) run an automated state-of-the-art facility and develop a strain of boneless, mutant chickens.

Marco appears to lead a double life as a serial killer who specialises in stabbing prostitutes to death. When Anna's amorous and alluring cousin Gabri (Ewa Aulin, CANDY, DEATH SMILES ON A MURDERER) starts a steamy affair with Marco and discovers his darker side, she plans to murder Anna and frame Marco for the crime...

Compellingly crafted, brilliant and bizarre, this is a one-of-a-kind murder mystery. It boasts a thematic depth and richness – including a savage and subversive attack on the established order – that elevates it above and beyond Italian genre cinema of the era.

This COMPLETE AND RESTORED DIRECTOR'S CUT, a home video WORLD PREMIERE, has been painstakingly restored and remastered in high-definition from the original negatives. Nucleus Films are proud to present DEATH LAID AN EGG alongside the alternate "giallo" version, together with a treasure trove of bonus special features in the definitive release of Questi's masterpiece of mystery and murder most fowl!

Special Features:

• Complete and restored 104m director's cut
• Complete and restored 91m "giallo" cut
• Italian and English 24 bit PCM Audio options
• Audio Commentary with Alan Jones and Kim Newman
• Optional English Subtitles for both versions
• Featurette 1 - Discovering Questi (20 mins)
• Featurette 2 - Sonic Explorations (24 mins)
• Archive Interview with Giulio Questi (13 mins)
• Antonio Bruschini - Film Review (5 mins)
• BBFC film cuts (1969)
• European Trash Cinema: "Death Laid an Egg" issue
• Gallery 1 - Promotional Materials
• Gallery 2 - Home Video Cover Scans
• English opening credits
• German opening credits
• English trailer
• Italian trailer + English subtitles

Cast:

Gina Lollobrigida, Jean Louis Trintignant, Ewa Aulin, Jean Sobieski, Renato Romano, Vittorio André, Giulio Donnini, Biagio Pelligra, Cleofe Del Cile, Monica Millesi, Ugo Adinolfi, Conrad Anderson, Aldo Bonamano, Rina Del Fillipo, Livio Ferraro, Mario Guizzardi, Margherita Horowitz, Barbara Pignaton, Giuliano Raffaelli, Jean Rougeul, Giancarlo Sisti, Ludmil Trifonov.

Reviews:

• DVD Drive-In
• Blu-ray.com
• Mondo Digital
• DVD Beaver
• Video Watchdog (Tim Lucas)
• House of Freudstein (John Martin)
• The Reprobate (David Flint)