Comparison of the Greek VHS from HVH (Home Video Hellas) with the US Blu-ray of Vinegar Syndrome.

Blood Delirium

Out of nowhere, pianist Sybille gets an intuition that she is connected to a woman named Christine in an invisible way. At an exhibition Sybille meets the painter Simon and learns from him that she looks exactly like his wife Christine, who died a year ago. Simon invites her to join him at his remote castle so that Sybille can act as his new muse. What Sybille doesn't suspect is that Simon has dug up his wife's body and, together with his servant Hermann, needs the blood of young women to paint extraordinary pictures from it. Sybille is trapped in a terrible nightmare....

Blood Delirium is the penultimate film of Sergio Bergonzellil, who has already made strange films with Folds of the Flesh or Cristiana Devil Nun, among others, but with Blood Delirium he gives it his all once again and takes us into a world of madness, blood, guts and necrophilia. We have the great John Phillip Law in the role as a crazed painter who can't get over the death of his wife and paints pictures of blood in his madness. He is joined by ex sword-and-sandal movie star Gordon Mitchell, who was not too shy for any role offered to him in the latter half of his career, in the role of a chronic rapist with a penchant for necrophilia and a taste for human flesh. For that alone, the film is worth the money. In a supporting role is porn actress Olinka Hardiman, who as Christine's friend willingly walks into a more than obvious trap to eventually end up on a screen. At this point the often self-purposed nude scenes should be noted, which are contrasted with the extremely bloody gore scenes. In addition, there are a lot of weird ideas, like the mystical relationship between Sybille and Christine or a clumsy attempt by Christine's friend Gerard to sneak into the castle. Believe me, an absolute highlight from the late phase of Italian genre cinema. Definitely watch it.

Uncensored original version released on Blu-ray

Blood Delirium is one of those films that was a bit hard to see. While there were various VHS releases in Greece, Italy and Spain, for example, finding them was not always easy. For its theatrical release in Italy, the film already had to be censored by some scenes that were too crude. This shortened version was sold worldwide and served as the basis for the various VHS releases.

On November 29, 2022 (in direct sales already earlier) Blood Delirium was released in the US by Vinegar Syndrome on Blu-ray. Included here for the first time is the original uncut version of the film in superb picture and sound quality. This is incredible to finally see such an obscure, weird film in the best HD quality and then also in the full cut version. This release is worth every penny. Highly recommended!

Image comparison:

Greek VHS (HVH):

US Blu-ray (Vinegar Syndrome):

Runtimes:

Greek VHS (HVH): 87:13 (PAL)
US Blu-ray (Vinegar Syndrome): 94:02 Min. (Film)

[00:11:43][00:12:15]

We see Hermann kissing the private parts of the dead Christine.

BD: 5 sec


[00:11:51][00:12:29]

After Simon is seen at the organ, we cut once again to Hermann caressing Christine's private parts.

BD: 4 sec


[00:42:58][00:45:01]

Hermann continues to press Yvonne against the stall in the stable. He pulls her panties down and starts to rape her.

BD: 13 sec


[00:42:59][00:45:15]

After the short cut to Simon, Hermann and Yvonne are seen earlier in the stable.

BD: 6 sec


[00:43:18][00:45:40]

Hermann continues to rape the lifeless Yvonne after stabbing the knife into her.

BD: 7 sec


[00:44:43][00:47:15]

Hermann comes to Simon with a bucket of water, holding the dead Yvonne in his hands. Simon looks at his bloody hands and thinks that this is exactly the color he was looking for. He takes the dead Yvonne in his arms and is happy to have found the color. Hermann rinses away the blood on the floor with the water.

In the next scene, naked Yvonne was tied upside down in a rack. Simon slits her wrists on her arms. He catches the gushing blood in glasses and bowls.

BD: 56 sec


[00:48:16][00:51:53]

Sybille turns her head to the side when she sees Hermann cutting up Yvonne's body. When she looks up again, she sees Hermann holding Yvonne's intestines in his hands after cutting her torso.

BD: 8 sec


[00:48:21][00:52:07]

After Hermann has fed the dog with the intestines, Sybille sees Hermann putting more of Yvonne's intestines on a grill.

BD: 13 sec


[00:48:32][00:52:31]

Before the dog is seen, the Blu-ray shows Hermann spearing the grilled intestines with a knife and eating it with salt. Sybille observes him doing this.

BD: 21 sec


[00:48:34][00:52:54]

After the cut to the dog, we see once again Hermann eating the intestines.

BD: 2 sec


[00:51:18][00:55:48]

Hermann pushes Sybille's top up. He kisses her breasts and her upper body. Then he pulls her panties down and lays over her.

BD: 16 sec


[00:58:17][01:03:21]

Simon opens the wrists of the dead Corinne on both arms.

BD: 13 sec


[01:01:54][01:07:20]

Hermann continues to cut open the belly of Corinne's corpse. He removes the intestines and throws them into a bucket.

BD: 20 sec