Lamberto Bava is a strange bird in the world of Italian cinema. For some reason I was never able to see him as having his own unique style. More of a hack than anything else, he honed his "style" with the likes of Argento and his father Mario Bava. Lamberto never really seemed to get beyond the work he's done for his mentors. Despite all of this, I'm drawn to his films, and still enjoy most of them very much. Delirium is no exception to this rule. Appearing very late in the game as a true giallo, Delirium is really nothing more than a hodge podge of elements from more successful films from an earlier time. All said and done Delirium is still an enjoyable film on many levels. Shriek Show presents Delirium in a nicely budget priced DVD presentation with a few tantalizing extras to boot.

Gioia (Serena Grandi of The Grim Reaper) is a buxom model that works for a centerfold magazine aptly titled Pussycat. A crazed "fan" takes his/her admiration for Gioia a step too far as he/she begins to murder Pussycat magazine centerfolds one by one in some very gruesome manners. The unknown assailant takes photos of the corpses and creates disturbing collages as he/she pastes them onto sultry pictures of Gioia. All the while the suspects keep lining up, including a creepy wheelchair bound neighbor who constantly spies on Gioia, periodically phoning her for some unwelcome dirty talk.

Full of every exploitation element you can imagine, Delirium earns high marks for unlimited amounts of disturbing gore and nudity, nudity, nudity! The killer has some very creepy visions and hallucinations, and Lamberto does a great job of conveying this madness through the use of unconventional lighting schemes (ala Argento and Mario Bava) and some very bizarre makeup techniques. Special mention also goes out to the disturbing dream sequence in which Gioia is raped with a fluorescent light, outstanding! The unusual murder scenes are handled exceptionally well especially an extremely unsettling scene in which a young lady is stung to death by bees. A follow up scene in which Gioia is stalked through a department store is also handled very well and stands as one of the true highlights of the film. The film itself has a nice quick pace and features an all star European cast including Daria Nicolodi (Tenebrae, Profondo Rosso), George Eastman (Grim Reaper, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead) and David Brandon (Stagefright).

Shriek Show does a fine job of bringing Delirium home to the digital age. The transfer here is very impressive with nice bright solid colors. There is little to no print damage evident, however grain is present throughout, which may just be evidence of the films low budget origins. The price is right for this edition, so no one's complaining. Sound is presented in MONO and is less impressive. Constant pops and hiss creep through, and you'll probably find that you have to turn up the volume a bit here and there. Everything is quite audible, but the audio track could have used a bit of work. As it stands now it's mediocre but acceptable. Those of us used to some of the more recently stellar genre transfers may be a bit disappointed. This is not to say that this disc is not a total loss, because it isn't. Just keep in mind that you're not dealing with reference quality material here.

Extras include interviews with Lamberto Bava, George Eastman and David Brandon. I must say once again, that whomever is doing the actual interviewing for these Shriek Show releases needs to have their head examined. He speaks in broken Italian and it takes him forever to spit out a question. He also asks some of the most inane questions, I've ever heard. As I watch these interviews I feel it's demeaning to the interviewee. These artisans deserve much better than this. The English interviews are better, but still leave a bit to be desired. Also included is a brief text history of Delirium, a photo gallery, bios and 4 trailers for other Shriek Show releases (including Burial Ground, Sweet House of Horrors, House of Clocks and Beyond the Darkness).

Delirium isn't going to win any awards any time soon. It's also most certainly NOT a shining example of the giallo genre. What it IS however, is good fluff and most importantly a positive viewing experience. It's fun, downright dirty and outright disturbing and makes no apologies for any of this. What more could you ask for? I'd have to say that this is a satisfying release overall. The sound may be lackluster, but the video presentation looks very nice all things considered. The extras are a nice edition; it's just a shame that the actual interviews are handled so poorly. Placed in the hands of a true professional, these interviews could have meant so much more. You can't argue with a $12.99 price tag at Best Buy, at that price, you're sure to get something positive out of this release.