Product Details

• Actors: Susan Stewart, Steve Vincent (II), M.K. Evans, Vic Lance, Pat Barrington
• Directors: William Rotsler
• Format: Color, DVD, Special Edition, NTSC
• Language: English
• Region: Region 1 (U.S. and Canada only. Read more about DVD formats.)
  
• Aspect Ratio: 1.33:1
• Number of discs: 1
• Rated: Unrated
• Studio: Image Entertainment
• DVD Release Date: February 20, 2001
• Run Time: 87 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: B000056NW7
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #75,974 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
• For more information about "Mantis in Lace" visit the Internet Movie Database (IMDb)

Editorial Reviews

MANTIS IN LACE:SPECIAL EDITION - DVD Movie

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Hippy, trippy acid sleaze, March 2, 2001

By 

Withnail fan (Sydney, Australia) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mantis in Lace (DVD)

This little gem is one of the first key films to combine gore with sleaze. Groovy 60s psychedelia, go-go dancers, sexploitation and horror all beautifully photographed by Laszlo Kovacs (Easy Rider)collide in a kaleidoscope of color and LSD laden sensibilities.

The plot concerns a topless dancer, Lila (Susan Stewart)who has taken one too many acid trips. The result leaves her a murderous, psychotic sexual freak who, after making love, slaughters her lovers with two handy weapons of choice - a screwdriver and meatcleaver.

The image quality and sound are nothing short of stunning for a film of this ilk. Evidently the transfer used was from the original negative and it certainly shows.

The extras on this Something Weird disc are quite amazing. We get an alternative Mantis murder sequence, the wonderful color trip sequence to Alice In Acidland, a go-go loop called Lady in a Cage,a poster gallery with radio spots, and 100 minutes of outtakes filled with gore, sex and ultra groovy LSD visuals. To top it off there are previews for The Mad Butcher, The Curious Dr Humpp and Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks.

Something Weird have certainly delivered a wonderful release of a film that defined the underground Grindhouse movement of the 60s.

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Freak out baby!!!! Yeah!!!!!, February 28, 2001

By 

"the_raven7" (Christchurch New Zealand) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mantis in Lace (DVD)

Slow, repetitive, bland, uninteresting - I would use these words to discribe this film, but when you include Technicolor pcyhadelic LSD flip-outs where the "tripee" imagines the heads of men are watermelons and then promtly lops them off, we've got to be onto some kind of a winner!!!! This is the coolest LSD film ever made, bar maybe PSYCHED BY THE 4D WITCH, for the sheer fact that it could actually induce acid flashbacks, even for those who have never partaken of said substance. However, I wouldn't like to be on any form of Lysergic whilst viewing this monstrosity!! Also, some rather excellent frugging is in evidence throughout, also in said glaring Technicolor, as well as some pretty hideous sex scenes. Oh, and then there's that annoying theme song!!!

12 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars One Psychedelic Trip, January 23, 2003

By 

btlfan "Joseph" (Sanger, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mantis in Lace (DVD)

First of all, kudos to Something Weird Video for the Special Edition DVD release of "Mantis in Lace". SWV has done an excellent job with this DVD. I have never seen this movie before and I've wanted to buy this DVD for some time. I really love this film. I like the way it was filmed. The lighting or lack of lighting, on most of the scenes are great. The lack of lighting makes the film look like a film noir. The scenes where Lila is tripping out on acid are excellent. The colors and the geometric designs that are lighted on the actor's faces are fantastic. The director of photography, Laszlo Kovacks, has done an excellent job of capturing the psychedelic imagery to the screen. The acting is just awful, but that's what makes the film great. The movie is 87 minutes long. It was filmed between November 18-25 of 1967 and released in theaters and drive-ins in 1968. The psychedelic music sounds like early unreleased Pink Floyd recordings. It uses tapes that were cut up and then edited back together at random, backwards tapes, heavy echo, laughter, and strange music. The theme to the movie is really corny, but I found myself playing it over and over again. It's kind of like a train wreck, you don't want to look, but you know you just have to. The special edition DVD includes the original theatrical trailer of the film, an alternate psychedelic murder scene which is the same as the first murder scene, but more psychedelic designs are superimposed to the original scene. Things like fireworks going off, more geometric psychedelic designs, negative exposure of go-go girls dancing, and a fat man in a black mask holding bananas and dollar bills in his hands. The DVD also includes over 100 minutes of out takes, deleted and alternate scenes from the film. This feature doesn't have any sound, but the music and sound effect tapes from "Mantis in Lace" is dubbed in so you can hear the music and effects without the dialog. It's like having the original soundtrack on the DVD. This section also features a much longer version of the movie's theme. The funny thing is that some of the music that is in "Mantis in Lace" is also in the movie "Mondo Mod". This is because the same man, Harry Novack, produced both films. The DVD also includes The following archival short subject films:
1. Sid Davis's classic classroom scare film "LSD: Trip or Trap?"
2. "Alice Goes To Acidland"
3. "Girl in a Cage" Why this short film is added, I don't know why. It doesn't relate to the rest of the DVD.
4. A gallery of Harry Novack Exploitation movie poster art with Harry Novack radio-spot rarities.
If you want to know what an underground psychedelic/sexploitation/exploitation film is, this is the film to watch. I highly recommend it. I am very pleased with "Mantis in Lace. It's everything I thought it would be. This DVD will be played a lot on my DVD player. It's now one of my three favorite DVDs. I am not disappointed with "Mantis in Lace". This is psychedelia at its best. They don't make movies like this anymore. By the way, does anyone know what ever happened to Susan(Lila)Stewart? She's a real H-O-T-T-I-E.