Company: Arrow Video
Director: Andrea Bianchi
Year: 1975
Genre: Giallo
Discs: 1
Special Features:
Audio Commentary-Adrian J. Smith and David Flint
Featurette-Sex and Death with a Smile (Video Essay on Edwige Fenech)
Interview-A Good Man for the Murders (Nino Castelnuovo)
Interview-The Blonde Salamander (Erna Schurer)
Interview-The Art of Helping (Assistant Director Daniele Sangiorgi)
Interview-Jack of All Trade (Production Manager Tino Polenghi)
Trailers
Image Gallery
As for the Disc-
Video: ****1/2/5The film is presented with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. This is a massively worthwhile upgrade over the old Blue Underground print which was soft and filled with grain, as instead this offers up a richer, warmer palette that offers a far more realistic series of flesh-tones and background colors. While still containing some form of grain which is to be expected considering the age of the film and the film-making limitations of the time, the detail level is still impressively high and manages to imbue the film with some standout images including a rather ingenious opportunity to see the opening abortion with either the original blue tint or with more natural colors. Overall, another strong and impressive visual package here.
This one features nice-sounding LPCM Mono tracks in either the original Italian or the popular English dub. Aside from the obvious differences in voices, there really isn't any noticeably substantial changes in amplitude or overall mix levels, so your preference will probably come down to whether or not reading subtitles bugs you. This also allows the jazzy Blaxploitation-style score of Berto Pisano ample room to work as it resonates cleanly and with considerable sonic energy on the low end. Nothing here will really blow you away, but it serves as a wholly appropriate and effective for this type of film.
First up is a fine if somewhat chatty commentary by Adrian J. Smith and David Flint. They have stellar stories to tell about the film's production history and some biographical information on the performers as they appear on-screen, and the wide-array of stories told her provide listeners with a stellar amount of newfound information to come out of the talk. They sometimes talk over each other due to trying to start up on the same stories but there's far more to get out of it's inclusion here as this is decidedly a fine point for fans to look into.
Also on tap in the extras is a superlative video essay by Kat Ellinger on Edwige's career in giallo and sex comedies. Running through the precursors to her appearance in the genre to how she became the undisputed queen of the genre, this stellar overview of how she came to be known for her work in both genres is a great mix of clips from the films and still-shots as Kat exposes some of the finest and most well-researched biographical information about her as well as incredibly profound analysis of why she came to be known in the role. It's the next best thing to having her on the disc itself.
Lastly, there's four interviews conducted, first up is an archival interview with Nino Caselnuovo where he goes over his acting career and history with directors Lucio Fulci and Alfredo Giannetti as well as working on the film itself. Actress Erna Schurer is also included, discussing her early career in the genre as well as her contributions to the film including the infamous attempted rape scene her character goes through. Assistant Director Daniele Sangiorgi gets the longest extra, an exhaustive overview of his career filled with varied stories and recollections from his decades-long career which is almost worth the price of the disc alone. Lastly, Production Manage Tino Polenghi gets the spotlight to recount some of his memories and experiences working on the film and in the Italian genre scene at the time. Rounding out the list is several trailers and a robust image gallery featuring numerous stills and poster artwork for the film.
A booklet containing new writing on the film is also included in the package but was not provided for review.
A standout version of one of the genre's most beloved and lurid titles, this is one of the finest presentations in Arrow's gluttony of gialli titles which is getting more and more impressive as time goes on. This is well-worth the upgrade for fans of the film or those that are curious about it, while those not sold on this one really have no excuse for picking up this stellar package from Arrow especially with the strong technical aspects of the disc.
To order the film: LINK.
Comments
Post a Comment