A QUIET PLACE TO KILL (1970)
from
THE COMPLETE LENZI BAKER GIALLO COLLECTION
from
THE COMPLETE LENZI BAKER GIALLO COLLECTION
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 94 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: Italian & English DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Cast: Carroll Baker, Jean Sorel, Luis Dávila, Alberto Dalbés, Marina Coffa
The third Lenzi/Baker collaboration sees Carroll Baker starring a gorgeous but down on her luck racecar driver named Helene, who is sidelined after she crashes her car on the track, which erupts into flames. She largely comes away unscratched, but takes a impromptu holiday to the Mediterranean after being invited by Constance (Anna Proclemer,
Illustrious Corpses), the current wife of her ex Maurice (Jean Sorel, Short Night of Glass Dolls), who is a sugar-mama that keeps Maurice in the lap of luxury.
Soon after arriving we're treated to some violent flashbacks to the relationship of Helene and Maurice, indicating she suffered at his hands at one time, but she is nonetheless attracted to him. She is also secretly approached by Susan who offers her a large sum of money to help her kill lothario Maurice, realizing that both have suffered at his hands.
The plan is to murder him with a speargun while the trio cruise the Mediterranean on her sailboat, but as so often happens things don't quite go off as planned, with Susan ending up at the bottom of the sea tied to an anchor! Matters are complicated when a family friend Dr. Webb (Alberto Dalbés, The Devil Came from Akasava) happens upon the scene in his own sailboat, forcing Maurice to overturn his own boat to cover-up the murder. Add to that the arrival of Constance's teenage daughter Susan (Marina Coffa), who further complicates things with her suspicions.
A Quiet Place To Kill again is more of an intricate thriller than a black-gloved whodunit, we know whodunit, but the joy of it is in the duplicitous twists and turns it takes, a labyrinth of sex, betrayal and intrigue, all happening at a gorgeous seaside location. There's also the added bonus of a thrilling mountainside car ride with Helene rocketing at dangerous speeds around hair-pin turns, her high-speed driving figuring prominently into the the finale.
Audio/Video: A Quiet Place To Kill (1970) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films as part of their 6-disc limited edition The Complete Lenzi Baker Giallo Collection. Sourced from an existing HD master the film is presented in 1080p HD and framed in the original scope aspect ratio with the alternate 'Paranoia' title card. Clarity and fine detail are strong, the grain is well-managed, and colors are fantastic looking throughout. Audio comes by way of both English and Italian DTS-HD MA mono with optional English subtitles, dialogue sounds crisp and the score from Gregorio García Segura (Black Venus) is well-balanced.
Supplemental stuff begin with an audio commentary with Author & Critic Samm Deighan, which I have not yet had a chance to listen to, but I expect good things. We aso get a 10-min 'Sex and Conspiracy', an interview with the late director Umberto Lenzi talks about shooting in Spain, the Spanish cast, how the film is very similar to Orgasmo and So Sweet.. So Perverse, and shooting in the house of a deceased billionaire and what a magnificent location it was. He also gets into the reception of the previous films, and then into this one, including going in-depth on how they filmed the high-speed mountainside car scenes and the fantastic drive-off the cliff, taking pride in his artisenal practical effects in a time before it would have been digitally. Also carried over from the So Sweet... So Perverse doisc is the 6-min Ernesto Gastaldo interview. The disc is buttoned-up with a 2-min Alternate Credit Sequence, a 27-sec Alternate Clothed Scene, a brief 10-sec Deleted Scene, a 2-min trailer and a 1-min Easter Egg of newsreel footage.
The single-disc release comes housed in a black keepcase with a single-sides sleeve of artwork. This film accompanies three others as part of Severin Films's The Complete Lenzi Baker Giallo Collection, housed inside a wonderfully eye-catching and nicely designed rigid slipbox that has some serious shelf appeal.
Special Features:
- Audio Commentary with Author & Critic Samm Deighan
- Sex and Conspiracy - Interview with Director Umberto Lenzi (11 min)
- Equilateral Triangle - Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi on Lenzi (6 min)
- Alternate Credit Sequence (2 min)
- Alternate Clothed Scene (27 sec)
- Short Deleted Scene (10 sec)
- Easter Egg (1 min)
- Trailer (2 min)
A Quiet Place To Kill (1970) has taut direction from Lenzi, as well as befitting from a screenplay co-written by Bruno Di Geronimo (What Have You Done To Solange?) and Marcello Coscia (Let Sleeping Corpses Lie), and it's gorgeously shot by Guglielmo Mancori (Wild Beasts). This is a giallo firing on all cylinders from the get-go, making it my favorite of the Lenzi/Baker films. The film is available as part of Severin's 6-disc limited edition The Complete Lenzi Baker Giallo Collection, so order now or you're missing out giallo fans.
More screenshots from the Blu-ray:
