SO SWEET… SO PERVERSE (1969)
from
THE COMPLETE LENZI BAKER GIALLO COLLECTION
Label: Severin Films
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 93 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-Louis Trintignant, Erika Blanc, Horst Frank, Helga Liné
Director Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox) and star Carroll Baker (Baba Yaga) quickly re-teamed following the success of Orgasmo (1969) with the giallo thriller So Sweet... So Perverse (1969). Written by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (Torso) the film centers around a cheating husband Jean Reynaud (Jean-Louis Trintignant, Death Laid An Egg) who is in a loveless marriage with his none-too-loving wife Danielle (Erika Blanc, The Devil's Nightmare). His latest sexual dalliance is with a woman named Danielle (Carroll Baker, The Sweet Body of Deborah) who has just moved into the penthouse apartment in his apartment building. Danielle's a bit fragile, having just been released from the mental hospital following a mental breakdown, and living in fear of her sadistic boyfriend Kalus (Horst Frank, Cat O' Nine Tails).
As Jean spends more time with Danielle they begin to fall in love, with Jean announcing to his increasingly displeased wife that he plans to divorce her to marry Danielle, which triggers an unexpected murder and a tasty double-cross that leaves fear and paranoia in it's wake. This entry is a bit more stylish in it's design and cinematography than lenzi's previous giallo Orgamso (1969), the visuals are more opulent and artful, and this time around we even get a briefly seen black-gloved killer, though it's still quite restrained in regard to it's violence. There is a healthy amount of sexuality and nudity on display though, courtesy of Baker and Blanc, but it's not as sexually aggressive as Orgasmo (1969).
Again we have a stylish giallo from Lenzo with a great cast along with the savory twists and turns you'd expect from a late 60's era giallo, it's not quite as pulpy as something like Bava's Blood and Black Lace (1964), and it's not as visceral as what Argento would bring to the Italian whodunit with The Bird With The Crystal Plumage
(1970), but it is stylish with strong performances and a strong nod to Diabolique (1955).
Audio/Video: So Sweet... So Perverse (1969) arrives on region-free Blu-ray with a new 2k scan of the original camera negative, presenting the film in 1080p HD framed in the original 2.35:1 scope aspect ratio. The source is in fantastic shape, some of the darker scenes bring out chunkier looking grain, but overall the colors are superb, the black levels are deep and the image had a nice filmic appearance. Audio comes by way of both English and Italian DTS-HD MA mono with optional English subtitles, everything sounds crisp, clean and well-balanced, and the lounge score, including the poppy title track "Why?", from Riz Ortoloan (Cannibal Holocaust) is terrific.
Extras kick-off with an audio commentary with Kat Ellinger, Author of 'All The Colors Of Sergio Martino', who lays on the appreciation for Lenzi, making the case for a reassessment of his work based on these under seen early giallo thrillers, and I am in total agreement. We also get the 9-min 'Lenzi's Lenses', an interview with the late director film backstage at the 1999 Nocturno Film Festival, in which he discusses what works and what doesn't work for him in the film, the influence of Samuel Fuller and Donal Siegel among others on his own career, discussing his other films like From Hell To Glory (1971), the unexpected success of Cannibal Ferox and Paranoia in America, and the Italian success of Violent Naples.
In the 6-min 'Equilateral Triangle' screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi remembers Lenzi from their days at film school as a jovial guy who always cracking jokes, but when they reconnected professionally years later he was a different man altogether, an irritable man who often mistreated those working under him, which lead to some bad blood between the pair. He gets into writing the screenplay, and churning out one giallo after the other, and how he approached that, starting off by finding a way to solve the plot device, and his love of ambiguous endings, being particularly inspired by Henri-Georges Clouzot' Diabolique (1955). The disc is buttoned-up with a pair of 3-min trailers for the film and a 8-min Easter Egg of newsreel footage highlighting Carroll Baker.
The 2-disc Blu-ray/CD release comes housed in a black keepcase with a single-sides sleeve of artwork, inside are the Blu-ray and CD discs accompanied by a postcard sized insert with the track listing for the 27-song CD soundtrack. 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 Kat Ellinger, Author of 'All The Colors Of Sergio Martino'
- Lenzi's Lenses - Backstage Chat with the Director at The 1999 Nocturno Film Festival (9 min)
- Equilateral Triangle - Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi on Lenzi (6 min)
- Trailers (6 min)
- Alternate Credit Sequence (2 min)
- Easter Eggs (8 min)
- CD: So Sweet... So Perverse & A Quiet Place To Kill Remastered Soundtracks Plus Bonus Track: Knife Of Ice (Main Title Theme) (26 Songs, 49 min)
So Sweet... So Perverse (1969) is light on violence and bloodletting but leans heavy into the psychological fervor that giallo excelled at, and it makes for quite a thrilling ride. It's a gorgeous film with fantastic looking Parisian locations, stunning looking women and some tasty double-crossing plot machinations that will leave your head spinning. Right now this is only available as part of Severin's 6-disc limited edition The Complete Lenzi Baker Giallo Collection, a set that has really made re-think what sort of director Umberto Lenzi was.
More Screenshots from the Blu-ray:
