SHORT NIGHT OF GLASS DOLLS (1971)
4-Disc 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray Collector's Edition
Label: Celluloid Dreams
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 96 Minutes 53 Seconds
Audio: Italian or English DTS-HD MA 1.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Dolby Vision HDR10 2160p Ultra HD Widescreen (2.39:1), 1080p HD Widescreen (2.39:1)
Director: Lado Aldo
Cast: Jean Sorel, Ingrid Thulin, Mario Adorf, Barbara Bach, Relja Basic. Luciano Catenacci, Piero Vida, José Quaglio, Jürgen Drews
Short Night Of Glass Dolls (1971), directed by Aldo Lado (Night Train Murders), is a Euro-cult mystery-thriller that opens in Prague with the discovery of a man's body at the park. The body is that of American journalist Gregory Moore (Jean Sorel, Fulci's Perversion Story), his body taken by ambulance through the streets of Prague to the city morgue where the coroner plans to autopsy the corpse. The twist is that we discover that Gregory's not really dead, somehow he is trapped inside his own body unable to speak or move, his mind racing as he tries to remember how he ended up on a cold slab in the morgue.
As he narrates the film he tries to piece together the events that landed him in his current predicament, we are told in flashback of how a few weeks earlier his Czech girlfriend Mira (Barbara Bach, The Great Alligator) disappeared, vanishing without a trace after attending a high society party hosted by Prof. Karting (Fabijan Šovagović). He alerts the authorities but in typical giallo tradition they're ineffective, concluding that she's probably just run off with another man. Unconvinced, the journalist begins his own investigation into her whereabouts, with assistance from his journalist friends Jessica (Ingrid Thulin, Salon Kitty) and Jacques (Mario Adorf, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage). As he traces her steps he begins to connect the dots between Mira's disappearance with those of other young women around the city, whose disappearances are all connected by an association tot he underground Klubb 99, where an elite society membership dabble in occult.
The film moves back and forth in time, alternating between Moore's private investigation and the medical examiner's own examination of his corpse. There's a medical angle here that seems almost science fiction in nature, with a cardiologist being called in when peculiarities about the corpse arise, such as the fact that the temperature of it has not dropped, and there are no signs of rigor mortis setting in even hours after the presumed time of death.
The film is a wonderful Eastern European thriller with plenty of giallo-style, but it's not quite the black-gloved whodunit we've come to expect from the genre, forgoing the usual black glove killer for a compelling mystery that is steeped in the corruption of elite society, obsession and occult paranoia, all wrapped up in a beautifully lensed film, photographed by Giuseppe Ruzzolini (The Nun and the Devil) and with a lush score by Ennio Morricone (Cinema Paradiso).
I always find the ending of Short Night of Glass Dolls to be a proper downbeat shocker, the whole film has this creepy vibe with an insidious occult element and corrupt members of high society, but you're really rooting for Sorel's character to pull through and come out on top in some way, and where it goes always feels like a punch right in the gut, it's a classic downer ending.
Audio/Video: Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971) arrives on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray from Celluloid Dreams, restored in 4K from the original camera negative, presented in 2160p UHD with HDR10 color-grading, framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. The source looks fantastic with hardly a blemish to report, grain is uniform and well-managed with richly detailed textures. The color-grade is significantly warmer and a tad darker than the previous Blu-ray from Twilight Time (reviewed HERE), which by comparison now looks harsh and too bright when compared with the Celluloid Dreams 4K offering. Colors are nicely suffused and deeply saturated, and I found the darker overall tone aligns with the conspiratorial vibe of the film. A couple of the scenes that take place inside Gregory's apartment at night have a blue tint to them that was not present on the TT release, and while i am unsure what is truer to the theatrical presentation I think looks terrific on the 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray from CD.
Audio on the disc comes by way of Italian and English 1.0 DTS-HD MA Mono with optional English subtitles. The Italian track is slightly more robust than the the English option, but both are solid, with dialogue being clean, crisp and natural sounding. The score from Ennio Morricone (What Have You Done To Solange?) is definitely a highlight. A nice extra is the Isolated Score which spotlights the suspenseful Morricone (A Bullet for the General) score, presented in uncompressed 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio.
Onto the extras, both the 4K Ultra HD disc and the second disc, a Blu-ray, feature the film plus a selection of extras. First up is an archival French language Audio Commentary by Aldo Lado and Federico Caddeo with English subtitles. It's solid commentary with Lado discussing shooting the film in Zagreb, stealing some shots in Prague, and the socio-political climate at the time as well as the themes of the film. We also get a second Audio Commentary by Guido Henkel from Celluloid Dreams. Like his previous commentary for Celluloid Dreams inaugural release of The Case of the Bloody Iris it's a well-researched track, he gets into how the story is influenced by Alfred Hitchcock Presents episode "Breakdown", which I have seen but need to revisit now, conflicts the director had with his cinematographer, locations and casting, and the themes of the film. Extras on disc one and two also include the 3-min Italian Trailer, 3-min English Trailer. 3-min Grindhouse Trailer, and the 3-min English Trailer (as 'Catalepsia'), and the previously mentioned Isolated Score.
Disc three is a a second Blu-ray dedicated to a wealth of special features, starting off with 101-min 'The Nights of Malastrana, a 2015 Interview with writer/director Aldo Lado', in Italian with English subtitles. In Lado discusses the genesis of the film, turning down offers from producers for others to direct it, shooting locations, and much more. In the 22-min 'The Most Beautiful Voice in the World' Interview with soprano Edda Del Orso, who feature sin the soundtrack, discusses her training and career, working in pop music and soundtracks for Italian films. The 20-min 'The Quest for Money' Interview with producer Enzo Doria, in Italian with English Subtitles. In he he discusses his acting career before turning to producing, how he mediated conflicts between Lado and the cinematographer, and his falling out with composer Morricone on another film. In the 23-min 'Cuts Like a Knife' Interview with film editor Mario Morra, in English with Optional English Subtitles, he discusses his career, editing style, and using experimental techniques on this film.
Th 30-min 'To Italy and Back' Interview with co-producer Dieter Geissler, in German with English Subtitles. He speaks about his career, funding the film, as well a some information about distribution. 'The Man on the Bridge: Philosophy, Perception, and Imprisonment in Short Night of Glass Dolls' Video Essay by Howard Berger is a 23-min interview in which Berger discusses the influence and shared themes of Kafka and The Invasion of the Body Snatchers a evidenced in the film. The last of the interviews is the 32-min 2018 Interview with writer/director Aldo Lado in Italian with English Subtitles. The bulk of this is spent discussing his early assistant director work and his last film, and not so much on his own filmography. Disc three extras are buttoned-up with the 74-image Poster and Italian Lobby Card Galleries, and the 4-min Long-lost, Export 'Malastrana' Credits Sequence.
Disc four, a third Blu-ray disc, is dedicated two 2 alternate presentations of the film, first a 35mm Grindhouse Version (97:08) and the second being a US Pan & Scan VHS version (as 'Paralyzed') (96:36). The Grindhouse Version is sourced from uncorrected 35mm positive print, and the VHS version sourced from a VHS tape with exclusive color correction. Both are interesting curios and I appreciate their inclusion here, though neither will replace the 4K UHD being my preferred version of the film.
The 4-disc UHD/BD set arrives in an oversized keepcae with 2 flipper trays housing the UHD and three Blu-ray discs. We get a Reversible Wrap with the same artwork but the title in English or Italian. Inside the keepcase we get a 2-sided insert advertising Celluloid Dreams first release of The Case of the Bloody Iris and the third release The Black Belly of the Tarantula, which I am super-stoked for. This comes housed inside a gorgeous Rigid Slipbox with a glossy finish featuring unique artwork. Inside there's a 64-page Illustrated Booklet, with 'Who Saw the Glass Dolls on the Night Train? A Retrospective of the Works of Aldo Lado by Andy Marshall-Roberts. A nicely detailed essay exploring the life and career of Aldo Lado, the themes he was fond of. The booklet also features information about the cast and crew, an exploration of Black Masses in film, and notes about the restoration, the HDR color-grade, as well as information about the grindhouse and VHS versions found on this release.
Special Features:
Disc 1: 4K Ultra HD - Feature UHD
- Audio Commentary Track by Aldo Lado and Federico Caddeo
- Audio Commentary Track by Guido Henkel
- Italian Trailer (3:08)
- English Trailer (3:07)
- Grindhouse Trailer (3:07)
- English Trailer (as 'Catalepsia') (3:09)
- Isolated Score (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
Disc 2: Blu-ray - Feature HD
- Audio Commentary Track by Aldo Lado and Federico Caddeo
- Audio Commentary Track by Guido Henkel
- Italian Trailer (3:08)
- English Trailer (3:07)
- Grindhouse Trailer (3:07)
- English Trailer (as 'Catalepsia') (3:09)
- Isolated Score (DTS-HD MA 2.0)
Disc 3: Special Features
- 'The Nights of Malastrana' 2015 Interview with writer/director Aldo Lado, in Italian with English Subtitles (1:41:09)
- 'The Most Beautiful Voice in the World' Interview with soprano Edda Del Orso, in English with Optional English Subtitles (21:45)
- 'The Quest for Money' Interview with producer Enzo Doria, in Italian with English Subtitles (20:10)
- 'Cuts Like a Knife' Interview with film editor Mario Morra, in English with Optional English Subtitles (23:45)
- 'To Italy and Back' Interview with co-producer Dieter Geissler , in German with English Subtitles (30:17)
- Retrospective Video Essay by Howard Berger (23:03)
- Long-lost, export 'Malastrana' credits (4:19)
- 2018 Interview with writer/director Aldo Lado in Italian with English Subtitles (32:32)
- Galleries: Posters (2:18), Italian Lobby Cards (2:28),
Disc 4: 35mm Grindhouse Version (97:08) & US Pan & Scan VHS version (as 'Paralyzed') (96:36)
Limited Edition Packaging:
- Rigid Slipcase
- Reversible Wrap
- 64-page Booklet with new writing from Andy Marshall
- 2-Sided Insert
Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971) is a thriller I've watched several times now, and with each subsequent viewing it's fast becoming one of my favorite non-Dario Argento gialli. Aldo Lado's film offers a stylish entry that eschews the black-gloved killer for a strange Kafka-esque paranoia with occult leanings, and a hallucinatory exploration of the corrupt power of the ruling class, it's a potent bit of commentary and it's a terrific giallo-esque thriller. Celluloid Dreams new 4K restoration is gorgeous, and the wealth of new and archival extras, and the choice packaging presentation are also quite wonderful, making this a very desirable release.
Screenshots Comparison
Top: Twilight Time Blu-ray (2018)
Bottom: Celluloid Dreams Blu-ray (2025)
More Screenshots from the Celluloid Dreams Blu-ray
Screenshots from the Celluloid Dreams Blu-ray:
Extras:
35mm Grindhouse Version (97:08)
US Pan & Scan VHS version (as 'Paralyzed') (96:36)
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