Label: Severin Films
Duration: 95 Minutes
Region Code: All
Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English & Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Sergio Martino
Cast: George Hilton, Edwige Fenech, Ivan Rassimov
Sergio Martino's stylish and surreal giallo-shocker All The Colors of the Dark (1972) opens with a wild nightmare sequence that wouldn't seem out of place in a Fellini film, with zooming and kaleidoscopic images of a drag queen queen and a nude pregnant woman on an examination table. This introduces us to the main character of Jane Harrison (giallo royalty Edwige Fenech, Blade of the Ripper), a somewhat hysterical woman who after miscarrying her unborn child has been plagued by recurring nightmares, these visions include the aforementioned surreal stuff plus ultra, blue-eyed killer (Ivan Rassimov, Eaten Alive), whom we are told is the man guilty of murdering her mother years earlier.
The nightmares have begun affecting her in many ways, not the least of which is her sex life lover Richard (George Hilton, Blade of the Ripper), who suggest some concentrated vitamin pills as a cure for her mental ailments. Meanwhile her sister Barbara (Nieves Navarro, The Big Gundown) implores her to see her psychiatrist Dr. Burton (George Rigaud, Eyeball), but the psycho-babbler doesn't seem to help all that much either. At her rope's end Jane eventually meets a new friend by way of neighbor Mary Well (Marina Malfatti, The Red Queen Kills Seven Times) who after learning of her problems suggests that she attend a black mass, which sure, sounds like a great idea!
At the black mass she meets the long, blue-fingered cult leader who commands her to drink the blood of a sacrificed dog and join in on a sex orgy, which she does, naturally, it was the 70 after all. The next day she's not sure if she was at the orgy or if it was all imagined, but either way it does seem to have improved her sex life, but the nightmares become even more pronounced, and she begins to see the blue-eyed killer stalking her on the streets with increased frequency. As her sanity begins to crumble she loses her ability to distinguish reality from her nightmares, eventually being indoctrinated into the cult after murdering a willing participant, and then things get even weirder.
All The Colors of the Dark has had a good reputation for years, when I first started sifting my way through the cycle of gialli films after discovering DariO Argento's seminal entries I wasn't all that impressed with it. I thought it dragged, and Fenech was a bit too much of a damsel in distress for my tastes, but it's a film that has grown on me with each viewing. Set in London the film has some Gothic trappings that set it apart from the usual black-gloved whodunit, in fact there is no black gloved killer here,we have a blue-eyed man, which is pretty cool. Also setting it apart are the occult elements, which were not unheard of in the genre, you need look no further than the criminally underrated Short Night of Glass Dolls (1971) which arrived a year earlier. Also differentiating it is a more overt supernatural element with the theme of precognition which adds another dimension to the proceedings.
Edwige Fenech is radiant as ever here, her films with Martino are among my favorites, she's simply a stunning woman, those eyes draw you right in. She's sultry and has a voluptuous body that Euro-cult dreams are made of, it's always a pleasure to see her in the buff and this film doesn't disappoint in that regard. She's a bit more of damsel in distress here than I am used to seeing, calling out for her lover throughout the film, hysterical and paranoid, but that's the character she plays. Hilton is his usual charming self, another regular collaborator with director Sergio Martino, often paired with Fenech in numerous films.
Audio/Video: All The Colors of the Dark (1972) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films with a new 4K scan from the original camera negative, presented in 1080p HD and framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. Having only previously watched this on the Shriek Show DVD I can say that the image is quite an improvement. Colors looks solid, skin tones look more accurate and natural, the black levels are pleasing and there's more detail visible.
Audio comes by way of English and Italian DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono with Optional English subtitles for both the English and Italian tracks, with some slight but notable differences in translation. The English track is more robust to my ears, both are clean and nicely balanced, the score from Bruno Nicolai (The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave) is fantastic.
Severin have included a terrific set of extras, beginning with the shorter 88-min U.S. cut of the film with the title 'They're Coming To Get You' presented in standard definition and cropped widescreen at 1.85:1, with lossy audio. It's a cool extra for completest, I wasn't very fond of it myself in it's abbreviated form.
The film also gets an audio commentary courtesy of Katt Ellinger, author of 'All the Colors of Sergio Martino" and co-host Daughters of Darkness podcast. Ellinger always gives good commentaries, this one is insightful, loaded with info about Martino's filmography, focusing on his career more so than anything screen specific.
Sergio Martino shows up for a brand new 40-min interview discussing the film, giving lots of credit to screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, describing how he wanted to something more surreal with this giallo as apposed to his others, and how that was not well received in Italy. This interview is in Italian with English subtitles.
There's also a 32-min interview with actor George Hilton intercut with Italian horror expert Antonio Tentori. Hilton speaks about his early career and becoming a spaghetti western star, while Tentori speaks about the giallo cycle and how this film influences many other, in Italian with English subtitles.
The last of the interviews is with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi who discusses his career, collaborations with Sergio Martino and his thoughts on this film in particular, in Italian with English subtitles.
This 2-disc Blu-ray/CD release comes housed in a spiffy looking black Blu-ray keepcase with a one-sided sleeve of artwork, which looks to be a slight variation on an original Italian movie posters, the Blu-ray discs features the same key art. The CD soundtrack included features an image of Edwige Fenech from the black mass orgy. Inside the keepcase you will find a glossy index-card sized track listing for original motion picture soundtrack, this being the expanded 29 song soundtrack version. I always prefer a separate CD fr soundtracks as opposed to isolated score, I can't easily rip a Blu-ray score onto my iPod or play it on my stereo, so I appreciate when Severin offers these!
Special Features:
- They're Coming To Get You- Alternate US cut (88 mins)
- Color My Nightmare- Interview with Director Sergio Martino (40 min)
- Last of The Mohicans- Interview with screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi (18 min)
- Giallo is the Color- Interviews with actor George Hilton and Italian horror expert Antonio Tentori (32 min)
- Audio Commentary with Kat Ellinger, author of All the Colors of Sergio Martino
- Theatrical Trailers (3 min)
- International Trailer (3 min)
- They're Coming To Get You TV Spot (1 min)
- CD Soundtrack (78 min) (29 Tracks)
Severin have brought us a gorgeous presentation of All The Colors of the Dark (1972) on Blu-ray, a very good giallo that sets itself apart from the standard black-gloved thriller with a delerious, psychedelic cult element that's not only stylish, but offers a pleasing eyeful of giallo-queen Edwige Fenech in all her glory, highly recommended.
