WATCH ME WHEN I KILL (1977) (Synapse Films Blu-ray Review)

WATCH ME WHEN I KILL (1977) 

Label: Synapse Films

Region Code: Region-FREE

Rating: R

Duration: 96 Minutes 

Audio: English & Italian DTS-HD MA with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080P HD Widescreen (1.85:1) 

Director: Antonio Bido

Cast: Corrado Pani, Paola Tedesco, Franco Citti, Fernando Cerulli

Antono Bido's Argento-inflected whodunit Watch Me When I Kill (aka Il gatto dagli occhi di giada) opens with nightclub dancer Mara (Paola Tedesco, Battle of the Amazons) visiting a pharmacy to pick up a prescription where she unknowingly has a close encounter with a killer hidden away behind the closed door of the pharmacy who refuses her admittance, having just murdered the pharmacist who is laying dead on the floor inside. Later she becomes the victim of a stalker who breaks into her apartment and then later attacks her in her car inside a parking garage. 

She and her boyfriend Lukas (Corrado Pani, Interrabang) begin to believe that the killer thinks she might be able to identify him and has set his sights on eliminating her. In proper giallo fashion boyfriend Lukas becomes an amateur sleuth investigating the crimes when the local cops prove typically useless, looking into a seemingly connected string of murders, hoping to identify the culprit before his girlfriend becomes the next victim.

Watch Me When I Kill has some interesting elements throughout, we get a strange series of phone calls, the prerequisite gloved killer, some oddball cabaret sequences, a sub-plot involving an escaped murderer, plus a few memorable murder set-pieces, including a frail old man strangled in a bathtub, and a woman having her face brutally shoved into a scalding pot of stew, so there's some good loony giallo elements. For my own tastes though the film lacks the style and electric kills of the Argento giallos that I crave, having been introduced to the genre with both Argento's Deep Red (1975) and The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970), films that kind of spoiled me early on when it comes to these giallo entries that are a bit tamer by comparison.  What it has going for it though is a killer with an interesting personal motive, it's not of the usual psycho-sexual variety, which I thought was actually quite fascinating. 

While it's not as artfully shot as the Argento stylish whodunits it is still a handsome looking film with lots of splashes of color and solid lensing, plus it has a terrific score from prog-rockers Trans-Europa Express that gives it a Goblin-esque feel.     

Audio/Video: Watch Me When I Kill (1977) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Synapse Films with a 4K scan of the original camera negative framed in 1.85:1 widescreen in 1080p HD. This is apparently the same 4K scan used by 88 Films for their UK Blu-ray with the The Cat's Victim title card, but with a brand new color correction performed by Synapse themselves, and they did a bang-up job on it. The image is quite wonderful, the grain structure is velvety throughout with crisp details and vibrant splashes of color. Textures in clothing and details in the close-ups of faces look fantastic, with warm skin tones and pleasing black levels. The screenshots in this review are sourced directly from the Blu-ray. 

Audio comes by way of both English and Italian DTS-HD MA Mono 2.0 with optional English subtitles. It's a crisp sounding presentation with good fidelity within the confines of a original mono dubbed presentation. The score from prog-rockers Trans-Europa Express is fantastic and can be enjoyed as an isolated music score in DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono or on the accompanying Blu-ray exclusive CD soundtrack. 

Extras on the disc include an 11-min interview with Academic Mikel Koven who gives a passionate defense of the film, highlighting the unusual motive of the killer and applauding it for actually giving clues to who the killer could be for a change, this is a carry-over from the 88 Films release. We also get a new commentary for the film from Nathaniel Thompson who gives his usually excellent observation and historical deep dive into the film and the giallo genre. 

Extras are finished-up with a trailer, TV spots, radio spot, 8-min alternate opening title sequence, plus three short films from director Antonio Bido. There's the aforementioned CD soundtrack containing the Trans-Europa Express score, and the option to watch the films with the isolated music score in DTS-HD MA.  

Reversible Italian Artwork Option

The 2-disc Blu-ray/CD combo special edition release comes housed in a sleek looking black Blu-ray keepcase with a reversible sleeve of artwork featuring both the domestic U.S. and Italian release artworks, I prefer the Italian option. The Blu-ray disc features a scene from the film on it while the CD soundtrack features an excerpt of the U.S. artwork. 

Special Features:

- U.S. Opening Title Sequence (8 min)

- Isolated Music-Only Track (DTS-HD MA)

- Original Theatrical Trailer (4 min) 

- TV Spot (1 min) 

- Radio Spots (1 min) 

- Audio Commentary by Film Historian and Author, Nathaniel Thompson

- Interview with Academic Mikel Koven on Watch Me When I Kill (11 min) 

- Three short films from director Antonio Bido: Danza Macabra (14 min), Mendelssohn Im Judischen Museum (7 min), Berlin and Marche Funebre D’une Marionette (12 min)

- Bonus CD Soundtrack by Trans-Europa Express (Blu-ray Exclusive)

Watch Me When I Kill (1977) is a minor gem of a giallo, while it lacks the more stylish lensing and visceral kills of it's Argento kin the mystery elements at it's heart are strong with some solid moments of suspense throughout. Synapse Film's special edition Blu-ray looks and sounds fantastic, with the extras adding even more value to package, making this a desirable release for euro-cult and giallo fanatics.