DEATH LAID AN EGG (1968)
Region Code: Region-Free
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 105 Minutes, 91 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)
Audio: English & Italian LPCM 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles
Director: Giulio Questi
Cast: Jean-Louis Trintignanr, Gina Lollobrigida, Ewa Aulin
Avant-garde giallo Death Laid An Egg (1968) is a bit of an odd-duck, or perhaps more correctly, it's a bit an odd-chicken when compared to other giallo flicks, if it is even a giallo at all, which is questionable depending on how you view it. In it have a married couple Marco (Jean-Louis Trintignant, So Sweet... So Perverse) and his wealthy wife Anna (Gina Lollobrigida, Beat The Devil), both of whom co-run a high-tech chicken farm/processing plant. Business is good and life seems grand from the outside but Marco has a growing resentment against purse-string controlling wife.
The way it all comes to a close is a fun bit of double and triple--crossing that doesn't quite work out the way any of the guilty parties had originally intended, but yet it still somehow serves a strange comeuppance to all that deserved it. Death Laid An Egg is definitely one of the strangest Italian whodunit entries I have ever seen, with Questi having fun turning the genre on it's head, much the same way he did with his violent and surreal spaghetti western Django Kill... If You Live, Shoot!.
Audio/Video: Death Laid An Egg (1968) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Cult Epics utilizing the superior Nucleus Films 2K HD Masters that were used for their 2018 UK release. Cult Epics present both the longer running 105-minute director's cut and the shorter 91-minute international giallo version in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. Both cuts are sourced from the original 35mm negative with the director's cut also integrating additional elements from a 35mm release print. The image is natural looking with healthy amounts of grain with some appreciable depth and clarity. The colors look accurate and well-saturated for the most part, though there is a bit of softness that creeps in from time to time, perhaps from the 35mm release print footage that's been used in the director's cut, but it's not ruinous by any means. Additionally the skin tones look warm and life like with solid black levels throughout, it's a solid presentation.
Back at home Anna's sexpot cousin Gabri (Ewa Aulin, Death Smiles on a Murderer) moves in with the couple, and soon after she and Marco begins an affair, which evolves into a plot to kill his wife. What Marco does not know is that Gabri and her secret-husband Mondaini (Jean Sobieski, Perversion Story) are themselves plotting to frame him for the murder of his wife in a plot to inherit her fortune and gain control of their lucrative chicken empire.
This is a strange flick all the way around and you get that right from the opening credits which set against a series of microscopic images of a chicken-embryo to the tune of abrasive avant-garde score, then we go straight into a montage of the various inhabitants at the roadside motel as we peek in on what the various inhabitants are up to, including that of Marco who is seen seemingly slashing a prostitute to death with a blade while a stranger watches on from the window unseen. Questi has an interesting eye, it's a stylishly shot film and capably photographed by cinematographer Dario Di Palma (The Seduction of Mimi), which to me brought to mind the aesthetic of Lucio Fulci's Perversion Story more so than anything from Mario Bava or Dario Argento. The setting on the chicken farm seems unique to say the least, even the business offices are festooned in drawings and sculptures of chickens and eggs, and then there's a bizarre ad campaign pitched by a corporate ad-man that involves illustrating chickens activities of people, which seems an odd way to sell poultry to me.
Another exciting if bizarre element is a rare dash of science fiction thrown into this giallo mix, the chicken farm is high-tech and experimental with a staff scientist working on ways to maximize efficiently. One of these failed experiment results in grotesque featherless chicken without heads or wings and pulsing with veins, it's a horrific sight, so disturbing that and repulsive that Marco ends up killing the vile thing, the whole scene has a very unsettling David Lynch-ian Eraserhead vibe about it. The flick also doesn't have the typical body count of a later Italian whodunits, but it is full of disturbing images such as the aforementioned mutant poultry, as well as the accidental death of a dog who falls into the chicken feed processing machinery, and then an extended sequence showing the real-life processing of chickens, which is absolutely stomach churning to watch.
Audio/Video: Death Laid An Egg (1968) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Cult Epics utilizing the superior Nucleus Films 2K HD Masters that were used for their 2018 UK release. Cult Epics present both the longer running 105-minute director's cut and the shorter 91-minute international giallo version in 1080p HD framed in 1.85:1 widescreen. Both cuts are sourced from the original 35mm negative with the director's cut also integrating additional elements from a 35mm release print. The image is natural looking with healthy amounts of grain with some appreciable depth and clarity. The colors look accurate and well-saturated for the most part, though there is a bit of softness that creeps in from time to time, perhaps from the 35mm release print footage that's been used in the director's cut, but it's not ruinous by any means. Additionally the skin tones look warm and life like with solid black levels throughout, it's a solid presentation.
Audio on the disc comes by way of both the original Italian language and an English-dub, both in PCM 2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. Both options are clean and well-balanced, dialogue is cleanly reproduced and I didn't detect any issues with hiss or distortion. The sometimes confrontational score from Bruno Maderna, who died the same year the film was released from lung cancer, gets a solid showing on both options as well.
Onto the extras we get a brand new audio commentary with Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson who off by getting most of their egg-cellent puns out of the way right up front, then getting into the film proper noting it's distinction as a once rare film that was hard to come by, let alone in a decent uncut version. They also comment on the more unique aspects, such as editing and score, that set it apart, along with plenty of conversation about the cast and crew. We also get a five-minute review of the film by Italian critic Antonio Bruschini who looks like they caught him in an alleyway behind the cinema after a drink or two, which is great. He talks about Questi's deconstructionist style, how his surreal cinema pre-dated the arrival of avant-garde filmmakers like David Lynch, and of how the film was later cut down by about twenty minutes to keep the film in line with more contemporary giallo cinema of the time. There's also a thirteen-minute archival interview with the late director who speaks about the Italian film industry in the 60's and 70's, shooting documentaries, acting in his own films, learning his craft and the philosophy behind his editing style. We also get the fifteen-minute short film Doctor Schizo and Mister Phrenic (2002) by the director and starring himself, and the disc is buttoned-up with both the English and Italian trailers for the film.
The single-disc release arrives in a clear keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, both sides featuring the same original Italian movie poster artwork, but the reverse side features the Italian language title credits, the disc itself features the same key artwork. This limited edition of 2000 release also includes a slipcover with the same artwork utilizing fluorescent inks that gives the cover and spine a nice pink pop.
Special Features:
- 2K HD Transfer (from original 35mm negative) of Director’s cut version in English and Italian language (105 mins)
- Audio Commentary on the Director's Cut by Troy Howarth (Author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films Vol. 1, 2, 3) and Nathaniel Thompson (Author of DVD Delirium and founder of Mondo Digital)
- 2K HD Transfer (from original 35mm negative) of Director’s cut version in English and Italian language (105 mins)
- Audio Commentary on the Director's Cut by Troy Howarth (Author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films Vol. 1, 2, 3) and Nathaniel Thompson (Author of DVD Delirium and founder of Mondo Digital)
- 2K HD Transfer (from original 35mm negative) of alternate International “Plucked” version in English and Italian language (91 mins)
- Review by Italian Critic Antonio Bruschini (6 min) HD
- Giulio Questi: The Outsider – the last interview 2010 (13 min) HD
- Doctor Schizo and Mister Phrenic (2002) Short film by Giulio Questi (15 min) HD
- English Trailer (4 min) HD
- Review by Italian Critic Antonio Bruschini (6 min) HD
- Giulio Questi: The Outsider – the last interview 2010 (13 min) HD
- Doctor Schizo and Mister Phrenic (2002) Short film by Giulio Questi (15 min) HD
- English Trailer (4 min) HD
- Italian Trailer (4 min) HD
- Slipcase with fluorescent inks & reversible sleeve with original Italian poster limited to first 2000 copies printed
- Slipcase with fluorescent inks & reversible sleeve with original Italian poster limited to first 2000 copies printed
It's great to see this previously difficult to come by Italian flick get a proper U.S. release with superior A/V and a solid set of extras. I had quite a bit of fun watching it for the first time and fussing over it's stranger qualities. While it won't soon usurp the Aldo Lada, Mario Bava and Dario Argento entries that I adore, it is an enjoyably odd-bird of a giallo flick. It's definitely growing on me the more I watch it and I recommend it to lovers of the stylish Italian whodunits who crave the weirder, more surreal arthouse entries.
More screenshots from the Cult Epics Blu-ray:
