THE FOURTH VICTIM (1971) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review)

THE FOURTH VICTIM (1971)

AKA DEATH AT THE DEEP END OF THE SWIMMING POOL

Label: Severin Films

Region Code: A

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 88 Minutes

Audio: English and Italian DTS-HD MA Mono with Optional English Subtitles

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1) 

Director: Eugenio Martin

Cast: Carroll Baker, Michael Craig, Miranda Campa, José Luis López Vázquez, Marina Malfatti

It's nice to see Severin dishing out another Carroll Baker (Knife of Ice) slice of euro-cult with the rarely-seen Italian/Spanish co-production The Fourth Victim (1971), which is directed by Eugenio Martin (Horror Express) and co-starring Michael Craig (Mysterious Island). The stylish whodunit opens with wealthy British playboy Arthur Anderson finding his hot blond wife Felicity (Miranda Campa, The Night They Killed Rasputin) floating face down in the swimming pool. Over the opening credits we see her on a floatation seat in the pool with her sunglasses on and a burning cigarette smoldering between her fingers, which eventually burns so far down it melts her floatation device and her corpse slips face-down into the pool, where she is found by Arthur's very maid. 

It seems like an accidental drowning but problems arise during the inquiry when Mr. Anderson's insurance company reveals that all three of his wives all met with suspiciously accidental deaths, and all within the past three years, and each were insured for a large sum of money. There's a sensational trial but he is eventually found not-guilty after  impassioned testimony from his maid testifying to the state-of-mind of his most recent dead wife

In the aftermath Arthur is looking to lay low at home for a while, but upon returning to his mansion he finds a pretty, blond pool-hopper named Julia Spencer (Carroll Baker, A Quiet Place to Kill), who has just moved into a neighboring mansion, enjoying his private pool. He goes down to the pool to throw her thinking that she is a reporter or a some sort of bait planted by the insistent Inspector Dunphy (José Luis López Vázquez, The Ancines Woods), who offers some comic relief in the film, and despite Arthur's not-guilty verdict, is quite convinced the guy's a wife-killer.

Despite Arthur's initial resistance he and Julia prove to be quite an item, and after a few months of passionate courtship they are wed, but could she be the fourth victim? We are clued-in earlier via a phone call that Julia is working some sort of angle that's not on the up and up, and she has quite a few secrets of her own were still yet to discover, plus we have a mysterious caped blond (Marina Malfatti, All the Colors of the Dark) who we see stalking the property at night. 

This came out a year after Argento's giallo-redefining The Bird with the Crystal Plumage (1970) but it's decidedly more a slow-burning whodunit rather than a razor-wielding black-gloved proto-slasher, definitely more in-line with her collaborations with Umberto Lenzi than anything Argento was doing. That said, it's well-shot by Guglielmo Mancori (Manhattan Baby) and the slow-burn is quite enjoyable as we attempt to put the pieces together and figure out if Arthur is a serial wife-killing or is something else going on here. The final 10-minutes of the film start slamming pieces into place and the tension and pace pick-up quite a bit leading to a dizzying final sprint to the finish line that more than satisfied my cravings for a demented whodunit, with loads of expository surprises. This is not a top-tier giallo but a pretty fun whodunit with a cool twisty ending, I would put it alongside similar euro-cult whodunits like Naked Girl Murdered in the Park (1972) Seven Deaths in the Cat's Eyes (1973) that are not stone-cold classic but quite entertaining for the deep-dive giallo inclined. 

Audio/Video: The Fourth Victim (1971) arrives on Blu-ray from Severin Films in 1080p HD framed in 2.35:1 widescreen. Advertised as being "scanned in 2K from the original negative", and it looks good, if not 1080p perfection. The image can be a tad soft in spots and blacks are not true black but overall colors are solid, fine detail wavers a bit but is generally quite pleasing. As I said, it's not eye-popping HD but it's great to have it on disc finally! Sorry, no screenshots on this one, I am currently travelling and don't have by disc drive with me, but I may update it with images at some point. 

Audio comes by way of English and Italian DTS-HD MA  2.0 mono with optional English subtitles. The English was the more robust and nuanced of the pair in my opinion, dialogue is cleanly reproduced and the loungey score from Piero Umiliani (Mario Bava's Five Dolls for an August Moon) sounds terrific. 

Extras on the disc include a 14-minute Interview With Eugenio Martín Biographer Carlos Aguilar who speaks about Martin's career as an auteur, how he went from director to assistant director (after a failed comedy) and back to directing, and that he was the only director of his generation in Spain that spoke perfect English, his love of working with English-speaking actors and more. We also get a 3-minute Deleted Scene and a 3-minute Trailer. 

The single-disc release arrives in a black Elite keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork featuring the original illustrated Italian movie poster. I like the way Severin reframed it so that a letter in the logo appears to stab the victim in the back, very cool, the same artwork is featured on the Blu-ray disc. 

Special Features:
- Eugenio Martín, Auteur – Interview With Eugenio Martín Biographer Carlos Aguilar (14 min) 
- Deleted Scene (3 min) 
- Trailer (3 min) 

Severin do good work bring the giallo-rarity The Fourth Victim (1971) to Blu-ray, it gets a strong A/V presentation and a sorta slim, but still appreciated, selection of extras for this tasty madness and misdirection filled whodunit.