WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (1972) (Arrow Blu-ray Review)

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? 

Label: Arrow Video 
Region: A/B/1/2
Rating: 18
Duration: 107 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (2.35:1)
Audio: English DTS-HD MA MONO 1.0 with Optional english SDH Subtitles 
Director:  Massimo Dallamano
Cast: Fabio Testi, Cristina Galbó, Camille Keaton, Karin Baal

Massimo Dallamano's seminal Italian whodunit What Have You Done to Solange? is based in London as we follow the exploits of a teacher named Henry Rossini (Fabio Testi) who is carrying-on a lustful courtship with one of his teenage students, a young Catholic school girl named Elizabeth (Cristina Galbo). One day while cavorting with amorous Henry at the park the young woman witnesses a murder of another young woman, but Henry does not believe her, that is until she becomes the next victim. Henry is put in an awkward position when his affair with the student is exposed during the investigation, and it just so happens that his wife Herta (Karin Baal) is also on the teaching staff at the very same school, uh-oh.  Strangely, after his young lover is murdered, his troubled marriage seems to grow stronger as Henry begins to sleuth around for the truth about the murderer who is targeting young women at the Catholic school. 

Fabio Testi comes across as a likable enough guy considering he's a married man with a penchant for lusting after teen women, which helps keep you rotting for him I guess. What he discovers after a bit of prolonged amateur detective work is a shocker, as it the brutal way the killer dispatches women, which is sort of the trademark of the movie, the shocking signature of the killer, which is almost comically enhanced by a traumatic x-ray which pops up. However, in between scenes of sleuthing and sadistic murder there's a good bit of paciness to the proceedings. This one has all the style of a classic Italian '70s whodunit and some decent suspense, but may prove to be too much of a slow-burn for a modern audience, however, for myself I found it quite pleasant viewing all the way around. 

Strangely this titular character does not come into play for quite some time, she's a pivotal player though, be patient and wait for it. Enduring the slow-burn nature of this nasty whodunit will payoff with a proper shocker at the end, at the heart of which is the loss of childhood innocence under appropriately sleazy circumstances. 

Fans of giallo cinema should delight in this stylish entry, one with all the proper whodunit watermarks including a black gloved killer, voyeurism, an amateur detective who is also a suspect, some stylish cinematography and a gorgeous score from Ennio Morricone. The performances are uniformly strong, particularly Fabio Testi and Cristina Galbo as the troubled couple, they beach have a wonderful presence onscreen. Keep your eyes peeled for a pre I Spit on Your Grave appearance from Camille Keaton, too. 

Audio/Video: Arrow Video bring this much sought after Giallo movie to the masses in both North America and Europe with a dual-coded region A/B release, the movie benefits from a brand new 2K restoration from the original camera negative. Free of any notable print damage, offering a pleasingly crisp image with an abundance of natural film grain with nice depth and clarity to the image. Skin tones come across natural and the colors are nicely saturated, this is a winner of a transfer. Audio chores are nicely handled by an English DTS-HD MA MONO 1.0 track with Optional English SDH Subtitles, the lush Ennio Morricone score sounds superb, dialogue and effects come through clean and nicely balanced in the mix. 

Arrow Video have included some sweet extras including a brand new audio commentary with get a wonderful new audio commentary with horror authors Alan Jones and Kim Newman who are always a delight and seem to be having a great chat about this movie. when it comes to commentaries I will typically eat anything these two do with a spoon, and this one is no different. 

Additionally there are new video interviews with  actors Karin Baal, Fabio Testi and producer Fulvio Lucisano who reminisce about their experiences making the movie. Of note is the half-hour video essay Innocence Lost: Solange and the “Schoolgirls in Peril” Trilogy by Michael Mackenzie which explores not just Solange, but the following sequels, be aware this is not a spoiler-free extra. Lastly we have a trailer for the movie. 

I was send a "check  disc" for review that does not include a sleeve or booklet, but you good folks who seek this release out will also benefit from a sleeve of reversible artwork with original and newly commissioned artwork by Malleusand plus a new booklet with an article on the giallo scores of Ennio Morricone by Howard Hughes, alongside a Camille Keaton career retrospective from Art Ettinger, comprising interview excerpts with the Solange actress, all illustrated with original archive stills and posters. 

Special Features: 
- Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
- High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
- Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio
- Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
- Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
- Brand new audio commentary with critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
- What Have You Done to Decency? A conversation with Karin Baal – the actress shares her thoughts on Dallamano’s classic giallo in this brand new interview (14 Mins) 
First Action Hero – a newly-edited 2006 interview with actor and former stuntman Fabio Testi, including a look at his role in Solange (21 Mins) 
- Old-School Producer – a newly-edited 2006 interview with producer Fulvio Lucisano (11 Mins) 
- Innocence Lost: Solange and the “Schoolgirls in Peril” Trilogy – a brand new visual essay by Michael Mackenzie, exploring the themes of Solange and its two semi-sequels (29 Mins) 
- Original theatrical trailer (3 Mins) 
- Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Malleus
- Collector’s booklet featuring a new article on the giallo scores of Ennio Morricone by Howard Hughes, alongside a Camille Keaton career retrospective from Art Ettinger, comprising interview excerpts with the Solange actress, all illustrated with original archive stills and posters

I have waited years to watch What Have You done to Solange?,  the formerly high-priced and out-of-print Shriek show edition kept me away, I am glad I withheld from purchase till now, to be able enjoy the wonderful new 2K transfer from Arrow Video with some quality extras. A high recommend, a stylish and suspenseful whodunit, with a particularly brutal signature murder-move. 4/5

DVD Review: THE NIGHT CHILD (1975)

THE NIGHT CHILD (1975)

Label: Arrow Video

Region Code: 0 PAL

Rating: TBA

Duration: 88 mins

Aspect Ratio: 16:9 Widescreen (1.85:1)

Audio: Italian and Englih Dolby Digital 2.0

Cast: Richard Johnson, Joanna Cassidy, Ida Galli
Director: Massimo Dallamano
Tagline: YOU’LL NEED MORE THAN AN EXORCIST TO SAVE THE NIGHT CHILD

Synopsis: When a documentarian delves into the dark world of satanic art for a new film, he unearths a disturbing painting that leads him into a world of post-Exorcist Italo-Horror where cursed medallions, possessed children and the overwhelming power of the dark lord converge to create a visually stunning and wildly eccentric exploitation classic from Massimo Dallamano (WHAT HAVE YOU DONE WITH SOLANGE?)

The Film: THE NIGHT CHILD (1975) comes to us from Italian director Massimo Dallamano, who also directed WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (1972) and THE SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY (1970) two fantastically atmospheric slices of Eurosleaze. Dallamano, also a talented cinematographer, worked on both Sergio Leone's A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS (1964) and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE (1965) and as such his films, the few I have seen anyway, are quite visually stunning and this occult chiller is no exception. This time out he works with cinematographer Franco Delli Collie who lensed STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER (1975) and DJANGO KILL...IF YOU LIVE SHOOT! (1967). 

A lot of Italian 70's and 80's occult cinema gets thrown in with the more obvious pasta-possession films like BEYOND THE DOOR (1974) following the worldwide success of William Friedkin's THE EXORCIST (1973) but this one stands apart with tons of eerie atmosphere, nightmarish imagery and fantastic settings. 

Michael Williams (Richard Johnson, ZOMBIE) is a documentary filmmaker researching satanic artwork for his next film when he comes across a painting depicting a mob in pursuit of a young girl underneath the image of a fiery angel falling from the sky and Satan. The image of the fiery Angel stirs painful memories of his own wife's fiery death, a tragedy witnessed by his young daughter Emily (Nicoletta Elmi, A BAY OF BLOOD) who is haunted by the unforgettable images. A local art dealer/psychic tells Michael of the cursed artwork's mysterious origins, it is said to have appeared the night a young girl's corpse disappeared from the village some 200 years earlier, he's warned to stay away from the cursed object for it will bring death to his family but he nonetheless continues his obsessive research which reveals a medallion that bares an uncanny resemblance to his daughter's own necklace.

Father and daughter are joined by nanny Jill (Evelyn Stewart, LA DOLCE VITA) and his production manager Joanna (Joanna cassiday, BLADERUNNER) who bares an uncanny resemblance to the dead girl's mother, it turns out both women have romantic leanings for the documentarian, the romantic angle sorta dragged a bit for me at times but didn't bring it crashing down, honestly it just wasn't sleazy enough for me, ridiculous I know but we do get some shots of Joanna Cassidy's wonderful breasts but no sleazy euro-fucking *sigh* 

Nicoletta Elmi's "Emily" is a creepy ginger-haired young woman, freckle faced and haunted by nightmares of her mother's incendiary death, she's also plagued by visions of persecution at the hands of an angry mob which mirror the depictions in the painting her father is so fascinated by, soon she starts acting very strange, the young girl takes up cigarette smoking and begins speaking to herself in the mirror, and before you know it the nanny is pushed from a cliff with a crochet mallet falling into the river below where she is swept downstream to her death, it's a well shot scenario as is the entire film, it's just a gorgeous production from the top down with many nice visual elements. Quite simply a gorgeous and lyrical tale of child possession and occult-tinged tragedy, a great watch that's maybe a bit slow at times and features some dated effects but for those with the taste and temerity for a slow-burn occult thriller THE NIGHT CHILD will be sure to please. 

DVD: The film is presented in it's original widescreen aspect ratio (1.85:1), the 16:9 transfer is sourced from a very nice print with very few flaws aside from some minor dirt. Colors are deeply saturated and pop nicely, blacks are quite good and there's a nice layer of film grain present. The English Dolby Digital track sounds pretty decent though it does throw out some hiss and pop from time to time, the Italian language track is a bit cleaner but both are adequate, just not outstanding. The DVD from Arrow Video is region-FREE and PAL formatted.  

Special features include EXORCISM ITALIAN-STYLE Documentary (12:43) with critic Paolo Zelati, filmmaker Luigi Cozzi (CONTAMINATION) and screenwriter Antonio Tentori (DRACULA 3D) reflecting on the brief boom in pasta-possession movies of the 70's and 80's following the unparalleled success of Friedkin's THE EXORCIST a few years after ROSEMARY'S BABY broke the horror genre through the b-movie barrier. They offer fond remembrances of Dallamano's work and of his skill not only as a director but as an accomplished cinematographer, too. They also speak about child star Nicoletta Elmo (DEEP RED, DEMONS) the "little Dark Lady" of Italian cinema. There's also the Italian Trailer ((2:28) and the US Trailer (1:55). The review screener did not include the reversible sleeve artwork or booklet.

Special Features:
- Newly translated optional English subtitles
- EXORCISM ITALIAN-STYLE Documentary (12:43) 16:9
- Original Italian Trailer (2:28) 16:9
- US trailer (1:55) 16:9
- Collector’s booklet featuring writing on the film by author/critic Calum Waddell
- Reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned Graham Humphreys artwork 

Verdict: A creepy Euro-horror child possession film that sticks with you for a bit after the titles scroll, good stuff and a recommend especially for fans of Italian horror with an atmospheric Mario Bava tinged occult flavor. Would love to see this attractively shot b-movie chiller get a Blu-ray release at some point. (3.5 Outta 5)  

 

DVD Review: THE SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY (1970)

THE SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY (1970)
[Il Dio Chiamato Dorian]

LABEL: RaroVideo USA
REGION CODE: 1 NTSC
RATING:Unrated
DURATION: 101 mins
VIDEO: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1)
AUDIO: Italian, English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono
DIRECTOR: Massimo Dallamano
CAST: Helmut Berger, Richard Todd, Herbert Lom, Maria Rohm, Marie Lijedahl, Margaret Lee

THE SECRET LIFE OF DORIAN GRAY is a 70's Euro-Cult film from Massimo Dallamano, the director of WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (1972), a film thats long been on my to-see list but sadly haven't gotten around to, yet. The film is based on Oscar Wilde's 1890 novel The Portrait of Dorian Gray, a novel I've always meant to get to.... are you sensing a pattern here?

The film opens in 1960's London as the title character Dorian Gray washes blood from his hands, having just murdered someone who lies dead in another room. Afterwards he stares into the flames of a fireplace contemplating the events that have lead him to this point as we are transported back in time to what I believe is the year 1953, based on a newspaper headline reading 'Is Stalin Dead?'.

Dorian Gray (Helmut Berger, THE GARDEN OF THE FINZI-CONTINI) is a swinging Londoner at a drag cabaret performance with his friends. Afterwards he ventures out on his own and wanders into a theatre where he meets the aspiring stage actress Sybil Vane (Marie Lijedahl, EUGENIE... THE STORY OF HER JOURNEY INTO PERVERSION). The chance encounter blossoms into whirlwind romance. Sybil's a positive influence on the vain, self-obsessed Dorian, keeping him centered and discouraging his lesser qualities. All is going well for the young couple until Basil (Richard Rohm, ASYLUM), a painter friend, offers to paint Dorian's portrait. After seeing the striking image Dorian is so enamoured with the portrait of himself that he buys it. He ponders aloud why should it be that he will age while the painting stays young forever, he wishes it were the other way around and offers his soul to make it so. These words uttered in a moment of supreme vainess set in motion a series of events that lead Dorian down a dark path of eternal youth, debauchery, regret and damnation.
 

Dorian befriends a wealthy socialite named Henry (Herbert Lom, MARK OF THE DEVIL) and his sister Gwendolyn (Margaret Lee, THE BLOODY JUDGE) and invites them to attend a theatre production starring Sybil but he becomes utterly embarrassed by her atrocious performance, it is explained that her passion for acting has waned as her love for Dorian has grown. Appalled and embarrassed Dorian abruptly ends the relationship. Sybil, out of her mind with grief, is struck dead by a car almost immediately afterwards. Unaware of the fatality Dorian spends a night of passion with the seductive Gwendolyn. The next morning, feeling remorseful over the break-up, he intends to reconcile with the starlet only to discover she's dead.


Soon after Dorian comes to realizes that his soul surrendering wish for eternal youth has come to fruition. Seeing the portrait age with each sinful act he commits unsettles the self-centered young man, so distressed by the supernatural aging of the portrait that he keeps it hidden away in the attic where it continues to age through the years becoming a ghastly caricature of the once gorgeous young man. Dorian, left to his own libidinous devices without Sybil, throws himself headlong into a melee of meaningless promiscuous sexual excess, there is of course the pre-requisite 70's lesbian sex scene, and pretty overt hints of a his bisexual nature. The snake in the garden of eternal youth, Henry, caresses Dorian in the shower and he soon after finds himself cruising bath houses for attractive young men. While the film is seeping with sexuality and a never ending parade of nubile flesh it never seems to get too sleazy for it's own good. I'm sure this was a scandalous theatrical experience 40 years ago but it seems somewhat tame by current standards, if still slightly risque.

The final moments of the film feature Dorian's ever youthful appearance gaining notice as he is ever-more-so haunted by what his cursed youth has wrought. He's overcome by remembrances of his betrayals, debauchery and the loss of his one true love, Sybil. It all come to a head as he faces his portrait, once a monument to his beauty, now a reflection of his grotesque inner-self.


The film has a lot going for it, foremost Helmut Berger who is cast to perfection as the impossibly attractive Dorian Gray. Great performances from everyone, it's a great supporting cast with nary a bad apple in the bunch. There's gorgeous cinematography with fluid camera movements courtesy of Otella Spilla (THE INGLORIOUS BASTARDS) which I would assume were enhanced by the experiences of director Dallamano, a former DP, who lensed both A FISTFUL OF DOLLARS and FOR A FEW DOLLARS MORE for Sergio Leone. The icing on the cake is a sweet fuzzed-out, psychedelic guitar score by Giuseppe De Luca as well as some sweeping, tender love themes, great stuff. Complaints are pretty few and far between, the one nagging at me the most was the passage of time, I just didn't feel it and I was confused to some degree by how much time was supposed to have transpired. It's not ruinous to the film, just something that struck me, more striking are those outlandish 70's fashion, whoa. Not having read the novel the film seemed to follow what I know of Oscar Wilde's source material but with a stylish Euro-cult update, the 60's/70's sex vibe suits the story perfectly.


DVD: Never before available in the US the film gets a very sweet release from RaroVideo that includes a new HD digital transfer sourced from the original negative and it looks pretty great. The film is presented in anamorphic widescreen (1.66:1) with rich colors, good black levels and a crisp image. It's a sharp presentation with precious few instances of print damage and a fine layer of film grain. The RaroVideo DVD contains the international cut of the film as well as footage from the US cut making this the longest cut of the film available.

Audio options include Italian and English language Dolby Digital Mono 2.0 with optional English subtitles featuring a new and improved translation. The English audio sounds quite good, dialogue is well balanced and the score sounds awesome. It's lacking any noticeable crackle or hiss, good stuff.The Italian audio doesn't fare so well, apparently RaroVideo had trouble locating a valid Italian soundtrack and resorted to using a low-quality master and the results are really quite poor with an abundance of background noise and distortions throughout. 

Special features include an illustrated 4pg. booklet with writings on the film and the DVD transfer plus a filmography. The sole non-text feature is a video interview with assistant director Maurizio Tanfani (30:59) presented in Italian with English subtitles. It's a fun listen as Tanfani, who worked with Leon Klimovsky (VENGEANCE OF THE ZOMBIES), and Bruno Mattei (ZOMBIE 3), speaks of Franco Nero (DJANGO) being considered to play the role of Dorian Gray and actor Herbert Lom's extensive time in the make-up chair to cover a nose defect of some sort. Tanfani also discusses making spaghetti westerns and sword n' sandals films with various Italian directors, the tragic life of Anna Maria Pierangeli (IN THE FOLDS OF THE FLESH), a disgraced former MGM studio actress with a fatal pill and alcohol addiction, and working with star Helmut Berger, whom he speaks of quite fondly though probably not as fondly as the male costume designer he recalls working on set whom would stuff his pockets with Berger's dirty underwear after each costume change, fun stuff and a nice career retrospective.

As with LIVE LIKE A COP DIE LIKE A MAN RaroVideo have given THE SECRET OF DORIAN GRAY a fantastic release with a fine transfer and while the supplemental are not numerous the interview with Tanfani is quite interesting and will surely will please any fan of Euro-cult cinema.

SPECIAL FEATURES:
- Interview with the assistant director Maurizio Tanfani (30:51) 4:3
- A fully illustrated booklet containing critical analysis.
- New Digital Transfer from Original 35mm Negative Print.
- Digitally Restored and Remastered.
- New and Improved English subtitle translation.


VERDICT: Yet another awesome 70's Euro-cult goodie given a sweet restored presentation from RaroVideo. A high recommend to lovers of Euro-cult and Italian cinema.

SCREEN GRABS