Blu-ray Review: Giallo Essentials

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The coolest time for cinema culture had to be in Rome in the early ’70s. This was a time when people into movies could really enjoy life. You’d coast into the late hours of your job. Clock out. Run by your apartment to change your shirt. Meet up with friends at an outdoor restaurant for dinner. Head over to one of the multitudes of movie theaters in your neighborhood. After the film you’d grab a drink with your pals before heading home and seeing if you were going to wake up in time for work. Unlike nowadays where the same Marvel movie plays for two months, the theaters of Rome would swap their features after a day or two. Italian television at that time was a painful mess and rarely showed movies so people weren’t up for staying home to be entertained. The local theater that programmed non-Hollywood blockbusters would change the film on a nearly daily basis, the same crowd would show up to see the latest cinematic offering. Who wanted to go early? The Italian film industry would get big into a genre to appease an audience eager to appeal to a crowd that was into that mood. In the early ’70s Giallo was the hot genre. The term Giallo came from the yellow jackets that were on mystery novels. Even Perry Mason books were considered Giallo. When it comes to movies, a lot of the expectations of the genre have come from the works of Dario Argento. The creeping POV camera and leather gloves on the killers were his favorite devices. Giallo also featured a certain tawdriness as characters look to expose the real killer before they’re the next victim. There was plenty to digest as you sat back in your theater seat after a full dinner.

Giallo Essentials is a boxset with three films that haven’t previously been released on Blu-ray in America. The Killer Reserved Nine Seats, The Weapon, the Hour & The Motive and Smile Before Death are great for three nights of after dinner entertainment. While they are not landmarks of the genre, they are perfect for fans eager to digest more besides

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974 -103 minutes) is a sweet piece of Jet Set fun gone bad. In the middle of the night nine people show up at an old Italian estate. Patrick Davenant (A Bay of Blood‘s Chris Avram) has brought his friends and family over to see the old theater that has been preserved. While it’s been around for centuries, the last real production was over a 100 years ago. Why did the family shut it down? Perhaps they didn’t want to pay to install indoor toilets? His girlfriend Kim (Eaten Alive!‘s Janet Agren) decides to show off her acting chops to perform a scene from Romeo and Juliet. When she puts the fake knife in her gut, someone shoves a real dagger in her back. She’s dead and the other 8 guests are the suspects. Who could have done it? Perhaps older sister Rebecca (The Weapon, the Hour & The Motive’s Eva Czemerys) wants revenge since she got skipped over for getting control over the estate because Dad didn’t think a woman could handle it? Or Patrick’s daughter Lynn (Emanuelle in America‘s Paola Senatore), There’s always the guy in the Nehru jacket that seems to be the caretaker. There’s plenty of suspects and motivation, but there’s also the twist that this might all be supernatural. There are also rumors about what happened at the final performance to close down the theater. This was the final film from director Giuseppe Bennati. At least he went out with a trash flair.

The Weapon, the Hour & The Motive (1972 – 104 minutes) is a hot Catholic priest in lust tale. Don Giorgio (The Fifth Cord‘s Maurizio Bonuglia) isn’t merely having a torrid affair with one woman. He’s got two ladies working his robes.  Orchidea (Women in Cell Block 7’s Bedy Moratti) and Giulia Pisani (The Killer Reserved Nine Seats’ Eva Czemerys). He’s dealing with a lot of guilt from busting his vow of chastity and gives himself a serious flogging after each hook up. The ladies seem to dig the whip scars. He wants this carnality to stop. The only thing that stops his his heart when someone kills him in the chapel. The nuns move the body so the Inspector Boito (Massacre In Rome‘s Renzo Montagnani) and his assistant Moriconi (Deep Red’s Salvatore Puntillo) have issues recreating the crime scene. The inspector finds himself involved with Orchidea so there’s a chance he’s ignoring evidence that points at her. The only key witness is a little boy who had spied on the priest through a peephole into the chapel. Had he seen the killing? Does he want to remember the truth? This was the only time Francesco Mazzei directed after having written and produced a few films. The Catholic Church was not happy with films that painted priests and the church in a bad light such as Fulci’s Don’t Torture a Duckling. We get a scene of nuns in the shower. Perhaps this is the reason why Mazzei’s filmmaking career went dead after one more script (which might have been sold before this film was released).

Smile Before Death (1972 – 88 minutes) is a choice slice of kinky Giallo. Dorothy Emerson (Zora Gheorgieva) gets murdered in the opening shot of the film. It’s grizzly and loud. But then things seem to calm down since the police rules it a suicide. This is great news for her husband Marco (The Bloodstained Butterfly‘s Silvano Tranquilli). Turns out he’s been having an affair with Dorothy’s best friend Gianna (Lady Frankenstein‘s Rosalba Neri). She’s a photographer with a studio in the house. Things get extremely complicated when Nancy (The Suspicious Death of a Minor‘s Jenny Tamburi) shows up at the front door. She’s Dorothy’s daughter from a previous marriage and won’t inherit mom’s fortune until she turns

The video for all three films is 2.35:1 anamorphic.

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats

Audio Commentary by Kat Ellinger has her go deep into the complicated relationships before the nine characters. Another excellent track from Ellinger that makes rewatching the film enlightening.

Hanging With Howard (8:23) talks with actor Howard Ross back in 2013. He enjoyed shooting in the ancient theater. There was a family atmosphere between the cast and crew. He gives little background details on his fellow castmates.

Writing with Biagio (28:38) is an interview from 2012 with screenwriter Biagio Proietti. He was an assistant director before he started typing away on scripts. He was a volunteer on his first film, so the director let him stick around to see the whole process. He wrote the script for a Monica Vitti film. He gets into how Nine Seats got on the rails. He admits the film was inspired by Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians. The interview is in Italian with English subtitles.

Theatrical Trailer (3:14) has both the English and Italian language trailers. The Italian has English subtitles.

Image Gallery has about 24 posters and lobby cards.

The Weapon, the Hour & The Motive

Commentary Track by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

A Man in Giallo (13:32) is a fresh interview with actor Salvatore Puntillo. He play Moriconi and has nice memories of the production because things went smoothly. He was happy to see it once more including himself. He praises the director for his ability to handle different personalities on the set. He also talks about his time on Deep Red (also out from Arrow) with Dario Argento.

English Front and End Titles (3:26) are the only English parts of the film that Arrow could uncover. This is why there’s no English soundtrack.

Image Gallery (3:26) are about 10 posters and lobby cards.

Smile Before Death

Commentary Track with Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson. The duo go into how the film starts off so suddenly with a throat slashing scene. They point out that most of the film is rather restrained compared to the opening shot. They go into the background of the catchy theme song. They also point out the cameo from Barbara Bouchet. She had just starred in director Silvio Amadio’s Amuck!

Smile of the Hyena (23:25) speaks with the son of Silvio Amadio. Stefano Amadio is a journalist. There’s plenty of pictures of his dad at work and clips from his other work.

Extended Nude Scenes (3:15) feature Jenny Tamburi and Rosalba Neri in the photography studio doing a shoot. Things get spicy between the model and her photographer. There’s no sound and less clothing.

Image Gallery has 10 posters and lobby cards.

Joe Corey is the writer and director of "Danger! Health Films" currently streaming on Night Flight and Amazon Prime. He's the author of "The Seven Secrets of Great Walmart People Greeters." This is the last how to get a job book you'll ever need. He was Associate Producer of the documentary "Moving Midway." He's worked as local crew on several reality shows including Candid Camera, American's Most Wanted, Extreme Makeover Home Edition and ESPN's Gaters. He's been featured on The Today Show and CBS's 48 Hours. Dom DeLuise once said, "Joe, you look like an axe murderer." He was in charge of research and programming at the Moving Image Archive.