#Forgotten Gialli: Volume One

[brokehorrorfan]

Blu-ray Review: Forgotten Gialli: Volume 3

Vinegar Syndrome launched its first Forgotten Gialli Blu-ray box set less than a year ago, but the powerhouse distributor is already on the third volume of obscure giallo (European murder-mystery) films. The latest installment features 1972's Murder Mansion (also known as The Mansion in the Fog), 1975's Autopsy (also known as The Victim), and 1977's Crazy Desires of a Murderer (also known as The Morbid Vices of a Housekeeper).

Murder Mansion is a Spanish-Italian co-production that only classifies as a giallo by a rather liberal definition. It starts out slow; the first line of dialogue isn't spoken until six minutes in, after the opening title sequence and a lengthy driving scene. When the night is consumed by fog, a group of strangers from different backgrounds seek refuge in an old mansion next to an abandoned village where local legends say vampires once resided. It's not long before they suspect that ghosts have risen from the nearby graveyard.

Written by Luis G. de Blain and Antonio Troiso (Beyond the Door), the murder-mystery aspects are more Agatha Christie - or even Scooby-Doo, given the cartoonish reveal - than giallo, lacking many of the subgenre's hallmarks; but even more so director Francisco Lara Polop seems to be drawing influence from gothic horror in both approach and execution. The chilling atmosphere is palpable as soon as the fog rolls in, but the first body doesn't pop up until nearly an hour into the 86-minute film. The last act makes admirable attempts to compensate with scares and shocks.

Murder Mansion has been newly restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative. It includes the original Spanish language audio with newly translated English subtitles as well as the English and Italian dubs. The disc includes a 20-minute interview with actress Evelyn Stewart (The Psychic). While she admittedly doesn't remember the specifics about much of the production, she recalls working with the special effects and explains her use of a stage name. She’s noticeably pleased by the film, particularly Polop's direction.

The most well-known title among the three Forgotten Gialli sets, Autopsy opens with a montage of grisly suicides plaguing Rome, purported to be caused by sun spots. A young, female pathologist (Mimsy Farmer, Four Flies on Grey Velvet), serendipitously writing a thesis on the differences between simulated and authentic suicides, teams up with an epileptic race car driver-turned-priest (Barry Primus, Boxcar Bertha) following the alleged suicide of his sister to investigate.

Directed by Armando Crispino (The Dead Are Alive), who co-wrote the script with Lucio Battistrada, the Italian giallo is convoluted even by the subgenre's standards. It's also shockingly sleazy, from a misogynistic coroner to maddening visions of being molested by cadavers. The film is uneven in both tone and pacing and bloated at 100 minutes, but it ends on a high note with a memorable finale. On the whole, it's more unnerving than most gialli, due to the taboo buttons it pushes as well as the hints of surrealism in which Crispino indulges. A score by Ennio Morricone (The Thing, The Good the Bad and the Ugly) certainly doesn't hurt.

Autopsy has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original camera negative. It includes both the English and Italian (with newly translated English subtitles) mono soundtracks. It offers a variety of special features: a featurette on Crispino consisting of 38 minutes of insight from the late director's son, Francesco Crispino; a 10-minute interview with Francesco Crispino, who dissects various versions of the film and discusses his father's influences; an 11-minute interview with editor Daniele Alabiso conducted by Francesco Crispino, in which they examine the film's peculiar rhythm; an introduction by the director from a screening; alternate Italian titles and credits; and the theatrical trailer.

If only Crazy Desires of a Murderer's plot was as stimulating as its traditionally verbose giallo title. It centers around an affluent, globe-trotting countess, Ileana (Isabelle Marchall, Black Emanuelle). She returns to her familial castle with new friends she met while traveling in China, who unwittingly used her as a drug courier. Meanwhile, her traumatized half-brother is kept locked away in the basement. But those are the least of her problems once someone starts murdering the inhabitants of the castle.

Aesthetically, this one most closely resembles a traditional giallo. What the drab castle lacks in color palette, director Filippo Walter Ratti and cinematographer Gino Santini (Django the Bastard) make up for with interesting camerawork. There's also ample gore, as the killer's modus operandi involves removing the victims' eyes, and heavy doses of sleaze, although it pales in comparison to Autopsy. But writer Ambrogio Molteni (Black Emanuelle) employs an Agatha Christie-esque sleuth (Corrado Gaipa, The Godfather) to solve the mystery, and the abundance of clunky procedural scenes weigh down the film.

Crazy Desires of a Murderer has been newly restored in 4K from its 35mm original camera negative with Italian mono audio and newly translated English subtitles. The disc includes a 15-minute interview (in Italian with subtitles) with actor Giuseppe Colombo (who more notably went on to produce The Stendhal Syndrome and other Dario Argento productions). He candidly recalls frequent disagreements with Ratti and other drama that befell the production.

While the films are hit or miss, the experience of unearthing them is always a thrill. Even the packaging is great, with each film in its own individual Blu-ray case with reversible artwork, all of which are housed inside a sturdy box (limited to 6,000). Between Forgotten Gialli and the forthcoming Home Grown Horrors, I hope Vinegar Syndrome never stops spoiling us with box sets of hidden gems.

Forgotten Gialli: Volume 3 is available now on Blu-ray via Vinegar Syndrome.

[pictureitpod]

My top 10 4K/blu ray releases of the year. Part 1 of 2. 1. House by the Cemetery by Blue Underground. Hands down my favorite Fulci, and to see it get this level of love is wonderful. There is both a 2 disc 4K, and 3 disc blu ray edition, the 3 disc includes the intense yet beautiful score on CD. 2. The Black Cat by Severin, this is the unofficial conclusion to the Argento third mother trilogy (Suspiria, Inferno) written by Daria Nicolodi with additions by Luigi Cozzi. It’s a weird meta film that in someways serves as a better conclusion than Mother of Tears. 3. Forgotten Gialli Volume 1 & 2 by Vinegar Syndrome. These sets feature Gialli from Italy and beyond. A must for any Giallo or Italian horror enthusiast. Here is hoping we see a third one sooner than later. 4. Revenge by Second Sight. This was one of my favorite films of 2017, and then it was released on a very lackluster disc despite its critical reception. Thankfully Second Sight in the UK rectified this, and gave it the love it deserves. 5. Dawn of the Dead by Second Sight. I wasn’t going to have more than one release per company on this list but Second Sight took the world by surprise by putting out this 7 disc set that includes everything and more that you could possibly want. https://www.instagram.com/p/CJlml-Fl1H5/?igshid=1sjdrpjirma2e

[brokehorrorfan]

Blu-ray Review: Forgotten Gialli: Volume 1

One of the most reliable distributors when it comes to unearthing obscure genre films, Vinegar Syndrome has released Forgotten Gialli: Volume One, a Blu-ray box set containing a trio of giallo - or, European murder-mysteries - that have never received distribution in the U.S.: 1973's The Killer Is One of 13, 1975's The Police Are Blundering in the Dark, and 1978's Trauma.

The Killer Is One of 13 is a Spanish giallo by way of Agatha Christie. Lisa Mandel (Patty Shepard, Slugs) invites a collection of acquaintances to her elegant, isolated home for reasons unknown to the guests. As she reveals over dinner, it's the second anniversary of her husband's mysterious passing, so she has gathered 13 people who may have benefited from his death, convinced one of them is responsible.

Despite the very specific title, there are more than 13 suspects when you factor in everyone; from guests to family members to the help. Director/co-writer Javier Aguirre (Count Dracula’s Great Love) and co-writer Alberto S. Insúa (Count Dracula’s Great Love) do an admirable job painting each character as a potential culprit, as everyone has both motives and flaws. However, as is often the case with ensemble murder-mysteries, it's difficult to keep track of the ancillary characters, some of whom are barely developed.

Far more restrained than its Italian brethren, the film's pacing is rather uneven. It's heavy on exposition throughout the first two acts, but the intriguing mystery drives it until the murders begin. That doesn't occur until 63 minutes into the 95-minute film, leading to an unrelenting, if rushed, final act. The big reveal isn't all that surprising if you pay attention to the clues, but it's not dissatisfying.

Cinematographer Francisco Fraile's (Dr. Jekyll vs. The Werewolf) ambitious camerawork - almost always roving or zooming - provides a kineticism to offset the long stretches of dialogue, even if focus is occasionally soft. A propulsive soundtrack would have helped further, but instead Alfonso Santisteban's (The Mummy’s Revenge) score is often hokey.

In addition to Shepard, the cast features several faces that may be familiar to Eurocult enthusiasts. Spanish character actor Simón Andreu (Beyond Re-Animator) plays a smug playboy; American expat Jack Taylor (The Ninth Gate) plays as an unappreciated artist; Spanish cinema royalty Carmen Maura (Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown) has an early role as the wife of an unstable older man; and Spanish horror legend Paul Naschy (The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman) has a small part as the chauffeur.

The Killer Is One of 13 has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original negative. The disc includes an audio commentary by film critic and Diabolique magazine editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger. Since information on the production is scarce, she contextualizes the film relative to the giallo subgenre, making for an interesting listen.

The Police Are Blundering in the Dark’s title is more interesting than the movie itself, as it seems director Helia Colombo (this being his sole credit) was blundering in the dark during the making of his Italian giallo. The cold open could be mistaken for a cliched '80s slasher: an attractive woman gets a flat tire and is chased by a killer through the woods, during which her blouse inexplicably opens as she runs, exposing her breasts before she's caught and stabbed with a pair of scissors.

It clocks in at a scant 87 minutes - rather brief by giallo standards - yet feels drawn out. The aforementioned woman is the latest in a string of murder victims, all of whom served as models for an impotent, wheelchair-bound photographer, Parisi. Giorgio D'Amato (Joseph Arkim), the journalist boyfriend of one of the victims, heads to Parisi's villa outside of Rome to investigate, learning that the photographer has invented a camera that captures its subjects' thoughts. This unexpectedly fantastical plot point is harnessed to solve the mystery a la Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

Despite being the most traditional giallo film of the trio included in the set, the picture fails to deliver on any of the pillars of the subgenre. After setting up a middling mystery, the midsection is bogged down by talky melodrama, while the eventual solution is preposterous. Beyond that, the kills are tame, Giancarlo Pancaldi's cinematography is pedestrian, and Aldo Saitto's score is forgettable.

The Police Are Blundering has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original negative. In lieu of an audio commentary, film historian and critic Rachael Nisbet provides a “historical audio essay.” It is exactly that; a breathless 16-minute amalgam of facts and critical analysis. It's thorough if dry, akin to reading a well-researched Wikipedia entry. A promotional image gallery is also included.

Not to be confused with Dario Argento's later giallo of the same name, Trauma is a Spanish giallo riff on Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. It centers on Veronica (Ágata Lys, The Holy Innocents), who runs a quaint inn in rural Spain while caring for her unseen, handicapped husband. She's smitten with Daniel (Heinrich Starhemberg), a mysterious and charming author that checks in, to the point where she becomes visibly annoyed when other guests interrupt their flirting.

Director León Klimovsky (The Werewolf vs. The Vampire Woman) and writers Juan José Porto (Cross of the Devil) and Carlos Puerto (Satan's Blood) position the film as a mystery, but when a black-gloved assailant begins murdering the guests with a straight razor, the options for the killer's identity are quite limited.

The film is rather slow moving yet sleazy. Nearly every character, regardless of gender, sheds their clothing at some point. Cinematographer Pablo Ripoll (Tombs of the Blind Dead) captures it all with voyeuristic delight. Composer Ángel Arteaga (Frankenstein's Bloody Terror) crafted a Goblin-esque main title theme.

Starhemberg's position as executive producer of the film surely influenced the decision to (mis)cast him as the male lead. Beyond lacking chemistry with Lys, there are some unintentionally uncomfortable scenes in which he caresses a local boy. Antonio Mayans (Zombie Lake) plays an ill-fated hiker who takes refuge at the inn.

Trauma has been newly restored in 2K from its 35mm original negative. The disc includes an audio commentary by film historian Troy Howarth, who previously profiled the film in his 2019 book, So Deadly, So Perverse: Volume Three. Per usual, he takes a conversational approach to the track, which occasionally leads to tangents but ultimately provides a detailed analysis that digs into the history of giallo films.

Each of the discs is housed in its own Blu-ray case, and all three are packaged together in a box designed by Earl Kessler Jr. Limited to 5,000 units, it's available exclusively from Vinegar Syndrome. Having never been dubbed into English, the movies feature newly translated English subtitles to accompany the fresh scans.

A precursor to the slasher boom in the 1980s, the success of the giallo subgenre spawned a wide breadth of films, ranging from oft-discussed staples to hidden gems that barely saw a release beyond their theatrical debuts. With Forgotten Gialli, Vinegar Syndrome has breathed new life into three movies that fall squarely into the latter category. As it is subtitled Volume 1, I can only hope that more sets come to fruition.

Forgotten Gialli: Volume One is available now via Vinegar Syndrome.