Giallo Essentials: Black Edition
(Jenny Tamburi, Silvano Tranquilli, Renzo Montagnani, Bedy Moratti, Rosanna Schiaffino, et al / 3-Disc Blu-ray / NR / 2022 / Arrow Films - MVD Visual)
Overview: Giallo Essentials: Black Edition (Smile Before Death, The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive & The Killer Reserved
Nine Seats) is a 3-Disc Limited Edition Blu-ray set that brings together all three of these oft-overlooked gialli
and which are all now restored in 2K from their original camera negatives [includes brand-new, Arrow-exclusive
restorations of all three films alongside a range of in-depth bonus features].
Verdict: In Silvio Amadio’s Smile Before Death (1972), familicide with a sprinkling of Oedipal love is the
order of the day when teenager Nancy returns home to discover the apparent suicide of her mother, and quickly
comes to suspect that her stepfather and his mistress are to blame.
Smile Before Death is nice little giallo. With only three characters that have any real screen-time and only two
or three different sets, it’s what I’d definitely call little. Nancy’s mother’s murder may not be overly
complicated, but it’s still a real treat to watch Nancy get to the bottom of things as Marco and Gianna
turn on each other.
It’s a hoot watching Nancy play them like a fiddle. They fall for it hook, line, and sinker. It’s some terrific
writing given how little the movie is. Director Silvio Amadio (better known for his giallo, Amuck) does a
remarkable job of keeping the interest high even though we already know where most of the film is headed.
Amadio also does a fantastic job of springing not just one, but two twists near the film’s finale, of which
I’m please to say that both worked perfectly, as far as I’m concerned.
Next, horny priests and self-flagellating nuns abound in Francesco Mazzei’s The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive,
(1972) as police commissioner Franco Boito investigates the brutal murder of a young clergyman, only to enter into an
affair with the dead man’s lover.
The film now only examines a murder, but the idea that a Catholic priest - Don Giorgio - is having an affair with
two different women - Orchidea (Bedy Moratti - Women in Cell Block 7) and Giulia Pisani (Eva Czemerys - The Killer
Reserved Nine Seats) - and tries to break things off with both of them before he’s killed.
Since Inspector Boito (Renzo Montagnani) has already fallen for Orchidea - whose husband has just committed
suicide - what’s the hope for a fair inspection of who the killer could be?
The only person who may know is a young orphan who lives in the church named Ferruccio, who once watched while
Don Giorgio self-flagellated, and who now is kept drugged and quiet. There’s also the matter of a skeleton-filled
catacomb under the church in addition to nuns taking baths fully clothed and whipping one another fully nude!
Finally comes Giuseppe Bennati’s The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974), an assortment of wealthy degenerates – including
Italian cult mainstays Andrea Scotti and Howard Ross – answer the summons of an eccentric nobleman and assemble
in the theatre attached to his ancestral home, only to find themselves trapped in the decaying building while
a savage killer picks them off Agatha Christie-style!
This is a surprisingly entertaining Italian giallo that resembles a lot of later American slasher movies more
than it does the earlier or contemporary Italian thrillers. As in slasher films like Stage Fright (both versions),
Popcorn, and Clown at Midnight this film is basically about nine people who attend a showing at a mysteriously
deserted theater and find themselves trapped inside and picked off one-by-one by a mysterious masked killer; who
may be motivated by revenge.
Really though the plot here is pretty inconsequential. This movie is much closer to the stylish gialli than
amateurish slasher movies in quality, and instead of having a cast of adolescent American nitwits, the cast is
made up of sumptuous European beauties who spend much of the movie in various states of undress - oh yeah, and
the male lead from South Pacific! These are all Full Screen (1:33.1) Presentations adapted for 16x9 TVs and
comes with the Special Features of:
New 2K restorations from the original camera negatives of Smile Before Death and The Weapon, the Hour, the
Motive
2K restoration from the original camera negative of The Killer Reserved Nine Seats
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of each film
Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks on Smile Before Death and The Killer Reserved Nine Seats
Original lossless mono Italian soundtrack on The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive
English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
Rigid box packaging with original artwork in a windowed Giallo Essentials Collection slipcover
Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais, Peter Strain
and Haunt Love
DISC 1: SMILE BEFORE DEATH
New commentary by authors and critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
Original Italian and English front and end titles
Smile of the Hyena, new video interview with Stefano Amadio, film journalist and son of director Silvio Amadio
Never-before-seen extended nude scenes, not used in the final film
Image gallery
DISC 2: THE WEAPON, THE HOUR, THE MOTIVE
New commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
A Man in Giallo, new video interview with actor Salvatore Puntillo
Front and end titles for the lost English-language dub
Image gallery
DISC 3: THE KILLER RESERVED NINE SEATS
New commentary by author and critic Kat Ellinger
Hanging with Howard, video interview with actor Howard Ross
Writing with Biagio, video interview with screenwriter Biagio Proietti
Italian theatrical trailer (in Italian and English)
Image gallery
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