Sunday Slasher # 3: Night School (1981)

While I rarely see it mentioned these days, Ken Hughes 1981 slasher NIGHT SCHOOL is, to my eyes, among the best of the genre. The British born Hughes, probably best known for his striking 1964 adaptation of OF HUMAN BONDAGE and CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG (1968), delivers a sleek and strange little film with NIGHT SCHOOL, and it is one of the only slashers that truly resembles the Italian Giallo that inspired the genre in the first place.
The award winning Hughes was born in Liverpool in 1922 which puts him at nearly sixty when he directed NIGHT SCHOOL, his final film as a director. He had gotten his start in the early fifties with some low budget British productions and had his big break come just after his fortieth birthday with the interesting 1960 production of THE TRIALS OF OSCAR WILDE. While not at all prolific, nearly all Hughes productions caused a bit of stir, from the searing Kim Novak performance he directed in his Somerset Maughn adaptation to the grotesque work Mae West delivered for him in SEXTETTE (1978). Hughes was certainly no stranger to controversy when he signed on to helm NIGHT SCHOOL in 1980.

NIGHT SCHOOL is mostly remembered these days for introducing a ravishingly beautiful young British actress to the screens named Rachel Ward. The talented Ward had just appeared in some television roles when she went to America to film NIGHT SCHOOL. Within a year she would be on the verge of major stardom with her great role as Domino in the fantastic Burt Reynold's directed SHARKY'S MACHINE (1981) and would hit international pay dirt with the mini-series THE THORN BIRDS in 1983. Ward turns in a really fine performance in her first film under Hughes direction, and her work is just one thing that elevates it above most slasher films of the period.
NIGHT SCHOOL was filmed in Boston in the fall of 1980 on a relatively small budget but the veteran Hughes knew exactly what he was doing, so the lack of money and short schedule caused few problems. One of things that separates Hughes work from other slashers of the period is that while it is partially set at a college, the people in it are not teenagers. Much like the Giallo's that inspired it, the characters in NIGHT SCHOOL are grown ups dealing with the psychological ramifications of their pasts.
Working from a screenplay credited to producer Ruth Avergon, Hughes cast his film incredibly well, and surrounded Ward with some very talented players. Most notable is Italian born Leonard Mann (who reminds me of Giallo favorite George Hilton) as the intellectual police detective who is searching out the machete-wielding, motorcycle-driving killer. Also worth noting is Drew Snyder as the slimy college professor who is obsessed with ancient tribal rituals and himself. He makes for a wonderful red herring in a film filled with them.
Everything about the film screams Giallo, from the killer's motivations to the music to the black masked killer. NIGHT SCHOOL has much more in common with ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (1972) and SPASMO (1974) than it does with FRIDAY THE 13TH (1980) or PROM NIGHT (1981), and Hughes seems to be relishing every minute of it.
Among the film's most notable moments are the opening murder on a child's playground (some discarded dolls can actually be seen in the dumpster behind them, another Giallo reminder) and the shower sequence, which has Rachel Ward being covered in a child's red paint by the professor. NIGHT SCHOOL has many unsettling images, but instead of feeling cheap they feel like direct links into the mind of the killer, something that Italian directors like Sergio Martino and Umberto Lenzi excelled at in the sixties and seventies.
NIGHT SCHOOL benefits greatly from the eerie mood that Hughes and company are able to give it. This is a dark little film and the melodically creepy piano based score by Brad Fiedel is one of the best of the period. The film's sharply cold and menacing look is rendered perfectly by Cronenberg cinematographer Mark Irwin and it is one of the most striking looking slasher films ever made. Irwin would shoot the legendary VIDEODROME (1982) just a year later and it is interesting to compare the arresting looks of both works to each other.
Hughe's film is also a rare case of a twist at the end actually making sense. So often in these films the inevitable surprise feels forced and unnatural, but NIGHT SCHOOL'S resolution feels perfectly organic with what has proceeded it. A slight misfire with a stab at humor in the last sequence doesn't work, but the climax does and NIGHT SCHOOL is one of the most perfectly rendered English language slasher films ever made.
The film opened up in the spring of 1981 to the usual critical disdain and decent business. It didn't resonate as heavily with audience hungry for campfire tales and teen murders, and it had a shorter run than other slashers of the period. The film, despite its well earned R rating for nudity and violence, does appear cut but a rumored uncut print is out there somewhere. I have never come across it though and NIGHT SCHOOL remains, like many other films of the genre, a bit neutered. The film was labeled a Video Nasty in Britain (where it was known as TERROR EYES) in the eighties and two scenes were chopped from the UK video release.

NIGHT SCHOOL remains out of print in this country and to my knowledge it has never had a DVD release anywhere. I know I am pretty much alone in my admiration of the film, as it is not often mentioned as a fan favorite. To me though, it is a work of the slasher genre that very actively went out of its way to pay tribute to the Italian films that had started it. That, along with the addition of Rachel Ward at her loveliest, is enough for me to consider NIGHT SCHOOL as one of the best slasher film of the eighties.

Directed by Massimo Dallamano

Often overlooked as one of the key Italian director’s of his generation, Massimo Dallamano left us a treasure trove of always interesting films in a number of very distinct genres. Probably best know today for his intense Giallo What Have They Done to Solange (1972), one of the best the genre has to offer, Dallamano's short career as a director offered up a number of equally intriguing film projects, including 1975’s The Cursed Medallion (IL MEDAGLIONE INSANGUINATO).
Born in Milan in 1917, Dallamano got his start in films as a cinematographer in the late forties, and he would work steadily in that role throughout the fifties and sixties. Lensing everything from comedies to historical dramas, Dallamano built a solid reputation in the Italian film community, with his work with color being particularly acclaimed.
1963 would prove to be a pivotal year for the near fifty year old Dallamano when he was given an assignment to photograph Ricardo Blasto’s Gunfight at Red Sands, a film that would prove to be among the earliest of the Italian Westerns that would soon be dominating theaters all over the world. Dallamano’s work on the film led him to the attention of director Sergio Leone, who brought him on board a low budget western he was shooting with an American actor named Clint Eastwood. The film would come to be known as A Fistful of Dollars and Dallamano’s fantastic and inventive color photography is stamped all over it.



The stunning worldwide success of A Fistful of Dollars would lead Dallamano to shoot several other Italian Westerns in the mid sixties, including the tremendous follow-up feature For a Few Dollars More, but by the end of the decade the aging Dallamano decided he needed a change, and in 1967 he directed his first feature length film, the terrific Bandidos (also known as You Die…But I Live), a Western filled with wonderful camera work and surprisingly confident direction.
Dallamano’s second film, 1968’s A Black Veil For Lisa starring lovely Luciana Paluzzi, would mark his introduction to the Giallo, the genre he would arguably eventually become most known for. Even better than the underrated A Black Veil For Lisa was the absolutely audacious third film from the creative director, 1969’s Venus in Furs starring the impossibly sexy and beautiful Laura Antonelli in one of her key roles. Venus in Furs is far from a perfect film, but Dallamano’s photograpy of Antonelli is absolutely mesmerizing, as is much of the erotic and sometimes near surreal imagery he delivers in the film’s running time.
The international success of Venus in Furs would lead Dallamano to another loose literary adaptation with 1970’s striking Dorian Gray starring the handsome and talented Helmut Berger. Dallamano continues his trend of lush color photography, odd and sometimes trippy camera angles and direction, and an absolutely unnerving knack for placing music and image together (both Dorian Gray and Venus in Furs contain absolutely sublime scores), all of which marked him as one of the most distinctive and stylish directors of the period.



Dallamano’s most perfect film (in my view at least) followed in 1972 with the eerie and often shocking What Have They Done To Solange. The popular film, starring Fabio Testi and Cristina Galbo with one of the great scores by Ennio Morricone, is a remarkable one and is as pulverizing as any Giallo from the early seventies you might name. It’s also Dallamano’s most controlled work and it should have placed him in the top tiers of Italian filmmakers, but the talented director tragically only had a few more years and films left for him.

A couple of rather disappointing productions followed the masterful Solange but by 1975 Dallamano was nearly back at the top of his game stylistically, and The Cursed Medallion remains one of his most intriguing if little seen works. Mixing elements of Rosemary’s Baby and The Exorcist (with a little Don’t Look Now thrown in for good measure) The Cursed Medallion benefits greatly from Dallamano’s solid and carefully thought out direction (he comes across as one of the most organized Italian directors of the period), a terrific score by Stelvio Cipriani, and a great cast of both American and Italian actors, including one of the largest roles ever from much loved Italian child actor Nicoletta Elmi.



One of the most somber works falling in the crowded so-called ‘Exorcist Rip-Off’ genre of the mid-seventies, The Cursed Medallion offers up a sometimes-muddled tale of a young girl haunted and possibly possessed by a mysterious piece of antiquity and her father’s plight to save her. The script (credited to Dallamano, Franco Marotta and Laura Toscano) is the least of The Cursed Medallion’s pleasures. Plodding plotting aside, the real joys of the film are the absolutely exquisite photography of Franco Delli Colli (who often worked with Dallamano), the precision of the director’s framing and shot selections, and the opportunity to see the iconic Elmi in one of her biggest and best roles.




Nicoletta Elmi had just turned eleven years old when she shot The Cursed Medallion, but she had already appeared memorably in nearly ten films. The niece of a popular Italian TV host, the charismatic red-headed Elmi was born in Rome in the early part of 1964 and was appearing in commercials at just a few years old. After appearing in some minor Italian comedies she got her big break in 1971 with Luchino Visconti’s acclaimed Death in Venice. It was the Italian Giallo that Elmi would become most known for though, and she became an instant legend of the genre in 1971 with her role in Mario Bava’s incredibly influential Bay of Blood (Twitch of the Death Nerve).



While it seems like Elmi was in many Italian Giallo and horror films throughout the seventies, in reality she was just in a handful but her work with Bava, Argento, Margheriti, Lado and Luigi Bazzoni (can someone please release a quality DVD of 1975’s Le Orme???) still resonates. The Cursed Medallion remains the largest role for young Nicoletta Elmi (who fittingly appeared for the final time on the big screen in Demons (1985) for director Lamberto Bava) and that reason alone would be enough to warrant it as an important work.





Elmi is indeed very effective as the haunted young child in the film (was there ever a face more made for Italian horror?) although one could argue that the real ‘performances’ of the film are given by veteran Richard Johnson as her father and future Blade Runner replicant Joanna Cassidy in one of her earliest appearances. Both Johnson and Cassidy give effectively understated performances, and keep a look out for genre favorite Evelyne Stewart in a smaller but memorable role as well.



For all of its charms, The Cursed Medallion finally isn’t as powerful as Dallamano’s greatest works. A bit too subdued for its own good, the film slips from hypnotic to downright sluggish at times, and it lacks the delirious edge Dallamano gave films like Venus in Furs and Dorian Gray, as well as the savage sharpness of What Have They Done to Solange. Still, despite its faults, The Cursed Medallion is an effective and stylish minor film from a major filmmaker and it’s more than worth seeking out. The film is available on Region 2 DVD in a sharp widescreen Italian language print with optional English subtitles.





Massimo Dallamano would complete only two more films before he was killed in a car accident at the age of 59 in 1976. The erotic Annie and the explosive Colt 38 Special Squad (both 1976) continued to show Dallamano as a filmmaker capable of taking any divergent style and making them specifically his own. His death robbed the film world of a striking and major talent.



For another look at this film, please check out this review by Mr. Peel at Mr. Peel's Sardine Liqueur.

For a look at Dorian Gray check out this post at Cinebeats from Kimberly Lindbergs.

Also check out Tim Lucas' fun tribute to ten of the most memorable quotes from Venus in Furs.

Brody and Seigner to Star in Argento's Giallo

This news is a few days old, but it looks like Oscar winning actor Adrien Brody (seen above with Asia Argento) and acclaimed French actress Emmanuelle Seigner have signed on to Dario Argento's newest film, Giallo, replacing Vincent Gallo and Asia Argento. I'm a really big fan of both Brody and Seigner so I will be curious to see what they will bring to the production. The film starts shooting in May and Brody is reportedly sharing a producing credit as well.

Brody and Seigner on the Set of Argento's Giallo

Lots of pics have been popping up online from the set of the upcoming Giallo. This one, that I found at Dario Argento Fans, is my favorite so far and I thought I would share it here. I know everyone is excited about the prospect of Adrien Brody in an Argento film but I must admit I more eager to see what Emmanuelle Seigner, a striking and wonderful actress who has finally begun to get her due in the past couple of years, brings to the film.

Primal Scream's Terrific Giallo Tribute

I found out about this via Steve Langton's always terrific Last Picture Show and wanted to share it here. Fans of the Italian Giallo will really get a kick out of this new Primal Scream video that pays tribute to the likes of Bava and Argento. For more information, please visit here to read a report on it. Making it even sweeter is the fact that the song is kick ass on its own...way to go guys.

Dario Argento's Giallo Trailer Link

Here is a link to the first trailer for Dario Argento's upcoming Giallo starring Adrien Brody and Emmanuelle Seigner. Honestly I'm not too fond of how the trailer is cut, and it basically comes out looking like a hodgepodge between The Bone Collector and any other number of serial killer films from the past decade. Still, I'm glad they are promoting the fact that it is an Argento film and, to me at least, it looks like a step up from Mother of Tears. The link is slow to load and I found that it worked best to pause it at the beginning, wait a few minutes and then play it through.

In Name Only: Dario Argento's Giallo

After spending the last year or so dreading it, I finally got a chance last night to sit down and watch Dario Argento’s tampered-with and much-maligned Giallo. I must admit it felt very strange to not go into an Argento film with some level of major excitement but Giallo’s troubled history, coupled with the fact that Argento didn't have final-cut, helped me go into the film with my lowest expectations ever for a work credited to one of my favorite directors. I must say though that, while this is clearly among Argento’s weakest films, I didn’t think Giallo was a total disaster and I found it better than the three films that I think represent Argento’s career nadir: The Phantom of the Opera, Do You Like Hitchcock and The Mother of Tears.

Argento’s newest starts out well enough, with an opening fifteen minutes or so that are marked by fluid camera work, nice pacing and several touches that are clearly 'Argentoesque'. The film starts to stumble though as soon as Adrien Brody’s character is introduced and it never recovers. Choppy, confused and, by the closing credits, an Argento film in name only, Giallo has inspired moments that are scattered throughout but it never catches fire or ever even comes close to really even sparking. Giallo’s biggest problem is its blandness. This just isn’t that exciting of a film and it’s really hard to ever truly engage with it.

A bad script (dealing here with a misogynistic serial killer who is kidnapping, mutilating and killing beautiful young women around Rome) isn’t the kiss of death for an Argento film, due to his audacious visual style, but here he doesn’t make up for the lethargic and lazy writing from American screenwriters Jim Agnew and Sean Keller. I saw someone else mention that Giallo feels like a work written by a pair that might have an idea of what a 'Giallo' is but they have no understanding of it. That’s pretty dead-on as far as a major issue behind the troubled Giallo goes, as it only occasionally approaches the classic Italian Genre that Argento is one of the unquestionable masters of. Could the film have been a success had Argento been allowed to make the movie he wanted to make? Probably, but with rumored interference from day one we will probably never know as a true director’s cut might be impossible at this point.

On top of a piss-poor script, Giallo also lacks some of the more necessary elements that typically grace an Argento picture, such as a memorable score and stylized look. The score, from Spanish born Marco Werba, is the dullest to ever grace an Argento film and it never elevates the material in the way a Morricone or Goblin soundtrack would have. Cinematographer Frederic Fasano, whose photography was one of the only saving graces for Mother of Tears, also delivers disappointing work as the look of Giallo is never that interesting. Outside of a few directorial flourishes there just isn’t much stylistically that Giallo has going for it and this, coupled with the poor scripting, makes it a long 90 minutes to get through.



Perhaps the most surprising thing about the film is the failure of what looked to be expert casting. Moon in the Gutter favorite Emmanuelle Seigner attempts valiantly to deliver a heartfelt performance as a woman obsessed with finding her kidnapped sister but the script doesn’t give her anything to work with, and her performance flounders because of this. Even worse is a stiff Adrien Brody who delivers a bizarre and lifeless performance (or performances, but I won’t go into that here) as Inspector Enzo Avolfi. Brody can be incredibly dynamic and exciting to watch (I have championed him here before) but he delivers a real self-sabotaging performance for Argento in Giallo. Compare Brody’s work here to Stefania Rocco’s bravura performance in Argento’s The Card Player a few years back for an example of how a great actor in a similar role can elevate extremely flawed material.

Giallo is a regrettable work from Dario Argento but, unlike Mother of Tears, it isn’t necessarily one to get angry about. This is absolutely a case where the blame for most of the problems on the screen rests at the foot of a group of producers who were looking to capitalize on Argento’s name, while not allowing him to make his own film. Perhaps instead of looking at Giallo as a complete failure we should celebrate the moments (particularly the opening sections of the film) where Argento’s genius shines through…they are admittedly few and far between but they make the film good for at least one viewing for devotees.

The Great Ones Vol. 1 (Side B Track 5) Stefania Sandrelli

One of the main things that struck me upon re-viewing Bernardo Bertolucci's astonishing THE CONFORMIST on dvd was how incredibly good Italian actress Stefania Sandrelli was in it. Playing the consevative, and slightly shallow, fiancee of Jean-Louis Trintignant Sandrelli interjects what could have been a near invisible role with great humanity. Dominique Sanda was the actress that I remembered clearly from THE CONFORMIST but I was frankly blown away by Miss Sandrelli on this most recent viewing.
I have become quite enamored with Stefania Sandrelli since re-watching Bertolucci's masterpiece and have begun to delve deeper into her huge and varied filmography. An astonishingly good actress and jaw droppingly beautiful woman Sandrelli has since the early 60's appeared in over 100 features and continues going strong to this day.
The first thing one notices about her filmography is that almost every genre is represented: horror, art-house, comedies, heavy dramas, erotica...you name it.
I have only seen a small portion of her work and I wanted to just highlight a few.

The Tuscany born Sandrelli made her first big international splash as a teenager in Pietro Germi's DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE opposite Marcello Mastroianni in 1961. This hugely influential film was a hit all over the world and her work as Angela is very memorable. The film is currently available in a fine Criterion edition on dvd and pops up on Turner Classic Movies often.

Sandrelli would work non-stop after DIVORCE ITALIAN STYLE and would appear in films over the next few years with directors ranging from Jean-Pierre Melville to Bernardo Bertolucci, who she would work with for the first in 1968's PARTNER opposite Pierre Clementi and Tina Aumont. Highlight's of the mid sixties includes more work with Germi, especially worth noting of these films is the powerful SEDUCED AND ABANDONED (also available from Criterion).

PARTNER marks a change for Sandrelli and the partnership with director Bertolucci would proves a fruitful one. After the Godardian PARTNER they worked on the aforementioned CONFORMIST and the overwhelmingly ambitious masterpiece 1900. PARTNER and THE CONFORMIST are both still available on fine special edition dvds from No Shame and Paramount. 1900 continues to cause controversy, 30 years after it's release, and was recently pulled from circulation once again.

One of my favorite performances by Sandrelli is in Paolo Cavara's underrated 1971 giallo THE BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA opposite the great Giancarlo Giannini. Again featured as the wife in what should have been a thankless role Sandrelli adds a surprisingly human and moving element to this very violent Giallo. Her scenes with Giannini are incredibly sweet and it is a great opportunity to watch two terrific actors playing off each other in the midst of a genre film. TARANTULA's climax in which Giannini rushes home to save Sandrelli from the crazed killer is one of the most memorable in the entire Giallo canon. They are both absolutely inspiring in this fine Italian thriller.

Just after BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA Francis Ford Coppola wanted to cast her as Al Pacino's Sicilian wife in THE GODFATHER. Sandrelli was already signed on to work opposite Dustin Hoffman in Germi's ALFREDO ALFREDO so she couldn't do it. The role in THE GODFATHER would have been an interesting one and it would have been fantastic to see her work with Pacino, but I wonder if it might have unbalanced the film a bit?

One of Sandrelli's most daring performances comes in Tinto Brass' 1983 film THE KEY. Highly erotic and at times surprisingly explicit Sandrelli throws herself completely into the role and it remains one of the great performances by a Brass leading lady.

Since THE KEY Sandrelli has continued to work in many Italian and international productions including Bigas Luna's great JAMON JAMON opposite Penelope Cruz as well as many Italian tv productions. Recent interviews for the Criterion collection show her to be still as vibrant, beautiful and interesting as ever.

I am excited about delving deeper into her work and offer this small tribute to her. I highly recommend all of the above films as an introduction to one of the greatest and most beautiful Italian actresses of the sixties, seventies and eighties.

Overlooked Classics: The Pyjama Girl Case

Flavio Mogherini started out his career in the late 40's as a production designer for numerous Italian films. He continued his career through the fifties and sixties as a production designer on many other works as well as an art and set director and costume designer.
Throughout the early days of his career he worked with many notable directors including Pasolini, Campanile, and Mario Bava. He turned to writing and directing in 1972 at the age of fifty with ANCHE SE VOLESSI LAVORARE, CHE FACCIO, which featured Barbara Bouchet. He had a hit with the Marcello Mastroianni 1976 film LUNATICS AND LOVERS and would direct a handful of films after this before passing away at the age of 72 in 1994. Along with his fine work as an art director with some of Italian cinema's finest directors, Mogherini will probably be remembered mostly for his bizarre and striking 1977 thriller, THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE or THE CASE OF THE GIRL IN THE YELLOW PYJAMAS.

Yellow is a key word in discussing this film for two reasons. The color yellow plays a huge role in as it clues in the audience early on that this seemingly conventional film is anything but, that this traditional murder and police investigation story is actually one of the most clever non-linear art films of the seventies. Yellow is also the color often associated with the Italian Giallo, which this film is often grouped into. Whether or not it should be labeled a giallo is up to the viewer as it does have elements of the genre but more often than not it is completely uncharacteristic of it.
THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE was inspired loosely by a real life 1934 murder of Linda Agostini, whose only identifiable feature were her silk pyjamas. Mogherini's film takes this tragic true event and uses it as a spring board for one of seventies cinema's oddest creations.

Working from his own script, Mogherini fashions two seemingly non connected stories following the haunting opening sequence where the badly burned body of a female is discovered by a child on a beach. One story is of Police Inspector Thompson, played by the amazing Ray Milland, who is investigating the mysterious murder. The other story tells of a lonely young woman, played by the underrated Dalila Di Lazzaro, who is going through a series of frustrating and increasingly empty love affairs. Through the first forth of the film the audience follows the two stories along until, through a series of very subtle clues, we realize that the girl is actually the murder victim from the beginning of the film, and Mogherini has been presenting the audience with a most clever twist on the traditional use of the flashback.
I have talked to a few people who have seen this film and some don't like that Mogherini is letting her back story play out at the same time we are seeing the investigation into her death, but to me it gives the film an incredible emotional pull that simply isn't in most thrillers from this period. Had Mogherini told the film chronologically, or used a traditional flashback technique, the film would lose much of its power. Many audience members don't like even the suggestion that they are in any way being manipulated and tricked but Mogherini's carefully crafted film has a reason for its startling structure, Lazzaro's life IS Milland's investigation. More than searching for a murderer, Milland is looking to give this unknown victim her identity back.
Academy Award winner Milland was nearing the end of his big screen career with THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE, and he would pass away just a decade later with an impressive and varied career under his belt. His role as the aging and undermined Inspector in Mogherini's film is among his most undervalued performances. It is a work of great empathy and at times sly comic moments; how seriously Milland might have taken this role I don't know but he plays it out beautifully. It is interesting to note similarities between this role and Max Von Sydow's character in Dario Argento's recent SLEEPLESS, another aging past his prime inspector seemingly left on his own to solve a case.
The cast also includes Mel Ferrer as Lazzaro's oldest and richest lover, and he is great at presenting a slightly seedy character that we know will abandon her, like everyone else in her life seems to. Michele Placido and Howard Ross also turn in fine performances as men in Lazzaro's increasingly out of control love life.

Lazzaro was an Italian fashion model in the late sixties who had made a few films before her memorable work in Paul Morrissey's FLESH FOR FRANKENSTEIN. Often overlooked as one of the great beauties of the seventies Lazzarao turns in her finest work as an actress in Mogherini's film as the his title character. She is really wonderful in the film at conveying a sense of loss and lonliness in this character. She actually plays her final moments in the film so well that I find thes scenes to be among the hardest to watch in any Italian genre film. Lazzaro made many films before and after PYJAMA GIRL CASE but it remains her greatest and most complex role.
Key among the film's assets is the score by Riz Ortolani featuring songs by Amanda Lear. One of the most unique of all of Ortolani's work that at times sounds like a cross between Kraftwerk and Throbbing Gristle, it remains a dividing point to fans of the great Ortolani. The soundtrack album is one of my favorites of the seventies but many people can't tolerate it's odd swings of electronica and sweeping orchestrations. Lear's work on the title track and LOOK AT HER DANCING are equally mesmerizing and play in the film incredibly well.

I first heard about Mogherini's film from Craig Ledbetter's special Giallo European Trash Cinema issue in the mid 90s. Ledbetter's rave review of the film caused me to seek out the only uncut version available at the time in the form of a poor quality full screen Greek vhs. The film was released in a better version by Redemption in England in the late 90s but it was hampered by a poor muffled soundtrack. THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE finally received a definitive presentation a couple of years ago through William Lustig's Blue Underground and this is the version to seek out. Featuring a beautiful widescreen uncut transfer and an interesting documentary on the true life case, this disc is a beauty. It would have been nice to have some additional supplemental material related directly to the film but still the disc is the best presentation the film has ever had.
THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE seems to polarize Italian film buffs. People seem to absolutely love it or despise it. The unconventional narrative of the film bother some people and others seemed turned off by just how untypical it is for a Giallo, if it can really be labeled that at all. Once about 8 years ago I traded a copy with someone for another rare film only to have him label the film misogynistic and confusing. I have read the misogynistic claim before but just don't buy into it. Mogherini makes the Lazzaro character extremely sympathetic and presents her section of the film from her viewpoint, the twisted and cruel characteristics of the male characters in this film should not be mistaken for Mogherini.

I highly recommend THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE for Italian film lovers as well as more adventurous film fans in general. It is a demanding film that asks much more than your average genre picture. The Blue Underground dvd is still available and can usually be found for around fifteen dollars. The incredible soundtrack has unfortunately never been given a cd release and original vinyl copies are hard to come by. It has been posted as a free download on several blogs in the past year and a simple search will bring its strange and numerous treasures to your ears.
Giallo, European Art Film or both? Whatever label you want to put on it Flavio Mogherini's searing PYJAMA GIRL CASE is unlike any other Italian genre film of the seventies, and that fact alone makes it absolutely essential.

M.I.A. on Region 1 DVD Tribute Month (Film 20) Images From My All Time Favorite Films: Perfume of The Lady in Black (1974)

Francesco Barilli's beautifully composed and exquisitely shot Il Profumo Della Signora in Nero (The Perfume of the Lady in Black) is arguably the greatest Italian Giallo currently missing on Region 1 DVD. This eerie and wonderfully strange production from 1974 features a haunting score from Nicola Piovani, the wonderfully evocative and colorful photography of Mario Masini, and perhaps the greatest performance American actress Mimsy Farmer ever delivered. Currently available on a terrific DVD from Italy's Raro Label, The Perfume of The Lady in Black has still yet to receive any kind of North American release. Pity, as it is a major work.