GARDENIA - BLU-RAY REVIEW

Arguably best known for directing a pair of rather prestigious nudie nunsploitation pictures, director Domenico Paolella also made the action-packed poliziesco STUNT SQUAD (1977) for Produzioni Atlas Consorziate (P.A.C.), the same production company who also produced the present title. Essentially a contemporized spaghetti western set amidst the shadow world of the Roman malavita, GARDENIA (1979) is a sufficiently engaging gangster picture, yet despite the presence of yank guest stars Martin Balsam and Robert Webber, it was doomed to remain a real obscurity prior to 88 Films’ excellent Blu-ray.

Here making his big screen acting debut, Italo pop singer Franco Califano (a.k.a. Il Califfo) stars as Gardenia, a charming restaurateur and owner of the trendy Mayfair eatery. As described in the English export press synopsis in La Produzione Italiana 1978-79, Gardenia is “one of the best loved rogues in the business, perhaps because he uses his brain and his imagination, more than arms or violence in his dealings.” When underworld bigwigs Salluzzo (Martin Balsam) and Caruso (Robert Webber) propose to consolidate the local syndicates to try and increase the flow of illicit drugs into the country via some of their legitimate business ventures (including Gardenia’s restaurant), Gardenia stubbornly resists buckling under the pressure. Later, when a group of thugs disrespect his establishment, Gardenia responds by serving their meal completely uncooked, but as predicted, the rabble-rousers – actually local gangsters in the employ of Salluzzo and Caruso – subsequently ambush Gardenia and break his arms. Seeking revenge, Gardenia returns to bludgeon his attackers with his hefty plaster casts, but when one of Saluzzo’s men lob a hand grenade into a giant pot of pasta in the Mayfair’s kitchen, they not only destroy his restaurant, but kill his prized chef in the process, which instigates the expected gang war…

 

Despite his unconventional looks, complete with a pinched, hooked nose, Califano makes for a charismatic enough hero. A real flashy dresser, he appears in an all-new dapper suit with a fresh white gardenia for practically every scene. Gardenia also has a fondness for both cats and pussy, though not necessarily in that order, which include love interests Eleanora Vallone as Regina, Lory Del Santo as Laura, and the always welcome Lorraine De Selle as Caruso’s main squeeze Consuelo. In between hopping in and out of bed, he seeks wholesale revenge against the underworld, and with a little help from his friends (including frequent character actor Franco Diogene), he inaugurates his vendetta with the capture of a junior Mafioso who he ties to a pillar and then drops a live grenade into his breast pocket with the pin pulled. Further counter-retaliations occur soon thereafter with Gardenia donning a death-black outfit with ever-present blossom, which he leaves at the scenes of his crimes as a sort of signature. 

 

Even at a lengthy 100 minutes, Paolella’s picture is consistently paced thanks to Amedeo Giomini’s effective cutting, and while it does remain slim on action, it makes up for this shortage with engaging principal performances. Califano seems relaxed, into his character (which may just be an extension of his real – and rather troubled - persona), and actually acts, which is a credit to Paolella’s directorial control, while American guest stars Balsam and Webber put in an easy few days of work as the rival gangsters (both of whom post-synch their dialogue), but still add immeasurably to the overall film. Another big bonus is Califano’s and Willy Brezza’s joint score that mixes together traditional Italian folk music and ’70s pseudo-funk, while the star even uses many motifs favoured by spaghetti western antiheroes. In the final scene, Gardenia even strolls off into the sunset.

 

Never released onto domestic home video, GARDENIA did show up at a number of ethnic Italian video stores in many North American cities, but of course, this VHS videocassette (distributed in Canada by Ital Video Disco) was in Italian only. The film eventually surfaced in English on South Korean VHS courtesy of NVC Video, but their print was a drab-looking mess with burned-in Korean subtitles. In Italy, the film made the jump to DVD in 2006 thanks to Cecchi Gori, but again, no English-language option was offered. Twenty-years later, 88 Films debuted the film on Blu-ray in a “brand new 4K scan,” which benefits Sergio Rubini’s photography a great deal. Emphasizing far greater detail in the film’s dimly-lit nightclubs and dingy billiardi halls, Rubini also exploits the beautiful, and at times, gritty Roman streets lending the film plenty of authenticity. Overall, this is a handsome new restoration and far better than any previous release. As is now customary, 88 Films offers both English and Italian LPCM 2.0 audio options, which sound clean and free of any noticeable distortion, and while some of the Roman dialect is lost on English audiences, the English track is still preferable with Balsam and Webber dubbing their own performances. And for those that care about such minutiae, Califano is well dubbed by seasoned voice talent artist Edward Mannix. 

 

88 Films’ Blu-ray also delivers a wealth of interesting special features beginning with a valuable audio commentary from author and film historian Eugenio Ercolani and film critic Nanni Cobretti who delve into this “strange, anomalous crime film.” They appreciate Califano’s attempt to try something different with his career, even if this “Italian Frank Sinatra” had “no real rapport with cinema” in terms of the long work days. They also discuss the history of P.A.C., and the company’s prolific output, the true definition of a “poliziesco,” Califano’s known friendship with camorra bosses and how the film “ticks all the boxes” when it comes the actor’s persona, P.A.C.’s proposed three picture deal with Califano and its eventual cancellation due to his run-in with the law, which leads into a further discussion of his larger-than-life personality. Functioning as both an overview of the film itself and the “changing landscape” of Italian crime films in the late-’70s, this is an enthusiastic and very worthwhile listen.

 

Additional extras include several on-camera interviews (again from Ercolani) beginning with prolific writer Gino Capone in Gino of All Trades (15m17s) wherein he discusses his career working on mostly commedia all’italiana, how he got involved on GARDENIA, Califano’s subsequent arrest following the release of the film, his thoughts on director Paolella whom he refers to as a “gentleman,” and his eventual involvement with producer Giovanni Di Clemente during the ’80s. In Who Framed the Caliph? (24m55s), Sergio Rubini talks about his early work as a camera operator alongside veteran DOP and future director Stelvio Massi, as well as his subsequent collaborations as a DOP on several of Massi’s police actioners such as HIGHWAY RACER (1977). He goes on to discuss the present film with fond memories (“It was smooth sailing.”), his friendly relationship with Califano, and his dedication to each production, even if some of the films are “undeniable B-movies.” Lastly, Ercolani sits down for a nicely-detailed on-camera interview in Pac Men (32m56s), which has him talking about the film and its place in the crime film landscape, the use of the word “poliziottesco” (a “belittling” term which he feels doesn’t really mean anything) and how most Italian crime films are erroneously lumped into this same category, the genesis of the present film and Califano’s “recurring face and name in gossip magazines for his high-profile love affairs and scandals,” a detailed history of P.A.C., and how the film is a “romanticized, hyperbolic version of what Califano was famous for being - a melancholic, bitterly ironic figure.”

 

As Ercolani points out in one of his many featurettes, GARDENIA is an “anomaly,” but it still emerges as a consistently entertaining picture that should please Eurocrime fans, which is made extra watchable thanks to 88 Films’ quality, extras-filled presentation. Order it directly from 88 Films or DiabolikDVD.

SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP - 4KUHD / BD REVIEW

Lifting rudimentary plot points from both Don Edmonds’ notorious ILSA, SHE WOLF OF THE SS (1974) and Tinto Brass’ upscale SALON KITTY (1975), two of the better-known examples of Naziploitation, Sergio Garrone’s SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP (1976) was one of the primary titles that helped set off the Video Nasties furor in the U.K during the ’80s. Thanks to this infamy, it became one of the most recognized titles in this dubious and short-lived facet of Italian exploitation cinema, which also included similarly sordid entries such as Cesare Canevari’s THE GESTAPO’S LAST ORGY (1976) and Luigi Batzella’s THE BEAST IN HEAT (a.k.a. SS HELL CAMP, 1977), both of which also landed on the Department of Public Prosecutions (DPP) list in the U.K. That being said, with its occasionally moody lighting, fits of gritty realism and nasty pulp violenza, Garrone does produce several strikingly explicit visuals, which are greatly enhanced on 88 Films’ recent 4K overhaul. 

Shot back-to-back with Garrone’s follow-up SS CAMP 5 – WOMEN’S HELL (1976), a far more distressful picture which includes much of this film’s cast and crew members, SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP also opens on a disturbing note with SS officers meting out electroshock torture on a pair of trussed-up women all in the name of the German Empire. Amid this experiment camp led by Colonel Kleiben (Giorgio Cerioni), women are forced to participate in various medical tests or are ordered to “raise the moral” of the soldiers in the adjoining brothel. When Helmut (Mircha Carven), one of the new enlistees from the frontlines, falls in love with one of the female prisoners (THE CHILDREN OF VIOLENT ROME’s [1975] Paola Corazzi), his actions eventually lead to an outrageous sub-plot, and by film’s end, it unexpectedly succeeds in being of the funniest examples in the entire Italian exploitation film canon, if largely by accident. 

 

While SSELC lacks the visceral punch of other such films, much of it’s still suitably lurid, just like the dialogue (e.g., “You stink like a bunch of sheep!” – “This is just the beginning you puritanical, frigid bitch!” – “It’s all shit!” [etc]), and considering the sexploitation context, Garrone inserts the usual communal shower scene while many of the ‘experiments’ quickly manifest into softcore grope sessions. Not surprisingly, the periodical forays into brutality carry the most conviction with Dr. Renke (Patrizia Melega) and a cackling SS officer (Serafino Profumo) overseeing eardrum pressure tests and cold-soak research, while a quietly mortified Dr. Steiner (EVA MAN’s [1980] Attilio Dottesio) implements dodgy surgeries. In keeping with Garrone’s downbeat premise here, much of the characters’ psychological torment is well-refracted by Roberto Pregadio’s and Vassil Kojucharov’s ominous score (one of the film’s strongest assets), even as much of the stilted dialogue and frequent lapses into utter dramatic implausibility threaten to derail the entire picture. 

 

Although banned in the U.K., Garrone’s film was readily available on VHS/Beta videocassettes in the U.S. and Canada thanks to Charles Band’s Wizard Video imprint. Released as SS EXPERIMENT in one of those snazzy, eye-catching big boxes, this was a popular rental (one video store in the west-end of Toronto rented this tape well over 400 times by the early ’90s!), which somehow never got caught up in Ontario’s very own censorship issues with the OFRB (Ontario Film Review Board). As part of Media Blasters’ Exploitation Digital line, the film made the jump to DVD in 2005, which showcased a fine-looking presentation of the film. Although dated by today’s standards, this was a very welcome upgrade for the time, which also included a brief interview with Garrone (9m44s) and the film’s spoiler-laden trailer (3m). Ten years later, it surprisingly turned up on U.K. Blu-ray thanks to 88 Films and their popular Italian Collection line, which this time included both English and Italian audio options in LPCM 2.0 mono (the latter with optional English subtitles), the film’s Italian opening and closing credits, and trailers for some of 88 Films’ other product. 

 

Jumping ahead another ten years, 88 Films decided to revisit this tawdry little flick yet again with their new 4KUHD/BD combo, which is hands down the best it has ever looked. Featuring a “brand new 4K remaster from the original negatives,” 88 Films’ new UHD (which also includes HDR-10 Dolby Vision [!]) is quite exceptional providing superb detail and a more pronounced colour palette, which also retains the necessary deep blacks and shadowy detail of Maurizio Centini’s better-than-average photography. 88 Films’ new restoration far surpasses any release that came before it. There is also nothing to complain about the film’s audio as well, which once again features both English and Italian audio in LPCM mono. While it’s always nice to have both audio options, it’s hard to resist the film’s more familiar English-language option, which includes several prominent voice talent artists such as Larry Dolgin, Carolyn De Fonseca, and a suitably over-the-top Robert Spafford filling in for Serafino Profumo. 

 

Following their virtually bare bones BD from 2015, the folks at 88 Films have redoubled their efforts for this UHD, which includes a nice selection of special features beginning with a comprehensive audio commentary with Italian cinema gurus Eugenio Ercolani and Nanni Cobretti. In this well-researched track, they discuss the specific mood and tones of this sub-genre and explore the “influences and meanings” tied to it. While many of these films attempted to give audiences “something strong” when Italian cinema saw a “loosening” of censorship, both men agree that many of them are “tacky” and badly made, which were ultimately harmless in their “corrupting power.” They also go over Garrone’s stop-and-start career beginning with his string of westerns, his numerous back-to-back productions and the very different career path of his brother, actor Riccardo Garrone. Other topics discussed include extensive information on most of the cast members, the theatrical history of these films in Italy, the obvious controversies, and much more in this extensive deep-dive analysis.

 

Ercolani also returns to direct a quartet of featurettes beginning with Sadistically Yours, Sergio G. (30m24s), an on-camera interview with the director who discusses the productivity of Italian cinema during the ’70s, the always changing market, and its eventually demise (“We were not able to profit from our inventions.”). Needless to say, he also has plenty to say about the film in question including its origins, his research into the project, the film’s many compromises, and much more. In SSadist Sound (28m26s), Four Flies Records’ CEO Pierpaolo De Sanctis gives a fantastically detailed history on the “underestimated” Roberto Pregadio who worked “almost exclusively for lowbrow, cheap productions.” He also discusses Pregadio’s time on the long-running television show LA CORRIDA (1968 – 1977) where he was the orchestra conductor, his love of jazz, and his collaboration with director Silvio Amadio. Although De Sanctis believes his score for said film is merely “serviceable”, he does appreciate co-composer Kojucharov’s “baroque approach” to the material. In The Alabiso Dynasty(25m52s), editor Eugenio Alabiso talks warmly about all of his brothers and their involvement in the film business beginning Salvatore who was the oldest and “born to make films” whose eventual breakthrough came with several early westerns. Eugenio on the other hand entered the industry “by luck” via his other brother Daniele, another talented editor who showed him the ropes, whereas Mario was a film producer who “over-estimated his own skills,” and put together several “sleazy and gory things” including both of Garrone’s death camp films, and a pair of southern plantation pictures that fell far short of Richard Fleischer’s MANDINGO (1975). Lastly, DOP Maurizio Centini sheds light on his career in Framing Exploitation (11m42s) who got his start working at the 1960 Summer Olympic Games in Rome, his apprenticeship with fellow DOP Ennio Guarnieri, his “formative experience” working with director Carmelo Bene, and his extensive collaborations with Elo Pannaccio and Alberto Cavallone, two of the more iconoclastic exploitation film directors working in Italy at the time. Other extras include the aforementioned Italian opening and closing titles (2m50s), the film’s trailer (3m), which includes music cribbed from Kojucharov’s score for Luigi Batzella’s THE DEVIL’S WEDDING NIGHT (1973), and an 11-page liner notes booklet featuring a new essay by Tim Murray.

 

In the end, Sergio Garrone’s SS EXPERIMENT LOVE CAMP shall forever remain more popular for its past controversy, and despite a beautiful 4K restoration and a wealth of first-rate special features, 88 Films’ new disc is probably only of interest to more resolute fans of Italian exploitation cinema. Order directly from 88 Films or DiabolikDVD.