After appearing together in Sergio Martino’s THE STRANGE VICE OF MRS. WARDH (1971) and ALL THE COLORS OF THE DARK (1972), the riveting tandem of Edwige Fenech and George Hilton returned in THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS (1972), another first-rate giallo written by genre luminary Ernesto Gastaldi. Although once more produced by Sergio’s brother Luciano Martino (who was also married to Fenech at the time), the directing chores were this time handed over to “Anthony Ascott”/Giuliano Carnimeo, who had previously collaborated with George Hilton on numerous upmarket spaghetti westerns. Easily ranking with the very best of its kind, Carnimeo’s classic whodunit now makes its worldwide 4KUHD debut in a stunning new edition thanks to newcomer Celluloid Dreams.
Following the murder of two women in quick succession at a high-rise apartment block, Andrea (George Hilton), the building’s owner and architect, rents one of the victims’ apartment to Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech), a visiting English model living in Italy (the city is never named, but the film was shot in Genoa) who promptly moves in with her friend and fellow model Marilyn (Paola Quattrini). However, their good fortune soon takes a turn for the worse as more murders continue, and they too, get caught up with the buildings’ tangle of characters including signora Moss (an uncredited Maria Tedeschi) an elderly war widow who enjoys reading “blood and gore” horror comics, a reclusive lesbian (Annabella Incontrera) living with her father (Jorge Rigaud), and Jennifer’s possessive ex-husband (Ben Carrà), who had a “mania for group sex.” And even Andrea is subsequently caught up in the investigation’s impersonal machinations as detective Enci (Giampiero Albertini) must wade through a maze of false leads, tons of red herrings and several potentially vital clues, including a bloody iris…
As can perhaps be deduced from the busy if slender plot synopsis given above, THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS is akin to an Italian adults-only horror comic come to life whose strong audiovisual components (including a magnificent easy-listening score from maestro Bruno Nicolai) immediately draw the viewer into its decidedly intricate web. Right from the get-go, the film’s opening murder of a young woman (Evi Farinelli) in an elevator sets the appropriate tone and offers all the expected stylistic flourishes, sadistic violence, and convolutions of a typical giallo. However, Gastaldi’s witty script (which borders as a kind of self-reflexive critique of the genre), for which every character involved has got a dirty secret, keeps Albertini’s detective and onscreen aide Renzi (Franco Agostini) very busy interrogating all the potential suspects, a fact which later justifies Renzi’s exclamation elsewhere in the film, “We live in a degenerate age, commissioner!” Naturally, the film doesn’t skimp in the skin department either: a fashion shoot introduces Fenech’s character in nothing more than body paint (which causes a double-take for both Hilton’s character and the viewer), while her photographer friend (Oreste Lionello) insists on always having a “nude in there somewhere,” a sly bit of commentary on the usual stereotypes of this influential genre. Highlighted by several impressive set-pieces (including a dazzling flashback sequence involving the titular irises) and some vicious murders, the overall mood of the picture is generally playful and pleasant to watch thanks to Carnimeo’s spot-on direction, Stelvio Massi’s vigorous camerawork, and Eugenio Alabiso’s kinetic cutting, which keep the narrative barreling unstoppably along right up to the effective – yet amusing – twisteroo ending.
Prior to the digital age, the only way to see this film for North American viewers - other than crummy bootlegs – was General Video Recording’s long out-of-print Italian VHS videocassette. Released under its colourful, but somewhat misleading Italian title, PERCHÉ QUELLE STRANE GOCCE DI SANGUE SUL CORPO DI JENNIFER?, this VHS tape was available at some ethnic Italian video stores, but was definitely one of the more difficult-to-find titles from GVR’s large catalogue. First released on DVD in 2002 by Anchor Bay (as part of their 4-disc Giallo Collection box set), this edition was a real godsend for fans of the film, which not only saw the worldwide home video debut of the English-language version, but also presented the film in its intended 2.35:1 aspect ratio (the Italian VHS tapes were cropped at 1.85:1). Subsequent DVDs soon followed around the world including a re-release from Blue Underground in 2008. Ten years later, a Region B Blu-ray was issued in the UK via Shameless Screen Entertainment with a new 2K restoration, which greatly improved the image, and included some much-needed colour correction that finally mellowed out all those blown-out whites from AB’s otherwise excellent DVD. As with the transfer, the LPCM 2.0 mono audio, in both English and Italian (the latter with English subtitles), was also clean without any discernible issues. Shameless also included a couple of excellent on-camera interviews beginning with actor George Hilton in Drops of Blood (20m43s) in which he talks about his start in the Italian film industry after moving from Argentina, his numerous spaghetti western roles, his life-long friendship with Edwige Fenech and Luciano Martino, and how he “wanted a change of scene”, which eventually led to Romolo Guerrieri’s THE SWEET BODY OF DEBORAH (1968), his first role in a giallo. In Marilyn (11m51s), theatre actor Paola Quattrini is very enthusiastic - and a little surprised - discussing the film, but she recalls the “joyful atmosphere” on set, yet she never felt entirely comfortable in the front of the cameras. She also goes on to talk about her many co-stars including Edwige Fenech who was “in a moment of great fame” at the time.
Moving forward, Celluloid Dreams’ inaugural 4KUHD/BD combo of this very enjoyable giallo (which was taken from the film’s original camera negative) is nothing short of phenomenal. Outside of one brief scene of irreparable damage around the 14m mark (which was also present on Shameless’ disc), the transfer is pristine with very pleasing grain structure, superb detail, deep blacks, and beautifully rendered colour schemes, which are ably supported by HDR on the UHD. The DTS-HD MA 1.0 mono audio tracks in English and Italian (again with optional English subtitles) both sound excellent with Nicolai’s memorable score adding plenty of flavour and tension. As always, the English audio includes many familiar voice talent actors such as Ted Rusoff, Carolyn De Fonseca, Edmund Purdom, and Tony La Penna, but purists are advised to stick to the Italian-language version, which lends the film a patina of class missing from the clunkier – but still enjoyable - English audio.
Beginning with a newly-recorded audio commentary with CD’s Guido Henkel, he provides plenty of detailed info and well-researched insight into the film, which includes the production’s “spur of the moment” location shooting (it was shot in Genoa, Rome and Elios Studios in Rome), the stunning opening murder sequence and the “Brian De Palma connection”, the “show don’t tell” tenet of Gastaldi’s writing who “breathed life into a relatively straightforward story”, Carnimeo’s staging and camerawork and the “depth and shadow play” of Massi’s photography, the excellent “colour-matched” production design, the various cast members, the minimalist sound design of Italian films at the time, and some of the film’s technical aspects including the cost-effective Techniscope framing and its inherent drawbacks, and plenty more besides. It’s an engrossing listen, and a very strong audio commentary debut for Mr. Henkel, which adds a greater depth of appreciation to this already excellent film. In Drops of Giallo (29m26s), a new on-camera interview with Ernesto Gastaldi (with some added input from the late Giuliano Carnimeo), Gastaldi talks about his start in the industry as an assistant to director Giorgio Simonelli, his life-long relationship with Carnimeo (they met at film school in 1955), the many western pictures and comedies Carnimeo directed (Carnimeo's last film turned out to be the enjoyably trashy RAT MAN [1988]), his writing process, the high demands during the giallo craze of the early ’70s (“The phone was ringing off the hook with people asking me to write another, and another, and another story!”), the “element of ambiguity” in the pictures, and his thoughts on the film itself. In a nice gesture, CD have also included both the aforementioned Drops of Blood and Marilyn featurettes from Shameless’ earlier release alongside a new outtake reel consisting of “excess trims from the original 2-perf negatives” (1m43s), a thorough image gallery (5m16s), which even includes stills and posters from the film’s UK theatrical release as EROTIC BLUE, and the Italian and English trailers (both 2m54s). If ordered through the CD website, a nice slipcover is also included along with a set of six 12” x 8.25” high-quality re-productions of the Italian lobby cards.
An easy buy for fans and newcomers alike, Celluloid Dreams’ debut release is a real knockout which comes highly recommended!
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