Amuck! Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		4.5

Amuck! Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov May 10, 2017

Silvio Amadio's "Amuck" a.k.a. "Alla ricerca del piacere" (1972) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of German label Camera Obscura. The supplemental features on the disc include an original U.S. trailer for the film; exclusive new video interviews with Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri; large collection of original production and promotional materials; audio commentary with film historians Marcus Stiglegger, Kai Naumann and Pelle Felsch; the film's original soundtrack placed on a separate CD; and more. The release also arrives with a 10-page illustrated booklet featuring Marcel Barion's essay "Thus Spoke Amadio". In English or Italian, with optional English or German subtitles for the main feature. Region-B "locked".

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The main attraction in Italian director Silvio Amadio’s Amuck! is the presence of Rosalba Neri and Barbara Bouchet. During the ‘70s and ‘80s these two very beautiful European actresses appeared in a number of genre films, with many of the gialli now ranking quite high on various fan lists.

The film’s plot revolves around the young secretary Greta Franklin (Bouchet) who is hired to assist an eccentric writer (Farley Granger) living with his wife (Neri) in a secluded villa next to a big lagoon not too far away from the beautiful city of Venice. The girl is inexperienced but determined to learn quickly and her enthusiasm for the job instantly earns the admiration of her new employer. In fact, the writer and his wife begin to like her so much that they quickly encourage her to join the wild parties they frequently host in the villa. Soon after, however, Greta’s enthusiasm for the job is replaced by a determination to uncover everything that she can about the puzzling disappearance of the previous secretary (Patrizia Viotti). While secretly gathering information and trying to solve the mystery, Greta nearly dies in a very awkward accident.

It is quite a stretch to group Amuck! with the classic gialli because the film is certainly a lot more interested in channeling erotic energy than building genuinely tense atmosphere. And this is understandable because Amadio’s script does not provide enough material that allows for the type of surprising twists and unexpected climaxes that the gialli favor. Also, the film was obviously shot with a fairly small budget which means that the incentives to experiment with bigger and more diverse on-location shooting and expand the narrative were clearly not there.

Interestingly enough, the modest script and budget limitations are probably the two biggest reasons why Amuck! ended up being as attractive as it is. (Notice that I am not implying that it is a good film, rather that it is quite a sizzler). Indeed, Amadio spent a lot more time shooting Bouchet and Neri than he otherwise would have because he was perfectly aware that the longer they stayed in front of his camera, the easier it became to hide the flaws of his script. The end result is a film that comes dangerously close to replicating the appeal of another very popular giallo hybrid that was directed by Ottavio Alessi a couple of years earlier, Top Sensation a.k.a. The Seducers. Alessi’s film again features the elegant Neri and sex symbol Edwige Fenech, but goes as far as these types of films could go at the time without getting in trouble with the big distributors. (Like Amuck!, Top Sensation was recently reconstructed and restored by German label Camera Obscura and is now available on DVD in Germany and the United Kingdom).

Amadio shot Amuck! with cinematographer Aldo Giordani whose credits include many classic post-war Italian comedies, such as Mario Camerini’s Wife for a Night and Alessandro Blasetti’s Too Bad She's Bad, as well as a few of Bud Spencer and Terence Hill’s popular westerns.

*The beautiful villa that is seen in Amuck! belonged to the legendary Italian fashion designer Roberta Di Camerino. Also, as it was often the case during the '60s and '70s, Neri wore stylish outfits from her personal clothing collection.

Amuck! Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Silvio Amadio's Amuck! arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Camera Obscura.

The release is sourced from a from a brand new 2K master which was prepared by Camera Obscura. (British label 88 Films also worked with the same master when it prepared its local release of Amuck!. Unsurprisingly, I dd not see any meaningful discrepancies between the two releases to address in our review. Once again, the film looks very healthy and when projected fluidity really is as good as it can possibly be. As I mentioned in the previous review, some minor fluctuations exist because of location ambience and light being captured by the camera in unique ways (compare the basement footage and the flashbacks), but they are part of the original cinematography. The film also has a healthy color scheme. However, there appears to be a slight shift towards slightly warmer hues that might have affected the whites and reds, though the overall balance is still quite good. There are no traces of problematic degraining or sharpening adjustments. Image stability is terrific. Finally, there are no distracting damage marks, debris, cuts, stains, or other basic age-related imperfections. (Note: This is a Region-B "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-B or Region-Free player in order to access its content).

Amuck! Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English and German subtitles are provided for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

I can only echo the initial comments that I left about the lossless English track -- while I don't know precisely what type of remastering work was done, the end result is indeed enormously impressive. Indeed, depth, clarity, and stability are perfect, and while viewing the film I felt as if the audio had been recently recorded, not remixed. Fantastic work.

Amuck! Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• In a House of Sin: An Interview with Rosalba Neri - in this brand new video interview, actress Barbara Bouchet explains that Amuck! was the first thriller that she appeared in and recalls exactly how she was cast to play Greta Franklin, and discusses her interactions with director Silvio Amadio during the shooting of the film, the appearance and atmosphere of the film (with some interesting comments about Venice and how the city has changed since the early 1970s), Farley Granger and his personality, the famous kissing scene with Rosalba Neri, how Quentin Tarantino apparently legitimized her work and gave many of her films a second life (with a great comment about Milano Calibro 9), etc. The interview was conducted by Feredico Caddeo for Camera Obsucra. In Italian, with optional English and German subtitles. (19 min).

• Death in Venice: An Interview with Rosalba Neri - in this brand new video interview, actress Rosalba Neri remembers the time she spent in Venice with fellow actress Barbara Bouchet during the shooting of Amuck!. Rosalba Neri also has some very interesting comments about dierctor Silvio Amadio's character and working methods. The interview was conducted by Feredico Caddeo for Camera Obsucra. In Italian, with optional English and German subtitles. (16 min).

• Amadio!: An Interview with Stefano Amadio - in this new video interview, Stefano Amadio discusses the life and career of his father, director Silvio Amadio, as well as the production history and style of Amuck!. (Once again there are some great comments about Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri's lovemaking scene, as well as some interesting bits about Silvio Amadio's relationship with the beautiful actress Gloria Guida and the four films they made together). The interview was conducted by Feredico Caddeo for Camera Obsucra. In Italian, with optional English and German subtitles. (21 min).

• Trailer - an original U.S. trailer for Amuck!, with a hilarious warning. In English, not subtitled. (4 min).

• Photo Gallery - an excellent collection of promotional (original production and printed media) materials for Amuck!

• Audio Commentary - in this brand new commentary, film historians Marcus Stiglegger, Kai Naumann and Pelle Felsch discuss the production history of Amuck! and also spend a great deal of time discussing the film's narrative structure and style. The audio commentary is in Germany but optional English subtitles are provided for it.

• Booklet - 10-page illustrated booklet featuring Marcel Barion's essay "Thus Spoke Amadio". The essay is presented in English and German. (The author is a filmmaker and research assistant at the University of Siegen, Germany).

• Soundtrack - the folks at Camera Obscura have included the entire original soundtrack from Teo Usuelli on a separate CD.

Amuck! Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I had already seen Camera Obscura's recent 2K restoration of Silvio Amadio's Amuck! and liked it quite a lot, but this Blu-ray release also has a fantastic selection of brand new special features as well as a CD with the film's original soundtrack. To be honest, the two new interviews with Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri would have been enough for me to highly recommend it to anyone interested in Italian genre films. Great work from Camera Obscura yet again, and I hope that we will see a few more releases from the label before the end of the year. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.