Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		3.5
Audio		4.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Cry of a Prostitute Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 17, 2022

Andrea Bianchi's "Cry of a Prostitute" (1974) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Code Red. The supplemental features on the release include original English/international credits for the film and vintage U.S. trailer. In English, without optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The fixer from out of town

A couple of nights ago, while I was preparing this article on Andrea Bianchi’s Cry of a Prostitute, Henry Silva passed away at the age of 95. Silva was one of the truly great American character actors of the last century and left an incredible legacy of genre films.

In Cry of a Prostitute, Silva plays Tony Aniante, a veteran hitman who is summoned by a powerful mafia boss to do an important job. The mafia boss orders Aniante to travel to the south of Italy, near Palermo, where he grew up, and convince the heads of the two biggest clans in the area to resolve their differences. Their feud is not good for the expansion of the drug business, which is becoming a great source of revenue, plus it is directly affecting the mafia boss’ dealings.

Shortly after Aniante reaches his destination, however, he realizes that the two clans are already in the middle of an all-out war that cannot be stopped, so through a series of manipulative plays he intensifies it to force the emergence of a winner. A few foul plays reveal Aniante’s plan, but instead of immediately eliminating him, the heads of the clans decide to use him to outsmart each other and win the war. Amid the heavy fireworks, Aniante also becomes a target for a former prostitute (Barbara Bouchet) who has married the head of one of the clans.

Even though Cry of a Prostitute was obviously conceived to deliver the very particular genre thrills that made Italian crime films a hot commodity in Europe, Japan, and America during the 1970s, it is essentially a spaghetti western with a contemporary personality. This personality is shaped by over-the-top machismo and ultra-violent action of the kind that the spaghetti westerns legitimized when they filled the void left by the demise of the classic American westerns.

Silva is the heart and soul of Cry of a Prostitute and predictably makes his hitman appear like a classic gunslinger. However, he gives him a very mean attitude that at a certain point succeeds in transforming the classic gunslinger into an unhinged urban monster. This switch coupled with the over-the-top machismo and ultra-violent action is the catalyst of all the excitement in Cry of a Prostitute.

But this is precisely what makes Cry of a Prostitute very easy to critique and even possible to dismiss as a disappointingly transparent film – its story does not have the quality material to match its fireworks. This means that anyone that does not appreciate the style of Cry of a Prostitute is practically guaranteed to have an underwhelming experience with it.

Of course, the counterpoint to such a dismissal of Cry of a Prostitute is that its identity is so transparent it should not be viewed or judged as anything else but a very specific genre film, which immediately invalidates any concerns about the nature of its story. Indeed, as such a genre film, Cry of a Prostitute quickly meets the expectations and in the second half, where Silva goes berserk, it is even fair to say that it even exceeds them in more than one way.

The action footage looks good but it is not as expansive as other similar films of the same period liked it to be. In Cry of a Prostitute, there is a much greater emphasis on its brutality. This is another big reason Cry of a Prostitute ought to be recommended only to viewers with very particular expectations.

Cry of a Prostitute was lensed by Carlo Carlini, who had a very interesting career. Carlini worked with Federico Fellini (I Vitelloni), Steno (Love Italian Style), Roberto Rossellini, (Il Generale della Rovere), Sergio Solima (The Big Gundown) Enzo G. Castellari (Street Law), Bitto Albertini (Black Emanuelle), and Ducio Tessari (The Bastard).

Cry of a Prostitute Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.35:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Cry of a Prostitute arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Code Red.

Cry of a Prostitute was remastered in 2017 and initially appeared on an exclusive release that was not sold at Amazon. This release is sourced from the same master but is available for purchase at various etailers, including Amazon.

The master is good and has strong organic qualities, but there are quite a few rough spots on it. These are minor spots that reveal small surface wear or damage which I did not find distracting at all, but they are unmissable. Delineation, clarity, and depth range from good to very good. I very much like how the master was graded as well. There is some room for minor improvements in terms of saturation, plus ideally a few ranges of supporting nuances should be better, but the overall color balance is very nice. Image stability is good. There are absolutely no traces of problematic digital corrections. However, there is room for encoding optimizations that could have made the visuals appear even stronger and more attractive. (Note: My release is Region-Free, but I am unsure if all market copies are Region-Free because apparently the release should be Region-A "locked". So, if you are importing from outside of North America, please check region compatibility to be sure that your disc is playable on a Region-B player).

Cry of a Prostitute Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are not provided for the main feature.

The dialog is easy to follow. However, as is usually the case with Italian genre films from the '70s, the English track features plenty of original overdubbing, which means that you should expect to encounter some minor unevenness. The upper register seemed healthy enough, but there small cosmetic work could have been done to ensure that it is cleaner and better rounded. Dynamic intensity is good. However, you will encounter some inherited dynamic unevenness as well.

Cry of a Prostitute Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• U.S. Opening Credits - presented here are the original U.S. opening credits for Cry of a Prostitute. In 1.33:1 ratio. Music only. (1 min).

• Trailer - presented here is an original U.S. trailer for Cry of a Prostitute. Sourced from a VHS. In 1.33:1 ratio. In English, not subtitled. (1 min).

• Additional Trailers - additional trailers for other titles from Code Red's Blu-ray catalog.

Cry of a Prostitute Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

I was finishing work on this article when I heard the sad news that Henry Silva had passed away at the age of 95. He was a tremendous but underappreciated on this side of the Atlantic character actor that appeared in various very special genre films. In Cry of a Prostitute, Silva plays a mafia hitman who is dispatched to the south of Italy, near Palermo, where he grew up, to do a risky job that transforms him into a vicious monster. This is a wild action thriller that is not easy to recommend to viewers that get their entertainment from mainstream films, but it is precisely what makes it unique and worth seeking. I think that it features one of Silva's most unhinged performances. RECOMMENDED.