Death Occurred Last Night Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.0
Audio		3.0
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.5

Death Occurred Last Night Blu-ray Movie Review

25 Going on 3.

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf May 7, 2014

1970’s “Death Occurred Last Night” is a difficult film to gauge. Although it teases giallo interests with unsavory criminal behavior and police procedural highlights with some minor supercop beats, the feature doesn’t rest any place in particular. It’s not a thriller, but far from a drama, capturing an uneasy tone of discovery that drives interest in the story, along with nicely shaded characterization that elevates its emotional potential. Director Duccio Tessari manages to find a unique gravity to the endeavor, delivering on a kidnapping concept that heads into unexpected places, while the screenplay (adapted from a novel) provides at least an effort to avoid the norm when it comes to the cliches of nosy cops and overprotective fathers. “Death Occurred Last Night” is a grim picture, but always compelling with its mournful tone, broken up by flashes of exploitative habits that keep the movie approachable, even downright goofy at times, but the asides rarely break Tessari’s concentration.

Amanzio (Raf Vallone) is an average father in Milan who’s concerned about his daughter, Donatella (Gillian Bray), especially when she’s twentysomething with the intellect of a three year old, while her adult body craves sexual attention. Trying to protect her from the evils of the world, Amanzio is crestfallen when he discovers she’s missing, with the local police unwilling to pay attention to yet another tale of woe. However, his desperation piques the curiosity of Detective Lambert (Frank Wolff) and his partner, Mascaranti (Gabriele Tinti), with the pair launching an investigation of the disappearance. Conning car salesman, and former pimp, Salvatore (Gigi Rizzi), to assist with introductions, Lambert and Mascaranti plunge into the underworld after receiving a clue concerning Donatella’s whereabouts, visiting brothels and meeting prostitutes with hopes somebody, somewhere can help with the cause. They find aid from Herrero (Beryl Cunningham), a black escort who caters to specific tastes, inching closer to a break in the case. For Amanzio, the pain of the loss weighs heavily on his heart, and when he stumbles on clues that suggest his daughter is near, the father mounts his own exploration, unknowingly putting himself in great danger.

“Death Occurred Last Night” is really two pictures for the price of one. On one side of the story is Amanzio, a troubled father who’s lost his most beloved burden, frantically trying to command police attention for this unusual situation, with his pleas lost on an institution that doesn’t lift a finger to find missing adults. Of course, Donatella isn’t a routine case, but a gorgeous woman with the mind of a child, unable to process her urges around untrustworthy men, rendering her father horrified and a little resigned, aware that this behavior was bound to cause trouble one day. On the other side of the film is Lambert and Mascaranti, two devoted detectives with feisty interplay (often concerning the younger partner’s length of hair), drawn to the case and its unusual elements, many requiring an extensive investigation of Milan’s community of prostitutes. Incriminating Salvatore for help, the pair takes off into the night, visiting brothels and hotels with hopes to learn more about Donatella’s disappearance, fearing she may have been forced into service.

Boasting a jazzy score by Gianni Ferrio that’s practically a supporting character, buttressing investigative montages and sustaining the city beat, “Death Occurred Last Night” finds a rhythm of hostile encounters that fuel the suspense of the movie. The detectives rub up against unlawful types as they file through wayward women, with one in particular, Herrero, actually in possession of information leading to the location of Donatella, with Lambert offering the niche hooker a room in his home to keep close tabs on her as the investigation continues. The screenplay doesn’t milk the unease as fully as it could, trying to preserve some light as the story grows increasingly gloomy, but characterization is fantastic, with viewers allowed access to idiosyncrasy and interplay that brings about a richer understanding of ethics and impatience, finding Lambert and Mascaranti determined to find the woman, while Amanzio simply has to locate his daughter to make peace with the crime, pledging to Lambert that he’ll remain alive long enough to find the perpetrators. And really, this is all “Death Occurred Last Night” has to define itself, as mystery beats aren’t pronounced and action is limited at best. What keeps the effort afloat is an appreciation for volatile headspaces and resolve, no matter the outcome of the case.

Death Occurred Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The VC-1 encoded image (1.66:1 aspect ratio) presentation continues RaroVideo's recent run of HD transfers sourced from 35mm negatives, and the effort brings "Death Occurred Last Night" to Blu-ray with satisfactory freshness. Colors are cared for, allowing for era-specific shades of brown to emerge from costumes, while flashes of blood red make the appropriate impact. Skintones look true. Detail is adequate with some cinematographic softness, best with full close-ups, which deliver on skin textures, while costuming also displays some design highlights, with sheerness preserved for a few of the working girls. Grain is managed comfortably, but there is some degree of filtering present. Black levels are passable, with moments of crush that solidify frame information, but it's not a persistent issue.

Death Occurred Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Much like the "Hallucination Strip" release, "Death Occurred Last Night" provides a 2.0 LPCM mix that's on the unstable side, again boasting bold, clear soundtrack cuts and muddier dialogue exchanges. There's more hiss here, which varies in intensity, carrying through the entire movie. Verbal interactions are capably preserved, with dubbing loud and true, holding emotional outbursts and interrogation sequences together without slipping into distortion. Atmospherics are beefy but palatable, with bursts of violence coming through clearly.

Death Occurred Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Introduction (7:12, HD) steps into Fangoria editor Chris Alexander's cluttered basement, where the writer and giallo enthusiast speaks directly into a webcam attached to his ceiling. Sharing his love for "Death Occurred Last Night" and the genres it encompasses, Alexander makes his points clearly without digging too deep into picture itself. Trying to prevent a static frame, the host is very handsy with his comments, so your mileage may vary on the tolerability of this supplementary feature.

• And a Theatrical Trailer (2:38, HD), a distinctive one too, is included.

Death Occurred Last Night Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Without giving too much away, "Death Occurred Last Night" evolves into a slightly different viewing experience in its final act, with questions answered early to provide time for the characters to work out their building frustration with the case. The performances are strong throughout, with the leads articulating degrees of frustration and determination with subtlety, refusing to indulge the screenplay's inclinations to transform the movie into a revenge saga. Tessari directs cleanly and efficiently, extracting all the proper moods, but also preserving the consistency of the effort, never trailing off indulgently beyond some scenes of nudity shoehorned into the picture to provide cheap titillation. "Death Occurred Last Night" doesn't come at the viewer in recognizable ways, and while it all but promises routine, it manages to inch around formula with a welcome concentration on the human elements of the tale, even as it labors to satisfy genre demands.