Death Smiles on a Murderer Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		2.5
Video		4.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		3.5
Overall		3.0

Death Smiles on a Murderer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman May 10, 2018

It’s become almost a meme of sorts for interviewers to ask athletes what they’ll be doing after the close of a big season capping game, with the typical answer from the sports icon being a pretty ummistakable plug for the so-called happiest place on Earth or the like. Tim Lucas’ fun commentary for Death Smiles on a Murderer (also known as Death Smiles on Murder, its English language title on this Blu-ray) mentions how an icon in his own right, Klaus Kinski, came to this project directly after having endured one of the more titanic shoots of his career, Aguirre: The Wrath of God. Lucas’ comment made me imagine for a second a hapless interviewer wandering into Kinski’s realm on Aguirre: The Wrath of God’s wrap day and asking him what he was moving on to, and I couldn’t help but fantasize for a brief but amusing moment that Kinski’s response probably wouldn’t have been a calm explanation about his actually kind of tangential role in this Joe D’Amato (working under his real name, Aristide Massaccesi) enterprise, but probably rather an obscenity laced tirade a la some of his showdowns with the equally inimitable Werner Herzog, as documented in My Best Fiend. Kinski may get second billing here (after undeniable star Ewa Aulin), but his role is kind of off on the sidelines of an already odd and somewhat patchwork feeling horror opus.

The film begins with a gorgeous reclining profile of Greta von Holstein (Ewa Aulin) which makes her look for all the world like Sleeping Beauty, but it turns out she’s really asleep, as in “sleeping with the fishes” asleep. She’s being mourned by her deformed brother Franz (Luciano Rossi), and in the first of several kind of disjunctive narrative elements, the film more or less lurches into a series of flashbacks documenting the relationship between the siblings, one which includes a little sampling of incest, along with side helpings of insane jealousy. A hint is given in this early sequence that Greta may have found another suitor to replace her possibly abusive brother (I say possible due to some post-coital dialogue between the two where Greta seems pretty sanguine about the whole situation).

Because of the structural anomalies, it really isn’t clear exactly what’s going on for at least a little while once the film segues yet again to the rural home of Walter von Ravensbrück (Sergio Doria) and his wife Eva (Angela Bo), where their peaceful evening is interrupted by the sudden calamitous collision of a horse and carriage, one that leaves the driver completely disemboweled in the first of several graphic scenes of body mutilation (which in this particular case is so exaggerated it may provoke laughter in some viewers). Inside the carriage is an amnesiac woman who certainly seems to be the seemingly recently deceased Greta.

The von Ravensbrücks bring in a doctor named Sturges (Klaus Kinski) to examine the frail woman, and Sturges is struck by a medallion around her neck which identifies her as Greta, though with a date three years in the past (so maybe she isn’t so recently deceased after all). More troublingly, the reverse side of the medallion seems to be covered with those always frightening occult symbols. Sturges obviously knows more than he’s letting on, and in fact in another certain venerable horror franchise this good (?) doctor might be assumed to be bearing the surname Frankenstein. Meanwhile, the family maid seems to be haunted by visions of Franz, though as Tim Lucas kind of wonders out loud in his commentary, why she should be tethered to Franz is really never adequately explained (just one of several plot elements in Death Smiles on a Murderer which are probably best left unquestioned).

Suffice it to say that a grabbag of previously mentioned characters are rather quickly out of the picture (both literally and figuratively) as a revenge scenario of sorts is finally unveiled, though even this aspect isn’t handled with a great deal of clarity and structural integrity. D’Amato is often credited and/or faulted (depending on your point of view) for his perceived “sleaze” (a recent back cover of a D’Amato release I reviewed called him the “king of sleaze” if I’m remembering correctly), but Death Smiles on a Murderer is actually fairly restrained, for a D’Amato outing anyway. There are certainly graphic gore and sex scenes here, but the overall ambience is kind of standard Gothic fare, albeit often played to the veritable second balcony in terms of performance styles. While the production design here isn’t exactly opulent, it at least attempts to recreate its early 20th century era, and while Death Smiles on a Murderer never really registers as either a truly frightening outing or in fact even as a consistent example of early to mid- seventies Italian camp, it will probably appeal to D’Amato completists as one of the earlier feature film outings in his long directorial career.

Death Smiles on a Murderer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Death Smiles on a Murderer is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 1.85:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the transfer:

Death Smiles on a Murderer is presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1 with Italian and English mono audio. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution at EuroLab.

The film was graded on Digital Vision's Nucoda Film Master and restored at R3store Studios. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, picture instability and other instances of film wear were repaired or removed through a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques.

The mono Italian and English language tracks were remastered from the optical sound negatives at Deluxe Media, Los Angeles. The audio synch will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact that the soundtracks were recorded entirely in post-production.

This is a solid if not completely problem free looking presentation, one that achieves considerable warmth in the palette, if intermittently, and one that provides precise renderings of sometimes rather fine patterns on things like the tweedy suits that some of the men wear. Color temperature varies at least slightly throughout the presentation, with outdoor material perhaps expectedly popping best. While grain looks natural, there are a few selected scenes where it can look fairly chunky and yellow (see screenshot 17). Also, restoration efforts have missed a few minor blemishes, including a couple of hairs caught in the gate (see screenshots 18 and 19). My score is 4.25.

Death Smiles on a Murderer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Death Smiles on a Murderer features LPCM Mono tracks in either English or Italian. I really didn't notice any appreciable difference in terms of overall amplitude or mix, and as mentioned above sync is pretty loose on both of these, but overall I found the Italian language track a little less distracting in terms of lip movements and sounds emanating from them. One of the best things about this film is the really well done score by Berto Pisano (I'm wondering if he's related the the great Los Angeles session guitarist John Pisano), and the kind of Burt Bacharach meets Paul Mauriat sensibility of some of the cues comes through really excellently despite the narrow soundstage. Fidelity is fine, with no real damage to report, though both tracks can sound a bit on the boxy side at times.

Death Smiles on a Murderer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Tim Lucas


• D'Amato Smiles on Death (1080p; 5:5 ) is an archival interview with the director stemming from 1998 (according to the title, though the menu selection mentions 1999). This is an enjoyable if brief and fairly casual conversation with D'Amato, who looks like he's in his study. In Italian with English subtitles.


• All About Ewa (1080p; 42:55) is a newly produced interview with actress Ewa Aulin, who gives some biographical background and also delves into her career. In Italian with English subtitles.


• Smiling on the Taboo (1080p; 21:34) is a video essay by Kat Ellinger that gets into some of the controversial aspects of this film and other D'Amato offerings. This comes replete with a rather humorously long warning list of films that Ellinger provides spoiler material for.


• Original Trailers

  English Trailer (1080p; 2:47)

  
  

  Italian Trailer (1080p; 2:47)

• Stills and Collections Gallery (1080p; 7:20)

As usual, Arrow has also provided a nicely appointed insert booklet.

Death Smiles on a Murderer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Death Smiles on a Murderer is a rather interesting if flawed piece from D'Amato, especially if you come to it (as I did) right after watching D'Amato's Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals . While there's some of that aforementioned "sleaze factor" wafting through this enterprise, this is a fairly straightforward Gothic thriller that has some decent elements but could have used some significant clarification in the screenwriting department. Kinski is fun in a kind of inconsequential role, but the alluring Aulin is front and center virtually the whole way. Arrow has provided a disc with solid technical merits and excellent supplements for those considering a purchase.