Death of the Virgin Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		1.0
Video		2.5
Audio		2.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		1.5

Death of the Virgin Blu-ray Movie Review

Fear fine art (but not Italian breasts)

Reviewed by Brian Orndorf September 21, 2011

"Death of the Virgin" is a supremely cluttered horror picture with a few striking ingredients. It offers a bizarre concentration on nightmarish imagery founded in fine art and contemporary dance, yet it also desires to be a gross-out slasher film of sorts, along with mimicking several other terror subgenres of questionable repute. "Death of the Virgin" is a smear of ideas supported by a lackluster technical effort, raising a strident genre ruckus when more attention should've been paid to the fundamentals, supplying a more rigorous display of thespian confidence and cinematographic ability. Instead, a handful of lofty thematic concepts and inspirations are left to rot while director Joseph Tito gradually loses control of the picture, resorting to ugly acts of ultraviolence to make a hasty impression. I'm not suggesting the script ever held promise, but there's something interesting going on during this unpleasant mess that's never quite developed to its full potential.

May (Natasha Allen) is an inquisitive traveler in Italy on her way to a lecture covering the graphic works of the artist Caravaggio, also hoping to visit the sacred grounds of a healing spring where the Virgin Mary appeared 600 years earlier. Along the journey, May meets Sandra (Linda Valadas), a cynic looking to disrupt the educational efforts of Caravaggio expert Mark (Joseph Tito), and Lisa (Jennifer Healy), a snotty Brit tourist with time to kill before her flight home. Checking into a nearby hotel, the women are quickly confronted with an uneasy atmosphere saturating the property, staffed by a team of reserved and disturbed individuals. For May, the visit is torturous, finding herself constantly hounded by explicit nightmares depicting sacrifices and assorted demonic visitations urging her to confront her terrifying past, a mission intensified once dead bodies are discovered around the hotel, butchered by a mysterious force of evil.

Tito and screenwriter Silvio Oddi (who also appears as a skeptical cop investigating the gruesome murders) attempt to blur the line between art and death with this picture, a concoction that, in the proper hands, could result in a stunning feature of unusual intellectual insight and startling visual power. "Death of the Virgin" is devoid of any challenging elements, pulled apart by incessant filmmaking uncertainty -- the production is terrific at introducing ambitious ideas, but completely incapable of paying anything off. The use of Caravaggio and the impact of his disturbing work is an intriguing starting point for a cultured thriller, with the opening of the movie spotlighting a contemporary dance company visualizing the artist's work through precise movement, costume, and lighting. The discussion of his detailed paintings, their meaning and purpose, is carried through the first two acts, suggesting Tito is positioning himself for a grand finale that matches cinematic shock value with threatening creative inspiration from an Italian baroque master. Unfortunately, there's no culmination of ideas, no ballsy merging of mediums, leaving most of the movie wandering around blindly, waiting impatiently for something stimulating to occur after a good hour of hurried introduction.

Cursed with visible camera equipment, an extremely low budget, and a team of pretty but untested actors, "Death of the Virgin" is a sloppy filmmaking effort, barely holding itself together as it constantly reconsiders its approach. The core of the effort is a mystery, yet Tito is determined to try on all horror subgenres, touching upon psychological torment, witchcraft, demonic possession, torture porn, and there's even a brief nod to the black-gloved work of Dario Argento. There's no singular thought process to enjoy, nothing to help reinforce the importance of the puzzle. Instead, the feature jumps all over the map, trying anything to unnerve, eventually resorting to crude gore zone antics (watch out for a late inning tongue amputation) to help keep the picture alert. The aggression is tedious at best, sold by disturbed cast who look rightfully baffled by the whole thing, stepping tentatively around the frame as though there was little direction to help guide the moment.

Also curious is actress Maria Grazia Cucinotta, here in a supporting role as a member of the hotel staff who's even more demented than her co-workers are. Normally, any screen appearance from the extraordinary Italian sexpot is a welcome development, yet Cucinotta has nothing to do here besides act self-consciously crazy, endure unflattering dubbing, and bring some lustful sway to a decidedly unfriendly movie. Top billed for maybe 15 minutes of screentime, Cucinotta is wasted here. A shame.

Death of the Virgin Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

The AVC encoded image (1.78:1 aspect ratio, HD) presentation provides an erratic viewing experience. For brief moments, the HD cinematography looks clean and inviting, capturing extensive facial detail in close-ups and delivering an evocative portrait of the spare hotel grounds, with vivid foliage and brickwork. Colors are also vibrant, with lush blue skies and sinister blood reds making an interesting impression. However, the image takes a major hit with blacks, with crush issues creating a solidification of dark sequences. There's a general softness to the much of the presentation outside of a few highlights, losing necessary textures on the gruesome business, also hurting the design nuances of certain church and hotel visits. Banding creeps into a few shots, and the image is marked by some instances of noise. Skintones are generally in proper shape, delivering a natural look. It looks as though several different cameras were used to shoot the film, with this BD look the end result of the rotation.

Death of the Virgin Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The 5.1 Dolby Digital sound mix carries quite a curious tone, with Tito employing pops and fuzz to disorient the listener, generating a full sound of doom that makes good use of the surrounds. Dialogue exchanges have a bit of an uphill battle, with numerous dub jobs competing with heavy accents. A few lines are lost along the way, but the vast majority of conversations are understood, offered a clean frontal hold, while echoed interiors feel out a more circular, hollow position. Musical cues remain shrill and blunt, presented loudly to generate a cheap sensation of suspense, occasionally stepping on the important sonic points of a scene, lacking crisp separation. Atmospherics are satisfactory but never weighty, capturing environmental changes and the finer points of the violence, with pronounced slashings and acts of intimidation. Low-end is sparse.

Death of the Virgin Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• A Theatrical Trailer (1:54, HD) and a Filmmaker Trailer (1:48, SD) are included.

Death of the Virgin Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

"Death of the Virgin" is muddled and repulsive, growing in distasteful behavior as the climax nears, utilizing May's subconscious excursions to cram in extended encounters with demons and suffering, raising plenty of hell when a little coherence would've been preferred. Don't be fooled by the discussions of Caravaggio's work and the bosomy perfection of Cucinotta, they are merely distractions to help keep attention away from the extended run of scripted nonsense, amateur filmmaking chops, and floundering cast converging here to steal 100 minutes of your life.