Rating summary

Movie		3.0
Video		3.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		1.0
Overall		3.0

Enigma Rosso Blu-ray Movie Review

Shallow red?

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman April 14, 2018

Fans of British mystery may find a couple of interesting parallels to a couple of iconic English sleuths in what the commentary on this new Blu-ray describes as a “little” giallo, Enigma Rosso, a film that was released under an almost funny number of different titles through the years (the actual title credit for the film on the disc is Rings of Fear). Lovers of a certain spinsterish Agatha Christie creation who picked up Miss Marple: Volume 3 may recall two mysteries that featured a man named Jason Rafiel, who kind of cheekily appointed himself Miss Marple’s “Nemesis”. Decades later, the Inspector Morse prequel Endeavour featured an episode with local school girls getting involved in some sexual shenanigans with much older, wealthier, males in the area. Both the name Nemesis from Miss Marple’s adventures and the perhaps salacious plot point that involved Endeavour Morse show up in Enigma Rosso, a film written by Massimo Dallamano, and one which bears more than a few passing resemblances to Dallamano’s What Have You Done to Solange? (Enigma Rosso was evidently initially planned as part of Dallamano's so-called "school girls in peril" trilogy, which may account for at least some its similarities). As commentator Nathaniel Thompson mentions, Enigma Rosso arguably tones down the gore that is the hallmark of many gialli, while upping the prurient aspects, sometimes fairly randomly (an early sequence features a lot of naked school girls showering for no other reason than, well, naked school girls showering). Perhaps the single biggest sexually charged issue with the film is the manner of death of its first victim, who it turns out was killed by an implement of gratification whose undue size “ripped up her insides” (I’m attempting to be a little circumspect for reasons which are hopefully obvious). That murder scene is left to the imagination in the early going, though a later montage does at least hint at it.

She may not be Laura Palmer of Twin Peaks: The Entire Mystery fame, but a young coed named Angela Russo is, like Laura, found murdered and wrapped in plastic as Enigma Rosso begins (commentator Thompson kind of implies that David Lynch may have "borrowed" this element for his own much later offering). That leads to the involvement of Inspector Di Salvo (Fabio Testi), who wastes no time in traumatizing Angela’s mother (Helga Liné) and little sister Emily (Fausta Avelli) at the morgue, and then similarly alienating a whole host of (frankly uppity) teachers at the tony private school where Angela had been a student. St. Theresa's is a baroque facility with a staff that would probably cause many parents to think twice about having their children there, but it turns out that not only was Angela "studying" (?) there, her little sister Emily continues to even after the horrifying death of her older sister. In a kind of odd partnering, Emily ends up providing some salient clues to Di Salvo, including handing over Angela's purse to the detective, which in turn includes Angela's diary and appointment calendar.

Emily also alerts Di Salvo to the fact that her deceased sibling was part of a little clique of girls at the school that had dubbed themselves “the Inseparables”. Things turn out to not be going so well for these other girls, either, and in fact they’re the recipient of threatening notes from someone who has dubbed themself “Nemesis”. Without posting any outright spoilers, there are a series of both near death experiences and flat out murders that accrue, but Enigma Rosso pulls a hat trick of sorts in its windup, offering a series of revelations that suggest more than one set of black gloved hands (a giallo trope that is in fact largely missing in this entry) may have been involved in all the mayhem.

There are at least a couple of standout sequences in the film, as kind of overamped as both of them are. Di Salvo's investigations ultimately lead him to a suspect with whom he takes a madcap roller coast ride, one which may not actually be that efficacious in coaxing a confession (which may not be appropriate in any case, given what ultimately happens). Another vignette documents a visit to a certain kind of backroom medical facility where one girl's experiences are rather provocatively intercut with scenes of Angela's murder (it's here that you get a good, long look at the murder implement). Both of these sequences fairly bristle with a gonzo quality that is undeniable, something that the rest of the film struggles at times to match.

As even Nathaniel Thompson seems to admit in his appealing commentary, you might be hard pressed to argue that Enigma Rosso is a defining giallo, or even that it’s much above average within the rather broad quality parameters of that genre. Still, it has some appealing elements, including a kind of slyly devious performance on the part of little Avelli as Emily. Avelli might very well have made a perfect Rhoda Penmark in an Italian remake of The Bad Seed (and lest anyone think that that’s a spoiler, let me just say at worst it’s a bit of misdirection perfectly in line with what the film itself offers).

Enigma Rosso Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Enigma Rosso is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of a coaltion between Doppelganger Releasing, Scorpion Releasing and Music Box Films with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.35:1. The back cover of this release advertises one of the supposed special features as a "brand new scan of the original negatives with extensive color correction done here in the States". I wish I had better news about this transfer, but it's unfortunately one of the less pleasing ones that this recent partnership between Doppelganger and Scorpion has offered. There are a number of issues that must have been inherent in the negative which have not been addressed (or at least adequately addressed) in any restoration process, including numerous instances of damage, including some fairly large and long lasting purple scratches (see screenshot 18). Clarity and detail levels are also fairly variable, especially toward the edges of the frame, where things often look almost slightly out of focus. The encode seems to encounter a few obstacles with grain resolution as well (see screenshot 17), though in motion things do look nicely organic a lot of the time. The best thing about this transfer is probably the palette reproduction, which means that whatever color correction was done here has hit its target. That said, this is not an overly saturated looking presentation, and skin tones tend to skew toward the slightly pink side of things.

Enigma Rosso Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Enigma Rosso features either Italian or English language tracks in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Both tracks feature the traditional loose sync of Italian cinema, but each offers both dialogue and Riz Ortolani's really bizarre score (more about that in a moment) with generally okay fidelity. Ortolani, who had a fascinating career that saw him provide huge pop hits like "More" or "Forget Domani", offers some patently weird choices throughout this film. A lot of the score plays like a kind of early seventies' porn feature (which may in fact be kind of appropriate), but Ortolani accents certain lines of dialogue in an almost comedic way. Listen, for example, during Di Salvo's initial interrogation scene at the school, and hear how Ortolani suddenly offers deep, menacing chords at certain moments that would seem to indicate something important is being discussed. Here's a clue: it isn't.

Enigma Rosso Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary features historian Nathaniel Thompson.


• Play Trailers includes two trailers (480i; 2:33) (480i; 2:29) for Enigma Rosso, along with several others. If you've ever wondered what people mean by macroblocking, just watch the first SD trailer for several superb examples.

Enigma Rosso Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

When even the commentator hired to discuss the film tends to dismiss it (more or less, anyway) as a relatively minor offering in the often wild and wooly world of giallo, that's probably a salient clue as to where to set your expectation meter when approaching this film. There's actually quite a bit to like in Enigma Rosso for those not expecting an undiscovered masterpiece. But the pull quote on the back cover which announces the film is "ultra sleazy" may be another clue for those who are a bit squeamish at depictions of debauchery or elements like full frontal nudity. Doppelganger and Scorpion have been releasing some interesting gialli and other related genres, and have generally offered very good to excellent technical presentations. While there's nothing absolutely horrible about either the video or audio on this presentation, I personally find this to be the least pleasing in those departments of the releases this partnership has brought out thus far. Therefore, I suggest that those interested at least parse the screenshots included with this review carefully as they weigh whether or not to purchase this title.