Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		4.5
Audio		3.5
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Smile Before Death Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Jeffrey Kauffman August 27, 2022

Note: This film is available on Blu-ray as part of Giallo Essentials (Black Edition).

Some curmudgeons may want to quibble with the term "essentials", but Arrow is continuing its relatively recent tradition of offering three gialli collected together in a specially "colored" slipbox, so that this Black Edition joins the previously released Giallo Essentials (Red Edition), which included The Possessed, The Fifth Cord and The Pyjama Girl Case, and Giallo Essentials (Yellow Edition), which included What Have They Done to Your Daughters?, Torso and Strip Nude for Your Killer. While probably none of the six previously released or the three currently released (so far) films that Arrow has been offering with this kind of branding would probably jump to the top of anyone's list of "must see" gialli, they all have considerable style and often intriguing elements that make them interesting in their own ways. As usual, Arrow combines some nice packaging along with a copious supply of supplements to help sweeten the pot.

Kinkiness is certainly not an unexpected element in any number of gialli, but Smile Before Death gets dangerously close to pushing all sorts of potential "trigger" points, including a film fraught with sexual energy between a stepfather and stepdaughter, all within a plot that has been compared at times to Taste of Fear, but which struck me as being kind of curiously similar in ways to another more traditional psychological murder mystery film, The Snorkel. As is mentioned in passing in the fun commentary track by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson, Smile Before Death does erupt out of the veritable gate like gangbusters, with a gory and maybe just slightly funny death scene, which documents the stumbling, groping expiration of a woman who has had her throat slit. Whether or not that slitting was done by herself in a suicide or someone else in a murder provides some of the continuing (supposed) intrigue in the story.

The woman is revealed to be Dorothy (Zora Gheorgieva), now deceased wife of Marco (Silvano Tranquilli), and the fact that their marriage evidently had some intrigue of its own is highlighted by the fact that Marco wastes no time setting up shop with mistress Gianna (Rosalba Neri), who had some history with both Dorothy and Marco herself. It turns out Marco is something of a regent of sorts for Dorothy's huge estate until Dorothy's sole daughter Nancy (Jenny Tamburi) reaches maturity, and when nearly adult Nancy returns home on the eve of her being eligible for her inheritance, things heat up, with a nicely Byzantine assortment of interrelationships, morphing alliances and at least partially hidden motivations.

The story here actually does provide a surprise or two, especially in the increasingly gonzo third act, but what may immediately catch a lot of viewer's attention is the eye popping production design, which is kind of curiously psychedelic for a film made in 1972 (one might expect this more in a late sixties outing). Along with the two other films in this set, this also has an appealing if odd score, this one featuring a main theme (repeated ad infinitum throughout the film) which kind of sounds like a lone Swingle Singer riffing on Michel Legrand.

Smile Before Death Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Smile Before Death is presented on Blu-ray courtesy of Arrow Video with an AVC encoded 1080p transfer in 2.40:1. Arrow's insert booklet contains the following information on the restoration:

Smile Before Death is presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1 [sic] with Italian and English mono audio.

The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution at Cinema Communications Services, Rome. Restoration and grading were completed at R3Store Studios, London. The mono Italian and English language tracks were remastered from the optical sound negatives. Additional audio remastering was completed by Matt Jarman / Bad Princess Productions.

The audio synch will appear slightly loose against the picture, due to the fact taht the dialogue was recorded entirely in post production, as per the production standards of the period.

All original materials used for the restoration were made available from Minerva Pictures.

While all three of the films in this set enjoyed 2K scans of their original camera negatives, to my eyes Smile Before Death was the most consistently pleasing of the three, something that may be due in part to that eye popping production design mentioned above in the main body of the review. As can probably be gleaned from the screenshots accompanying this review, there are a glut of really bright, vivid colors offered throughout the presentation, and warmer tones in the purple, red and orange territory pop with considerable authority throughout. Fine detail is typically excellent, offering precise accountings of sometimes complex patterns on admittedly mundane things like wallpapers or outfits. Grain resolves naturally throughout, but does attain a somewhat mottled, gritty appearance in some red drenched darkroom sequences.

Smile Before Death Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

Smile Before Death features LPCM Mono tracks in either English and Italian, and this is one of those situations where you get different pluses and minuses on each track. As I do on these features with several audio options, I toggled between the two as I watched, and while these differences are probably relatively miniscule overall, I sensed the Italian track being slightly boxier sounding, though with a better, fuller sounding, low end, while the English track was generally brighter sounding with clearer highs. Again, these differences are pretty minimal, and both tracks offer secure fidelity within the sometimes limited dynamic range that seems to typify a lot of these Italian productions. Optional English subtitles are available.

Smile Before Death Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Audio Commentary by Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson


• Smile of the Hyena (HD; 23:25) is a new interview with Stefano Amadio, film journalist and son of director Silvio Amadio, but unfortunately someone forgot to include subtitles (on my disc, anyway), and I'm not proficient enough in Italian to have caught more than a passing word or two.


• Extended Nude Scenes (HD; 3:15) feature Jenny Tamburi and Rosalba Neri and are silent.


• Image Gallery (HD)

Additionally, Arrow provides its typically well appointed insert booklet with an essay and technical information, and the keepcase insert features a reversible sleeve with original and newly commissioned artwork.

Smile Before Death Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

The back cover of this release alludes to "familicide with a sprinkling of Oedipal love", though it might be more appropriately an Electra Complex which drives this story, though by the time all the interrelationships are dealt with, maybe Sappho is in there, too, so to speak, but one way or the other, Smile Before Death is definitely on the kinky side. Arrow's release features solid technical merits and an appealing commentary, though the lack of subtitles on the interview was a bit of an oversight. Recommended.