Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.0
Extras		2.5
Overall		3.5

Strip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov March 25, 2012

Andrea Bianchi's "Nude per l'assassino" a.k.a. "Strip Nude for Your Killer" (1975) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground. The supplemental features on the disc include Italian and international trailers for the film; poster and still gallery; and interviews with actress Solvi Stubing and co-writer Massimo Felisatti. In English or Italian, with optional English, English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

The last drink

The film begins with a short sequence in which a beautiful woman dies while undergoing an abortion. Shortly after, she is placed in a bath tub by two men. Before they disappear into the night, it is revealed that the woman was a fashion model.

The rest of the film follows a number of different characters who know each other through their work at the same studio where the late model used to work: Carlo (Nino Castelnuovo, The Umbrellas of Cherbourg), an ambitious photographer who knows how to convince a woman to take her clothes off, even when she does not want to, without using his camera; Magda (Edwige Fenech, The Case of the Bloody Iris), Carlo’s assistant and part-time lover, who has recently started fantasizing about being a cover model; Lucia (Femi Benussi, The Italian Connection, The Hawks and the Sparrows), a new girl hoping to become a model, who has just ‘auditioned’ for Carlo; Gisella (Amanda, Supersexymarket), the studio’s extravagant bisexual owner; Maurizio (Franco Diogene, Midnight Express), Gisella’s overweight husband, who desperately wants to sleep with Doris (Erna Schurer, Deported Women of the SS), another ambitious model; and Stefano (Gianni Airò), Doris’ abusive partner.

After a photographer employed by Gisella is brutally murdered, Magda becomes seriously concerned about the safety of everyone working in the studio. Soon after, together with Carlo, she begins looking for clues that would reveal the identity of the killer. Meanwhile, the killer strikes again.

Andrea Bianchi’s Strip Nude for Your Killer is a standard Eurotrash piece that delivers all of the goodies such a genre film should -- plenty of nudity, dated effects (which help the graphic killings appear quite stylish), cheap suspense, and beautiful melodies that make it a lot easier to enjoy the visuals. The international cast is, unsurprisingly, very attractive, and again, unsurprisingly, all of its members are dubbed. (This was a standard practice for all Italian genre films that were made during the '70s and '80s).

While the suspense is pretty decent, the film's biggest strength is its atmosphere. Once the leather-clad killer emerges from the shadows, the kitsch that materializes pushes the film in multiple directions and produces several intriguing character transformations. So there is enough material to impress fans of the classic gialli, but also enough spicy/kitschy material to intrigue additional viewers that do not typically rush to see such films. The end product is a bipolar thriller that is somewhat predictable but at the same time quite entertaining.

Fenech and Benussi look good, but both have had major parts in better and far more coherent genre films. The elegant Schurer, who appeared in a number of cult Eurotrash films during the ‘70s, has a small yet memorable cameo. Castelnuovo does what he is supposed to as the suave photographer, while the late Diogene plays another smutty character.

Berto Pisano’s psychedelic soundtrack does a lot to help the desired atmosphere. It features several outstanding sax and bass solos that easily could have emerged from now-considered classic soundtracks composed by the likes of Piero Piccioni (Camille 2000), Piero Umiliani (Baba Yaga), Riz Ortoloani (Day of Anger), and Armando Trovajoli (Scent of a Woman).

Cinematographer Franco Delli Colli’s (Hanna D: The Girl from Vondel Park) lensing is simple yet effective. However, a few of the lighting choices during the final third of the film are quite puzzling.

Strip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in an aspect ratio of 2.40:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Andrea Bianchi's Strip Nude for Your Killer arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Blue Underground.

The release is sourced from an older master with a familiar flaw -- all visuals are covered by a layer of light machine noise. Depending on how light was captured by the camera, some of it could be distracting (see screencapture #11), but elsewhere, for instance where brightness levels are toned down, it is quite easy to tolerate (see screencapture #4). The good news is that there are no traces of overzealous sharpening corrections. Shadow detail is also a lot more convincing than it is on Blue Underground's previous DVD release of the film. The darker sequences are also free of distracting macroblocking patterns. Color stability is greatly improved, but color saturation could have been better. Additionally, there is no edge flicker, while scratches, cuts, and damage marks have been effectively removed. All in all, despite the various issues and limitations described above, the Blu-ray release still represents a step-up in quality over the DVD release. It has to be said, however, that a slightly better scan would have produced a substantially better image quality. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray disc. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your Blu-ray regardless of your geographical location).

Strip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two audio tracks on this Blu-ray disc: English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 and Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0. For the record, Blue Underground have provided optional yellow English (for the Italian version), English SDH, French, and Spanish subtitles for the main feature. When turned on, they appear inside the image frame.

As far as I am concerned, the English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 track is a good enough reason to upgrade your DVDs. Berto Pisano's outstanding soundtrack gets a strong boost that enhances the campy atmosphere exceptionally well (listen to the long sax solos). Overall sound depth is also improved, though dynamic progression is fairly limited (the film's sound design simply does not favor a wide range of nuanced dynamics). The dialog is crisp, clean, and easy to follow. There are no serious sync issues, though the more careful viewers will likely notice that some lines could be just a tiny bit off because of the overdubbing.

Strip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• International Trailer - the international theatrical trailer for Strip Nude For Your Killer. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Italian Trailer - the Italian theatrical trailer for Strip Nude for Your Killer. In Italian, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Poster & Still Gallery - a collection of original posters, stills and photographs compiled by Gregory Chick.

• Interviews - in this video piece, actress Solvi Stubing and co-writer Massimo Felisatti recall their contribution to Strip Nude for Your Killer. Mr. Felisatti also explains what director Andrea Bianchi wanted to accomplish by merging the aesthetics of giallo and the very popular at the time 'sexy' Italian films. In Italian, with imposed English subtitles. (12 min, 480/60i).

Strip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Italian directors produced some truly intriguing films during the '70s and '80s. Most did exactly the opposite of what the older Neorealist directors did before them -- they started looking for inspiration outside of Italy. For example, many frequently imitated and borrowed from what they thought were big trends overseas, only to eventually realize that their work was also imitated across Europe and America. Andrea Bianchi's Strip Nude for Your Killer is a rather entertaining Eurotrash experiment, which essentially blends the aesthetics of giallo and erotica. Its plot is fairly basic, but not its atmosphere, which is unquestionably its biggest strength. I enjoy films like it a lot because they are almost never politically correct and therefore quite revealing about the various obsessions and taboos that defined post-war Italian culture. RECOMMENDED.