Strip Nude for Your Killer Blu-ray Movie

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 a 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 opens up 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, Camille 2000, 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 and he isn’t working; Magda (Edwige Fenech, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, 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. 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 Euro Trash piece which delivers all of the goodies such a genre film is supposed to deliver - plenty of nudity, dated effects (which actually make the graphic killings look quite stylish), cheap suspense, and beautiful melodies that make it a lot easier to enjoy the visuals. Unsurprisingly, a lot of the actors are also dubbed (a standard practice for Italian genre films during the '70s and '80s).

The film’s one and only redeeming quality is its unique atmosphere. Once the leather-clad killer emerges from the shadows, there is an explosion of kitsch appropriately accompanied by intriguing character transformations. So, on one hand the film does as much as possible to impress the giallo fans, while on the other hand it takes some liberties and adds a good dose of spice to appeal to a much larger audience. The result is a bipolar film that is predictable but at the same time fairly entertaining.

Fenech and Benussi look good, but both have appeared in far better and far more coherent films than Strip Nude For Your Killer. The elegant Schurer, who appeared in a number of sleazy films during the ‘70s, has a small but memorable role. Castelnuovo looks decent as the suave photographer, while the late Diogene is, as usual, a lot of fun to watch.

Berto Pisano’s psychedelic soundtrack easily rivals some of the best soundtracks done by the likes of Piero Piccioni (Camille 2000), Piero Umiliani (Baba Yaga, Blue Nude), Riz Ortoloani (Tigers in Lipstick), and Armando Trovajoli (I Am What I Am, I Mostri). The funky bass and especially the mellow sax solos add plenty of color to the film.

Cinematographer Franco Delli Colli’s (Hanna D: The Girl from Vondel Park) lensing is simple but rather 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 main issue with this release is a familiar one - light machine noise, which is present throughout the entire film and at times easy to spot. 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 DVD release. The darker sequences are also free of distracting macroblocking patterns. Color stability is greatly improved, but color saturation could have been slightly 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 certainly 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 PS3 or SA 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 Neorealist directors did - they started looking for inspiration outside of Italy. In many cases, for example, they 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 Euro Trash experiment, which essentially blends the aesthetics of giallo and erotica. Its plot is fairly basic, but the atmosphere the film creates is very unique. I personally enjoy these films a lot because they are almost never politically correct and therefore quite revealing about the various obsessions and taboos that characterized Italian culture at the time. RECOMMENDED.