6.9 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
When two young women are viciously slain in a luxury high-rise, a beautiful young model moves into one of their vacated apartments - and soon finds that she is now being stalked by the mysterious killer! The suspects include her ex-husband (a member of a group sex cult), a predatory lesbian neighbor, the deformed son of a sinister widow, and even the building's handsome architect who suffers from a paralyzing fear of blood. Can she expose the masked maniac with a taste for luscious women and depraved murder before she becomes his next victim?
Starring: Edwige Fenech, George Hilton (I), Annabella Incontrera, Paola Quattrini, Giampiero AlbertiniForeign | 100% |
Mystery | 30% |
Thriller | Insignificant |
Video codec: HEVC / H.265
Video resolution: 4K (2160p)
Aspect ratio: 2.35:1
Original aspect ratio: 2.39:1
English: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio Mono (48kHz, 24-bit)
English, English SDH
Blu-ray Disc
Two-disc set (2 BDs)
4K Ultra HD
Slipcover in original pressing
Region A (B, C untested)
Movie | 4.0 | |
Video | 4.0 | |
Audio | 4.0 | |
Extras | 3.5 | |
Overall | 4.5 |
The Case of the Bloody Iris (aka 'Perche' Quelle Strane Gocce Di Sangue Sul Corpo Di Jennifer?') makes it's US 4K and Blu-ray debut courtesy
of Celluloid Dreams. Starring genre icon Edwige Fenech and George Hilton in their third on-screen pairing, the moody, atmospheric, and tense film
will keep viewers guessing and entertained until the end. It features an excellent 4K restoration from the original negative and a delightful Italian
1.0
DTS-HD Mono track with English subtitles, as well as a well-done English 1.0 DTS-HD mono track for those who prefer that option. A Blu-ray disc is
also included. Orders placed through the Celluloid Dreams website will include an exclusive slipcover and six 12" x 8.5" lobby card reproductions.
The Case of the Bloody Iris has been something of a "holy grail" title on Blu-ray and 4K. It wasn't until 2018 that the film finally received an
official Blu-ray release, a Region B "locked" release from Shameless. That release was a substantial step forward from the DVD releases of the early
2000's, but it wasn't perfect. Being a Region B release kept it out of a good many collectors' hands, and though Shameless did a solid job with the
release, the finished product still left room for improvement. As a matter of full disclosure, The Case of the Bloody Iris is one of my
absolute favorite gialli, so it was with cautious optimism that I approached this disc that serves as the initial outing for Celluloid Dreams.
The initial goings-on are admittedly a bit disjoint and confusing: a young woman enters a phone booth, makes a call, and then crosses the street to
a luxury
apartment building where she enters the elevator and is promptly murdered; cut to Andrea (George Hilton) trying to pick a model for an ad and the
photographer just happens to select the same woman, Mizar (Carla Brait) who, along with a few other tenants, just found the murdered girl in the
elevator; the photographer, Arther (Oreste Lionello), then proceeds to photograph models Jennifer (Edwige Fenech) and Marylin (Paola Quattrini)
wearing body paint and little else in front of a motorcycle while Andrea observes. From here, these independent threads begin to weave together.
Andrea, still not sure about hiring Mizar, follows her to a nightclub where she is employed to challenge the well-dressed men in attendance to
wrestle her. Any man capable of pinning her in three minutes or less can "have her", the white bikini-clad Mizar says, though her confidence
suggests she's never lost. One such match plays out in real-time as Mizar dramatically beats her challenger for the night. Meanwhile, Jennifer is
confronted by her ex-husband, Adam (Ben Carra) who is anxious to have her back in his life and back in his sex cult, though it's clear she is anxious
to move on. After Mizar is murdered, Jennifer and Marylin move into the dead woman's apartment, and it's not long before Jennifer begins seeing a
terrifying figure dressed in black. Will these two models be the next victims?
The work performed by Celluloid Dreams on this 4K restoration is, in a word, stunning. The care and attention given are visible in every frame. Even
from the opening moments, innumerable improvements are made manifest. The mottled finish of the pay phone is clear, pristine, and precise by way
of both color and texture. The darker areas on the street as our first victim makes her way to the luxury apartment building that before were
impenetrable, now yield visible details. The opening credits are crisp and brilliantly white. As we move through the film, the 2160p transfer with HDR10
showcases the colors of the 1970s fashions and are suitably wonderfully vibrant and saturated, with deep and regal blues and reds that pop. Blacks are
deep and inky but never crush. Fine detail typically dazzles with viewers able to investigate environmental particulars, search for clues in the brief and
controlled appearances of the killer, and delight in the various wardrobes and make-ups worn by Fenech, Quattrini, and Braitt, from tweedy jackets, to
gossamer evening wear, to slinky bikinis. Skin tones are almost universally realistic and healthy, though there are a few brief moments where Hilton and
Police Commissioner Enci's (Giampiero Albertini) faces can skew a bit orange, but these are admittedly rare. Fine grain is present and again most often
resolves naturally, though sharp-eyed viewers may catch a few fleeting moments where the grain is blotchy and chunky, such as on the wall behind
Mizar and the cantankerous Mrs. Moss as they await the elevator at the start of the film. Likewise, despite the impressive work done on the transfer,
some minute traces of damage and/or debris can be found by those specifically seeking them out, with the most significant moment being around the
14-minute mark as Fenech's Jennifer leaves the photography studio. Looking back at the same scene on the Shameless release from 2018, the same
issue is present though it is much more pronounced there than it is here. But do not focus on those few small issues that constitute mere moments in
this 94-minute film; The Case of the Bloody Iris has never looked better than it does here in 4K.
Please note: all screen shots are sourced from the included 1080p disc.
As one would expect from a film of this era, audio options are limited to Mono. Viewers have the choice to watch the film's English dub courtesy of the English 1.0 DTS-HD Mono track which does an admirable job and is a perfectly satisfactory experience, or to watch the film in the original Italian via the Italian 1.0 DTS-HD Mono track. I watched about half of the film with the English track before I switched to the Italian and started watching the film from the beginning. In so doing, I did notice some instances where the dub was quite different from the English subtitles on the Italian track. Take, for example, the moment in which Professor Isaacs (Jorge Riguard) shouts down to the people in the lobby after the first body is discovered. In the English dub he states, "A girl's been murdered here if you must know!". However, in the Italian track, the subtitles display his line as, "There's a body in the elevator!". While both lines get the viewer to relatively the same place, they are substantially different. For that reason, from my vantage point, as good as the dub is, the subtitles on the Italian track are likely more accurate, and, if nothing else, little can compare with the original cast's own work. It seems that English subtitles are forced here, so even those fluent in Italian will have the English translation appear at the bottom of the screen. Bruno Nicolai's score sounds precise and elegant as the theme is revisited throughout the film, and the limited and usually mundane sound effects are realistically rendered. Dialogue is crisp and clear with no anomalies or defects detected. It's an excellent Italian audio track.
As some of the supplemental features contain spoilers, it is not advised that you watch these first unless you are already very familiar with the film.
Two of the features, the interviews with Hilton and Quattrini, are brought over from the Shameless 2018 Blu-ray release, and while the Hilton
interview has the same running time, here Quattrini's is one second shorter.
Celluloid Dreams' The Case of the Bloody Iris 4K is stellar and easily a contender for one of the best releases of 2024. Genre fans will delight in Gastaldi's script, the varied and unusual murder scenes, and the various locations used around Genoa that somehow feel both familiar and unsettling. Hilton may receive top billing, but as good as he is, it's Edwige Fenech who is the real star here. She turns in an amazing performance as Jennifer, a beautiful model fleeing from her ex-husband and in a terrifying fight for survival. The 4K presentation is beautiful; a long overdue gift to the film's fans and of sufficient quality to entrance those coming to it for the first time. While the list of supplemental material isn't voluminous, the interviews and commentary are very well done. The Case of the Bloody Iris 4K earns my Highest Recommendation.
4 mosche di velluto grigio
1971
Standard Edition
1982
Profondo rosso
1975
Chi l'ha vista morire?
1972
Giallo in Venice / Giallo a Venezia
1979
L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo
1970
Una libélula para cada muerto
1975
Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave
1972
Il gatto a nove code | Special Edition
1971
2018
Island of Terror / 5 bambole per la luna d'agosto
1970
Il coltello di ghiaccio
1972
Special Edition | La morte cammina con i tacchi alti
1971
Nude per l'assassino
1975
La polizia chiede aiuto
1974
Sei donne per l'assassino
1964
I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale / Carnal Violence
1973
Le foto di Gioia
1987
Sette orchidee macchiate di rosso
1972
Featuring The Girl Who Knew Too Much / La ragazza che sapeva troppo
1963