6.1 | / 10 |
Users | 0.0 | |
Reviewer | 4.0 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
During an outbreak of violent murders in the area targeting young women, a journalist searching for a female friend gone missing ends up in a villa owned by an eccentric photographer.
Starring: Joseph Arkim, Francisco Cortéz, Richard Fielding, Danny P. Gerzog, Gabriella GiorgelliForeign | 100% |
Mystery | 35% |
Sci-Fi | Insignificant |
Crime | Insignificant |
Video codec: MPEG-4 AVC
Video resolution: 1080p
Aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Original aspect ratio: 1.85:1
Italian: DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Italian: Dolby Digital 2.0
BDInfo verified. 2nd track is just a "lossy" audio track.
English
Blu-ray Disc
Single disc (1 BD)
Region A, B (C untested)
Movie | 3.0 | |
Video | 4.5 | |
Audio | 3.5 | |
Extras | 2.5 | |
Overall | 4.0 |
The title, “The Police are Blundering in the Dark,” is remarkably memorable, but doesn’t quite describe the viewing experience of the 1975 picture. In fact, the cops aren’t really involved in the story, which follows a series of murders involving beautiful women, and the ladies’ man who’s on the hunt for the perpetrator. Director Helia Colombo tries to deliver a traditional giallo event, tracking a deadly villain who preys on innocents, using long scissors to dispatch victims. There’s a list of suspects and plenty of sexploitation. However, there’s also a sci-fi element to the material, which has the potential to inspire some needed insanity, but Colombo is hesitant. He keeps the endeavor low to the ground, trusting in violence and nudity to sustain a movie that takes long breaks between moments of mayhem.
Offering a new 2K scan from the "35mm original negative," the AVC encoded image (1.85:1 aspect ratio) presentation for "The Police are Blundering in the Dark" brings the movie to life on Blu-ray, perhaps besting its original theatrical appearance. Mild frame damage is detected, along with speckling and scratches, but the source is in good condition. Detail excels throughout, exploring facial surfaces on young, healthy characters and sickly types are easily identified. Interior decoration is textured, along with costuming, offering a fibrous appreciation for period outfits and sheerness. Exteriors are dimensional. Colors are excellent, emphasizing the production's use of primaries, as displayed on rainbow umbrellas and photo developing pans. Hues are also defined on bold fashion choices, while skintones are natural. Greenery is lush. Delineation is communicative. Grain is fine and film-like.
The 2.0 DTS-HD MA sound mix supplies a basic listening event for "The Police are Blundering in the Dark." Scoring cues are sudden and louder, but remain useful and comfortable as suspense is encouraged and jazzier moods are set. Instrumentation isn't exact, but passable. Dialogue exchanges offer pronounced dubbing efforts, but emotionality isn't lost, and a few sibilance issues are encountered during the run time. Sound effects are blunt.
"The Police are Blundering in the Dark" has sluggish pacing at times. But there's weirdness here that's interesting, even if it's not developed in full, injecting the movie with needed peculiarity to hold viewer attention. And Colombo doesn't wait to stage his murders, making sure fans of giallo have something to snack on while works on filler to beef up the run time to a sellable point.
(Still not reliable for this title)
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Macchie solari / The Victim
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1972
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1971
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1978
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La ragazza dal pigiama giallo / The Pajama Girl Case
1977
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1972
1990
I corpi presentano tracce di violenza carnale / Carnal Violence
1973