Rating summary

Movie		3.5
Video		3.0
Audio		4.5
Extras		2.0
Overall		3.5

Touch of Death Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov November 17, 2017

Lucio Fulci's "Touch of Death" a.k.a. "Quando Alice ruppe lo specchio" (1988) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of British distributors 88 Films. The only bonus feature on the disc is a featurette with clips from interviews with assistant director Michele De Angelis and actor Marco Di Stefano. In English or Italian, with optional English subtitles. Region-Free.

She was special, wasn't she?

Lucio Fulci’s biggest admires are the ones that believe that his best films are his most graphic ones. It is just difficult to argue otherwise because there are too many of them and during the years their vocal support has been chiefly responsible for having his horror films placed on various prestigious lists that rank important genre films. But are they right? Well, if the same people also fit the ‘horror aficionados’ description, the answer is most certainly yes. Fulci’s horror films absolutely have style and character of their own, even the bad ones, and back in the days of the mom-and-pop video stores many of them pushed the boundaries of graphic horror pretty much as far as it was legally possible. What a lot of people are unaware of is that Fulci did some equally interesting and unique films outside of the horror genre and that some of them are actually far better than his ‘cult classics’. The Maniacs for instance is a very impressive piece of satire that hits its targets with the same effectiveness and authority that one can expect from Mario Mario Monicelli and Dino Risi’s best films. The Eroticist a.k.a. The Senator Likes Women is another very witty Fulci comedy that has the depth of Lina Wertmuller’s multi-layered films. And the exuberant style of Two Escape From Sing Sing certainly reminds of the many quality films that the great Pietro Germi scripted and directed.

Touch of Death is a very small film that Fulci made for TV towards the end of his career, but it actually reminds of his early efforts as a satirist. In fact, excluding the graphic murders, which are essentially smart inserts to capture the interest of his vocal admirers, the film has the classic identity of an early Fulci sexy comedy.

The main protagonist is a middle-aged lunatic (Brett Halsey) with some very serious gambling debts who thinks that he has figured out a brilliant plan to solve his financial problems -- and so does the heavy voice in his head that he listens to. So the man routinely studies the singles column of his local newspaper and then meets wealthy lonely ladies who assume that he is a sophisticated gentleman whose heart is also aching for old-fashioned romance. However, instead of unforgettable intimate experiences the ladies typically get a special cocktail that instantly knocks them out and then moments later they end up in a plastic bag. From time to time tiny piece of their bodies, usually prepped as juicy stakes, end up on the man’s plate, but only when he is absolutely convinced that there was a truly unique connection between him and his latest victim. For a while the plan works as intended, but after a wild encounter with an aggressive dame with an intimidating amount of facial hair his life abruptly spins out of control.

Just like in The Maniacs here Fulci plays with the viewer’s expectations and during the most awkward scenes pulls off some pretty effective surprises. A woman getting her face disfigured in an oven is not exactly proper comedy material, but with Fulci’s wild imagination it very quickly becomes perfect comedy material. The entire segment where the man has to kiss the woman with the ugly lip is also off-putting yet in a way incredibly funny.

It is pretty easy to tell that the film was shot with a modest budget. Some of the set arrangements are pretty basic and the editing is also a bit choppy. For a project of this caliber, however, it is the attitude that always matters the most.

Touch of Death Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.33:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Lucio Fulci's Touch of Death arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of 88 Films.

The film was likely remastered fairly recently because the master that was used to source the release is not decades old. I think that it is quite good, but I have to mention that at some point some light filtering was applied to it. While not too distracting there are some side effects that folks with good eyes will surely notice, especially on bigger screens. In screencapture #12, for instance, there is some obvious flatness that was introduced by it, and in screencapture #15 delineation is also affected. During the indoor footage light black crush occasionally pops up, though for the most part it remains very easy to tolerate. Colors are stable and rather nicely balanced, but there are some ranges of nuances that should be better. There are no traces of problematic sharpening adjustments. Overall image stability is very good. My score is 3.25/5.00. (Note: This is a Region-Free Blu-ray release. Therefore, you will be able to play it on your player regardless of your geographical location).

Touch of Death Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There are two standard audio tracks on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 2.0 and Italian LPCM 2.0. Optional English subtitles are provide for the Italian track.

I viewed the film with the original English track. It is a very good one, but with the typical for these types of Italian projects minor unevenness that is introduced during overdubbing. The original sound design is also far from impressive, but serves the film just fine. There are no audio dropouts or digital distortions to report.

Touch of Death Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

• Reflections in a Broken Mirror - this featurette focuses on the production history of Touch of Death. Included in it are clips from interviews with assistant director Michele De Angelis and actor Marco Di Stefano (the Tramp). In English, not subtitled. (22 min).

• Cover - reversible cover with original poster art.

• Leaflet - featuring an interview with Al Cliver (The Beyond, Touch of Death) conducted by Calum Waddell.

Touch of Death Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Some of Lucio Fulci's best work comes from his early days as a satirist and I think that Touch of Death, which he made towards the end of his career, is a very good reminder that he had a special sense of humor. In fact, I think that some of the films that Fulci directed during the late 1960s and early 1970s are every bit as effective as the classic films that the likes of Mario Monicelli, Dino Risi, and Alberto Lattuada are remembered for. 88 Films' overall technical presentation of Touch of Death is decent enough to recommend the Blu-ray release. RECOMMENDED.