At the height of the Italian giallo boom of the early 1970s, scores of filmmakers turned their hand to crafting their own unique takes on these lurid murder-mysteries. This volume of Giallo Essentials presents three distinctly different but equally thrilling examples of genre, featuring some of European cult cinema’s most recognizable faces.
In The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave, director Emilio P. Miraglia (The Red Queen Kills Seven Times) melds the giallo’s trademark twisty whodunit storytelling with gothic chills, as troubled aristocrat Alan Cunningham (Anthony Steffen, Django the Bastard) is haunted by the specter of his dead wife Evelyn, and the gruesome and untimely deaths of several members of his family. Next, Riccardo Freda’s (Double Face) The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire finds tough ex-cop John Norton (Luigi Pistilli, A Bay of Blood) drafted in to catch the acid-throwing, razor-wielding maniac who’s terrorizing the streets of Dublin. Finally, Sergio Martino’s (Torso) The Suspicious Death of a Minor melds giallo trappings with elements of the then flourishing poliziotteschi crime thrillers, as undercover cop Paolo Germi (Claudio Cassinelli, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?) hunts a Milanese criminal outfit following the brutal murder of a teenage prostitute.
Brutal violence, globe-trotting intrigue and abundant sleaze collide in these three quintessential gialli, each one fully restored from its original camera negative and presented alongside an array of incisive bonus features.
LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
• 2K restorations from the original camera negative for all three filmsÂ
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of each filmÂ
• Original Italian and English front and end titlesÂ
• Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracksÂ
• Optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtracksÂ
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracksÂ
• Rigid box packaging with original poster artwork in a windowed Giallo Essentials Collection slipcoverÂ
• Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx, Graham Humphreys and Chris Malbon
DISC 1: THE NIGHT EVELYN CAME OUT OF THE GRAVE
• Commentary by Troy HowarthÂ
• Exclusive introduction by Erika BlancÂ
• Interview with critic Stephen ThrowerÂ
• The Night Erika Came Out of the Grave – exclusive interview with Erika BlancÂ
• The Whip and the Body – archival interview with Erika BlancÂ
• Still Rising from the Grave – archival interview with production designer Lorenzo BaraldiÂ
• Original Italian theatrical trailer
DISC 2: THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE
• Commentary by giallo connoisseurs Adrian J. Smith and David FlintÂ
• Of Chameleons and Iguanas – appreciation by the cultural critic and academic Richard DyerÂ
• Considering Cipriani – appreciation of the composer Stelvio Cipriani and his score to The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire by DJ and soundtrack collector Lovely JonÂ
• The Cutting Game – interview with the film’s assistant editor Bruno MicheliÂ
• The Red Queen of Hearts – career-spanning interview with the actress Dagmar LassanderÂ
• Original Italian and international theatrical trailersÂ
• Image gallery
DISC 3: THE SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF A MINOR
• Commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
• Violent Milan – interview with director Sergio MartinoÂ
• Original Italian theatrical trailer”