Forgotten Gialli: Volume Eight – Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)
Theatrical Release Dates: Italy, 1978 (Rings of Fear), Italy, 1975 (Reflections in Black), Italy, 1972 (A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services)
Directors: Alberto Negrin (Rings of Fear), Tano Cimarosa (Reflections in Black), Demofilo Fidani (A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services)
Cast: Fabio Testi, Christine Kaufmann, Ivan Desny, Jack Taylor, Bruno Alessandro, María Asquerino, Helga Liné, Silvia Aguilar (Rings of Fear), John Richardson, Dagmar Lassander, Ninetto Davoli, Magda Konopka, Giacomo Rossi Stuart, Daniela Giordano, Ursula Davis, Tano Cimarosa (Reflections in Black), Paola Senatore, Jerry Colman, Raffaele Curi, Simonetta Vitelli, Ettore Manni, Jack Betts, Giancarlo Prete, Franco Ressel, Carlo Gentili, Mario Valdemarin, Howard Ross (A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services)
Release Date: March 18th, 2024
Approximate Running Times: 84 Minutes 58 Seconds (Rings of Fear), 92 Minutes 53 Seconds (Reflections in Black), 87 Minutes 1 Second (A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services)
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian (All Films), DTS-HD Mono English (Rings of Fear, Reflections in Black)
Subtitles: English (All Films), English SDH (Rings of Fear, Reflections in Black)
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $89.98
Rings of Fear: "Hard-boiled Inspector Gianni Di Salvo has been brought in to solve the murder of a schoolgirl, found nude and savagely tortured. As he looks into the girl's life, hoping to find a clue as to why someone sought to snuff her out, his investigation takes him to an exclusive, all-girl prep school which the teenage victim attended. After becoming aware of her involvement with a trio of pupils who call themselves "The Inseparables," Di Salvo is convinced that the group is aware of some secret that led to their friend's killing. But when more victims are found slaughtered, the detective is in a race against time to unmask the murderer before it's too late." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Reflections in Black: "Countess Orselmo hides her lust for women from most of those closest to her, but that does not stop her from taking a bevy of beautiful female companions to her bed. But when some of her favorite conquests are discovered dead, slashed to ribbons with a razor, the Countess finds herself embroiled in a sinister mystery of which her illicit affairs are at the very center. Will she be next on the killer's target list, or does the assailant have another and even more shocking motive for the violence?" - synopsis provided by the distributor
A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services: "Christina cannot stand her overbearing and oppressive home life. After deciding she needs to make it on her own, she rents an apartment but quickly discovers that to enjoy her freedom and independence, she'll need to earn a steady income. Taking advantage of her voluptuous body, she begins working as a call girl under the "protection" of a rough pimp named Oskar. But when some of her clients start turning up dead with their throats slashed, Christina realizes that a madman is on the loose and is following her carnal activities in order to find a victim pool." - synopsis provided by the distributor
Video: 3.75/5 (Rings of Fear, Reflections in Black), 4/5 (A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services)
Here’s the information given about Rings of Fear's transfer, “Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm blow-up CRI.”
Rings of Fear comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 37.5 GB
Feature: 24 GB
There is source debris throughout; fortunately, it is never distracting. Colors look good, image clarity looks strong most of the time, black levels fare well, there are no issues with compression, and the image retains an organic look.
Here’s the information given about Reflections in Black's transfer, “Newly scanned & restored in 2K from a 35mm Italian copyright deposit print.”
Reflections in Black comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 31.7 GB
Feature: 26.3 GB
Though there is minor debris throughout, it is never distracting; colors look correct, image clarity looks strong most of the time, black levels fare well, there are no issues with compression, and the image retains an organic look.
Here’s the information given about A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services' transfer, “Newly scanned & restored in 2K from its 35mm original camera negative.”
A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.
Disc Size: 37.3 GB
Feature: 23.8 GB
The opening and closing credits have minor debris; colors look correct, image clarity and black levels are strong, there are no issues with compression, and the image retains an organic look.
Audio: 4/5 (Rings of Fear - DTS-HD Mono Italian, Reflections in Black - DTS-HD Mono Italian, DTS-HD Mono Italian - A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her services), 3.75/5 (Rings of Fear - DTS-HD Mono English, Reflections in Black - DTS-HD Mono English)
Rings of Fear and Reflections in Black come with two audio options, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian and a DTS-HD mono English. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian language track and removable English SDH. Reflections in Black’s English language track has some dialog in Italian, and these come with an English subtitle track that translates only the Italian and not the whole track. All audio tracks are clean, clear, and balanced, and range-wise things sound very good. That said, the Italian language tracks sound slightly fuller than the English language tracks.
A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her services comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. The audio sounds clean, clear, and balanced, and range-wise things sound very good.
Extras:
Extras for Rings of Fear include an interview with actor Fabio Testi titled The Red Thread (25 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with screenwriter Franco Ferrini Deep Red Rings (26 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director Alberto Negrin titled From Big Screen Scares to Small Screen Epics (23 minutes 31 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Alberto Negrin about his his television career titled Cecil B. Negrin (13 minutes 51 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historians Eugenio Ercolani, Troy Howarth, and Nathaniel Thompson.
Extras for Reflections in Black include alternate and additional footage unique to the export version of Reflections in Black (7 minutes 38 seconds, Dolby Digital mono Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with Domenico Monetti, biographer of director/actor Tano Cimarosa titled Reflections on Cimarosa (25 minutes 23 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and an audio commentary with film historian and critic Rachael Nisbet.
Extras for A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services include an interview with actress Simonetta Vitelli aka Simone Blondell titled Gentlemen Prefer Blondell (38 minutes 16 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Renato Rossini aka Howard Ross titled Photo Story Hero (16 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with film historian Eugenio Ercolani titled A.A.A. Looking for Paola (20 minutes 14 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with film historian Luca Rea titled Remembering the Medium (14 minutes 22 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), and audio commentary with film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth.
Summary:
Rings of Fear: An investigation into a young woman’s death uncovers the truth behind a group of men who have been sexually exploiting school girls.
Alberto Negrin, a filmmaker who worked extensively on television films and shows, directed Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear), his only theatrical feature film. Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear) was intended to be the third film in Massimo Dallamano’s ‘School Girl in Peril’ trilogy. The other two films are What Have You Done to Solange? and What Have They Done to Your Daughters?. Though Massimo Dallamano is credited as one of the screenwriters for Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear), he would tragically die in a car crash in 1976. The score for Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear) was composed by Riz Ortolani, who reuses music from his score for Super Bitch.
Like the other ‘School Girl in Peril’ films, Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear) mixes two genres; Giallo and Poliziotteschi. There is a killer whose identity remains concealed until the finale, featuring plenty of well-executed moments of misdirection, and the narrative unfolds as a police procedural in which the protagonist is an inspector. That said, Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear) does an excellent job balancing elements from these two genres. Though the first two ‘School Girl in Peril’ films were directed by Massimo Dallamano, Alberto Negrin effectively maintains the aesthetic and atmosphere with his contribution to this trilogy.
The performances are adequate. The strongest performance is that of Fabio Testi (The Big Racket) in the role of Inspector Gianni Di Salvo. He was frequently cast in roles that depended more on his physical presence. His performance in Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear) provides him with an opportunity to portray a more well-rounded character. Notable cast members include Helga Liné (My Dear Killer) in the role of Mrs. Russo, the mother of the dead girl, Jack Taylor (Succubus) in the role of Michael Parravicini, a sleazy businessman who has sex party with school girls and Fausta Avelli (Don’t Torture a Duckling,) in the role of Emily Russo, the younger sister of the dead girl.
Visuals are the one area where Rosso (Rings of Fear) excels, particularly in its murder set pieces. The narrative opens with its most memorable moment: the police discovering a young girl's body wrapped in plastic. Other standout moments include a pair of flashback sequences: the first flashback sequence depicts a trauma connected to an abortion, and the second flashback sequence reveals the horrors unleashed upon the schoolgirls at an orgy. Though there are moments when Enigma Rosso (Rings of Fear) truly shines, the final outcome is a missed opportunity that ultimately gets overshadowed by the two ‘School Girl in Peril’ films that came before it.
Reflections in Black: A killer targets women who are having an affair with a married woman.
Though Reflections in Black checks many of the boxes when it comes to elements synonymous with the Giallo genre, the result is a film that reaches the visceral heights that most 1970s Gialli do. There is a killer who obscures their identity, and they use a razor to slit their victims throats. Unfortunately, as well-executed as the murder set pieces are, when it comes to exposition, especially moments with the police, any momentum is lost.
Reflections in Black’s strongest asset is its cast, which is filled with recognizable faces from 1970s Italian genre cinema, and though they are given much to work with, performance-wise most of them are great. The most memorable performance is by Dagmar Lassander (Hatchet for the Honeymoon), who portrays Leonora Anselmi, a woman who's been having many affairs. The most disappointing is John Richardson (Eyeball), who delivers another one-note performance in the role of Inspector Lavina. Tano Cimarosa, who made his directorial debut with Reflections in Black, also appears in the film as a police sergeant named Pantò.
Though the narrative has its strengths and its weaknesses, it does have a solid opening that grabs your attention. Besides its strong opening, another strength is how it uses flashbacks to fill in crucial details about the who and the why’s. In just the 1970s there were hundreds of Gialli, and like any genre, there are classics, good and bad films. That said, though not a classic example of 1970s Gialli, Reflections in Black is a film that would fall into the mid-tier.
A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services: A young woman wanting independence from her parents leaves home and becomes a call girl.
A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services is another example of Italian cinema that mixes genres; what starts off as a melodrama with exploitation elements becomes a Giallo in its last act. Things start off with an inventive opening credit sequence where images and clips from the film are shown in conjunction with the cast members names on screen. Though the kill scenes are well-executed, the focal point is the ample amounts of nudity and sex scenes. That said, Demofilo Fidani’s direction is lacking visually arresting moments, and it is strictly by the numbers.
The main draw of A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services is Paola Senatore (The Killer Reserved Nine Seats), who portrays Cristina, a woman who wants to live life on her terms. Even at this early stage of her career (having only appeared in one other film), her onscreen charisma is enough to carry a film. Another performance of note is Howard Ross (The New York Ripper), who portrays Cristina’s pimp. That said, when it comes to the rest of the performances, they are satisfactory.
The narrative moves at a deliberate momentum that some viewers will find to be slow. The narrative has few surprises; the first kill does not happen until around 31 minutes. Another drawback is the briefness of kills. That said, the narrative does an excellent job concealing the killer's identity. Ultimately, A.A.A. Masseuse, Good-Looking, Offers Her Services is an enjoyable film if you approach it as an explanation film instead of a Giallo.
Forgotten Gialli: Volume Eight is another solid addition to Vinegar Syndrome’s Forgotten Gialli series, highly recommended.
Written by Michael Den Boer
