Giallo Essentials Collection (Red Edition) – Arrow Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Dates: Italy, 1965 (The Possessed), Italy, 1971 (The Fifth Cord), Italy, 1977 (The Pyjama Girl Case)
Directors: Luigi Bazzoni, Franco Rossellini (The Possessed), Luigi Bazzoni (The Fifth Cord), Flavio Mogherini (The Pyjama Girl Case)
Cast: Peter Baldwin, Salvo Randone, Valentina Cortese, Pia Lindström, Pier Giovanni Anchisi, Ennio Balbo, Anna Maria Gherardi, Bruno Scipioni, Mario Laurentino, Vittorio Duse, Philippe Leroy, Virna Lisi (The Possessed), Franco Nero, Edmund Purdom, Rossella Falk, Renato Romano, Pamela Tiffin (The Fifth Cord), Ray Milland, Dalila Di Lazzaro, Michele Placido, Mel Ferrer, Howard Ross (The Pyjama Girl Case)

Release Date: November 8th, 2021 (UK), November 30th, 2021 (USA)
Approximate Running Times: 85 Minutes 6 Seconds (The Possessed), 92 Minutes 52 Seconds (The Fifth Cord), 102 Minutes 23 Seconds (The Pyjama Girl Case)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC (All Films)
Rating: 18 (UK), NR (USA)
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English (All Films)
Subtitles: English, English SDH (All Films)
Region Coding: Region A,B
Retail Price: £59.99 (UK), $99.95 (USA)

"Alongside the spaghetti western, the giallo is one of the most famous Italian export genres: films steeped in mystery and intrigue, delivered with stylized violence and unforgettable musical themes. The Possessed (1965) masterfully combines noir, mystery and giallo tropes in a proto-giallo based on one of Italy's most notorious crimes. It tells the story of a depressed novelist (Peter Baldwin) in search of his old flame (Virna Lisi) who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, prompting an investigation that finds him plunged into a disturbing drama of familial secrets, perversion, madness and murder. The Fifth Cord (1971) boasts a complex, Agatha Christie-esque plot of investigation into a series of brutal assaults. As the body count rises, whisky swilling journalist Andrea Bild (Franco Nero) finds himself under suspicion, making it all the more imperative he crack the case. The Pyjama Girl Case (1978), inspired by a real-life case that baffles to this day, takes us to Australia where former inspector Timpson comes out of retirement to crack the case of a young woman, found on the beach, shot in the head, burned to hide her identity and dressed in distinctive yellow pyjamas..." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.5/5 (The Possessed, The Fifth Cord, The Pyjama Girl Case)

Here’s the information provided about the transfers, "Scanning and restoration work was completed at L'Immagine Ritrovata, Bologna. The original 35mm camera negative was scanned in 2K resolution on a pin- registered Arriscan. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, picture instability and other instances of film wear were repaired or removed through a combination of digital restoration tools and techniques."

The Possessed comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 39.4 GB

Feature: 20.8 GB

The Fifth Cord comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 43.5 GB

Feature: 23.5 GB

The Pyjama Girl Case comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 44.4 GB

Feature: 26.9 GB

The sources used for these transfers are in excellent shape. Colors are nicely saturated, flesh tones look correct, image clarity and black levels look solid, and grain remains intact. These transfers are direct ports of Arrow Video's earlier releases for these films. It should be noted that The Fifth Cord has a very brief moment of print related damage occurring right before the main title.

Audio: 4.25/5 (The Possessed, The Fifth Cord, The Pyjama Girl Case)

The Possessed, The Fifth Cord, and The Pyjama Girl Case each come with two audio options: a LPCM mono mix in English and a LPCM mono mix in Italian. Both audio mixes sound clean, clear, and balanced. Range-wise, the Italian language mix is the more robust of these two audio mixes. There are two subtitle options for this release. English SDH subtitles for the English language track and English subtitles for the Italian language track.

Extras:

Extras for The Possessed include reversible cover art, an Italian language trailer for the film (2 minutes 11 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an English language trailer for the film (2 minutes 11 seconds), an interview with actor / director Francesco Barilli titled The Legacy of the Bazzoni Brothers (30 minutes 36 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with assistant art director Dante Ferretti titled Youth Memories (16 minutes 20 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with makeup artist Giannetto De Rossi titled Lipstick Marks (11 minutes 52 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with cultural critic and academic Richard Dryer titled Richard Dyer on The Possessed (25 minutes 12 seconds) and an audio commentary with film critic Tim Lucas.

Extras not carried over from Arrow Video's 2019 The Possessed Blu-ray release is a forty-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled The Production of The Possessed written by Andreas Ehrenreich, an essay titled The Secrets of the Lake written by Roberto Curti, contemporary reviews and information about the restoration/transfer.

Extras for The Fifth Cord include reversible cover art, an image gallery (Lobby Cards / Stills / Posters), the English language trailer for the film (3 minutes 3 seconds), the Italian language trailer for the film (3 minutes 3 seconds, with English subtitles), a previously unseen deleted montage sequence, restored from the original negative (2 minutes 37 seconds), a video essay by film critic Rachael Nisbet titled Lines and Shadows (17 minutes 49 seconds), a video essay by author / film critic Michael Mackenzie titled Whisky Giallore (28 minutes 22 seconds), an interview with film editor Eugenio Alabiso titled The Rhythm Section (21 minutes 27 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with actor Franco Nero titled Black Day for Nero (23 minutes 33 seconds, in English) and an audio commentary with film critic Travis Crawford.

Extras not carried over from Arrow Video's 2019 The Fifth Cord Blu-ray release is a thirty-six-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled “You Really Can’t Stand Me, Can You?”: Alienation and Loneliness in The Fifth Cord written by Kay Ellinger, an essay titled From Kenburgh to Rome: The Screenplay Adaption of D.M. Devine’s The Fifth Cord written by Peter Jilmstad and information about the restoration/transfer.

Extras for The Pyjama Girl Case include reversible cover art, an image gallery (stills/advertisement/poster), the Italian language trailer for the film with English subtitles (3 minutes 55 seconds), an archival interview with composer Riz Ortolani titled The Yellow Rhythm (21 minutes 24 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with author / film critic Michael Mackenzie on the internationalism of the Giallo titled Small World (28 minutes 30 seconds), an interview with editor Alberto Tagliavia titled A study in Elegance (23 minutes 17 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with assistant director Ferruccio Castronuovo titled Inside the Yellow Pyjama (15 minutes 3 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles), an interview with actor Howard Ross titled A Good Bad Guy (31 minutes 46 seconds, in Italian with English subtitles) and an audio commentary with Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films.

Extras not carried over from Arrow Video's 2018 The Pyjama Girl Case Blu-ray release is a twenty-four-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled Stranger Than Fiction: Immigration, Alienation and the Real Pyjama Girl written by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and information about the restoration/transfer.

Other extras include a rigid box packaging with newly designed artwork by Adam Rabalais in a windowed Giallo Essentials Collection slipcover.

Summary:

The Possessed: The Possessed is a classic example of how Italian cinema takes familiar elements and transforms them into new entities. Content wise, though, this film has many of the elements that have become synonymous with Film Noir. There is no denying Gothic horror’s influence on this film. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to the visuals. More specifically, the flashback sequences have a nightmarish quality to them.

The opening sequence, which takes place in a phone booth, and the white opening credits over a black background, do a good job of laying the foundation for what lies within. Another area where this film’s opening setup excels is the music over its opening credits. The music in the opening credits perfectly captures the protagonists' state of mind.

The cast members all do an excellent job in their respective roles. With this film’s most memorable performance being Virna Lisi (How to Murder Your Wife, Casanova 70) in the role of the enigmatic Tilde, the woman who committed suicide. Another performance of note is Peter Baldwin (The Weekend Murders) in the role of this film’s protagonist, an author named Bernard. Other notable cast members include, Valentina Cortese (The Barefoot Contessa, The Girl Who Knew Too Much) and Philippe Leroy (The Frightened Woman, Caliber 9).

From a production standpoint, there is not an area where this film does not excel. The premise is superbly realized, key moments are given an ample amount of time to resonate, and this film’s moment of truth provides a very satisfying conclusion to the events that have just unfolded.

Not to be overlooked are the visuals and the role that they play in the mystery at the heart of this film. The visuals are overflowing with atmosphere, and they do a great job of reinforcing the foreboding mood. With the flashback sequences being this film’s most memorable moments.

The Fifth Cord: The Fifth Cord was adapted from a novel by D.M. Devine that bears the same title. And like many book-to-film adaptations, the final product doesn’t resemble or faithfully capture the essence of the novel. The film’s plot doesn’t spend enough time getting to know the various victims, while the book fully fleshes each character out. The Fifth Cord's biggest flaw is the lack of background info on the various characters.

However, The Fifth Cord opens up with your traditional Giallo killer who scans the room looking for the next victim (while talking in a hoarse gender-less voice). The killer’s identity is a well-kept secret, and the killers’ motive is ingenious, even by Giallo standards. The victims’ deaths are not as bloody or brutal as the Giallo’s that followed in the wake of Dario Argento’s Deep Red.

The cast members all give excellent performances in their respective roles, particularly Franco Nero (Django, Compaeros) as an alcoholic reporter named Andrea Bil.Franco Nero delivers an impressive performance that is arguably one of his best performances. Other notable cast members include Edmund Purdom (Pieces, Absurd), Rossella Falk (Seven Blood-Stained Orchids, Sleepless), Ira von Fürstenberg (Five Dolls for an August Moon) and Silvia Monti (A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin).

The Fifth Cord was directed by Luigi Bazzoni (Man, Pride and Vengeance, Footprints on the Moon), who would only direct a handful of films over the span of roughly a decade. Luigi Bazzoni with the help of famed cinematographer Vittorio Storaro (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, The Conformist) would create a picturesque landscape for The Fifth Cord is overflowing with bizarre camera angles and futuristic landmarks. Visually this film is one the most stunning beautiful Giallo’s ever committed to celluloid.

The Fifth Cord's score was composed by Ennio Morricone, who once again delivers a score that is equally hypnotic and unsettling. Ultimately, The Fifth Cord is an extraordinary film that quickly sets itself apart from other similar-theme films.

The Pyjama Girl Case: Director Flavio Mogherini’s eye for detail is impeccable. His past experiences in art and production design are clear in every frame of The Pyjama Girl Case. The film is loosely based on a real-life murder mystery that took place in Australia in 1934. The film stays pretty faithfully to the facts of the case, with the main divergence being the film's ending.

The plot is actually two separate stories that play out side by side without ever letting the viewer know this fact ahead of time. This, at first, can get confusing as characters intermingle in the past and present parts of the story, and nowhere is it made clear that time has elapsed. Though the plot is well-constructed, there are a few moments that overstay their welcome.

The cast members deliver excellent performances in their respective roles. The story of Glenda Blythe, the girl in the yellow pyjamas, is by far and away the most interesting part of the film. And Dalila Di Lazzaro’s (Phenomena) performance as Glenda Blythe exudes sympathy despite the bad things her character does. She has an uncanny knack for not only playing the vixen but also the victim. Other notable performances include Michele Placido (Plot of Fear, Three Brothers), Mel Ferrer (The Hands of Orlac, The Suspicious Death of a Minor) and Howard Ross (Werewolf Woman, The New York Ripper) as Glenda’s three lovers.

The only performance that I didn’t care too much for was Ray Milland (Dial M for Murder, Premature Burial). At times, his performance is distracting. And nowhere is this clearer than when it comes to his facial expressions, which are in direct contrast to the serious tone of the film. One has to wonder just how long his character had been in retirement, since Ray Milland was in his early seventies when this film was made.

Visually, The Pyjama Girl Case's most shocking scene is when the police department puts the pyjama girls’ naked corpse on display. This scene is not as exploitative as I would have thought it might be, and many of the faces in the crowd are just creepy looking. Other standout moments include the film’s opening sequence, where a young girl playing with the doll discovers the pyjama girl's corpse in a car, a scene where a distraught Glenda has sex with two men she just met at a truck stop, and the film’s finale, which provides a satisfying conclusion to the events that have just unfolded.

With the Giallo Essentials Collection, Arrow Video brings together in one collection three films that they originally released separately. All three films in the Giallo Essentials Collection come with solid audio and video presentations and a wealth of extra content. That said, the only content new to this release is the box that houses the three films and a slipcover for the box. Though, most Giallo fans already own Arrow Video’s original releases for these three films. The Giallo Essentials Collection is a convenient way for anyone who has not already purchased Arrow Video’s original releases to get their fix. 

Written by Michael Den Boer