Five Women for the Killer – Vinegar Syndrome (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy, 1974
Director: Stelvio Massi
Writers: Gianfranco Clerici, Roberto Gianviti, Vincenzo Mannino
Cast: Francis Matthews, Pascale Rivault, Giorgio Albertazzi, Howard Ross, Katia Christine, Catherine Diamant, Gabriella Lepori, Maria Cumani Quasimodo, Carla Mancini

Release Date: April 25th, 2023
Approximate running time: 100 Minute
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1 Aspect ratio / 1080 Progressive / MPEG-4 AVC
Rating: NR
Sound: DTS-HD Mono Italian
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: $42.98

"Giorgio Pisani, a journalist, has just returned from an international assignment only to discover that, in his absence, his wife has died during childbirth. However, a seemingly unavoidable tragedy takes an unexpectedly sinister turn when Lydia Franzi, his wife's doctor, reveals that Giorgio is sterile and therefore couldn't have fathered his wife's child. Soon after learning this terrible news, a mysterious, black-clad killer begins stalking the city, viciously murdering pregnant women who were in the same maternity clinic as Giorgio's deceased wife. Could Giorgio, in a fit of guilt-ridden madness, be responsible for these horrendous crimes, or is he an unwitting participant in the sinister plan of an even more wicked culprit?" - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 4.25/5

Here’s the information provided about the transfer, "Newly scanned & restored in 4K from a 35mm archival positive."

Five Women for the Killer comes on a 50 GB dual layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 46.1 GB

Feature: 27.4 GB

Outside of the opening credits and a few minor moments with source-related damage, the bulk of the transfer looks great. Flesh tones look healthy, colors are nicely saturated, the image looks crisp, and black levels generally look strong, outside of a few moments where they are not as convincing. Also, compression is solid, and the image always looks organic.

Audio: 4.25/5

This release comes with one audio option, a DTS-HD mono mix in Italian with removable English subtitles. There are no issues with background hiss or distortion; dialog always comes through clearly; everything sounds balanced; and range-wise, things sound very good.

Extras:

Extras for this release include gore inserts from the re-edited version of Five Women for the Killer (1 minute 12 seconds, Dolby Digital Italian, no subtitles), a portrait piece on Stelvio Massi with friend and fellow director/cinematographer Roberto Girometti titled Cinematographers in Arms (13 minutes 29 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with director/film historian Luigi Cozzi on Five Women for the Killer and the evolution of the Giallo film titled Five Women for a Giallo (21 minutes 42 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), a portrait piece on Stelvio Massi with actor Luc Merenda titled Working with Stelvio (13 minutes 24 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with filmmaker Danilo Massi, son and frequent collaborator of director Stelvio Massi tilted The Massi Touch (24 minutes 57 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an interview with actor Renato Rossini titled  My Name is Howard (20 minutes 11 seconds, Dolby Digital stereo Italian with removable English subtitles), an audio commentary track with film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth, reversible cover art, and a spot gloss slipcover (limited to 6,000 copies).

Summary:

Director Stelvio Massi is most known for his work within the poliziotteschi genre. Five Women for the Killer is the first of two Gialli directed by Stelvio Massi, the other being Arabella Black Angel. That said, despite Five Women for the Killer having all of the elements that one expects from the Giallo genre, the result is something that at times straddles the Poliziotteschi genre in the same way that What Have They Done to Your Daughters? did.

The narrative revolves around a killer who targets pregnant women. And though there are an ample number of red herrings offered up, it becomes clear who the killer is long before their moment of revelation. That said, there is a well-played twist that follows the killer's reveal.

Gialli is known for having casts with recognizable faces, often from other countries, for the international market. A film like Five Women for the Killer is an example of a giallo that goes with a cast that is predominantly made up of second- and third-tier actors. The most notable cast members are Francis Matthews (Dracula: Prince of Darkness) in the role of Giorgio Pisani, a journalist whose wife died during childbirth, and Howard Ross (The New York Ripper) in the role of a police commissioner. In the case of the latter, he has been cast in a role that is the polar opposite of the type of role he’s known for. The performances are best described as adequate.

Though Five Women for the Killer is a film that takes full advantage of its resources, it suffers from a slow-moving narrative that is further hampered by brief kill scenes that lack the style one has come to expect from the Giallo genre. Though there is an ample amount of blood in the kills, the carnage is mostly shown after the fact once the police arrive on scene. That said, Five Women for the Killer features a solid score from Giorgio Gaslini, whose notable credits include Night of the Devils, The Five Days, and Deep Red. Ultimately, Five Women for the Killer is a mid-tier Giallo that has an ample amount of sleaze.

Five Women for the Killer gets a solid release from Vinegar Syndrome that comes with a strong audio/video presentation and a wealth of informative extras about director Stelvio Massi, recommended.

Written by Michael Den Boer