Death Occurred Last Night - Raro Video (Blu-ray)

Theatrical Release Date: Italy/West Germany, 1970
Director: Duccio Tessari
Writers: Biagio Proietti, Duccio Tessari, Artur Brauner
Cast: Raf Vallone, Frank Wolff, Gabriele Tinti, Gillian Bray, Eva Renzi, Gigi Rizzi, Beryl Cunningham, Checco Rissone

Release Date: March 6th, 2014
Approximate running time: 97 minutes 38 Seconds
Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Widescreen / 1080 Progressive / VC-1
Rating: NR
Sound: LPCM Mono Italian, LPCM Mono English
Subtitles: English
Region Coding: Region Free
Retail Price: OOP

"A mentally handicapped woman is kidnapped and sold into sexual slavery, sending her distressed father and a jaded police detective on the hunt for clues in Milan's underworld." - synopsis provided by the distributor

Video: 3.5/5

Here’s the information provided about this release's transfer, "New HD transfer from original 35mm negative digitally restored."

Death Occurred Last Night comes on a 25 GB single layer Blu-ray.

Disc Size: 21.8 GB

Feature: 19.6 GB

The source used for this transfer is in great shape. Though flesh tones and colors look very good, there are a few moments where they look off. The image generally looks crisp, the black levels are adequate, and the compression is good. That said, Raro Video once again uses digital filtering, which takes away any organic qualities that the source may have had.

Audio: 3.75/5 (LPCM Mono Italian), 3.5/5 (LPCM Mono English)

This release comes with two audio options, an LPCM mono mix in Italian and an LPCM mono mix in English. Both tracks are in very good shape; any background noise is minor. Dialog comes through clearly enough to follow, and everything sounds balanced. Range-wise, these two audio tracks are satisfactory. That said, the Italian-language track is the slightly stronger of these two audio tracks. Included are removable English subtitles for the Italian-language track.

Extras:

Extras for this release include an introduction by Fangoria editor Chris Alexander (7 minutes 12 seconds, LPCM stereo English, no subtitles), a theatrical trailer (2 minutes 38 seconds, LPCM mono English, no subtitles), a slipcover, and a eight-page booklet with cast & crew information, an essay titled The Darkness of Duccio Tessari written by Chris Alexander, Duccio Tessari biography, and Duccio Tessari filmography.

Summary:

Death Occurred Last Night is one of three exceptional gialli directed by Duccio Tessari. The other two films are Puzzle and The Bloodstained Butterfly. Other notable films that he directed include A Pistol for Ringo, The Return of Ringo, and Tony Arzenta. The screenplay for Death Occurred Last Night was adapted from a novel written by Giorgio Scerbanenco. Several of his novels were adapted by Fernando Di Leo into films, most notably Naked Violence and Milano Caliber 9.

The narrative revolves around a father who convinces a police inspector to take a special interest in finding his mentally challenged twenty-five-year-old daughter, who disappeared without a trace.

Structurally, Death Occurred Last Night is an interesting mixture of two of Italian cinema's most popular genres in the first half of the 1970s, namely giallo and poliziotteschi. Death Occurred Last Night leans more towards the latter of these two genres. Also, there are elements from both of these genres that crop up throughout Death Occurred Last Night. The result is a film unlike any that has come before or since it, making it a film that is in its own genre.

The initial set-up is pitch perfect, as characters motivations are always clearly defined. And one of Death Occurred Last Night’s greatest assets is how it introduces the distraught father and then subtly pushes him into the background while a pair of detectives and a low-life smuggler are blackmailed into helping them search for the father's missing daughter. Keeping the father away from the seedy investigation they are conducting ultimately makes his reemergence in the latter half of the narrative all the more potent, thus making his transformation from a grieving father into a man with a vendetta all the more believable.

Considering that the premise is about women being abducted and forced into a world of sex slaves, the content that lies within is handled in such a way that it is never exploitative. Also, though there are many women in various stages of dress, Death Occurred Last Night's portrayal of them is never vulgar, which ultimately humanizes them and gives them added dimensions that are often lacking in other similar-themed films. When it comes to despicable characters, Death Occurred Last Night retains that right for those who are responsible for abducting the mentally challenged young woman.

From a production standpoint, there is no area where Death Occurred Last Night does not excel. The visuals are outstanding as they reinforce the events that are unfolding onscreen. The narrative is perfectly paced, as each new revelation is given just the right amount of time to sink in before unveiling the next. And though there are many detractors of Death Occurred Last Night’s odd score, it has a jarring effect that complements that story really well.

The cast is superb in their respective roles, with the strongest performance coming from Frank Wolff (Cold Eyes of Fear) in the role of Duca Lamberti, the detective who, through persistence, uncovers the truth about the missing girl. While the most memorable performance comes from Raf Vallone's (The Godfather: Part III), in the role of Amanzio Berzaghi, the father of the missing disabled girl. Another performance of note is that of Gillian Bray's (Virgins of the Seven Seas) Donatella Berzaghi, the mentally challenged young woman who has been abducted. Ultimately, Death Occurred Last Night is an extraordinary film that firmly pulls you in and lingers in your mind long after its final reveal.

Raro Video gives Death Occurred Last Night a good audio/video presentation.

Written by Michael Den Boer