Giallo Essentials (1972-1974) {Arrow Video Blu-ray Review}

Giallo is a genre of cinema featuring mystery and thriller films. These films would contains slasher horror or sexploitation elements. Over the years these type of films have become cult classics.

Arrow Video is the home of deluxe Blu-ray releases of cult classics. So the next set of cult classics is Giallo Essentials. Not 1! Not 2! But 3 giallo films on Blu-ray. Let's take a look at what is included in this set.

Our Rating System:
****=Don’t Miss it!
***=Worth a look.
**=An OK way to spend an evening.
*=You haven’t missed anything.

Smile Before Death (1972) After the death of her mother under strange circumstances, a teenage girl quickly begins to suspect that her recently widowed stepfather may be involved.**

The Weapon The Hour The Motive (1972) A corrupt priest is stabbed to death inside a church. **

The Killer Reserved Nine Seats (1974) Patrick Davenant invites a group of friends to visit a theater inside his villa. Within a short time, the guests realize that they are trapped. A merciless killer then begins to murder them one by one. **

All three of these films lean heavily on the exploitation and slasher aspect to tell the story. As all Giallo films seem to do and thus, at least for me, that made the story itself suffer a bit.

All three of these films has been restored in 2k from original camera negatives. The films are presented in High Definition 1080p. The audio for Smile Before Death and The Killer Reserved Nine Seats is original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks. While The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive is a Original lossless mono Italian soundtrack. There is also English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks and optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks.

These new restoration look pretty great. But I have to be honest, I am not a fan of giallo films. But I do know they have their fans. So giallo fans are going to be all in for this set, no doubt. Now Arrow Video is known for loading up their releases with bonus features and this one is no different. Take a look at what is included in this set.

* Rigid box packaging with original artwork in a windowed Giallo Essentials Collection slipcover

* Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Adam Rabalais, Peter Strain and Haunt Love

On Disc Bonus Features:

DISC 1: SMILE BEFORE DEATH

* New commentary by authors and critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson

* Original Italian and English front and end titles

* Smile of the Hyena, new video interview with Stefano Amadio, film journalist and son of director Silvio Amadio

* Never-before-seen extended nude scenes, not used in the final film

* Image gallery

DISC 2: THE WEAPON, THE HOUR, THE MOTIVE

* New commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas

* A Man in Giallo, new video interview with actor Salvatore Puntillo

* Front and end titles for the lost English-language dub

* Image gallery

DISC 3: THE KILLER RESERVED NINE SEATS

* New commentary by author and critic Kat Ellinger

* Hanging with Howard, video interview with actor Howard Ross

* Writing with Biagio, video interview with screenwriter Biagio Proietti

* Italian theatrical trailer (in Italian and English)

* Image gallery

So as you can see there is a tone of material to keep exploitation film fans entertained. If you are a fan of these kind of films this new Blu-ray release Giallo Essentials will be one you want to add to your collection. Head over to Amazon and order your copy today.

Out of Four Film Reels Sets (Four Being the Best) Arrow Video's Blu-ray of Giallo Essentials receives...