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Released by: Raro Video
Released on: 12/6/2011
Director: Riccardo Freda
Cast: Stefano Patrizi, Laura Gemser, John Richardson, Silvia Dionisio
Year: 1981
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The Movie:
Michael Stanford (Stefano Patrizi) is a film actor who decides he needs to return to the bosom of his mother out in the country. Long has it been since he was last there, and he takes his lady friend Deborah (Silvia Dionisio) with him. He also invites some movie friends to come stay and do some location scouting. Say hello to Hans the director (Henri Garcin), Shirley the assistant director (Martine Brochard), and actress Beryl (the exotic Laura Gemser), as they join in on the fun. Not joining in on the fun is Michael's mamma Glenda (Anita Strindberg), the domineering and borderline incestuous lady of the mansion. She doesn't like her son's “secretary†muscling in on his affections. Also in the house is Oliver (John Richardson), the butler with the robotic emotions.
Michael has a bit of a dark past. He murdered his own father, the maestro, who in a fit of rage was beating the young boy's mother. Michael was swept away to the loony bin until adulthood and his crime wiped off the books. Now he's having more trouble, in the form of nearly killing his co-star Beryl, and a trip back home is just the thing needed. Once the gang is all there, Michael's history is revealed to the others and when bodies start turning up Michael seems the likely culprit. But others in the mansion seem to be capable of wearing the black leather gloves and so it becomes as case of whodunit, and the result may not be all that surprising.
Murder Obsession has what fans of giallo come to expect from their beloved genre: gothic atmosphere, lots of bloodshed, tons of nudity, and an eclectic musical score. This one delivers those elements in spades, but man is it slow to get going. And once it does get going it's all over the place, jumping to flashbacks and full of dream sequences and visions, and at times gets a bit confusing. The shifts backwards and sideways don't transition all that well, although once the movie is done it doesn't really matter because plenty of explanation is provided.
Visually the movie has plenty to offer, with a mixture of tranquil nature settings and dark shadowy rooms, and there's some great photography. No shortage of the ladies minus clothing helps things along too, and Silvia Dionsio certainly allows the viewer a healthy eyeful of her dairy farms, which is nice. Laura Gemser looks as amazing as she always does, and Anita Strindberg looks great too. She even gets a shout out although she never gets naked. Her dog, on the other hand, didn't stop yapping the entire time it was on camera. What? There were men in this movie? The music in this one kind of hurt things though. It was often unfitting for the scene being played out, and at times seemed like it was miscued. The music was great, mind you, just wrongly applied.
There's great stuff on screen; some of it laughable (axe to head), some of it pretty creepy (inappropriate mother-son embraces), some of it clumsy (crew member in a mirror), but all of it is plenty atmospheric. It's not up there in the best of genre, and certainly not a jumping-on point for new comers to giallo, but entertaining nonetheless, once it gets past the first half.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Murder Obsession, also known as Murder Syndrome, gets its first Region 1 DVD release courtesy of Raro Video, with a new 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen transfer. Things like pretty darn good considering the low budget roots of the movie, and there's minimal print damage. Lots of natural grain is present, and the black levels are pretty deep. No artifacts were noticed, nor any authoring issues. The colors look great too. Raro added some cut footage, and since those pieces are in Italian language with English subtitles, they are easy to spot. The audio is a dubbed English mono track and it sounds fine, no issues to note.
The only extra on the disc is a 10-minute interview with special effects artist and director Sergio Stivaletti, who shares some memories about his first job as an effects man. The disc comes with an 8-page booklet with photos, story notes, and some trivia bits, and is a nice addition to the package.
The Final Word:
Slow to start but worth the wait, Murder Obsession shouldn't disappoint. Raro did a nice job with the presentation of the film, even if the extras are slim, and it will make a nice addition to any collection.
