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Released by: Shameless Films
Released on: 8/25/2008
Director: Aldo Lado
Cast: George Lazenby, Adolfo Celi, Anita Strindberg
Year: 1972
The Movie:
From Aldo Lado, the director of the notorious Night Train Murders, comes Who Saw Her Die?, a Giallo starring the one and only George Lazenby of On Her Majesty's Secret Service and The Man From Hong Kong.
Lazenby plays a man named Franco, a sculptor whose red-headed daughter, Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi of Deep Red), is murdered by a maniac clad in black while he's off making time with his hot ex-wife, Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg). It seems that this killer has ties to a murder from a few years ago and since the local fuzz keep coming up empty handed, Franco decides to take Elizabeth with him and solve the crime on his own.
Similar to Nicholas Roeg's Don't Look Now, though pre-dating that film by a year or so, Lado's Giallo is a slick and stylish thriller with plenty of legitimate suspense and a genuinely clever script. Lazneby, hampered by some rather inappropriate sounding Italian dubbing here, does a fine job carrying the film while Anita Strindberg's natural beauty lends some welcome and alluring sex appeal to the picture. The pair make for a likeable couple of amateur sleuth's and the personal slant that their case takes on gives it all an air of believability that makes the script a little more realistic - scorned parents, despite their personal problems, would after all be considerably more apt to take matters like this into their own hands than those without a flesh and blood relation to the victim.
Ennio Morricone's score is as good as you'd expect given the legendary composer's reputation and the quality of his massive body of work. Heavy on the strings and odd choral arrangements it adds some emotional depth to the more morose scenes in the film and heightens tension towards the end of the picture when everything comes closing in on Franco and Elizabeth.
Aldo Lado's direction is tight and focused proving that the man had a lot more than just the nastiness of The Night Train Murders within his realm of capability. Who Saw Her Die? may not provide the same sort of titillating and exploitative thrills that a lot of other Giallos do but there's enough murder and mayhem to ensure that the film is never dull.
He didn't make as many pictures as many of his contemporaries but this one in particular is quite memorable thanks not to sadistic violence or nasty murder set pieces but rather for some solid performances, beautiful camera work, expert pacing and a genuinely tense and suspenseful storyline.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Shameless 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen transfer is a solid effort that compares nicely to the Anchor Bay release from a couple of years ago. There is some softness here and there and minor print damage in the form of the odd speck or two but the picture is pretty stable for the most part. There aren't any problems with compression artifacts or edge enhancement and the colors look fine if a bit subdued in a couple of scenes. For the most part, however, the movie looks quite nice.
The Italian language Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono track, which comes with optional English subtitles (which are more complete than those on the Anchor Bay DVD), sounds pretty good as well. Ennio Morricone's score rings through with some nice clarity while dialogue remains clean and clear. There is a little bit of distortion in a couple of spots but if you're not listening for it you probably won't even notice it. The levels are well balanced and this mix certainly gets the job done nicely.
Aside from some animated menus and chapter selection, the only supplements are the trailer for the feature and for a few other Shameless DVD releases.
The Final Word:
A clever and suspenseful Giallo with some great performances, a fantastic score and some truly slick cinematography, Who Saw Her Die? receives a very nice uncut UK DVD debut from Shameless.
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