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Released by: Blue Underground
Released on: 10/25/2005
Director: Andrea Bianchi
Cast: Edwige Fenech, Nino Castelnuovo, Femi Benussi, Solvi Stubing, Franco Diogene, Erna Schuer
Year: 1975
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The Movie:
If the title of the film doesn't alert you to the sleaze factor contained in Strip Nude For Your Killer (directed by Andrea 'This clothe smells like death' Bianchi), the opening scene where a woman dies duing an abortion procedure will.
From here we follow the lives of a group of people who are all intertwined through their work at a modelling/fashion photography studio. One by one these people are hunted down and sliced and diced by a maniac in a leather suit and a motorcycle helmet. But what is the motive? Why is the killer after these people? Carlo (Nino Castelnuovo), the top photographer at the agency, and his lady friend Magda (the always lovely Edwige Fenech) are intent on finding out just who is behind the rash of murders, and hopefully why.
While the film lacks the intensity or sophisiticated visual flair of a Dario Argento giallo or the artistic murder set pieces of some of Mario Bava's work, Strip Nude For Your Killer is still an entertaining film, even if it rests somewhere approximating the bottom of the barrel. The title of the film certainly implies a lot of sex and violence and it isn't misleading, in fact, the plot seems to exist for the sole reason of stringing along the voyeuristic viewer bold enough to sit down with the film from one naked dead corpse to the next. While the plot isn't exactly an engrossing affair, Bianchi seems to know this and makes up for it by piling on the sex, blood, and sleaze.
The film does have some style, however, and while it isn't as slick looking as the best that the genre has to offer, it's not a bad looking film and it does make nice use of some interesting sets (the dark room of the photography studio) and copious amounts of bright colors. Edwige Fenech, who is frequently seen parading around in nothing but her birthday suit, looks great with her pixie cut hair do and while Nino Castelnuovo probably isn't going to be an A-lister in Hollywood anytime soon, he proves capable of carrying the film and is up to the admittedly less than challenging dialogue and characterisations presented to him in the film.
Don't turn to this one for an intelligent movie or for a particularly well made movie. Turn to this one if you want a dumbed down slasher with lots of pretty naked ladies and some good kill scenes. If you expect much more from it you'll likely find yourself disappointed but going into the movie with proper expectations finds that it's an entertaining diversion and a bit of a guilty pleasure.
Video/Audio/Extras:
There's really not much to complain about here in terms of the visuals. The 2.35.1 anamorphic widescreen presentation looks nice and sharp with very good color reproduction and strong, deep black leves. There's a nice level of both foreground and background detail and aside from a minute bit of film grain present in some spots there isn't really any print damage. Mpeg compression artifacts are a non-issue and there aren't really any problems with edge enhancement either.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono soundtrack sounds fine. The dubbing hurts some scenes as the timing and voice matching is a bit odd, but from a technical stand point there's nothing to complain about here. Dialogue is clean and clear and the track is free of any hiss or distortion. Levels are well balanced and the score sounds very nice on this DVD. The Italian text that appears in the film is subbed in English, though there are no subs available for the dialogue in the feature itself of any kind - only the text portions, and they appear on screen automatically.
A twelve minute on camera video interview with actress Solvi Stubing and co-writer Massimo Felisatti entitled Strip Nude For Your Giallo is the main supplement on this release. Felisatti has more to say than his cohort, covering some of director Bianchi's strange tendencies and the direction that Italian genre cinema was moving at the time that this film was made. Solvi gives us some insight into her work on the film and how her star was on the rise around the same time that this movie was playing theatrically.
Rounding out the extra features is a lengthy theatrical trailer for the film, chapter stops, and animated menus.
The Final Word:
While not the best example of what the genre has to offer, Strip Nude For Your Killer is a sleazy and mindlessly entertaining movie with a couple of stand out moments. Blue Underground doesn't skimp on the presentation, as the movie looks and sounds quite good and the extras, while hardly super plentiful, compliment the package nicely.