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Released by: Celluloid Dreams
Released on: June 11th, 2024.
Director: Giuliano Carnimeo
Cast: Edwige Fenech, George Hilton
Year: 1972
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The Case Of The Bloody Iris – Movie Review:
Directed by Giuliano Carnimeo from a script by famed giallo writer Ernesto Gastaldi, 1972’s The Case Of The Bloody Iris is set in Genoa, Italy where, in the opening scene, a beautiful young woman (Evi Farinelli) is murdered by a black-clad killer in the elevator of a fancy high-rise apartment building. The body is discovered by three residents - an exotic dancer named Mizar Harrington (Carla Brait), a violinist named Professor Isaacs (Jorge Riguard) and an older and very religious woman named Mrs. Moss (Maria Tedeschi). The cops are called in, led by Commissioner Enci (Giampiero Albertini) and Assistant Commissioner Renzi (Franco Agostini), but they don’t have any leads to work off of.
Elsewhere, around this same time, the architect who designed the building, Andrea Antinori (George Hilton), attends a photo shoot with his photographer friend, Arthur (Oreste Lionello). Here he meets two beautiful models, Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech) and Marilyn Ricci (Paola Quattrini). When he finds out that they’re subletting, Andrea gets the girls an apartment in the building where the murder took place – in fact, he sets them up in the apartment the victim used to live in.
A short time later, Mizar is found murdered, bound and drowned in her bathtub, and Jennifer starts seeing a shadowy figure dressed only in black skulking about. She initially thinks it’s Adam (Ben Carra), her violent ex-boyfriend who had her indoctrinated into strange group sex cult from whom she’s doing her best to distance herself. When she’s attacked one night, she takes solace in Isaacs’ apartment where she meets his lesbian daughter, Sheila (Annabella Incontrera). As she and Andrea hit it off and start dating, Enci and Renzi start following the two of them, trying to figure out who the killer is and what their motive could be.
A solid giallo with some strong performances and unexpected but effective plot twists, The Case Of The Bloody Iris holds up quite well. Some of the comic relief, which comes mostly from Marilyn’s quirky sense of humor and Enci’s passion for stamp collecting, seems out of place as do certain elements of the overly jaunty (but admittedly very catchy) score from Bruno Nicolai, but there are some impressive murder set pieces on display in the film and it manages to build some quality suspense and tension. The cinematography from Stelvio Massi is some of his best work, as the movie shows off plenty of unusual camera angles and interesting shot setups to help pull us into the storyline.
The cast is top-notch, exactly what you’d want for an early seventies giallo film. Edwige Fenech, the undisputed queen of the genre, is very good here, handling the dramatic side of things and the scenes where she’s being terrorized very effectively. She looks fantastic here as well, sporting some crazy seventies fashion choices but she’s perfect for the role. She and Paola Quattrini have good chemistry together, we buy them as friends without any issue. George Hilton plays his straight man role well-enough, he isn’t quite as charismatic here as he is in some of this other films but he’s solid and a smart choice for the male lead. Supporting work from Albertini, Agostini, Incontrera and a very intense Ben Carra is also noteworthy.
The Case Of The Bloody Iris – UHD/Blu-ray Review:
Celluloid Dreams brings The Case Of The Bloody Iris to UHD framed at 2.35.1 in an HVEC encoded 2160p transfer with HDR10 looking really strong. There are a few seconds where some minor damage shows up but for the most part, the transfer is spotless. Natural film grain is present but it always resolves properly, never getting clumpy or proving distracting but instead just looking like proper film. Color reproduction is rock solid and flesh tones look lifelike and natural throughout. Black levels are nice and deep and detail is consistently impressive throughout the film (although there are a few shots that are just a tad out of focus, an issue with the original photography and not with the transfer itself). Compression artifacts are never a problems and the image shows no problems with any noise reduction or edge enhancement problems.
Audio options are provided in English and Italian tracks in 24-bit DTS-HD 1.0 Mono with optional English subtitle options provided for both audio options. Both tracks sound clean, clear and properly balanced throughout. The score has nice depth and range to it and the dialogue is always easy to follow and understand. There are no issues with any hiss, distortion or sibilance to gripe about, the audio is very clean and for old mono mixes, the tracks sound really good.
In addition to both English and Italian language versions of the movie (with their own specific titles), the disc includes quite a few additional supplements. Guido Henkel starts things off with an all new audio commentary track that goes over plenty of details about the making of the movie. He gives plenty of biographical information on the cast and crew members, the locations used for the movie and how parts of it were shot on an ‘open set,’ thoughts on the performances in the movie, how the apartment building that serves as the main location hasn’t changed much over the years, Ernesto Gastaldi’s work on the picture, small details that make the characters stand out, the film’s different titles, the quality of the imaginative camerawork and costumes on display in the movie, Edwige Fenech’s stardom in the giallo cannon, George Hilton’s career and work in the picture, the use of color in the film and how the wardrobe and set décor often matches, the differences between the Italian and English dubs created for the film, how the film connects to the work of Alfred Kinsey, the use of music in the film and plenty more. It’s a good track and a very thorough examination of the movie.
From there we move on to a few featurettes, starting with Drops Of Giallo, which interviews screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi and director Giuliano Carnimeo for half an hour. Interviewed separately, they talk about how they came to first meet and then work together, how well they got along, going to film school, how Giuliano Carnimeo got his start and worked his way up to directing, their thoughts on storytelling, early western projects, going on to work on giallo pictures, where some of the ideas for the movie came from, getting Hilton and Fenech for the feature, the importance of logic to the genre, thoughts on the characters in the movie and plenty more.
Flowers Of Blood interviews George Hilton for twenty-one minutes about how he got his start in the Italian film industry doing westerns, his work in Argentina, how Sergio Martino gave him his big break, appearing in various giallos including The Case Of The Bloody Iris, getting along with the film's director, how he and Fenech came to work together so frequently and how much he enjoyed working with her, shooting on location, getting along with his co-stars, memories of shooting specific scenes in the film and how he feels about the movie overall.
Marylin is an interview with Paola Quattrini running twelve minutes. This piece covers how she got cast in the film, where her career was at in the early seventies, her thoughts on her performance in the movie, the difference between doing live theater and film work, thoughts on her character, memories of shooting the bathtub scene, shooting in Genoa and her thoughts on the city, working with Fenech and her other co-stars, her nude scene and other details about her work on the picture.
Finishing up the extras on the disc is a two minute outtake reel, an image gallery, English and Italian theatrical trailers, menus and chapter selection options.
As to the packaging, orders placed through the Celluloid Dreams website will come with slipcover featuring new painted art by Thu Lieu Pham along with a set of six restored 12″ x 8.25″ color reproductions of the original Italian lobby cards.
The Case Of The Bloody Iris - The Final Word:
Celluloid Dreams has really rolled out the red carpet for The Case Of The Bloody Iris, the new label’s debut. The presentation is excellent and the extras interesting and informative. As to the movie itself, it holds up thanks to some fun performances, excellent cinematography and a few solid plot twists. Highly recommended!
