Giallo Essentials Black | Limited Edition | Blu-ray

For lovers of exploitation cinema, Italy can feel like a never-ending mine of hidden gems waiting to be discovered. From spaghetti westerns to poliziotteschi crime thrillers to giallo mysteries and horror films the 60s and 70s saw a glut of violent, sexual cinema produced in the Mediterranean. 

Collected here are three lesser known works, beautifully restored and flush with extras from the folks at Arrow Video. The first film, Silvio Amadio’s Smile Before Death is an erotic twist on the Hammer classic Taste of Fear. Similarly, the Killer Reserved Nine Seats provides Giuseppe Bennati a chance to give Agatha Christie’s Ten Little Indians that extra layer of smut and gore that it was clearly missing. Finally, Francesco Mazzei’s first and only film The Weapon, The Hour & the Motive established a whole new genre trope of corrupt priests becoming the victims of violent crimes; a fundamental establishing piece of the nunsploitation micro-genre.

If you’re already a fan of giallo and looking for deeper cuts, Arrow has you covered.

Special Features (via arrowvideo.com)

• Brand new 2K restorations from the original camera negatives of Smile Before Death and The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive
• 2K restoration from the original camera negative of The Killer Reserved Nine Seats
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of each film
• Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks on Smile Before Death and The Killer Reserved Nine Seats
• Original lossless mono Italian soundtrack on The Weapon, the Hour, the Motive
• English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• Rigid box packaging with original poster 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

Disc One: Smile Before Death

• Brand new audio commentary by authors and critics Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson
• Original Italian and English front and end titles
• Smile of the Hyena, a brand 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 Two: The Weapon, The Hour, The Motive

• Brand new audio commentary by author and critic Alexandra Heller-Nicholas
• A Man in Giallo, a brand new video interview with actor Salvatore Puntillo
• Front and end titles for the lost English-language dub
• Image gallery

Disc Three: The Killer Reserved Nine Seats

• Brand new audio commentary by author and critic Kat Ellinger
• Hanging with Howard, a video interview with actor Howard Ross
• Writing with Biagio, a video interview with screenwriter Biagio Proietti
• Italian theatrical trailer (in Italian and English)
• Image gallery