Edgar Wallace: Das Geheimnis der grünen Stecknadel

An innocent teacher is suspected of a really sick series of murders (after this film, the verb "to solange" should have been added to the dictionary) and must clear himself, ala Hitchcock. Supposedly based on one of Edgar Wallace's books (there _is_ a hidden room), they still must have taken an awful lot of creative license. Joe D'Amato uses the 2.35 frame as only a style-uber-content DP can, though Dallamano deserves a lot of credit for making the story so engrossing. Morricone's score is truly haunting (available on CD with his score for Lenzi's "Spasmo"), adding a note of sadness to the gruesome proceedings. As with the best horror, there's nothing explicit in the murder scenes, wisely leaving the details of the truly hideous murders to the viewers' imaginations. ("Giallo in Venice" also featured a murderer solanging a victim but ruined it by showing the whole thing.) This one's definitely worth checking out, though widescreen is a must.

OK, this film isn't a masterpiece, but hardly any films are. Like most giallos, it's sometimes boring and hard to get through with long segments of talking. The murders were mostly brief and not as violent as they could've been, but still there was a somewhat original way they were carried out (I won't spoil it for anyone.) Really, I prefer Dario Argento and Mario Bava when it comes to giallo, but seriously, you have to be fair when judging this film and not compare this director to the greats, like Argento. So I suppose you could call this one of the better 'non-Argento' giallos. The film itself is definitely worth taking a look at, but don't expect much. At the very most, it's worth a 7/10, which is still a pretty good rating.

This is a good murder mystery, based on an Edgar Wallace novel. It has all the ingredients of a good giallo: horrible murders, sex, religion and nightmarish flashbacks.(Especially the one at the end is bound to give you bad dreams).

The plot isn't always logical, and the acting isn't very convincing. But the direction is good and the music by Ennio Morricone is one of the best scores he has ever made.

If you like the movies of Dario Argento, you'll love this one.

The intriguingly titled giallo classic "What Have You Done To Solange?" (1972) is a film that certainly does live up to its excellent word of mouth. While the less said about its twisty-turny story, the better, I can mention that the plot here concerns a string of brutal murders that have been plaguing an all-girls' Catholic school in London, and the hunky Italian gym teacher (well played by Fabio Testi) who is having an affair with one of the young women (the gorgeous Spanish actress Christine Galbo). But things get a bit complicated when this student witnesses one of the murders during a Thames pleasure outing... Regarding those murders, perhaps "brutal" isn't a strong enough word to describe them, as this giallo nutjob has a tendency to stick his knife...well, this is a family Web site, so perhaps I shouldn't say. Mercifully, these slayings are not at all graphic--the picture would have been rated XXX if they were, and would have been too terrible to watch. Indeed, this film features hardly any gore at all; the suggested acts are quite bad enough. Still, this is an excellent example of the giallo genre, with a meaty, involving story; numerous shifty-eyed suspects; loads of pretty women; and the requisite murder set pieces. Massimo Dallamano has directed his film impeccably, eliciting fine performances from every player; the legendary Ennio Morricone has supplied an alternately lovely/creepy score; and cameraman Aristide Massacasi has nicely captured the beauty of London and its countryside. The film has been superbly dubbed--indeed, it looks as if the actors were originally speaking in English!--but the image on the Shriek Show DVD that I just saw looks cropped at the edges, as the opening and closing credits reveal. Also, I couldn't get the extras to work, for some reason. Still, the film looks clean and bright, and is not to be missed. It was even better the second time I watched it!

WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? (1972): Enrico Rossini (Fabio Testi) is a married teacher involved in an affair with one of his students, Elizabeth (Christine Galbó). One afternoon in a park, while enjoying one of their amorous trysts, Elizabeth witnesses the murder of a young woman, a crime that her lover does not see. When the corpse of a student is found at the park, the teacher finally believes Elizabeth and decides to revisit the scene of the murder. More girls are killed and the police begin to suspect that Enrico is the murderer. In a desperate attempt to clear his name, Enrico turns detective and eventually discovers the secret of a young woman named Solange (Camille Keaton), whose shocking past is linked to both the killer's choice of victims and the gruesome manner in which he dispatches them. This solidly plotted and engrossing murder thriller is easily among the finest galls ever made. The conventional storyline is enlivened with genuinely surprising twists, strong characters and a shocking, unexpected ending. Slickly directed by Massimo Dallamano, and featuring striking cinematography by Aristide Massachessi (who, as Joe D'Amato, had a subsequent career as one of the most incompetent directors of all time), SOLANGE is an unusually well made and restrained Italian thriller. Excellent performances from Fabio Testi, Joachin Fuchsberger, Karin Baal and the beautiful Christine Galbo raise the movie's quality level even higher. A fine, moody Ennio Morricone score provides some necessary tension enhancement. If you've never seen a Gilli before, the film is a great starting point for anyone interested in taking an initial plunge into this fascinating genre.

The Shriek Show DVD is one of this small company's finest releases yet. The widescreen (1.85:1) transfer features gorgeous colors and sharp detailing, with only a few speckles, hair marks and some modest print damage. The movie itself is the real prize here as the extras are fairly skimpy: A poster and lobby card gallery is scored to the movie's main title theme and a nice 12 page booklet is provided with liner notes and quite a few stills. Finally, five trailers are included, for SOLANGE itself and some other related Shriek Show releases. Despite the lack of enticing extras, this is a worthy addition to any horror/suspense enthusiast's DVD library.