Verdict
Summary
A by the book Italian giallo that kept me guessing right until the very end, The Case of the Bloody Iris from director Giuliano Carnimeo is sexy, twisty, and kept me invested throughout with its mystery. Celluloid Dreams, a new specialty label, has just released The Case of the Bloody Iris as their debut title in a supreme 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray edition.
Plot:
A killer is murdering women in a high rise apartment building, and a beautiful model is being stalked as the next victim.
Review:
A masked, gloved killer stabs a woman to death in the elevator of a high-rise apartment building, setting the dwellers of the complex in a fearful tizzy as detectives begin investigating. When another woman, a dancer, is murdered by drowning (she’s bound by hands and feet) in the same complex, it seems that there’s a serial killer at work. A pair of models – Jennifer (Edwige French) and Marilyn (Paola Quattrini) – move into the murdered dancer’s apartment and soon enough Jennifer begins to realize that she’s being stalked. It’s not much of a coincidence (or is it?) that she begins a relationship with a handsome bachelor named Andrea (George Hilton), which gets intense and sexual almost immediately, but Jennifer’s ex-husband, a creepy cult leader, shows up in her life again to harass her and demand she return to his fold. With the killer zeroing in on Jennifer (and Marilyn, who becomes a victim), detectives are at a loss as to how to protect her. Other suspects include a bookworm lady next door who hides her horribly burned grown son in a closet, a lesbian down the hall who obviously lusts after Jennifer, and the lesbian’s father, who has taken up new hobbies to feel young again.
A by the book Italian giallo that kept me guessing right until the very end, The Case of the Bloody Iris from director Giuliano Carnimeo is sexy, twisty, and kept me invested throughout with its mystery. French and Hilton had good chemistry (and would make several other films together), and while the movie skimps a little on the blood and gore, it’s more than generous with the eye-popping nudity and by giving an array of probable suspects for the murders. Easy to enjoy if you’re a fan of giallos, The Case of the Bloody Iris is a pretty solid entry in the genre.
Celluloid Dreams, a new specialty label, has just released The Case of the Bloody Iris as their debut title in a supreme 4K Ultra HD / Blu-ray edition. Special features include plenty of on-camera featurettes, a commentary, an outtake reel, a photo gallery, and more. The quality of the vivid transfer is clean and clear, with a sharpness and vitality that is comparable to the best the other labels out there can offer. The retail edition doesn’t come with a slipcover, but Celluloid Dreams offers an exclusive limited edition on their website that comes with a slip, as well as some lobby card reproductions. I certainly look forward to whatever Celluloid Dreams has to offer in the future.
