Strip Nude for Your Killer was if anything dull and not very engaging, though at least lead actress Edwige Fenech was a lot of fun. It has its moments, however and might be worth taking a chance, just know you’re not getting classic giallo.
Strip Nude for Your Killer
(1975)
Genre(s): Mystery, Thriller
Arrow Video | NR – 98 min. – $39.95 | March 19, 2019
Date Published: 03/20/2019 | Author: The Movieman
|
|
|||||||||||
Warner Bros. Home Entertainment provided me with a free copy of the Blu-ray I reviewed in this Blog Post.
The opinions I share are my own.
THE MOVIE — 2.5/5 |
|
Plot Synopsis: A spate of highly sexualized murders is rocking a prestigious Milanese fashion house. Ambitious photographer Magda (EDWIGE FENECH) and her on-off boyfriend, love rat Carlo (NINO CASTELNUOVO) team up to crack the case. But, with the motorcycle helmet-wearing killer clearing bearing a grudge against the agency’s employees, it’s surely only a matter of time before they too end up feeling the force of his wrath…
Quick Hit Review: Over the past couple of years, I’ve become a fan of the giallo-style of horror with such movies like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, so I was looking forward to Strip Nude for Your Killer not only for its tantalizing title, similar to those two examples, but it has what could’ve been a fun and engaging mystery yarn. Instead we get a glimpse of the giallo genre but it is far more a sexploitation with plot points that go nowhere and very little in the way of actual suspense. By the time we get to the finale, I honestly could not care less about the perpetrator, though like any Italian film, it’s not disguised very well. As I understand, the film came out during a time the giallo was growing stale for audiences and some filmmakers decided to sex up the genre and that certainly was the case here. Don’t get me wrong, I don’t mind the sexploitation type of movie, but combined with the crime-mystery element, didn’t quite mix very well and more often the film meanders with little happening in between the sensationalized sex scenes and (female) nudity that accompanies them.
As such, Strip Nude might have a memorable and incredibly fun title to draw you in, it never comes close to the potential. Of course, it does have many of the tropes of the Italian mystery-thrillers from the detectives who are merely side characters and main characters serving as investigators making awkward decisions, as most of the characters in this movie does… |
SPECIAL FEATURES – 4.0/5 |
|
This release comes with a 24-page booklet and the cover is reversible revealing the film’s original Italian poster artwork. No slip cover, unfortunately. Audio Commentary – Adrian J. Smith and David Flint who are two British horror historians/experts discussing the movie and what it meant for the era of Italian horror. Sex and Death with a Smile (23:02) – This is a new video essay by author and critic Kat Ellinger on actress Edwige Fenech. Interviews:
Last on the disc is the Italian (3:42) and English (3:42) Theatrical Trailers and an Image Gallery (2:45). |
VIDEO – 4.5/5 |
| Arrow Video releases Strip Nude for Your Killer onto Blu-ray where it has been given a new 1080p high-definition transfer taken from a scan of a 2K resolution of the original Techniscope 35mm camera negative where thousands of instances of dirty, scratches, picture stability and other film wear, were repaired or removed via digital restoration tools.
While I don’t own the previous Blu-ray by Blue Underground that was released in 2012, I assume the transfer from Arrow looks infinitely better than ever before. Detail is amazingly sharp, black levels are stark and colors are vibrant while still in keeping with the era. At the same time, with all the restoration work done, the original film grain and noise was thankfully left intact. |
AUDIO – 4.0/5 |
| The original Italian and English Mono tracks were also remastered from the optical sound negatives. As explained in the booklet, both of these were kept in keeping per the production where dubbing was recorded in post. Although this track is imperfect, it is nice that Arrow didn’t just bolstered these lossless tracks just for the sake of being “remastered” and instead were kept to how the audio was recorded back in the mid-70s. As such, I actually found it to be above average, dialogue came through with nice clarity along with the catchy music/score, including the title song. |
OVERALL – 3.5/5 |
|
Overall, Strip Nude for Your Killer was if anything somewhat dull and although I do understand in that era the giallo was out of style and masked with either police procedurals or sexploitation (as this one was), I rather found this not very engaging, though at least lead actress Edwige Fenech was a lot of fun, if only she had a bigger impact. This release from Arrow Video offers up great video/audio transfers and a good selection of bonus material. |
Check out some more 1080p screen caps by going to page 2. Please note, these do contain spoilers.