What Have You Done to Solange? (1972) (Blu-ray/DVD Review)
Directed By: Massimo Dallamano
Starring: Fabio Testi, Cristina Galbo, Karin Baal, Joachim Fuchsberger
Rated: R/Region AB/2:35/1080p/Number of Discs 2
Available from Arrow Video
From director Massimo Dallamano, cinematographer on both A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More, comes giallo classic What Have You Done to Solange?, the debut feature of actress Camille Keaton (I Spit on Your Grave). A sexually sadistic killer is preying on the girls of St. Mary’s school. Student Elizabeth witnessed one of the murders, but her hazy recollections of a knife-wielding figure in black do nothing to further the police’s investigations. Why is the killer choosing these young women? And what does it have to do with a girl named Solange?
The story we are shown here starts off with a couple on a boat in the middle of a very romantic situation, as the heat turns up, the girl sees something or at least thinks she does in the woods. As luck would have it, she saw a murder and then as we see the story unfold we learn she is a student, the man she was with is a teacher, and a married one at that. As if things couldn’t be anymore complicated they sure find a way to get more complicated, as new stuff comes to light, the finger of guilt is pointed at different directions, including our teacher, and we also gets some pretty big shocks here and there as well. What Have You Done to Solange? is a more mature giallo. It does have a few moments of graphic violence, but the violence is more implied than shown and the red stuff doesn’t flow as much here as you might be use to with some other giallos. The story is the strong point here and as far as that goes, I do think it does all it needs to do in order to keep you watching to see just what will happen next and who does it, even if the movie does drag its feet just ever so slightly around the later portion of it. The story goes in a few different directions, we see where things are going, but you just sort of wish they’d get there a little faster overall near the end. Still, that is about the worst thing you can say about this one outside maybe wanting a little more blood than we end-up with.
This was my first time seeing this movie and I didn’t read the plot before watching, that usually tends to make the movie more unpredictable for the first time viewer. I went into this one having no idea who the heck Solange is and it does take some time before that seems to even come into play. You also spend a bit of time at first wondering where the heck is Camille Keaton if you are a fan of hers. But all those answers do come into play and there is a pretty good payoff I would say overall to everything. This is just a mystery movie you have to be a bit patient with overall. I think the most you take away from a movie like this once seeing it is just how solid it is at the end of the day. There is a very well written story here and it keeps you guessing right until the end, more or less. Arrow has done a great job with the transfer here as well, as I’d say it looks about as good as anyone could have hoped. Looking around online at screenshots will show you that it seems to be night and day with how the old DVD looked and how this looks. Add that up with some cool extras and we have a very nice release from Arrow here. Of course, I wish we had just a little more blood, but I liked the film just fine anyway overall.
Extras
– Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative
– High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
– Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-ray)
– Newly translated subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
– Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
– Brand new audio commentary with critics Alan Jones and Kim Newman
– Newly filmed cast interviews
– Original Theatrical Trailer
– Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by MALLEUS
– Booklet featuring brand new writing on the film, illustrated with original stills
Quality of Transfer: 92%
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What Have You Done to Solange?
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