evidence of the mere anticipation of physical violence generating as much fear as the actual following through of the gang’s leery, foul- mouthed threats. Elsewhere, the film is let down by incoherent plot- ting, hackneyed dialogue and uninvolving performances. The extras consist of a making-
of documentary (78m); two inter- views (5m and 8m) with 1980s Italian horror star Giovanni Lombardo Radice (aka John Morghen), who has a significant cameo; and a set of deleted and extended scenes.
DEATH OCCURRED LAST NIGHT
La morte risale a ieri sera 1970, Raro Video, 97m 38s, $17.98 DVD-1, $24.98 BD-A By Lloyd Haynes
Better known for his Westerns
(A PISTOL FOR RINGO, 1965, THE RETURN OF RINGO, 1965),
screenwriter-turned-director Duccio Tessari made an early contribu- tion to the poliziotteschi cycle with this film before embarking on a full-blown giallo the following
year with THE BLOODSTAINED BUTTERFLY.
Amanzio (Raf Vallone), a wid- owed office worker, seeks the help of Milanese police detective Lamberti (Frank Wolff) in locat- ing the whereabouts of his daugh- ter, Donatella (Gillian Bray). The girl, 25 years old but with the mental capabilities of a child (she is also a nymphomaniac) has been missing for a month and may have succumbed to a life of vice. Lamberti’s whirlwind tour of the city’s fashionable brothels yields little in the way of positive information. However, an encoun- ter with prostitute Herrero (Beryl Cunningham) leads the police to discover the identities of Donatella’s abductors. They resort to murder on learning of Lamberti’s interest, which prompts Amanzio to conduct a parallel investigation of his own. Tessari’s direction lacks the verve associated with his best work, and the script—derived from
Giorgio Scerbanenco’s 1969 novel I MILANESI AMMAZZANO AL SABATO—is often unsatisfactory and inconsistent: the kidnappers are peripheral, barely character- ized figures, and there is no real sympathy afforded to the plight of the missing girl. For a sex- crazed child-woman, she has
some difficulty in putting on a bra, allowing for an uncomfortable scene in which Amanzio has to assist the topless Donatella—there’s no suggestion of an incestuous relationship, however. At the emo- tional core of the film is Vallone’s Amanzio, a brilliant portrayal of a man wounded both physically and mentally, who resorts to the most extreme measures but finds that the answer to his daughter’s dis- appearance lies closer to home than he at first realized.
Raro’s first-class 1.78:1 trans- fer from the 35mm negative is complemented by a choice of En- glish and Italian audio with op- tional English subtitles, together with the original US trailer and a video introduction and eight-page booklet by FANGORIA’s Chris Alexander.
FAUST
2011, Kino Lorber, 139m 24s, $29.95 DVD-1, $34.95 BD-A By Chris Herzog
Alexander Sokurov, best known to American audiences for direct- ing that immersive, single-take
tour of Russian history, RUSSIAN ARK (2002), returns with his take
Beryl Cunningham is quizzed by “police dude” Frank Wolff whose searching for a vulnerable missing girl in DEATH OCCURRED LAST NIGHT.
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