Solange and Other Tales of Schoolgirls in Peril
Massimo Dallamano’s schoolgirls-in-peril trilogy is part giallo (murder mystery), part poliziotteschi (police procedural thriller), and all wrong in terms of taking the subject of teenage abuse and murder and sexing it up with truly grotesque imagery. You might be able to make a variant today, but not with some of the graphic material thrust onto the screen in such garish detail.
Dallamano’s variant still works as primo eurosleaze, but for some (including avid giallo fans) one could argue each installment pushed the boundaries to the point were this very odd sub-genre couldn’t survive. The teen characters are debased in so many fashions over three films (no spoilers here) that what remained in the kettle of possible sequels was maybe alien abduction, or a rampaging incubus spawning murderous offspring via vicious impregnation and explosive birthing.
Wait a minute. That last concept was made as Species II (1998). Never mind.
The Blu-ray edition of What Have You Done to Solange? / Cosa avete fatto a Solange? (1972) from Arrow Video / MVD Visual is near-perfect, boasting a 2K scan of the negative, and a wealth of extras that contextualize this genre hybrid. It’s a really superb release, and if the label has its sights on the sequels, fans of this sub-genre will be very pleased.
The other films that make up this ‘trilogy’ are really thematically-based, as there’s no recurring character in either, plus Dallamano directed / co-wrote the first – What Have They Done to Your Daughters? / The Coed Murders / La polizia chiede aiuto (1974) – but didn’t live long enough to helm the second – Virgin Killer / Enigma rosso (1978) – having died in a car accident in 1976.
The law of diminishing quality applies to these two films, with the last failing in so many ways to even be engaging on a provocative level, but each has its own special wrongness that should please most fans of eurosleaze shockers.
Cheers,
Mark R. Hasan, Editor
KQEK.com
Category: EDITOR'S BLOG
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