The Film (3.5/5)

The murder of a prostitute sets off a bizarre chain of events that take undercover cop Paolo (Claudio Cassinelli) all the way from the gutter to the luxurious swimming pool of a millionaire’s mansion. Employing a goofy thief (Adolfo Caruso) and a ditzy prostitute (Lia Tanzi), Paolo uncovers one crime ring after another until he gets so high up, that his own police chief (Mel Ferrer) pulls the plug on his entire investigation. How far will Paolo go to solve this case and how long can he keep dodging the relentless hired assassin in the mirrored sunglasses?

The Suspected Death of a minor does something very smart which of course is spoiled in nearly every plot description out there (including this one). Screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi and director/co-screenwriter Sergio Martino don’t reveal Paolo’s profession until long into the film. On first viewing, I had to ask myself, who is this guy? A hitman? A vigilante? It had been so long since I’d seen this film that I went into it asking myself those very same questions all over again. I imagine that this is exactly what Martino and Gastaldi had had in mind as the lines between cop and criminal are blurred and for good reason. When you have a film that rides the line between trashy and sleazy so finely then why wouldn’t the hero also be similarly adept?

The film’s message is twofold. One is that in order for the police to properly bust criminals then their reach should not be hampered by a corrupt system that favors the rich and powerful. The other is that the crimes of petty thieves and prostitutes are nothing compared to those at the top who exploit these low-level criminals and rig the system to suit themselves. There might be another message about how hookers and J&B Scotch whiskey are both super awesome but this may just be pure speculation on my part.

The giallo was nearly dead and gone by 1975, so it isn’t surprising that Martino and company would try to invigorate a film with added comedy and poliziotteschi elements. Though the killer in this one is shown from the beginning and never dons black gloves, the death scenes are straight up giallo as are the twist-after-twist-after-twist plot machinations. Not to mention there’s so many familiar giallo faces on hand here. Cassinelli is no stranger to the genre and neither is Barbara Magnolfi (The Sister of Ursula) as an underage prostitute, Gianfranco Barra (Don’t Torture a Duckling) as a bumbling cop, Jenny Tamburi (The Psychic) as yet another underage prostitute, and Aldo Massasso (Sleepless) as a cop, just to name a few.

This sweaty film full of monstrous hookers and lowlifes of every variety has a lot going for it. In fact, The Suspected Death of a Minor may have too much going for it. There are a couple of chase scenes which are dreadfully long. This is more than likely for comedic effect but man oh man, it felt like padding to me. The brilliant cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando and the schizophrenic score by Luciano Michelini do a lot to smooth over my complaint. It feels as though Michelini was given carte blanche to do whatever the fuck he wanted. This score has bombastic progressive rock, a slinky tango, some wet fart blues- and that’s all in the first few minutes!

Audio/Video (4.5/5)

Hot damn, this print looks so damn good that I can’t get over it. It’s practically flawless with rich colors that just pop off the screen. Both the English audio and the Italian with English subtitles sound very good. As far as which is the best audio in terms of quality, I’d go with the Italian. However, the English dub for this film is so goddamned funny that I must choose it over the Italian. The film is already funny but there a few oddities in the translation that make this one even funnier. Gems like “Boy, I’d love to kick her in the crotch” or “Blow it out your bunghole” are best when they’re awkwardly dubbed.

Extras (4/5)

First up is a lively feature length commentary track by Troy Howarth (author of So Deadly, So Perverse), who clearly enjoys the film and relishes talking about it in detail. Next there’s an interview with the director himself. It’s always great to hear from Sergio Martino and this 43 minute interview with him is totally badass. He talks about his career and how lucky he was throughout it. Martino also tells a crazy story about how a stuntman nearly accidentally killed an actress while they were filming Suspected Death. The packaging comes with a very cool booklet with a lengthy essay on the film by Barry Forshaw and utterly gorgeous artwork by Chris Malbon.

Overall

My initial impression of this film several years ago was a very strong one. For some reason, revisiting it, I found it to be just too long. This is by no means a deal breaker for me but I’ll need a long, long time before I’m ready to jump back into The Suspected Death of a Minor. However, I do love Martino’s more traditional gialli and his films from other genres that I’ve seen so maybe the third time will be the charm. I enjoy the stew he and Gastaldi have concocted here, the bites of comedy, crime thriller, and social commentary are so meaty that I could barely choke them down. Despite my honeymoon with this film being over (at least for the time being), I highly recommend folks check out the genre-bending Suspected Death. It’s something that must be seen to be believed.