Double Face

Director- Riccardo Freda

Cast- Klaus Kinski, Margaret Lee

Country of Origin- Italy
 

Distributor - Arrow Video

Number of discs –  1

Reviewed by - Scott MacDonald

Date- 06/17/2019

    Double Face opens with a ski trip where John Alexander (Klaus Kinski) meets Helen (Margaret Lee).  Soon after returning from the trip the couple marry, John begins working at Helen's Father's company as CEO, and their once exciting romance begins to fall apart. John begins to wonder what caused his marriage to fail, and is to discover a relationship between Helen and her new friend Liz (Annabelle Incontera). John requests a divorce, but is quickly reubuked. Helen decides what she needs now is a vacation, unfortunately, for her she dies moments after she leaves in a fiery car-wreck.  At first no foul play is suspected, but after John goes to St. Tropez he comes back to find himself being investigated for Helen's murder, at the same time a new woman Christine pops into his life, and brings with her the knowledge that Helen might not truly be dead.

    Double Face (aka Liz and Helen) first came to my attention when I read about it in one of Richard Glenn Schmidt's Giallo Meltdown Moviethons about a decade ago. Richard's review immediately made me want to see the film, however, Double Face like many of Freda's giallo works did not have a US Domestic release, and I've not been comfortable pirating stuff since the days of ordering VHS dupes from places like Video Mayhem and Blackest Heart Media. Needless to say I had not seen it.   In comes Arrow Video, who have done a marvelous job over the last half decade bringing more obscure gialli to Blu-ray in amazing editions, and all of a sudden we have Freda's Iguana with the Tongue of Fire, and now Double Face.

    Double Face was directed by Riccardo Freda and co-written by Lucio Fulci.  The film came quite early in the wave of Italian gialli emerging in the same year as Fulci's similar Perversion Story.  The film is quite haunting in its approach, with the straight laced John finding himself in the midst of swinging London, the porno scene, and more as he searches for the answer to Helen's death. Kinski nailed the absolute tone of this role, and finds a man that is haunted by the direction his life has taken, but is plunging forward on his journey of discovery. Freda creates a bizarre, sometimes chilling, but almost always a delirious atmosphere that really gives the film its edge.

    Arrow Video brings Double Face to Blu-ray with an absolutely fantastic  1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. This is another knock out job by Arrow Video, I can't imagine this ever having looked this good. The film looks natural and film like, with psychedelic colors that pop from the screen, and blacks that are truly deep. Audio is handled by a choice of English and Italian HD mono tracks, but sound crisp, clear, and without issue. Extras include a commentary by Video Watchdog's Tim Lucas, an interview with the film's composer  Nora Orlandi, and a companion video appreciation on Orlandi's work. There is also a video essay on Freda and his work.  In addition there is an image gallery, and 2 trailers. Double Face is a delightfully delirious giallo experience, and a largely underseen effort by Riccardo Freda. The film and Blu-ray from Arrow Video come highly recommended.