The Film (4/5)

    I am going to preface this by saying Dorado Films has me very excited with their recent and upcoming slate. They just released a pair of Jess Franco obscurities in a quite solidly restored package, and seem to have now made it their mission to put out lots of EuroCult goodies on to Blu-ray from gialli and crime pictures to the films of Jose Ramon Larraz in quite short order. This month we have been treated to a quite interesting giallo from director Alfonso Balcazar titled Night of the Scorpion.

    Night of the Scorpion is a Spanish/Italian co-production which falls firmly in the giallo genre. The film follows Olivier (Jose Antonio Amor) and Ruth (Daniela Giordano) who are a newly married couple. Olivier, however is a widower having lost his previous wife in tragic and mysterious circumstances at his family estate, which Ruth and he are moving back to after their marriage. Unfortunately, integrating to life back at the estate is not easy for the newlyweds.  Olivier's sister and stepmother do not greet them kindly. Also, Ruth begins to become suspicious about the death of Oliver's late wife, and begins to investigate her death with the help of an investigator she hires. Things become increasingly difficult when a black-gloved killer (is there any other kind?) shows up.

    Night of the Scorpion is a simple, straight forward giallo that is none the less a fairly interesting affair. The castle like estate where it is set offers an excellent location for the action, and helps to create a decent atmosphere for the proceedings. The film channels Hitchcock's Rebecca more than slightly, and that is not a complaint.  The film's use of flashbacks  helps give it an interesting narrative perspective, and the performances for the most part are quite solid for the material at hand.

Audio/Video (3.5/5)

    Dorado presents the Blu-ray in a quite solid 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer from a 35mm print source. Everything here looks and sounds quite solid. There are some soft spots, but the film has a softness to it inherent in the production so at times that is natural. There is some nice detail, and the film has a nice natural grain structure present throughout.

    Audio is handled by an English 2.0 track with multi-lingual subtitle options (English, Spanish, Italian).  Everything sounds quite clear, and I did not detect any issues.

Extras (2.5/5)

   The most substantial extra on this release is an in depth commentary by So Deadly, So Perverse author Troy Howarth. There is also trailers for other Dorado releases. and a nice booklet of liner notes.

Overall

    Night of the Scorpions is an excellent little Spanish/Italian giallo that is finally being shown some respect by Dorado Films. The Blu-ray looks and sounds quite nice, and has a decent few extras. RECOMMENDED.