Strip Nude for Your Killer
Director - Andrea Bianchi
Cast - Edwige Fenech, Nino Castelneovo
Country of Origin - Italy
Discs - 1
MSRP - $29.98
Distributor - Blue Underground
Reviewer - Scott MacDonald
The Film (4/5)
It's not very often that an exploitation film lives up to it's very lurid premise. Very often we fans of exploitation and horror cinema are presented with posters with lurid and amazing cover art, trailers with all the best bits edited in, tag lines promising us our greatest shocking desires committed to film, and all to often we are left with a few promising scenes, and not much else. Strip Nude for your Killer is one of the rare films that actually lives up to it's title.
I am as surprised to discover this as anyone. I'll admit going in that I am not a fan of the work of Andrea Bianchi. I have only seen a handful of his work (Malabimba, Burial Ground), but have never been even remotely entertained by it, and while Giallo is probably my favorite cinematic subgenre, I had my doubts whether or not he had the ability to handle this genre well.
Well, I'll be honest, he really didn't. Strip Nude for your Killer as a giallo it's good, but it's not great, and it really falls into a sort of proto-slasher territory. That being said it's a completely violent, and sexual over the top film that dares to go exactly where it says it will go, and on that front it is a total success.
The film kicks off with a murder during an abortion, where the woman getting the procedure, and her Doctor are promptly killed off by a maniac in a motorcycle helmet. It turns out this woman was a model who worked for a fashion studio, and she is the first of many victims of this motorcycle helmeted madman. As the body count begins to pile up a fashion photographer who works at the studio Carlo (Nino Castelnuovo), and his coworker/girlfriend Madga (giallo superstar Edwige Fenech) begin investigating the murder before they become the next victims.
Honestly, Strip Nude for Your Killer is a film without style or suspense. Which is why although it definitely is attempting to fit into the giallo genre I am more willing to tag it as a slasher film. I have always felt a good giallo is a 2 sided affair, a suspenseful well plotted almost Hitchcockian affair, this side is best expressed in the film of Mario Bava, Dario Argento, Sergio Martino, etc. The other side of the equation is the lurid pulpy side, the extreme violence, and sexuality that is common to the genre. When these blend evenly you have a near perfect giallo. While being uneven definitely still yields fantastic results, it's when the genre veers too far over to the sexual and violent side as is the case with gialli like Giallo in Venice, and Strip Nude for your Killer that the finished result ends up feeling more like a precursor to the American Slasher/Body Count movie than a giallo.
I don't feel like that is a problem with this film, as it pretty much spells it out on the package. And honestly if I didn't state it earlier this is an offensive movie, now I know as horror fans we are pretty well used to films that border on the not quite politically correct, but damn this movie is as NPC as it gets. If you can get past that, and realize that this is meant as lurid pulpy violent entertainment than you're in for a good time, everyone else can leave the hall.
Audio/Video (3.5/5)
Blue Underground has presented Andrea Bianchi's Strip Nude for Your Killer in a completely solid 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer. This is a completely solid transfer from BU. The detail is solid, especially in close ups, colors are bright, flesh tones are accurate, and black levels are solid. There is a nice level of a film grain present on the transfer. The transfer is a little bit on the soft side, but that could be more on the production side, than the actual transfer itself.
Blue Underground have presented 2 audio options both DTS-HD Master Audio Mono tracks, one in English, the other in Italian. As with films of this era the selection is really up to you, as on set sound was not recorded, so there really isn't a native language recording for the film. The track is completely solid, dialogue, music, and effects are evenly mixed, and there I did not pick up any pops, cracks, or hissing on the track.
Extras (2/5)
Blue Underground have ported over the extras from their prior DVD release of the film, and while there is not much here, what is available is at least moderately interesting interesting. The disc kicks off with Strip Nude for Your Giallo a 12 minute interview with one of the actresses from the film Solvi Stubing, and the films co-writer Massino Felisatti. The disc ummm wraps up with a series of trailers for the film, and a poster and stills gallery.
Overall
A pulpy, violent, and completely politically incorrect thriller from Andreas Bianchi. This one is not for those who are easily offended, but is definitely for those who like seeing Edwige Fenech and other Italian actresses in various states of undress running from a motorcycle helmeted madman! I had a Hell of a good time with this film, however, I can see why people might not like it or possibly be offended so..... HIghly Recommended for psycho exploitation fans like myself. Everyone else Recommended.
