Listonixio
Fresh and Exciting
ShangLuda
Admirable film.
Dynamixor
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Sam Panico
London. The 70's. Professor of Italian Enrico Rosseni (Fabio Testi, The Four of the Apocalypse) is on his boat, making out with Elizabeth (Cristina Galbó, The Living Dead at Manchester Morgue, The House that Screamed) and trying to get her to go further than she has before. Right when it seems like he's going to finally conquer her, she looks up to see a woman being stabbed on the shore.After angrily rowing to the shore, Rosseni and Elizabeth find no evidence of a crime. He accuses her of being too religious, like all the girls at the school her uncle sent her to. The next morning, while he dresses and argues with his wife Helga, he hears about a horrid murder on the banks of the Thames river. He drives to where he and Elizabeth were and finds tons of cops. And there are even more at the school where he works!The victim was one of Elizabeth's friends, so she wants to tell the police what they know. However, he doesn't want the affair exposed. However, his pen has been found near the body and he shows up in the crime scene photographs in the newspaper.More murders. More clues in Elizabeth's mind. More priests doing evil things. More anger from Helga. More of Rosseni trying to solve the crime. And all he has is one clue: Who is Solange and what was done to her?The movie takes a turn when Elizabeth is killed inside the apartment that Rosseni has rented for the two of them to continue their affair. And at that point, Helga starts being much nicer to our hero. As their relationship improves, her makeup grows softer, her clothing gets more fashionable and her hair comes down. How strange to find a giallo about a relationship coming back together as the result of murder!What happened to Solange (Camille Keaton, I Spit on Your Grave)? She was given an abortion that all of the murdered girls were there for. In a kitchen, no less. And all of those girls were involved in doing drugs and dating older men.So what do the cops do? Oh, just set up a sting operation with all of the surviving girls. And of course, Solange just happens to show up, walking through the park. Here's the second of course - the cops bungle everything and the killer takes Brenda, asking her the story of Solange, as he did every other victim.This is one well put together film, thanks to Massimo Dallamano, who was the cameraman for Sergio Leone's A Fistful of Dollars and For a Few Dollars More. Joe D'Amoto was the cinematographer and added plenty to the film. And you can't deny the power of having an Ennio Morricone score!This film is an interesting combination of the German krimi film and the Italian giallo and gave way to Dallamono's Schoolgirls in Perili trilogy, which includes What Have They Done to Your Daughters and Rings of Fear.
Nigel P
Whilst enjoying an afternoon on the river, married teacher Enrico (Fabio Testi) is stoically attempting to coerce one of his young students Elizabeth (Christina Galbo) into having sex with him, when she notices on the bank, the glint of a knife in the sunshine. Dismissing this as an excuse not to give into his demands, Enrico is therefore stunned to later hear on the radio of a murder of a young girl in the area that very afternoon.Selfishly, Enrico initially forbids Elizabeth to report her suspicions to the police, for fear his liaison will be exposed. However, sympathies with Enrico begin to materialise when it seems his affair with Elizabeth isn't a whim. His wife Herta (Karin Baal) is cold hearted and unloving, and what Enrico and Elizabeth share might well be true love. As the murders continue, the film enters into proper horror territory, with nightmares and growing graphic atrocities conspiring to tighten the proverbial noose around Enrico's neck, as he appears to be the main suspect.In a further shock, Elizabeth herself is murdered, and this appears to bring Enrico and Herta closer – it is interesting that in softening her character, Herta takes to wearing make-up, as opposed to the harsh 'freshly scrubbed' appearance she had adopted earlier.(Spoiler) Solange, when at last she appears, is the character around whom the murders all centre. Her father posed as a Priest in order to obtain confessions from Solange's school-friends who arranged an illegal abortion for her against her will. The brutality destroyed her mind. The final frame of the film has her sobbing gently as her father shoots himself having at last been discovered.This has been billed as 'giallo' film, that is what Wikipedia describes as a '20th-century Italian slasher genre of literature and film, usually with mystery elements and often with either supernatural horror or crime fiction elements.' As such, it fits the description well. The flawed nature of Enrico fuels the story – he is far from perfect and a ready-made scapegoat for the murders. He is not given to passionately protesting his innocence, and it may well be that un-emotive nature that robbed his wife of her love for him; darkly poetic then, that such a harrowing tragedy should bring them back together.
Boba_Fett1138
This movie is a textbook example of a giallo. And when watching this movie you'll also understand what makes the genre so popular and distinctive.As far as giallo's go, this isn't the most violent or bloody one around. It tries to build its tension and mystery differently, without excluding any of the typical genre elements. And I must say that the killings that are in this movie (and that we get to see) are shot very well and possible form the movie its most memorable moments. Perhaps this is also thanks to director Massimo Dallamano his background as a cinematographer. The movie has some good solid characters in it, that are being likable ones as well. They help to make the story move along and help to carry it over the movie its slower points. Yes, this perhaps isn't the most exciting giallo to watch but it's a well constructed one nevertheless.I don't rate it among my favorites but it remains a good giallo nevertheless.7/10http://bobafett1138.blogspot.com/
BA_Harrison
'What Have They Done To Solange?' can be seen sitting in the top ten list of many a giallo aficionado, and it's easy to see why: it offers fans of the genre almost everything they could possibly ask for, including, of course, the obligatory gloved killer, a ridiculously complex narrative with umpteen likely suspects, lovely cinematography and deft direction, plus a cool jazzy score (from the great Ennio Morricone). In addition to these 'essentials', there's also one hell of an unexpected death that packs quite a punch, and the application of a particularly unpleasant modus-operandi by the murderer—one that you certainly won't forget in a hurry!Set in an exclusive London girls' college (where every student is gorgeous, of course), the film sees a homicidal lunatic working his way through a group of pretty young things, all of whom are harbouring a dark secret from the past. As the police investigate the murders, student Elizabeth Seccles (Cristina Galbó)—who glimpsed the first murder whilst romping in a rowboat with handsome, married Italian professor Enrico Rosseni (Fabio Testi)—struggles to recall a vital visual clue that could help identify the maniac.Of course, this being a giallo, the plot doesn't always make perfect sense (it's a rare giallo that allows logic to get in the way of style) and the second half of the film definitely requires the suspension of disbelief: Enrico's estranged wife forgives her husband's affair on discovering that he hasn't made love to 18-year-old Elizabeth, and having reconciled their differences, the pair proceed to track down the killer. I don't know what is harder to believe: the fact that she forgives Enrico his infidelity so quickly, or that the Italian lothario wasn't banging a beauty like Elizabeth 24/7.Fortunately, these lapses in reason do little to mar one's enjoyment of the film as a whole: director Massimo Dallamano provides just enough clues as the story unfolds to keep us guessing until the very last moment; the clever script ties up all the loose ends with a satisfyingly sick motive for the murderer; and those of us who like the sleazier aspects of the genre will get a kick out of the constant female nudity (including a totally unnecessary, but very welcome shower scene), and several shocking glimpses of the victims' mutilated bodies.
