DEATH WALKS TWICE (Arrow)

[Oscar Rothman]

sweet



NEW US/UK TITLE ANNOUNCEMENT: DEATH WALKS TWICE BLU-RAY & DVD

US Pre-orders coming soon!

Death Walks Twice: Two Films by Luciano Ercoli (Arrow Video) Dual Format Limited Edition Boxset

Emerging at the peak of the giallo boom of the early ‘70s, Luciano Ercoli’s Death Walks films are two superlative examples of the genre linked by their shared casting of the stunning Nieves Navarro (billed under her adopted stage name of Susan Scott) as the lead woman in peril.

In Death Walks on High Heels (1971), exotic dancer Nicole (Navarro), the daughter of a murdered jewel thief, finds herself terrorised by a black-clad assailant determined on procuring her father’s stolen gems. Fleeing Paris and her knife-wielding pursuer, Nicole arrives in London only to discover that death stalks her at every corner.

Returning in Death Walks at Midnight (1972), Navarro stars as Valentina – a model who, in the midst of a drug-fuelled photoshoot, witnesses a brutal murder in the apartment opposite hers. But when it becomes clear that the savage slaying she describes relates to a crime that took place six months earlier, the police are at a loss - forcing Valentina to solve the mystery alone.

Offering up all the glamour, perversity and narrative twists and turns that are typical of the giallo genre at its best, Luciano Ercoli’s Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight anticipate the super-stylized trappings of Brian De Palma’s early psycho thrillers (most notably, Dressed to Kill).

LIMITED EDITION CONTENTS
Limited Edition boxed-set (3000 copies) containing Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight
Brand new 2K restorations of the films from the original camera negatives
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
Original Italian and English soundtracks in mono audio (uncompressed PCM on the Blu-rays)
Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
Limited Edition 60-page booklet containing new writing from authors Danny Shipka (Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France), Troy Howarth (So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films) and writer Leonard Jacobs, illustrated with original archive stills and posters
DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Newly-edited archive interview with director Luciano Ercoli and actress Nieves Navarro
Master of Giallo – brand new interview in which Gastaldi discusses Death Walks on High Heels and offers up his thoughts as to what constitutes a good giallo
An interview with composer Stelvio Cipriani
Original Italian trailer
Original English trailer
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx
DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Extended TV version of the feature [105 mins]
Crime Does Pay – brand new interview in which Gastaldi discusses Death Walks at Midnight and a career script-writing crime films
Desperately Seeking Susan – a visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the distinctive giallo collaborations between director Luciano Ercoli and star Nieves Navarro
Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Gilles Vranckx


Release date: 28/03/16 (UK) Release date: 03/29/16 (US)
Rating: 18 (TBC)
Duration: 208 mins
Language: English/Italian
Subtitles: English SDH/English
Aspect Ratio: 2.35:1
Audio: Mono
Colour
Discs: 4

[RiFiFi1955]

Great news!!!!

[Member-222782]

Damn it, Arrow. If anyone was on the fence about this set, now they're not. Who can resist such a lavish box set and that fantastic art!

[javi92]

I can't get enough of these gialli. I hope Arrow continues to pump them out.

[easydreamer]

Tim Lucas & Ernesto Gastaldi. This ought to be a great release with 2 involved!

[Brian81]

good to see the TV version is included for DWAM....

[DVD Phreak]

Reviews and screen captures from a website called Body Count Rising:

Death Walks on High Heels (1971)
Death Walks at Midnight (1972)

I also want to include Ercoli's 1970 film, his directorial debut, Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, that makes a nice trilogy with the other two:

Mondo Digital's review of the Blue Underground DVD with screen captures

[Vito Cipriani]

A review is up on DVDCompare, with screengrab comparisons with the NoShame DVD releases of both films: http://dvdcompare.net/review.php?rid=4197

[BladeRunner2007]

Got my UK copy today

[cakefactory]

The more I think about it, the more I like Death Walks at Midnight. I think it might be right up there with the likes of Don't Torture a Duckling, Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Psychic. My first viewing of it was a LOT more entertaining than my most recent revisit of Deep Red. It has such spunk and a ton of the wackiness actually worked for me, I laughed out loud multiple times. Nieves is adorable and has by far the best role I've ever seen for a woman in one of these things. It's not a perfect movie, but then, no Giallo is!

Death Walks in High Heels is vastly inferior, but is not without interest. The first half of it is pretty good. I'll check out Forbidden Photos of a Lady Under Suspicion this weekend sometime, too. I am sorry to admit that I bought "Emanuel and the Last Cannibals" in my last order from amazon.co.uk just for more Nieves. I am sure I will regret that decision!

[MikeyMicrowave]

Picked mine up today.

[cakefactory]

Is Amazon actually shipping this yet? I got mine from Diabolik from a week ago, so I'm curious how far behind Amazon is this go-around. Seemed to be about two weeks on the last few Arrow releases.

[AlexIlDottore]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

Is Amazon actually shipping this yet? I got mine from Diabolik from a week ago, so I'm curious how far behind Amazon is this go-around. Seemed to be about two weeks on the last few Arrow releases.

At the beginning of March, Arrow said that the US release would be pushed back to the 5th of April due to a delay in delivery of artwork.

[PowellPressburger]

My set from Diabolik shipped out today Should be delivered Monday. Can't wait.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by AlexIlDottore

At the beginning of March, Arrow said that the US release would be pushed back to the 5th of April due to a delay in delivery of artwork.

That doesn't make sense to me since I received a USA copy, but hey.

[DVD Phreak]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

The more I think about it, the more I like Death Walks at Midnight. I think it might be right up there with the likes of Don't Torture a Duckling, Bird with the Crystal Plumage and The Psychic. My first viewing of it was a LOT more entertaining than my most recent revisit of Deep Red. It has such spunk and a ton of the wackiness actually worked for me, I laughed out loud multiple times. Nieves is adorable and has by far the best role I've ever seen for a woman in one of these things. It's not a perfect movie, but then, no Giallo is!

Death Walks in High Heels is vastly inferior, but is not without interest. The first half of it is pretty good. I'll check out Forbidden Photos of a Lady Under Suspicion this weekend sometime, too. I am sorry to admit that I bought "Emanuel and the Last Cannibals" in my last order from amazon.co.uk just for more Nieves. I am sure I will regret that decision!

"Midnight"'s light-heartedness and lack of sexiness make it very different from "High Heels" and giallo in general, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. Either put back the perversity and luridness that gialli are known for, or the "comedy" needs to be a lot darker.

Putting two films with the word "death" in the title implies some connection between them, but in fact they couldn't be more different. "High Heels" is delicious giallo but "Midnight" is not.

I wish "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" would be included here, since it IS a giallo, and is a nice, perverse and lurid take on

[Show spoiler]http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031359/

, a story that has built-in perversity that is primed to be giallized. Amazon Prime viewers can watch it for free, but the Blue Underground DVD has better picture quality.

[cakefactory]

Originally Posted by DVD Phreak

"Midnight"'s light-heartedness and lack of sexiness make it very different from "High Heels" and giallo in general, and I'm not sure that's a good thing. Either put back the perversity and luridness that gialli are known for, or the "comedy" needs to be a lot darker.

Putting two films with the word "death" in the title implies some connection between them, but in fact they couldn't be more different. "High Heels" is delicious giallo but "Midnight" is not.

I wish "Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" would be included here, since it IS a giallo,

So you're saying that since Death Walks at Midnight has a lot of humor and a moderate lack of sleaze, it's not a Giallo? I didn't know that Gialli had "NO JOKES" as a guiding principle. I guess Deep Red isn't one either, then, since there are a lot of jokey scenes and a moderate lack of sleaze there too (I can only recall the first murder victim's bare breast as far as that goes)? :P

Some really weird genre redefinitions going around this board the last couple days, with "DEEP RED IS A SLASHER" and "SPAGHETTI WESTERNS AREN'T WESTERNS" and "BATMAN ISN'T A SUPERHERO" and now this!

[DVD Phreak]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

So you're saying that since Death Walks at Midnight has a lot of humor and a moderate lack of sleaze, it's not a Giallo? I didn't know that Gialli had "NO JOKES" as a guiding principle. I guess Deep Red isn't one either, then, since there are a lot of jokey scenes and a moderate lack of sleaze there too (I can only recall the first murder victim's bare breast as far as that goes)? :P

Some really weird genre redefinitions going around this board the last couple days, with "DEEP RED IS A SLASHER" and "SPAGHETTI WESTERNS AREN'T WESTERNS" and "BATMAN ISN'T A SUPERHERO" and now this!

I meant to say "Midnight" is not "delicious giallo" like "High Heels" is (a matter of opinion), and that "Midnight" is different from the more perverse and lurid examples of the genre. Never mind the labeling of films, which could become silly (not to mention, "giallo" is defined differently in different countries). What I said basically was true: that "Midnight" lacks certain elements we love about gialli.

[Ruined]

FYI:

This is currently $39.20 at b&n with code bnspring20 FYI

[tenia]

Originally Posted by cakefactory

That doesn't make sense to me since I received a USA copy, but hey.

Some copies might have been shipped, but usually, release dates are setup in a way to make sure ALL retailers will have enough stock to cover their needs. It means sometimes, despite some copies being available for dispatch, the official release date is setup at a later date to avoid drop-feeding retailers, and thus customers.

Nobody likes pre-ordering for a specific release date, and once the release date arrives, having to wait because there were 130 pre orders but only 80 copies available yet.