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In the early 1970s, when the giallo boom was at its peak, producer-turned-director Luciano Ercoli helmed three standalone but thematically linked examples of the genre, each featuring a memorable star turn by Spanish born actress and model Nieves Navarro (billed under her adopted stage name of Susan Scott). Accompanied by a rogues’ gallery of familiar and recurring faces, this trilogy of terror represents the giallo at its most playful and unpredictable.
In The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion, Minou's (Dagmar Lassander, The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire) dull but pampered life is upturned by a mysterious sadist (Simón Andreu, Death Carries a Cane) who blackmails her into submitting to his every perverted whim. Desperate to escape his clutches, Minou confides in her libidinous best friend Dominique (Navarro)... but is she more involved than she’s letting on? Then, in Death Walks on High Heels, Navarro stars as exotic dancer Nicole, daughter of a murdered jewel thief, who finds herself terrorized by a black-clad assailant determined to procure 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. Finally, in Death Walks at Midnight, Navarro stars as Valentina - a model who, in the midst of a drug-fueled photoshoot, witnesses a brutal murder in the apartment opposite hers. But when the authorities refuse to believe a crime has been committed, Valentina is forced to assume the role of amateur sleuth.
With glamor, perversity and narrative twists and turns aplenty, each of these giallo delights is fully restored from original elements and presented alongside an array of all-encompassing bonus features.
2K restorations from the original 35mm camera negatives for The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion and Death Walks on High Heels
2K restoration from an original 35mm internegative for Death Walks at Midnight
High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of each film
Original Italian and English front and end titles
Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
Rigid box packaging with newly designed artwork by Gilles Vranckx in a windowed Giallo Essentials Collection slipcover
Reversible sleeves for each film featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by The Twins of Evil and Gilles Vranckx
Disc One: The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion (1970)
Audio commentary by Kat Ellinger, author and editor-in-chief of Diabolique Magazine
Private Pictures, a documentary featuring interviews with actress Nieves Navarro, director Luciano Ercoli and writer Ernesto Gastaldi
The Forbidden Soundtrack of the Big Three, an appreciation of the music of Forbidden Photos and 70s Italian cult cinema by musician and soundtrack collector Lovely Jon
The Forbidden Lady, a Q&A with actress Dagmar Lassander at the 2016 Festival of Fantastic Films
Original Italian and English theatrical trailers
Image gallery
Disc Two: Death Walks On High Heels (1971)
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
From Spain with Love, featurette with director Luciano Ercoli and actress Nieves Navarro, interviewed at their home in Barcelona
Master of Giallo, screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi on Death Walks on High Heels and how to write a successful giallo
Death Walks to the Beat, a career-spanning interview with High Heels composer Stelvio Cipriani
Original Italian and English trailers
Disc Three: Death Walks At Midnight (1972)
Audio commentary by film critic Tim Lucas
Introduction to the film by screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi
Extended TV version of the feature
Crime Does Pay, screenwriter Gastaldi reflects on his career in the crime film-writing business, including a look at Death Walks at Midnight
Desperately Seeking Susan, visual essay by Michael Mackenzie exploring the distinctive giallo collaborations between director Luciano Ercoli and star Nieves Navarro
Dagmar Lassander