DVD Review: Death Walks Twice


Giallo movies reached their peak in the early 1970s. The Italian slasher genre has a special place in the heart of many film fans due to its heady mix of blood, mystery, crime, occult, eroticism and the utterly bonkers. Mario Bava, Dario Argento and Lucio Fulci are the most famous directors linked to giallo but Luciano Ecroli made a big splash with the release of Death Walks in High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight. Arrow Films brings them together in Death Walks Twice.

Death Walks in High Heels

A stripper (Nieves Navarro) fears for her life after her father is murdered and a mysterious killer threatens her demanding to know where the diamonds are. Suspecting her boyfriend Michel (Simón Andreu) she flees to London with a rich doctor (Frank Wolff). However, death is never too far behind. Death Walks in High Heels looks fantastic, using inventive camera angles and a lively sountrack to help make it an entertaining mystery horror which keeps you guessing until the very end.

Death Walks at Midnight

When Valentina (Nieves Navarro) a fashion model, agrees to help Giò (Simón Andreu), a journalist and her boyfriend, with a drug trial it changes her life. She hallucinates, seeing a man beat a woman to death with an iron gauntlet. When he prints the story they discover that the murder happened 6 months ago, and when the killer appears Valentina sees death around every corner. Whilst it’s not quite as good as its predecessor, it has many of the same features which makes it an interesting ride.

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

Death Walks Twice is released on DVD and Blu-ray by Arrow Video on Monday

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