Arrow Video, out now

After the corpse of a mysterious woman is discovered in the boot of a diplomat’s car, Detective John Norton knows it’s only time before the killer strikes again.

Arrow’s new UK Blu-ray premiere of Riccardo Freda’s giallo thriller is taken from a 2K restoration from the original 35mm camera negative, but that can’t save it from being one of the least memorable in a long line of bonkers Italian movies saddled with an animal name (The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, Don’t Torture a Duckling, Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Cat o’Nine Tails). Unfortunately, whereas the likes of Freda’s contemporaries (Bava, Argento) know a thing or two about putting a shock scene together, the director – here credited as Willy Pareto! – is more interested in jump scares than tension.

Set in Dublin (surely unique in this sub-genre?), the series of murders is confounding the Irish police, though we’re always one step ahead of them with the next gory death. Unfortunately, the kills are not convincing, and while being sympathetic to budget and make-up constraints of the early 70s, tighter editing would make the dummies and stuffed props a little less embarrassing. There’s a ridiculous number of red herrings and when the real killer is finally revealed it’s all very Scooby Doo.

Arrow’s release benefits from a clutch of interesting extras, from the keen audio commentary by giallo connoisseurs Adrian J. Smith and David Flint, an appreciation of the movie by academic Richard Dyer and a look at Stelvio Cipriani’s score. The Cutting Game is a new interview assistant editor Bruno Micheli, while The Red Queen of Hearts follows the careers of actress Dagmar Lassander.

Verdict: Giallophiles rejoice, as Arrow have surely conjured up the best package that this clunker could muster. And for the extras alone this will find an audience, but those thinking it’s another Argento… no chance. 5/10

Nick Joy