Review: The Suspicious Death Of A Minor
Blu-ray & DVD: The Suspicious Death Of A Minor (1975)
Undercover cop Paolo Germi (Claudio Cassinelli) goes on the trail of a Milan criminal outfit following the murder of an underage prostitute. As Paolo’s investigations take him deeper into the seedy underworld of underage sex and prostitution, a killer-for-hire is systematically killing all potential witnesses before Paolo can get a chance to talk to them. Can the case be solved before the mystery assassin finally gets Paolo in their sights?
Beginning much like a traditional giallo, The Suspicious Death Of A Minor showcases all the usual tropes; extreme close-ups of faces, Goblin‘esque music, and of course brutal murders. Where it differs (and I have to admit that this caught me completely off guard to begin with) is in its frequent use of humour. There is a running gag where Paolo continually breaks his spectacles, a comedic ‘sidekick’ (Giannino played with relish by Adolfo Caruso) and a long car chase that resembles nothing less than an updated version of a Keystone Cops chase. As the movie begins, the comedy elements, which are sporadically inserted between vicious murders and scenes which are reminiscent of the poliziotteschi subgenre which was popular at the time, are disconcerting and distance you from the narrative. However, as the running time progresses it all seems to gel together in a way that you wouldn’t think possible…much like when someone decided to put peanut butter and jelly between 2 slices of bread I presume!
The acting is good throughout the entire cast, with a predictably solid (if short) performance by the always watchable Mel Ferrer. While Roberto Posse as the enigmatic ‘witness killer’ seems to be channelling Andrew Robinson as ‘Scorpio’ in Dirty Harry, though with far less dialogue and much bigger sunglasses. This works perfectly, as Paolo’s police tactics closely mirror that of Harry Callahan, complete with a disregard of his superiors.
Until watching for this review, I’d never previously seen The Suspicious Death Of A Minor (despite being a giallo fan since my youth) and I have to thank Arrow Films for not only releasing this hidden gem of a movie which had hitherto passed me by, but also of course for slipping a review disc through the letterbox here at 60MW Towers. How else would I have managed to see a shootout on a visiting fair rollercoaster!?
There have been many movies throughout the years that have blended genres, but none (at least which immediately spring to my mind) which have fused 2 so diametrically opposed genres together to form a visual cocktail which not only leaves a pleasant aftertaste, but also has you wanting much more of it.
The Suspicious Death Of A Minor may well alienate the hardcore giallo fan with its comedy, while also not appealing to comedy fans due to the blood-soaked murders, but for everyone else there is a very enjoyable movie here that has you in a constant state of wonderment at what may happen next.
SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS
• Brand new 2K restoration of the film from the original camera negative produced by Arrow Video exclusively for this release
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) and Standard Definition DVD presentations
• Original mono Italian and English soundtracks (lossless on the Blu-ray Disc)
• English subtitles for the Italian soundtrack
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtrack
• New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
• New interview with co-writer/director Sergio Martino
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon
FIRST PRESSING ONLY: Illustrated collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Barry Foresaw.
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Review by Dave (host of 60 Minutes With) from a disc kindly supplied by Arrow Films.
