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What Have You Done to Solange?
Media Blasters // Unrated // July 30, 2002
List Price: $24.95 [Buy now and save at Hkflix]
The Movie
"What Have You Done to Solange?" is the title of this film, and it is a question that the viewer will be asking the movie, as the character, Solange, isn't even mentioned for 71 minutes of this film, and then doesn't materialize until sometime after that. While we wait for Solange to appear so that we may learn of her fate, we are treated to a "by the books" giallo that offers too many characters and not enough action.
"What Have You Done to Solange?" stars Italian film regular Fabio Testi as Henry Rossini, a teacher at an all-girls school in London. Rossini has a reputation for being (very) intimate with his students, and becomes a prime suspect when girls from the school begin to be murdered one-by-one. One of the girls that Rossini was seeing, Elizabeth (Cristina Galbo), claims to have gotten a glimpse of the real killer. This creates an awkward situation for the teacher, for if Elizabeth comes forward, their relationship will be revealed. With the help of his wife (!?), Rossini decides to find the murderer himself. As the murders continue, Rossini realizes that it is a particular clique that is being picked off, and he struggles to learn the dark secret that connects the girls.
This film is based on a novel by Edgar Wallace, who is believed by many to be the father of the giallo, and exhibits all of the typical positive and negative traits that can make or break a film in this genre. On the plus side, the movie has the slick visual style (it was shot by the infamous Joe D'Amato!) that is the trademark of the gialli. There are several murders here, and while they aren't overly violent or graphic, at least one is cringe inducing. These films are notorious for adding sex into the mix, and there are several gratitous scenes of scantilly-clad school girls cavorting around the campus. To the film's credit, it does attempt to explore the lives and motivations of the characters, and the cast, especially the chisled Testi is pretty good.
On the negative side, there are moments where the film moves along at a snail's pace, and the viewer isn't given a great deal of new information during the second act. (There's a murderer...we get it. Rossini likes girls...we get it.) Also, as with many gialli, there aren't enough clear-cut suspects here. (This is where giall can vary greatly from American mystery films, which challenge us to guess the killer's identity based on clues given. In some Italian films, no clues whatsoever are given.) When the killer was finally revealed, I had to watch some of the film again just to figure out exactly who they were. And, as mentioned at the outset, the movie makes us wait far too long for the title to have any sort of meaning.
So, all of this adds up to make "What Have You Done to Solange?" a fairly medicore film. Once the secret is revealed, it is quite shocking, even by today's standards, but that can't make up for the fact that much of the film is simply boring.
Video
"What Have You Done to Solange?" comes to DVD by way of Shriek Show, and as with many of their Italian titles, looks quite good here. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The picture is rather sharp and clear, showing some minor grain at times. It's obvious that the source print was cleaned and restored, as there are only minor visible defects, such as scratches or lines. But, it should be noted that during Chapter 14, there is a hair or a large piece of dirt that haunts the top of the frame. Also, the image flickers somewhat towards the end of the film. The colors here are good, and the fleshtones are realstic. Overall, this transfer looks good for a film that is 30 years old.
Audio
This DVD features a Dolby Digital Mono audio track. The track offers clear dialogue, but there is some audible hissing and popping here. The mono sound doesn't do much to enhance the impressive score by Ennio Morricone, but as the bulk of the film is dialogue driven, a remix most likely wouldn't have changed things much.
Extras
The special features on this disc are sparse. The original theatrical trailer for "What Have You Done to Solange?" is included, as well as bonus trailers for "Sweet House of Horror", "House on the Edge of the Park", "Spasmo", and "House of Clocks" (there are a lot of houses here). Also included is a still gallery, which is comprised mainly of posters and other publicity material for the film. The DVD contains a booklet which offers detailed liner notes. The box promises talent bios, but they weren't to be found on the DVD that I received.
"What Have You Done to Solange?" is a competent giallo, but it doesn't do anything to set itself apart from its contemporaries. The film is well-made and the ending is intriguing, but this can only be recommended for hardcore fans who have already seen all of the classics.
"What Have You Done to Solange?" is the title of this film, and it is a question that the viewer will be asking the movie, as the character, Solange, isn't even mentioned for 71 minutes of this film, and then doesn't materialize until sometime after that. While we wait for Solange to appear so that we may learn of her fate, we are treated to a "by the books" giallo that offers too many characters and not enough action.
"What Have You Done to Solange?" stars Italian film regular Fabio Testi as Henry Rossini, a teacher at an all-girls school in London. Rossini has a reputation for being (very) intimate with his students, and becomes a prime suspect when girls from the school begin to be murdered one-by-one. One of the girls that Rossini was seeing, Elizabeth (Cristina Galbo), claims to have gotten a glimpse of the real killer. This creates an awkward situation for the teacher, for if Elizabeth comes forward, their relationship will be revealed. With the help of his wife (!?), Rossini decides to find the murderer himself. As the murders continue, Rossini realizes that it is a particular clique that is being picked off, and he struggles to learn the dark secret that connects the girls.
This film is based on a novel by Edgar Wallace, who is believed by many to be the father of the giallo, and exhibits all of the typical positive and negative traits that can make or break a film in this genre. On the plus side, the movie has the slick visual style (it was shot by the infamous Joe D'Amato!) that is the trademark of the gialli. There are several murders here, and while they aren't overly violent or graphic, at least one is cringe inducing. These films are notorious for adding sex into the mix, and there are several gratitous scenes of scantilly-clad school girls cavorting around the campus. To the film's credit, it does attempt to explore the lives and motivations of the characters, and the cast, especially the chisled Testi is pretty good.
On the negative side, there are moments where the film moves along at a snail's pace, and the viewer isn't given a great deal of new information during the second act. (There's a murderer...we get it. Rossini likes girls...we get it.) Also, as with many gialli, there aren't enough clear-cut suspects here. (This is where giall can vary greatly from American mystery films, which challenge us to guess the killer's identity based on clues given. In some Italian films, no clues whatsoever are given.) When the killer was finally revealed, I had to watch some of the film again just to figure out exactly who they were. And, as mentioned at the outset, the movie makes us wait far too long for the title to have any sort of meaning.
So, all of this adds up to make "What Have You Done to Solange?" a fairly medicore film. Once the secret is revealed, it is quite shocking, even by today's standards, but that can't make up for the fact that much of the film is simply boring.
Video
"What Have You Done to Solange?" comes to DVD by way of Shriek Show, and as with many of their Italian titles, looks quite good here. The film has been letterboxed at 2.35:1 and is enhanced for 16 x 9 TVs. The picture is rather sharp and clear, showing some minor grain at times. It's obvious that the source print was cleaned and restored, as there are only minor visible defects, such as scratches or lines. But, it should be noted that during Chapter 14, there is a hair or a large piece of dirt that haunts the top of the frame. Also, the image flickers somewhat towards the end of the film. The colors here are good, and the fleshtones are realstic. Overall, this transfer looks good for a film that is 30 years old.
Audio
This DVD features a Dolby Digital Mono audio track. The track offers clear dialogue, but there is some audible hissing and popping here. The mono sound doesn't do much to enhance the impressive score by Ennio Morricone, but as the bulk of the film is dialogue driven, a remix most likely wouldn't have changed things much.
Extras
The special features on this disc are sparse. The original theatrical trailer for "What Have You Done to Solange?" is included, as well as bonus trailers for "Sweet House of Horror", "House on the Edge of the Park", "Spasmo", and "House of Clocks" (there are a lot of houses here). Also included is a still gallery, which is comprised mainly of posters and other publicity material for the film. The DVD contains a booklet which offers detailed liner notes. The box promises talent bios, but they weren't to be found on the DVD that I received.
"What Have You Done to Solange?" is a competent giallo, but it doesn't do anything to set itself apart from its contemporaries. The film is well-made and the ending is intriguing, but this can only be recommended for hardcore fans who have already seen all of the classics.
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