Movie Reviews

The Sergio Martino Collection Arrow Video Blu-Ray Review – Three Crime Thrillers From One Of Italy’s Great Filmmakers

By Dillon Gonzales
April 3, 2022
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One of Italian cinema’s most celebrated and prolific filmmakers, Sergio Martino worked across a range of genres, but is arguably best known for his giallo thrillers. This collection brings together three of his finest. In The Case of the Scorpion’s Tail, recently widowed Lisa Baumer is summoned to Athens to collect her husband’s generous life insurance policy, but soon discovers others are willing to kill to get their hands on it. In the Edgar Allan Poe-inspired Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key, abrasive drunk Oliviero amuses himself by holding drunken orgies and abusing his long-suffering wife… but when a series of grisly murders shakes the local community, Oliviero finds himself in the frame. Finally, The Suspicious Death of a Minor combines giallo and crime thriller tropes as undercover cop Paolo pursues the Milanese criminal outfit responsible for the brutal murder of an underage prostitute, but finds himself up against a killer-for-hire who’s bumping off witnesses before they have a chance to talk. Featuring sensational casts of genre stalwarts, including Edwige Fenech, George Hilton, Anita Strindberg and Luigi Pistilli, with scripts by giallo master Ernesto Gastaldi and sensuous scores by maestro Bruno Nicolai, this is an essential collection for any Italian cult cinema fan.

For thoughts on The Sergio Martino Collection, please check out our discussion on The Video Attic here.

Video Quality

The three films in the The Sergio Martino Collection box set are packaged together on Blu-Ray after being released separately by Arrow Video with 1080p masters in their original aspect ratios and have been restored from their original camera negatives with a 2K scan. By and large these three releases are very similar to one another and will be discussed as a group with any meaningful differences pointed out.

As always, Arrow Video goes out of their way to treat their films with the utmost respect. The intentionally grimy photography captures the various distinct locations which impress in high definition with natural grain intact and nicely resolved with only a handful of moments looking excessively coarse. There is a striking amount of detail present with nice textures on the clothing that is featured more than your average film with the camera trying to conceal various identities throughout these three features. There are elements like close-up shots of sliced open flesh or text of newspapers that look quite striking in their clarity.

The transfers show off a great amount of depth and enhanced detail, but admittedly the close-up shots hold up better than the long shots or occasional optical shot where the quality dips ever so slightly. Black levels are fairly deep with no significant of black crush or compression artifacts. The color timing of these films can run a little warm, but this seems to be tied to the state of the source elements. The contrast is stable enough, and there is virtually no print damage to be found outside a few stray moments. Arrow Video has done a tremendous job with all of these transfers in a way that should make anyone who decides to pick this set up pleased as punch.

Audio Quality

The Case Of The Scorpion’s Tail and The Suspicious Death Of A Minor are given restored LPCM 1.0 mono tracks in Italian and English language options, while Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key is given the same with a DTS-HD 1.0 Master Audio track. Every single one of these tracks represents these tales in a pretty fetching way sonically. Most of these films have their dialogue post-looped which results in some loose sync instances that may be annoying to some, but it is a product of this period in filmmaking. All of the unique sounds in the mix seem precisely rendered so that nothing ever feels off. The dialogue itself comes through very clearly without being crushed by the sound effects or score. There are moments of tussling that add some texture without becoming a muddled mess in the action. The unique soundtracks throughout these films brings a very distinct mood to the proceedings that is represented well in the mix. Everything is presented with an excellent fidelity with only the occasional instance of sound presenting as a bit thin or boxy. Many of these tales take place in a busy city which creates a din of sound that creeps through to provide some excellent ambient details. The climax of Scorpion’s Tail, on the other hand, conveys its sense of isolation on the boat well with crisp, subtle environmental texture. This presentation is mostly free of any hiss or other age-related wear-and-tear. Arrow Video continues to knock it out of the park!

Special Features

The Case Of The Scorpion’s Tail

Audio Commentary: Writer Ernesto Gastaldi delivers an informative commentary track moderated by filmmaker Federico Caddeo in which he discusses the film’s history, working with Sergio Martino, the impact Dario Argento had on the genre, how being a co-production with different countries impacted filming, the use of the score, the balance of sensational elements with more high-minded aspirations, the plot and themes of the film and more that adds a lot of great context to this work.

Under The Sign Of The Scorpion: A 21-minute interview from 2018 with star George Hilton in which he discusses his early career, his attempts to shake up his career, getting the opportunity to work with Sergio Martino, his thoughts on his co-stars, the atmosphere on set, the directing style of Martino and more.

The Scorpion Tales: A 47-minute interview from 2018 with director Sergio Martino in which he discusses his career at the time of the production, his fondness for the film, the inspirations he brought to the project, the work of his ensemble, working within the Italian film industry, memorable scenes during filming, his creative collaborators and more.

Jet Set Giallo: A 20-minute piece in which critic and academic Mikel J. Koven argues that Martino played more within genre rather than having an identifiable style. There are some intriguing insights into the evolving of the formula, how Martino compares to his contemporaries and more.

The Case Of The Screenwriter Auteur: A 16-minute visual essay from Troy Howarth in which he discusses the work of screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi, his early and lost work, his collaborations with Sergio Martino, the roles he created for women and more.

Theatrical Trailer: A two-and-a-half minute trailer is provided here.

Image Gallery: A collection of images showing off promotional materials, stills and more.

Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key

Through The Keyhole – An Interview with Sergio Martino: A 35-minute interview with director Sergio Martino in which he discusses the origins of the title, adapting from the Edgar Alan Poe tale, the real-life crime that was used as inspiration, the performance from Edwige Fenech, the shooting locations, how the film was received, working with the cat and more.

Unveiling The Vice: A 23-minute archival retrospective in which director Sergio Martino, Edwige Fenech, and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi discuss the erotic tone of the film, the decadent atmosphere, the style of the feature, how this role impacted Fenech’s career, the work of the ensemble and more.

Dolls Of Flesh and Blood: This 29-minute video essay from Michael Mackenzie begins with a laundry list of titles which the piece will spoil before delving into how Martino fit into the evolution of the giallo subgenre. There are discussions about how he uses performers, the conventions of the genre and more.

The Strange Vices of Ms. Fenech: A 30-minute video essay from film historian Justin Harries in which he explores the career of Edwige Fenech in gialli films and Italian sex comedies, the place of Italian cinema coming out of the 1960s, the boundary-pushing nature of these features, her work with Sergio Martino and more.

Eli Roth On Your Vice: A nine-minute interview with director Eli Roth in which he discusses the genius of Sergio Martino, what makes Your Vice such a special film, the tone of the film, the performance of Edwige Fenech and more.

The Suspicious Death Of A Minor

Audio Commentary: Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films, delivers a fact-filled commentary track in which he discusses the unique tone of the film, the themes incorporated into the narrative, where the giallo genre was at the time the film was released, the structure of the film, the performers utilized in this story and more that makes for a good listen.

Violent Milan: A 43-minute interview from 2017 with director Sergio Martino in which he discusses his career at the time of the production, his memories of the film, how the distributors tried to shape public perception, the work of his ensemble, the voice work for international dubs, memorable scenes during filming, his creative collaborators and more.

Theatrical Trailers: This disc provides a three-and-a-half minute trailer.

Final Thoughts

The three films in the The Sergio Martino Collection offer a well-rounded look at the director as you have everything from the relatively straightforward giallo to more psychological fare. These features deliver many thrills in a way that Martino especially excels at along with an impressive array of performers who are no stranger to the director. There is so much to admire with these twisted tales of murder and mind games on nearly every creative level. Arrow Video has provided a set with a terrific A/V presentation and so many supplemental features that will keep you busy. If you have these films separately, there is no real reason to purchase this set besides having them bundled together in one package, but those who do not own these will find each of these films worthy of being a part of any collection. Highly Recommended

The Sergio Martino Collection is currently available to purchase on Blu-Ray.

Note: Images presented in this review are not reflective of the image quality of the Blu-Ray.

Disclaimer: Arrow Video has supplied a copy of this disc free of charge for review purposes. All opinions in this review are the honest reactions of the author.