NOTE: The below Blu-ray captures were taken directly from the Blu-ray disc.

ADDITION: Mondo Macabro Blu-ray (December 2023): Mondo Macabro have transferred Javier Setó's Shadow of Death to Blu-ray. It is on a dual-layered disc with a max'ed out bitrate and looks decent with some minor compression inconsistencies. The 1080P will, mostly, be acceptable to viewers - more discerning eyes may see suspicious softness. While it's not the height of the format - it supports the Giallo-esque thriller for multiple spins. 

NOTE: We have added 50 more large resolution Blu-ray captures (in lossless PNG format) for DVDBeaver Patrons HERE

On their Blu-ray, Mondo Macabro offer the option of linear PCM dual-mono tracks (24-bit) in the original Spanish or the choice of a hokier-dialogue English language DUB. Shadow of Death has aggression and loud screams. There is modest bass depth. The score was by Franco Micalizzi (Brothers Till We Die, Syndicate Sadists, The Cynic, The Rat and the Fist, The Tough Ones, The Visitor, and known for some music on Grindhouse releases Planet Terror and Death Proof - as well as Tarantino's Django Unchained) and ads to the tensions an surprising plot twists. Mondo Macabro offer optional English subtitles on their Region FREE Blu-ray.

The Mondo Macabro Blu-ray extras include a 20-minute interview with Ángel Sala, director of the Sitges International Film Festival. He talks about the director and the film. There are two alternate scenes included from the English export version. They are quite differently edited from the same scenes in the Spanish release. Although both scenes that were shot in Spain using the original cast, however in 1969 it would not have been possible to release the film in Spain with these particular scenes. They run about 6.5 minutes. There is also an original English trailer and Mondo Macabro trailer reel.

Javier Setó's Shadow of Death has an intriguing plot - Larry Ward, of 60's US TV fame (The Time Tunnel, The Invaders, Land of the Giants etc.), plays a set of twins - a bad sibling cheating with the good twin's bored but sexy (once showgirl) wife as they mutually plot to drug, shock and brainwash him into institutionalization! We're not really talking Giallo here. Teresa Gimpera (The Spirit of the Beehive) is a nasty, constantly teasing, femme fatale but there are enough twists to keep you intrigued. I wish there was more with the less complicated blonde, sometimes-girlfriend, Annie, played by Silvana Venturelli (erotic centerpiece of Radley Metzger's The Lickerish Quartet.) It's decent genre fun. The Mondo Macabro Blu-ray is worthwhile owning. It's the type of 60's Euro-thriller you might watch every couple of years. To each his own.

Gary Tooze