NOTE: The below Blu-ray and 4K UHD captures were taken directly from the respective discs.

ADDITION: Celluloid Dreams 4K UHD (June 2025): Celluloid Dreams has transferred Aldo Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls to 4K UHD. It is cited as a "newly scanned version, restored in 4K from the original camera negative". This package contains four discs: a 4K UHD with the film, isolated score commentary and trailers, and three Blu-ray discs - first one with the film (1080P same restoration, commentaries, isolated score,) a second Blu-ray with extensive extras, and the third one with a 35mm Grindhouse Version and a US Pan&Scan VHS version (as 'Paralyzed',) both in 1080P. 

It is likely that the monitor you are seeing this review is not an HDR-compatible display (High Dynamic Range) or Dolby Vision, where each pixel can be assigned with a wider and notably granular range of color and light. Our capture software is simulating the HDR (in a uniform manner) for standard monitors. This should make it easier for us to review more 4K UHD titles in the future and give you a decent idea of its attributes on your system. So, our captures may not support the exact same colors (coolness of skin tones, brighter or darker hues, etc.) as the 4K system at your home. The framing, detail, grain texture support, etc. are generally not affected by this simulation representation.

88 Films (UK) released Short Night of Glass Dolls to 4K UHD, but we have yet to resolve the encode although we were able to get captures from their 2025 Blu-ray. We have added a couple below for comparison. Back in 2018, we compared the Anchor Bay (The Giallo Collection) / Region 0 / NTSC DVD to the 2016 88 Films / Region 'B' / Blu-ray and the 2018 Twilight Time / Region FREE / Blu-ray, HERE.

Yes, the 4K UHD is extremely dark - more so than any other digital edition - even a semi-tone darker than their own 1080P transfer on the first Blu-ray of this package. Cinematographer Giuseppe Ruzzolini (My Name Is Nobody, The Nun and the Devil, What?, Duck, You Sucker!) employs a moody palette of blues, grays, and deep reds, enhancing the film’s oppressive atmosphere. Prague’s gothic architecture - cobblestone streets, looming spires, and fog-laden alleys - serves as a visual metaphor for entrapment, shot with wide angles to emphasize isolation. Close-ups on Gregory’s eyes in the morgue convey his inner panic, while party scenes use warm lighting and tracking shots to juxtapose decadence with dread. The film’s day-for-night shooting adds a surreal, timeless quality. The 2160P image has natural film grain that resolves cleanly, offering deep blacks, warm flesh tones, and impressive chiaroscuro in Prague’s gothic streets and the stark morgue, though some intentional soft-focus photography (especially in the finale) reflects artistic choices rather than flaws. The morgue scenes are stark and clinical with cold, sterile lighting that contrasts sharply with the warm, decadent glow of Klub 99’s lavish parties, where golden hues and candlelight mask underlying depravity. The 4K UHD darkness suit the tone, adding a visceral intensity while lending a dreamlike, timeless quality, amplifying the narrative’s disorientation. While 88 Films’ brighter, flatter more saturated look highlights subtle visual foreshadowing (tied to Lado’s themes of destiny and the protagonist’s nightmare-like memories,) Celluloid Dreams’ darker presentation is positioned as more faithful, catering to collectors and purists, though certain aspects might seem slightly jarring or less natural when viewed alongside the brighter digital transfers.

On their 4K UHD, Celluloid Dreams offers DTS-HD Master  mono tracks (24-bit) in the original Italian plus an optional English language DUB. Included is a newly isolated score - by the iconic Ennio Morricone (For a Few Dollars More, A Fistful of Dollars, Violent City, Grand Slam Revolver, The Great Silence, Who Saw Her Die?, The Black Belly of the Tarantula, The Fifth Cord, Luna, Danger Diabolik, Two Mules For Sister Sara, A Bullet for the General, Tie Me Up! Tie Me Down!, Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion, The French Conspiracy, U Turn, Stay As You Are, etc.) that highlights its haunting chords and dissonant strings as a quintessential example of his work in the giallo genre. The use of Edda Del Orso's haunting vocals adds to the score's chilling effect, particularly in the dance scene. It utilizes a range of instruments (including piano, strings, and guitar) to create a complex and layered soundscape. The composition shifts with the narrative. Lively yet unsettling rhythms during social scenes reflect the facade of normalcy, while sparse, atonal cues in the morgue heighten existential dread. The harpsichord motif recurs as a leitmotif for Gregory’s consciousness, tying the film’s psychological and physical entrapment together. Morricone’s restraint avoids over-dramatization, aligning with Lado’s cerebral approach. The Short Night of Glass Dolls score integrates seamlessly with ambient effects with Morricone’s drones blending into the ritual scenes’ hums and the morgue’s silence transitioning into autopsy sounds. This synergy creates a unified auditory experience, where music and sound design amplify the film’s themes of power, isolation, and mortality. It sounds clean and evocative in the lossless transfer. Celluloid Dreams offers optional two English subtitles (Italian translation and DUB) on their Region FREE 4K UHD and three Region 'A' Blu-rays.

The Celluloid Dreams 4K UHD package of extras for Short Night of Glass Dolls begin with two insightful commentary tracks on 4K UHD and the first Blu-ray - the first featuring writer/director Aldo Lado alongside Federico Caddeo (in French with optional English subtitles,) providing a personal and collaborative perspective on the film’s creation, and the second by Guido Henkel (Theater of Vampires,) delivering a critical analysis that enriches the viewing experience, both running for about an hour each. A standout is The Nights of Malastrana, a 2015 interview with Lado lasting nearly 1 3/4 hours, offering an in-depth exploration of his directorial vision and the film’s historical context, while The Most Beautiful Voice in the World, a 20-minute interview with soprano Edda Del Orso, delves into her contributions to Ennio Morricone’s score. The visual essay The Man on the Bridge - Philosophy, Perception and Imprisonment in Aldo Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls by The Flying Maciste Brothers (Howard S. Berger and Kevin Marr,) clocking in at about 23 minutes, provides a thoughtful analysis of the film’s themes, complemented by The Quest for Money (20-minutes) with producer Enzo Doria, Cuts Like a Knife (24 minutes) with editor Mario Morra, and To Italy and Back (1/2 hour) with co-producer Dieter Geissler, each shedding light on the production’s challenges and artistry. The 2018 All About Lado interview (running for about a half hour) and another 2018 Lado interview (approximately 25 minutes) further deepen the director’s insights, while the long-lost export Malastrana credits (less than 5 minutes) offer a rare historical glimpse. Additional treats include an image gallery showcasing production stills, Italian and English trailers (including one as Catalepsia,) a 35mm Grindhouse version and US Pan&Scan VHS version (as Paralyzed) for nostalgic context, and an isolated score highlighting Morricone’s work, all capped off with a comprehensive 64-page booklet that includes essays and production notes, making this a definitive collector’s edition.

Aldo Lado's Short Night of Glass Dolls progresses in three acts: the morgue’s tense present, where Gregory’s (Jean Sorel - Belle de Jour, The Day Of The Jackal, The Sweet Body of Deborah) internal monologue drives the tension; the investigation, marked by encounters with allies Jessica (Ingrid Thulin - The Silence, The Rite, Salon Kitty) and Jacques (Mario Adorf - Lola, What Have They Done to Your Daughters?) and cryptic clues; and the revelation of Klub 99’s occult rituals, culminating in a devastating finale. The structure mirrors Gregory’s mental state  (fragmented yet urgent) while the Cold War era Prague setting (with its shadowy streets and oppressive architecture) becomes a character itself, reflecting the city’s political repression post-Prague Spring. The film's themes resonate with the political climate of 1971, where the crushed event left a legacy of suppressed hope. Lado’s debut uses giallo’s sensationalism to comment on real-world oppression, a departure from the genre’s usual focus on stylized violence. Short Night of Glass Dolls remains a cerebral giallo masterpiece, its blend of political allegory, psychological tension, and Ennio Morricone’s evocative score elevated by Aldo Lado’s debut direction. The Celluloid Dreams 4K UHD with restored in 4K from the original camera negative, an inclusion of 3 additional Blu-ray discs - alternate versions and extensive extras, commentaries, booklet, accoutrements, and more - mark it as the definitive release of the film to date. Bravo to newcomer Celluloid Dreams who has set the bar atmospherically high for their next release. As for this, it is absolutely recommended.  

Gary Tooze