Review by Gary Tooze

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• An Icon Amuck - Barbara Bouchet (20:47)
• Barbara Bouchet Q&A - From the Festival of Fantastic Films, Manchester (23:08)

• Death in Venice - An Interview with Rosalba Neri (15:54 - English subtitled)

• 4-page liner notes essay by Dr. Calum Waddell

Reversible Sleeve

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Description: Her role as Miss Moneypenny in the lamentable James Bond spoof CASINO ROYALE may have set hearts a flutter, but it was for her part in classic Italian shockers like BLACK BELLY OF THE TARANTULA and DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING that cemented Barbara Bouchet's status as one of the most libidinous icons of Euro-cult cinema. Happily, Silvio Amadio s saucy thriller AMUCK! fits snugly into this Giallo-centric category too, and here Bouchet stars as Greta; a nubile young secretary under the recent employment of the cravat-wearing Richard (Farley Granger ROPE). Partial to the occasional bout of swinging along with his wanton wife Eleanora (Rosalba Neri SLAUGHTER HOTEL), Richard also seems to harbour a dark secret: the mysterious whereabouts of his missing former assistant, Sally, whom Greta knows very intimately indeed... With its blend of leeringly-lensed slow motion sex scenes and slick spectacle, AMUCK! is an erotically charged masterclass in murder and deception, brought lovingly to life in high definition thanks to those lovable deviants at 88 Films!

 

 

The lovely Barbara Bouchet plays Greta, a secretary hired by the wealthy author Richard Stuart (Farley Granger). He lives with his wife Eleanora (Rosalba Neri) on an island with just a few locals living on the other side. A perfect place for an author who needs peace and quiet to write his masterpieces. But Greta is not only there because she needs a job, her best friend Sally (Patrizia Viotti) worked for Richard earlier, but has now disappeared without a trace and Greta wants to find out what's happen to her. She slowly realizes that Richard and Eleanora lives a special life, a very "open-minded" sexual life, and when she sees Sally in an home made porno she understands that something has happen on the island, but who is behind the crime?

Amuck is a perfect example of a simple yet very effective storyline. With the concept director and writer Silvio Amadio gets the opportunity to show us an effective chamber play with everything from mysterious flashbacks, home made sex movies, the always reliable idea of what's fact and what's fiction, murder and paranoia. It's not a bloody movie by any means and the body count is very low, but the impact of the story is so good that it's impossible to stop watching it. Intelligent use of red herrings makes the movie good and not absurd and in the end it unfolds in a very satisfying way.

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Slight variation on Italian language - subtitle translation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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BOTTOM LINE:
Amuck is superior Giallo. It has the strong appeal of stunning Barbara Bouchet and a curiously surprising Farley Granger portrayal. It was the second of three Giallos Granger consecutively appeared in - bookended by Something Creeping in the Dark and The Red Headed Corpse. It's a darn effective mystery-murder with some sexploitation thrown in.  The 88 Films Blu-ray provides an excellent, and accurate, a/v presentation with appreciated and worthwhile supplements. This is easy to put in the 'must-own' category for Giallo lovers everywhere. Very strongly recommended!