Death Occurred Last Night — Death Occurred Last Night ( Blu Ray)

Death Occurred Last Night (originally titled La Morte Risale a Ieri Sera) is a 1970 crime thriller directed by Duccio Tessari (Puzzle, The Bloodstained Butterfly and A Pistol for Ringo) starring Raf Vallone (The Italian Job, The Godfather III and The Other Side of Midnight), Frank Wolff (Once upon A Time in The West, Death Walks on High Heels and The Cold Eyes of Fear), Gabriele Tinti (Endgame, Cut and Run and Caligula: The Untold Story) and Gillian Bray (Vow of Chastity, The Bod Squad and Riuscirà l'avvocato Franco Benenato a sconfiggere il suo acerrimo nemico il pretore Ciccio De Ingras?)

Based on the novel I milanesi ammazzano al sabato (The Milanese Kill on Saturdays ) by Giorgio Scerbanenco, Death Occurred Last Night tells the story of Amanzio Berzaghi (Vallone), a widower whose mentally disabled 25-year-old daughter, Donatella (Bray) has been kidnapped by sex traffickers. The film begins with Amanzio telling the story of his daughter’s disappearance to police captain Ducca Lamberti (Wolff) and his assistant Mascaranti (Tinti) where he explains that she has the mental age of a 3-year-old and is a nymphomaniac. 

Lamberti and Mascaranti meet with a former pimp, Salvatore (Gigi Rizzi, of Eye in the Labyrinth, La Donna Invisibile and Roma Bene fame) who they frame to ensure he helps them to infiltrate the brothels of Milan’s seedy underbelly. Lamberti begins visiting brothels and talking to sex workers in order to find out information on the girl, and when he meets Herrero (Beryl Cunningham, So Sweet…So Perverse, The Black Decameron and Island of the Fishmen), a kindly hooker who may be capable of helping him with his investigation he gets a little bit of hope. Unfortunately, the gang gets wind of the police search, and her body turns up in a field, burnt to a crisp. Now, Lamberti must track down the culprit before the girl’s father Amanzio Berzaghi, who has started his own investigation and plans to inflict his own brand of justice.

The film itself is one of the finer Italian thrillers of the 1970s, much like Tessari’s giallo thrillers Puzzle and the Bloodstained Butterfly it’s a high-quality, exquisitely plotted movie that puts many other films of the era to shame. The cast is excellent, particularly Wolff as the world-weary police captain who takes every case personally, and Cunningham as the wisecracking hooker with a heart. Whilst the film encompasses some similarities to both the giallo and the poliziotteschi movie, it doesn’t really fit neatly into either category, it’s a gritty, bleak, and fairly unique entry in the Italian thriller genre and an underappreciated gem of a movie. Slow-paced and thoughtful, it is far more successful than many other Italian thrillers of the time. 

This new Blu-ray from Radiance Films features a high-definition digital transfer of the movie, with both the original Italian dialogue and the English dub. There is an audio essay by Francesco Massaccesi on the importance of Milan in Italian noirs of the period and an archival interview with Chris Alexander as well as the ubiquitous trailer. The set is limited to 3000 copies and features a limited-edition booklet by David Sodergren. 

Overall, this is an excellent release of a wonderful Italian thriller by one of the finest genre directors of the era. Tessari’s films are all a cut above most other Italian thrillers of the time and this one is no different. The print looks great and features a really crisp image with natural colours. If you love Italian thrillers of the late 60s and 70s, then this should be a real treat for you. The bonus materials are decent but sadly, there’s not an awful lot of them, however, this is a very minor quibble that should not spoil anyone’s enjoyment of this brilliant little noirish thriller.