Plot Of Fear is a mid-1970s gialli that blends in elements of Poliziotteschi and proto slasher. The film centres on a group of people from an exclusive and kinky club, who are being murdered, with each body a page from a children's book is left. As you’d imagine with such a plot, there is a fair bit of sleaze/flesh on display, and while the killings themselves aren’t elaborate, they are varied- all finished off with an unmasking/resolution I didn’t see coming. Here from Powerhouse- as either a UHD or Blu Ray- is a new release of the film, taking in a well-defined 4k print, a new commentary track, and a selection of old and new extras.

Plot of Fear ( aka E Tanta Paura, Magnum 45, Bloody Peanuts) is from the year 1976. The Italian production was helmed by Bologna-born Paolo Cavara, who has fourteen features to his name. He started off his career co-directing  Mondo’s such as Women of the World (1962), and Malamondo(1964). Before going on to direct things like 40’s war drama The Ravine (1969), gialli Black Belly of the Tarantula (1971), and comedy Il lumacone (1974).

The film opens with a tubby, mop-haired and glasses-wearing man in a kaftan waiting in his plush/ yet kinky apartment for an S & M mistress to turn up, but instead of getting pleasure, he gets strangled to death. As the film unfolds, we get a fairly wide selection of different types of murders in different locations, for example, someone gets their head caved in on a bus & a lady of the night gets burt alive outside- in all there are around six or so murders, and each time someone is killed a page from a German children’s book is left.

Brought into heading up the investigation is young, moustachioed & often cigarette-smoking Inspector Gaspare Lomenzo(Michele Placido). When we first meet him, he’s living with a Jamaican model, but as the film moves on, his eyes wander, and his girlfriend goes AWOL, he hooks up with tight curly bobbed-haired Jeanne(Corinne Cléry), who has insight into the exclusive and kinky club, where the members are being killed off.

Also added into the mix, we have a balding/sleek-backed PI business owner, Peter Struwwell(Eli Wallach), who sits backed by a bank of reel-to-reel tapes & surveillance camera screens. There’s a cop in charge played Tom Skerritt(Alien, The Dead Zone) who puts his oar in when things are going wrong. And as a devious mansion owner, we have Italian genre film regular John Steiner( Tenebrae, Shock, and Caligula)

The whole film moves along at a good pace- and along with the murder and mystery, we have more Poliziotteschi focused elements like running through the street chases, and brutal back alley punch-up. The score features a few rather neat cues that switch between roughly slugging bass/ guitar tones and more funk abstract vibes.  All in all, I found Plot of Fear most entertaining/engaging, and no, I didn’t figure out who the killer was- though it does all get slightly confused towards the resolution.

The release takes in both the original Italian and dubbed English versions of the picture. We get a 4k scan of the film- this is full of nice, crisp and clean colours, as well as all-around great picture definition.

Moving on to the extras, we get a nice selection of worthy things. On the new side of things, we have a commentary track from film historians Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth. They begin by talking about how this was the second gialli from Paolo Cavara, which was more ambitious and offbeat than his first, 1971’s Black Belly of the Tarantula. They talk about the score by Daniele Patucchi, declaring it’s quite different from what is normally expected from a giallo score, going on to give a bio of the composer.  They discuss how the film was very much made for an Italian audience, focusing on the decadence of the upper classes, among other things. They talk about how the film subverts the rules of the genre, at times even parodying it. Later on, they discuss other notable titles in Cavara's filmography. They talk about how the plot has a very busy, at times confusing plot. Discuss the career of John Steiner, and of course, much more.  A most interesting track.

Also on the new side, we have the following: The Wild Eye of Fear( 20.56), which finds Eugenio Ercolani discussing the film/ director. He moves from talking about how the picture ties itself to Italian culture, and comments on the comic-like artwork of its poster. He chats about how Placido was an unusual choice for a giallo. He moves on to give a bio for Cavara- talking about his Mondo films, and his 1967 picture The Wild Eyed, which regards a documentary director pushing the limits of the crew and himself. Plotting the Cast( 36.46), a visual essay from Eugenio Ercolani – doing a wonderful/fascinating deep dive in the film's cast, with in-depth bios, with loads of stills/ poster art/ etc. The Fearless AD(16.32)  interview with first assistant director Roberto Palmerini.

On the archive/ new presentation of old interviews, we have: The Golden Years (22.02) Interview with actor Corinne Cléry. On the Beat (15.47) interview with actor Michele Placido. The Third Man (13.47) interview with screenwriter Enrico Oldoini. Family Plot (15.40) interview with director Paolo Cavara’s son, Pietro Cavara. Original Italian and international theatrical trailers. Image gallery: promotional and publicity material.

The finished release comes with an eighty-page book with a new essay by Ade Smith, archival writing on the film by Fabrizio Fogliato, archival career-spanning interviews with screenwriter Bernardino Zapponi and animator Gibba, and film credits.

Plot of Fear is an engainig/ entertaining crossbreed between giallo, Poliziotteschi, and proto slasher. It is certainly wonderful to get this definitive edition of this lesser-known film from the folks at Powerhouse- with a lovely new scan, and a great selection of interesting/ worthy extras.