Libido is a mid 60’s Are-they-mad-or-not thriller, which blends in elements of psycho-sexual unease, gothic moodiness, and black-gloved Giallo. It regards a young man returning to his childhood seaside mansion home, where his father tied up & murdered a woman, before seemingly committing suicide. The film features a small, well-picked cast,  a great sense of uncertainty, mystery & unease, with a few neat twists. Here from Radiance is a new Blu-ray release of the film, featuring a crystal clear 2k monochrome print, a new commentary track, and a few new interviews

Libido ( aka Libido Means Lust ) is an Italian production from the year 1965. It was the directorial debut of Graglia, Piedmont-born Ernesto Gastaldi, who is most known as a script writer with one hundred and twenty-three credits to his name. Penning the likes of Giallo classics like The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970), The Strange Vice Of Mrs Ward (1971), and The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972).

After the rock coast pre-credits, with Sigmund Freud quoting text/ voice over. We get a flashback- seeing a little boy playing with a wind-up Jiminy Cricket toy/ music box, whose hat tips up after the music has finished. The boy sits downstairs in a large mansion- hearing something odd, he rushes up the grand stairs, to find a door ajar- inside the mirror, we see a woman tired, beaten, and seemingly dead.

We then move forward to the 60’s, where we see Christian(Giancarlo Giannini), the wide-eyed boy all grown up, driving through the night with his raven-haired wife Helene( Giancarlo Giannini). Fairly soon, they see the tall tower of his father's house, pulling alongside the film's other two characters- middle-aged/thinning-haired Paul (Luciano Pigozzi), who has been left in charge of the house, and his younger/ radio carrying airhead lover Brigitte(Mara Maryl).

As the film unfolds, we find out this is the first time Christian has been to the house since his father killed the woman from the pre-credits scene, before shortly after throwing him self of the cliff into the sea- though his body has never been found.

 The one-and-a-half-hour film moves from portraying a keen sense of creepy unease and building troubling disquiet. On to moments of terror filled self doubt, and near-breakdown sessions.  Giannini is very believable as a man on the edge of his sanity.

But really, all of the small cast is excellent, but I’d say that  Maryl is the highlight here, as she manages to add wonderful moments of awkward humour to the film, because she always says the worst thing possible at the worst time.

The seaside rocky set mansion is a great setting, with an even sense of both gothic moodiness & raggedness. The mirror-lined bedroom is used well for both moments of terror and sleazy seduction.

I’d say, for the most part, Libido is a decent directional debut from Ernesto Gastaldi. The only real issues here are overused footage of the same road footage and maybe a few predictable moments. Though the last few twists in the tail really topped things in a neat/ if very downbeat manner.

The Blu-ray features a lovely, crisp and clean monochrome 2k scan- with great clarity and depth to shade, shadows, and the varying tones of black & white.  It also features decent sound, with largely readable English subtitles. This is ported over from an early Severin release.

On the new extras side, we get three things- first is a commentary track from critic and author Samm Deighan.   She begins by declaring the film is not, as some have called it, a straight Giallo, but a Gothic thriller come proto Giallo.  She talks about how the film appeared at an interesting time in Italian genre cinema, looking ahead at what is to come. She talks about the trope of repressed trauma affecting characters, and how this got used later in films such as Dario Argento’s Deep Red. She discusses Ernesto Gastaldi's earlier scripts and how they inform/ impact Libido. She comments on the mirrored bedroom, and how it was used in the film. Later on, she comments on the unfolding plot, gives bios of actors, and more. All in all a decent track.

Otherwise, we have the following new interviews regarding  Libido- director Ernesto Gastald( 49.23), and Italian cinema expert Richard Dyer(24.16). And a trailer.

The finished release takes in a booklet featuring new interviews with star Dominique Bosquero and script supervisor Patrizia Zulini.

In conclusion, Libido is a key/ important film in Italian genre development, being a rewarding crossbreed between psycho-sexual thriller, gothic moodiness, and black-gloved Giallo. This Powerhouse release features the lovely 2k scan and most worthy extras.