Here’s the 18th release in Dark Force Entertainment's Drive-In-Double Feature series. The Blu-Ray takes in two films from the 1970s. We have The Weekend Murders- a crossbred between an Agatha Christie mystery and gialli. And Whose Child Am I?- which awkwardly sits between trouble conceiving drama and softcore porn. Both films get a new scan, and we also get a few extras.

First out of the bag is The Weekend Murders (aka Concerto per pistola solista). This is from the year 1970 and is an Italian production filmed in a grand country house in Suffolk. It was directed by Corleone, Sicily-born Michele Lupo- between 1962 & 1982 hand twenty-three credits to his name. These went from a few early 60’s Sword-and-sandal films such as Goliath and the Sins of Babylon & Seven Rebel Gladiators. Onto Western comedy Fistful Of Knuckles (1965), heist film The Master Touch (1972), South African set adventure film Africa Express(1975), and comedy action Bomber (1982)
 
The Weekend Murders is sort of halfway between a classic Agatha Christie mystery and gialli- with slight touches of mocking the British humour and coal-black comedy. The film plot regards members of an aristocratic family meeting to hear the reading on a will, and someone is killing off members of the family and their staff.
 
The film opens with shots of an English village- going from the churchyard to the small train station, and onto the local police station- here we meet our first lead character sergeant Aloisius Thorpe (Gastone Moschin) who is a very stereotypical British bobby with his moustache, and police helmet with a tight around his chubby chin strap. He sets off on his bike riding alongside the milk cart- where he drinks a bottle of the white stuff, before riding past the milkman & paying him.
 
Presently he arrives at a golf course where a group of people- who we later find out our members of the film's aristocratic family- are playing a round of golf. One of the balls goes in the sand bunk, and when trying to get it out they uncover a dead hand- we get a lot of face close-up and loud music- before we zoom back a few days to when the family first gathered at their stately home to hear the reading of the will.
 
The family takes in around ten members- the most memorable of these being Georgie (Christopher Chitwell) a blond-haired twenty-something, who likes playing macabre jokes and is trying to sleep with more than a few non-family members. And his mother Gladys (Marias Fabbi) who treats him like he’s a ten-year-old boy. There’s greying & mischievous playboy Ted (Giacomo Rossi Stuart), and his British African wife Pauline (Beryl Cunningham). We have the rather stoic and subdued Barba (Anna Moffo), and rather snobbish Isbelle (Evenly Stewart).
 
 From the off, there is clearly tension & dislike between the family members- and when things don't quite go as many wanted- the deaths start happening- first a stabbed butler and a few more as the film unfolds. After the first murder up pops Supt Grey from Scotland yard- he’s played by Lance Percival, who will be a recognisable face to those who know their British comedy- he appeared as a boozing chief in Carry On Cruising (1962), and an entertainment officer in Confessions From A Holiday Camp (1977)
 
There are a few touches of gory death here and there, as there are moments of female nudity & tease. Though as giallo's go it’s fairly light on this side of things. The most interesting/distinctive element about the film is the use of comedy- this goes from sending up both British aristocratic, and the bumbling bobby, to darker/macabre humour.
 
The whole thing does rather play into Agatha Christie-like plotting- but there’s enough bitching ‘n’ moaning, playful jives, and hints at perversion/ quirkiness to make the whole thing an entertaining one-hour and thirty-eight minutes film.
 
 

Next up we have 1976’s Whose Child Am I? (aka Feelings, Test-Tube Baby)- which is a trouble-conceiving drama come softcore- blending leering sleaze with social issues. It was clearly filmed in the UK- though quite often the characters make out they are in the States. The film was directed by Boston, Lincolnshire-born Gerry O'Hara. In all, he had fourteen feature-length credits to his name these went from dangers of STD drama of That Kind Of Girl (1963), onto model posing as a jewel thief thriller Marco 7(1967), shrinking kids fantasy featuring Todd Carty( Garage Hill’s Tucker) Professor Popper's Problem( 1974), domestic violence drama/ thriller The Brute(1977), big-budget period set softcore Fanny Hill (1983), and PG13 mummy terror film The Mummy Lives (1993).
 
The film's credits roll with rather unglamorous & sweaty footage of a male & female making love in a pink-lined & shadowy bedroom. This is soundtracked by rather ill-fitting lush and romantic piano music. As the pair finish it’s clear not all is well- she wants a child, and he doesn’t. The couple are husband & wife Paul (Paul Freeman) a bearded record sleeve designer, and his glamorous wife Barbara(Kate O’Mara).
 
Fairly soon the pair debate more the issue of having a child- he agrees to go ahead, and they start trying- time goes by no pregnancy. He picks up a book about conceiving from on the high street & in plain sight adult shop- they try again, measuring her temperature, etc. This doesn’t work either. So, they decide to go down the professional route- and after some convincing Paul agrees to go down the test tube route…this doesn’t work either.
 
Out of desperation, she goes to see ageing & out of the normal medical system Prof. Roland (David Markham)- who suggests he can set up a very unethical meeting with a man who would make her pregnant naturally- she doesn’t tell Paul about the suggestion. And in the end, decides to give it a go in a shadowy hospital room- where she meets blond & boyish Micheal (Bob Sherman). At first, she just can’t do it, but as days go by & she tracks him down to his flat- where the pair start meeting to make love.
 
Around this main story, we have a few subplots- there’s a woman having a relationship with an older man who unknown to her may be her father- as she was an early test tube baby. There’s a stoner who is injected with African American sperm by mistake by the clinic, and lastly, a lesbian pottery-making couple who want a child.
 
The main plot line is very heavy on secrets & dramatic reveals- O’Mara, who later went on to appear on the glamorous soap Dynasty is ok in her role, though at times a little soapy in her acting. And if you wanted to see her with her kit off- you get that here. Markham is good at trying to be a loving & understanding husband. Though the most memorable turn is from Sherman as the initially charming, later sleazy & manipulative Micheal.
 
The whole film feels rather tonally unbalanced- as we keep getting a mix of leering sex, and the more serious drama/ medical ethics issues. On the whole Whose Child Am I? is ok- though I do feel the sub-plots often frustratingly take away from the main story- with little depth or point to them.
 
 

Moving onto this Blu-Ray release- it’s a region-free disc, with both films coming on just one disc. The picture quality of The Weekend Murders scan is very well-defined & clean- with the film featuring its English dub. Whose Child Am I? scan is not as good- and really looks like it hasn’t been remastered at tall, as it features a fair bit of negative damage & not very clean grain to the scan- though apparently, it’s had a colour correction & 2k scan. You can either watch the films as a proper double bill, or select each film separately.

 On the extras side, we get a commentary with actor Peter Baldwin- who played one of the suspects. For the track he’s joined by actor/ director Scott Spiegel and Lee Christian- neither of these two have anything to do with the film, or really don't add much to the track. It’s a very chatty, and decidedly wondering track- with Baldwin often briefly touching on elements regarding the film, before moving on to unrelated reminiscing about his time as an actor. There are a few interesting titbits- but really as a commentary regarding the film it’s most frustrating & trying- I guess if you are interested in Baldwin's career in general you might get more from it than I did. We get a shot-on-camera interview with Peter Baldwin (19.23) this starts off well- as he talks about helping to direct English actors in the film as well as acting in the film. And we get talk about him playing golf with Lance Percival who played the Scotland yard investigator, and a few other things related to the film- sadly by the seventh minute he’s dropped into talking about his career in general again- not really returning to the film to hand again.

In finishing it’s certainly great to see this Drive-In-Double Feature series continuing on with this release. And we certainly get two very different films on offer here, making for an entertaining double-bill trip into the Grindhouse in your own home.