When Roberta (Nicoletta Elmi),the daughter of sculptor Franco (one-time Bond George Lazenby), ends up face down dead in a river down Venice way, our hero teams up with his estranged wife Elizabeth (Anita Strindberg) to solve the case. Of course whoever is responsible doesn’t want to be caught and the body count rises as the trail leads to some of the most respected figures in Venetian society.
Starting off with a real showstopper in the revolting murder of young Roberta, Who Saw Her Die? trucks along in typical giallo freaky fashion with all of the accoutrements firmly in place. You get your black gloved killer, a barrel of red herring served up nice n’ hot, nonsensical explanations, and the ol’ money shots; plenty of acts of murderous mayhem!
Adding to the experience are the cold, almost emotionless performances of the leads, with Lazenby and Strindberg carrying on as if in shock (which honestly they would be) which gives the entire picture an almost surreal ambience, as do the appearance of unsettling flashbacks, disturbing psycho-sexual overtones, and P.O.V. shots filmed from behind a black veil.
Another huge boon to the production is the ethereal score by maestro Ennio Morricone. Filled with spooky, haunting children’s choral vocalizations and church organs… plus some sweet ass-bass, this thing is one hell of a fright flick score and perfectly echoes the uneasy tone of the film’s themes.
As for special features, Arrow Video have done their normal bang-up job of providing fans of this flick with plenty to chew on! First up comes an amazingly info packed audio commentary from author and critic Troy Howarth, followed by an interview with the film’s director Aldo Lado. After that we get interviews with actress Nicoletta Elmi, co-writer Francesco Barilli, and film critic Michael Mackenzie. Bringing up the ass-end are an image gallery and trailers for both the Italian and English cuts of the film (both version are present on this Blu as well).
If you are looking to watch a horror picture where a girl gets murdered while her father is having sex, then said father has to figure out what went down in Venice then watch Nicholas Roeg’s … but when you finish that, watch Who Saw Her Die? It’s a great lil’ giallo (and actually pre-dates that aforementioned film by a year) and shouldn’t be missed!
