One of the latest Giallo to get the special edition treatment from Arrow is Silvio Amadio’s Smile Before Death.
We follow Nancy, the daughter of a wealthy woman who has been murdered under suspicious circumstances. Who is responsible for her death? Is it her unfaithful husband, his mistress or someone else?
While Smile Before Death does play its hand quite early in terms of mystery, it certainly makes up for it with added sleaze and also one of the most twisted ending of any Giallo.
Nancy aims to get to the bottom of the case, but at the same time also makes a beeline for her former stepfather. Is this a rouse or is she falling in love with him?
Amadio’s feature is stylish and carries all the hallmarks of the Giallo, but substitutes a lot of the violence associated with the sub genre with more a mystery element.
The film itself looks fantastic, and certainly benefits from the 2K restoration from Arrow, plus it has an accompanying theme that plays throughout which will be stuck in your head for weeks, whether you like it or not.
While not top tier Smile Before Death certainly fits the bill of Giallo Essentials it is part of, and is well worth seeing, if only for its truly bananas finale, which I won’t spoil here.
Smile Before Death is available as part of Arrow’s Giallo Essentials.
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