What Have You Done To Solange? (DVD)

What Have You Done To Solange?, also known as What Have They Done to Solange?, is technically a giallo, but it's not a very fun one. Taking itself far too seriously (except in one hilarious scene set in a police station in which several priests are put in a lineup), What Have You Done To Solange? is a bit of a downer.

Set in an all-girl private school in the UK, this dubiously-dubbed DVD of a movie originally released in Italy in 1972 follows the terror of a student, innocent Elizabeth (Cristana Galbo), and her married lover and teacher, taciturn Henry (Fabio Testi). The couples' fear is generated by a series of misogynistic murders, one in which they become entangled while out in a secluded area on a secret tryst.

Elizabeth is convinced she saw a priest leaving the ghastly scene, while Henry tries to persuade her she saw nothing so as to keep the police out of their private lives. But as more of Elizabeth's classmates are killed, the crimes are too horrible to be ignored. Henry's icy wife Herta (Karen Baal) finds out about the affair and before long she, too, finds herself drawn into the deaths that all point to the all but forgotten disappearance of a local teen named Solange.

While What Have You Done To Solange? does have some of the beloved giallo hallmarks (voyeuristic cinematography, a solid score [by Ennio Morricone], a killer wearing black gloves, priests, and lots and lots of gratuitous nakedness), it is far too dry and somber to have any kind of fun with. The only thing that really kept me entertained was the lead actor's uncanny resemblance to Vincent Gallo (now forever known to me as "Vincent Giallo").

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