A film that is quite often both hailed and dismissed by critics alike, What Have You Done To Solange is one of those genre flicks that have just divided audiences throughout the ages - well, at least since 1971 anyway. Previously available as a lackluster import DVD from EC Entertainment (and incorrectly framed to boot) Shriek Show delivers Solange to the US on DVD as part of their ever-growing Giallo Collection. The result is a huge improvement over previous releases to say the least, but at the same time, not without its share of problems.

Fabio Testi (Four of the Apocalypse, Contraband) stars as Henry Rossini a teacher at a private girls school who likes to cavort with the many student bodies, errr I mean student body. Whilst on a seductive boat ride one afternoon with Elizabeth (Christian Galbo of Let Sleeping Corpses Lie) Henry's already troubled existence takes a turn for the worse. Elizabeth believes she has seen a murder, and sure enough a young girl turns up dead. As if this weren't enough, the local paper snaps a picture of Henry peeking through the bushes at the scene of the crime. Both Henry and Elizabeth fall deeper into the killers web as Liz suffers from some terrible nightmares as pieces of the puzzle slowly start to come together. Henry tries to save face for himself, Liz and his failing marriage, but once Elizabeth inevitably falls victim to the black gloved killer herself, Henry finds the need to step forward and aid the police in their investigation.

Of course nobody knows who, what, where, why and when but young, nude, female mutilated bodies start turning up on nearly every street corner. All clues lead to a mysterious clique some of the girls at school had formed and the mysterious young girl who may be the link known only as Solange (Camille Keaton of I Spit on Your Grave). The question is, what exactly does young Solange have to do with the black-gloved killer and will they be able to find her in time in order to stop the brutal slayings? Why do I find the need to end this paragraph with so many questions?

I've always felt Solange to be a superior giallo in just about every respect. It's not for all tastes mind you (as many giallo's aren't) but I'd be surprised to hear a giallo fan say anything bad about this fine example of the genre. I mean sure there's your typical plot holes and conveniently wrapped up situations, but that's what a giallo is! Solange is an extremely entertaining flick to watch, with great photography and all of the elements of a true giallo that fans have grown to love. Solange begs for the patient viewer as the story unfolds at an extremely leisurely pace, and there are some huge exposition gaps in between the slashing and hacking. Those who stick around till the end are almost guaranteed to take in Solange as a positive experience and enjoy Solange on its own terms, with the real beauty of Solange being that it holds up quite well on repeated viewings.

Worth noting as well are the copious amounts of nudity and disturbing scenes of sexual violence towards young women (a giallo norm, but particularly heavy-handed here). Many of the girls in the flick look young (very young) and there are numerous accounts of sexual violence towards these young schoolgirls (in addition to a few Porky's style shower scenes) and the sheer brutality of the terror within Solange is at times extremely tough to bear. There's no candy coating here folks and unlike many of the lighter fare giallo's the predominantly hard-hitting sexual violence found within Solange is anything but fun to watch. Something as simple as a bathtub drowning is excruciatingly tough to bear in addition to the repeated techniques the killer uses to gouge his female victims (see where I'm going with this one?). The violence may not be wall to wall, and it may not be constantly over the top or in your face, but it's still very tough to take in nonetheless.

Solange's scope photography is often quite beautiful and a weird companion to the sadistic scenes of carnage that it supports. Kudos to the cinematographer who was none other than the great Joe D'Amato(?) for capturing a real sense of sexual dread amidst some real classy scope photography. Yes, there are some lame techniques used as well including your standard killer POV shots et al, but if you take the good with the bad you should wind up pleasantly surprised with the overall look of Solange which is a beautifully violent film to take in, I simply love it.

Shriek Show has done a fine job in bringing Solange to US DVD. Colors are quite often sharp and stable with really only a few slip-ups during a couple of scenes here and there. Black levels are fairly solid throughout as well with the exception of a slight blue haze that creeps in on us during a few scenes. Print damage and grain are minimal, really on a few appearances here and there. Overall a fine transfer from Shriek Show and easily the best this film has ever looked. The mono soundtrack gets the job done, there's no real depth and only a few instances of some minor background crackling. For the most part dialogue is clear and the Ennio Morricone score (which is fantastic by the way) sounds just fine.

Extras are kind of light this time around which is a bit odd for a Shriek Show release with just a few trailers and still gallery. There's also a booklet with a few photos and some background info on some of the films participants (mostly sourced from the IMDB).

Overall, this is a quality release from Shriek Show for what I feel is one of the best giallo's ever made. Solange is a great flick and this is probably the definitive release of this title on DVD. I overpayed by 5 bucks for this disc about 6 months ago (finally had the chance to sit down with it now!), and I still don't feel ripped off about it, so there you have it!