What Have You Done to Solange?/Shudder

 

Just a stunning woman

I included my old review as a statement from how this Giallo left an impression of great impact with me.

It certainly has a grisly kind of murder method, a knife to Catholic school girls of eighteen, students perhaps being stalked by a priest, in a place on the body that would leave a majority of viewers unsettled.

The subject matter is obviously scandalous as Fabio Testi's Enrico is a gymn teacher and Cristina Galbo was a student of his, having a passionate affair. It was inevitable these two would get caught, but tragically it is Galbo's unfortunate death (she saw a knife drawn by the killer while in a boat with Testi; he doesn't see the killer or the student victim because he was kissing on Galbo's body) that brings out the affair into the full light. Solange, who isn't really a part of the story until midway through the film, ultimately has something happen to her that triggers the killer to adopt a beard and priest get-up. A maid (current woman on a farm) is tied to this as are the girls (other than Galbo, who actually was trying to keep Solange out of harm's way, and one other girl) hunted down by the killer. Camille Keaton really doesn't factor much into the film until her Solange becomes the key figure in why the killer is stabbing girls in the vagina after stripping them.

As you will see mentioned on the IMDb user comments, fellow Giallo lovers highly tout this as one of the very best while making sure to point out that this isn't as grisly as many of the films in the genre. It has a specific method of kill that really took me aback when the lead detective passes around the first victim's crime scene photo to professors at the Catholic school.

I wanted to talk about the love affair. Now, Galbo was actually 22 at the time of the film, while aged, I believe, 18. Though the headmaster of the school talks with another professor of her still being a minor. So this love affair is quite provocative. And when the film starts, Testi and his wife, also a teacher at that school, a German professor, played by Karin Baal, are in a deteriorating marriage. I noticed they have her with no makeup, seemingly defeated, just taking Testi to task while he gives it right back to her. You'd think this marriage has been on the rocks for the while. Testi, who was 31 at the time, picking up Galbo in his car, or following close by as she rides her bike home; you could see how this might be more than a bit frowned upon by certain audiences. Although 22, Galbo does pass well as a teenager in a Catholic school. The film does have a professor (or someone) spying through peep holes voyeuristically at the girls bathing. While they are all adults, the film casts them as teens, so that is especially an issue many a viewer will have with this Giallo. I think, as a murder mystery, Solange is quite a compelling whydunit as well as a whodunit. The film will always be considered provocative as the genre will. I do wonder how long it will be until the Giallo is censored as well as the slasher film. Will a service like Shudder, in the future, be cancelled for having such content on its site?

When Galbo is attacked in her bathtub by the killer, knowing who the killer ultimately is, there is just this added layer of tragedy to it, in my opinion. Because Galbo's Elizabeth was trying to keep Solange safe, her own life taken seems such a waste. Yes, she was such a young woman involved with an older, married man, but having her life snuffed out so soon, this really remains such a downer. I really think Galbo is so likable and you could see why anyone would just fall head over heels for her. But that whole age situation and teacher/student dynamic will continue to distance viewers from it, if not the violence towards such young victims.