2020 October Horror Challenge #18: "What have You Done to Solabge?"

 

This is a rather infamous and well known giallo, a stylish Italian slasher movie known for their formula and elegance and psychosexual themes. I used to be obsessed with these movies until I saw one too many bad ones that were all style and no substance. I avoided them for years after that, but I've started watching at least one during my horror challenge every year, and when they're done right, they can be gory fun. I have high hopes for this one. 

This movie is about a brutal murder at a girl's school that sets off a chain of other killings. Someone is offing young girls, and the cops have to figure out who is killing these girls before it's too late. Typical giallo territory. The killings are sick and violent, the other girls are terrified that they might be next, and the professors are all suspects, especially one professor who is having an affair with a student (jerk) and is worried his secret will be exposed.

The thing about trying to hide a secret like an affair in a movie like this is that you're acting all suspicious while the police are trying to find a murderer, so you look super guilty to them because you're being a dumbass, which is what happens here, and the professor's wife is suspicious too. There's one scene where she accuses him of having an affair with the murdered girl, and he gets all offended and asks how she could suggest such a thing, but he IS HAVING AN AFFAIR just with a different girl. What a tool. Of course the truth comes out eventually. 

One cool aspect of this movie is that one of the young girls at the school seems to have some kind of psychic connection with the victims or the killer, because she has vivid dreams and visions of the killings. Those scenes are creepy and cool. I'd have more sympathy if she weren't the same girl who is having an affair with the professor, and she doesn't seem to think there's anything wrong with her actions. She's a tool too.

Once everyone finds out about the affair,  the girl's uncle is understandably pissed and wants the professor arrested, but the police are all "well he's not necessarily guilty of murder" and the uncle is like "he had an affair with an underage student!" And the police are all "oh well, lol." I can't believe their nonchalant attitude. It's kinda gross. And even if they never had sex and just made out, it's still sleazy. So that gets on my nerves, but it adds an extra layer of sleaziness to the proceedings, I guess. The mystery of who this girl named "Solange" is and what happened to her and how it relates to what's happening now is pretty well done. It held my interest. Overall, this movie is pretty good, despite not having any sympathetic characters. I also feel like the killer should really have killed more than just the young girls if the goal was to punish everyone responsible for the horrible tragedy that happened, but I guess there's no reasoning with psycho killers. I definitely enjoyed this one. It's up there with the better giallo flicks.