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Alongside the spaghetti western, the giallo is one of the most famous Italian export genres: films steeped in mystery and intrigue, delivered with stylised violence and unforgettable musical themes. The Possessed (1965) masterfully combines noir, mystery and giallo tropes in a proto-giallo based on one of Italy's most notorious crimes. It tells the story of a depressed novelist (Peter Baldwin) in search of his old flame (Virna Lisi) who has disappeared under suspicious circumstances, prompting an investigation that finds him plunged into a disturbing drama of familial secrets, perversion, madness and murder. The Fifth Cord (1971) boasts a complex, Agatha Christie-esque plot of investigation into a series of brutal assaults. As the body count rises, whisky swilling journalist Andrea Bild (Franco Nero) finds himself under suspicion, making it all the more imperative he crack the case. The Pyjama Girl Case (1978), inspired by a real-life case that baffles to this day, takes us to Australia where former inspector Timpson comes out of retirement to crack the case of a young woman, found on the beach, shot in the head, burned to hide her identity and dressed in distinctive yellow pyjamas... In the first of a multi-volume series of Giallo Essentials these films feature a raft of talent in front and behind the camera with each film restored from the original camera negatives and presented with a range of contextualising interviews and featurettes.

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Bonus Materials

• SPECIAL EDITION CONTENTS:
• Brand new 2K restorations of the film from the original camera negative for The Possessed, The Fifth Cord and The Pyjama Girl Case
• High Definition Blu-ray (1080p) presentations of each film
• Original lossless mono Italian and English soundtracks
• Newly translated English subtitles for the Italian soundtracks
• Optional English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing for the English soundtracks
• Rigid box packaging with newly designed artwork by Adam Rabalais in a windowed Giallo Essentials Collection slipcover
• THE POSSESSED
• New audio commentary by writer and critic Tim Lucas
• Richard Dyer on The Possessed, a newly filmed video appreciation by the cultural critic and academic
• Cat’s Eyes, an interview with the film's makeup artist Giannetto De Rossi
• Two Days a Week, an interview with the film's award-winning assistant art director Dante Ferretti
• The Legacy of the Bazzoni Brothers, an interview with actor/director Francesco Barilli, a close friend of Luigi and Camillo Bazzoni
• Original trailers
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Sean Phillips
• THE FIFTH CORD
• New audio commentary by critic Travis Crawford
• Lines and Shadows, a new video essay on the film’s use of architecture and space by critic Rachael Nisbet
• Whisky Giallore, a new video interview with author and critic Michael Mackenzie
• Black Day for Nero, a new video interview with actor Franco Nero
• The Rhythm Section, a new video interview with film editor Eugenio Alabiso
• Rare, previously unseen deleted sequence, restored from the original negative
• Original Italian and English theatrical trailers
• Image gallery
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Haunt Love
• THE PYJAMA GIRL CASE
• New audio commentary by Troy Howarth, author of So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films
• New video interview with author and critic Michael Mackenzie on the internationalism of the giallo
• New video interview with actor Howard Ross
• New video interview with editor Alberto Tagliavia
• Archival interview with composer Riz Ortolani
• Image gallery
• Italian theatrical trailer
• Reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Chris Malbon

Sales Points

• Three beautifully shot gialli films, including cinematography by Oscar Winner, Vittorio Storaro

Press Quotes

It's so much more than the murderous mayhem that unfolds onscreen

     —James Evans, Starburst

It feels unique in the world of horror, outwardly rejecting acts of violence and making us consider our desire to see death and torture, forcing us to realise that these narratives can come from a place of truth.

     —Andrew F. Peirce, The Curb

[T]his highly polished mirror of uncertainty and obsession is a lovely discovery under any identity.

     —Michael Barrett, PopMatters

Alongside the spaghetti western, the giallo is one of the most famous Italian export genres: films steeped in mystery and intrigue, delivered with stylised violence and unforgettable musical themes. With this attractive box set, Arrow paves the way for more Giallo sets in the future

     —Industrial Blue

In the first of a multi-volume series of Giallo Essentials, these films feature a raft of talent in front and behind the camera with each film restored from the original camera negative and presented with a range of contextualizing interviews and featurettes.

     —Film Crave

As usual with Arrow, there are loads of supplements on each disc

     —Coffee, Coffee, And More Coffee

a really cool box set with three great giallo films

     —Shawn C Phillips

imaginatively visual; the odd angles and lenses give viewers a glimpse of the killer’s perspective as chilling suspense unfolds

     —Shepherd Express

If you are new to the whole giallo genre (or looking to fill in gaps in your collection), Arrow Video has you covered with it’s new release of a Blu-ray set titled appropriately enough; Giallo Essentials, a collection of three films that deliver all of the mystery, murder, and terrifying twists the genre has to offer!

     —Horror Fuel

All three films in the Giallo Essentials Collection come with solid audio and video presentations and a wealth of extra content.

     —10K Bullets

Great photography, a lot of atmosphere and hopefully thr first in a long line of Giallo Collections

     —Deadpit

These are atmospheric, highly stylized, and influential works steeped in atmosphere, mystery, and a sense of dislocation. As with most Arrow box sets, this one is stacked with tons of special features

     —Cinemas Entries

Giallo fans will certainly want to check out the titles in this box set from the Arrow Video label

     —Giallo Essentials (Standard Edition) [Blu-ray], The Film Frenzy

All three films in this set are worth exploring, and the collection is up to Arrow’s usual high standards

     —Giallo Essentials (Standard Edition) [Blu-ray], The Movie Elite

As tends to be the case with Arrow releases, technical merits are generally solid and the supplementary packages very enjoyable

     —Giallo Essentials (Standard Edition) [Blu-ray], Blu-ray.com

Giallo Essentials is a great way of picking up several Arrow Video Blu-ray releases at once. It’s an excellent set

     —Giallo Essentials (Standard Edition) [Blu-ray], The Digital Bits

Great artwork tha pops and we get this great die-cut slip cover

     —Giallo Essentials (Standard Edition) [Blu-ray], Screaming Cinema

Arrow’s taken the guesswork out of branching out from the giallo staples by repackaging trios of previously-released gialli… And the trio of films on offer here in their first Giallo Essentials offering is solid

     —Giallo Essentials (Standard Edition) [Blu-ray], Film Monthly

All three of these movies are good. High recommendation.

     —Deadpit Radio

[Arrow] has removed virtually all signs of age-related wear and tear with very nice color reproduction, giving the presentation bolder, richer colors. Gorgeous

     —Twin Flicks

Need to kickstart the Giallo shelf in your movie library? Look no further than Giallo Essentials Red Edition, the first entry in a series of repackages by the foremost purveyors of Italian pulp home releases.

     —Gaming Shogun

The trio of films on offer here in [Arrow's] first Giallo Essentials offering is solid, to say the very least

     —Film Monthly

All of these are really solid gialli-type titles

     —Screaming Toilet

Three Can’t-Miss Films Just Waiting To Be Discovered

     —Geek Vibes Nation

A good microcosm of the ways that giallo filmmakers fed off of each other

     —Genre Grinder

You've got everything right here, together

     —Zombies Don't Run

The three films in the Giallo Essentials: Volume One set represent a unique array of films from the genre that stand out for their quality but have often been overlooked in favor of films with more famous talent attached. These features push the boundaries of what we know about the artform while still providing the basics to allow fans a comforting familiarity.

     —Dillon Gonzales, Geek Vibes Nation