Cosa avete fatto a Solange? [What Have You Done to Solange?] (1972)

(In French, On Cable TV, November 2020) Aside from any qualities the film itself may hold, I have to admit that What Have You Done to Solange? Is a terrific, quote-worthy title appropriate to a surprising number of situations. What have you done to her, indeed? The film, of course, is far less funny—stemming from the giallo subgenre, it presents a serial murder narrative in typically expressive style, bringing a great deal of sometimes-misguided vigour to the dull slasher genre. The ending packs a bit of a twist, but the film, in keeping with its subgenre, is more about the moment-to-moment thrills and chills than the convolutions of the plot. It generally works—the atmosphere of a college gripped by the serial slaying of young women is right out of the slasher cliché handbook, but it’s executed in a slightly more stylish fashion by director Massimo Dallamano and holds together at the end, which is not necessarily a given for the subgenre. I wasn’t expecting much, but the result is better than what I was bracing myself for.