Vinegar Syndrome’s Forgotten Gialli box sets are some of the most exciting releases to hit the market in some time. I will admit to being an obvious mark for them running a site called EuroCultAV, but nonetheless, I anticipate each one highly, and Volume 3 was no different. The third box contained what I’ll say though is the least “forgotten” film in the bunch, and a film I viewed very early on in my Eurohorror fandom Armando Crispino’s “Autopsy”. Of course, being a fan of that one, but having not seen it in many years, that was the one I was most excited to see, and so that’s where I’ll start.

Autopsy (Macchi Solari) stars the legendary Mimsy Farmer as Dr. Simona. She is currently researching suicides. This is causing her to lose grip on her sanity, and she begins to hallucinate acts of violence and mutilation. This increases after a young woman she had just met is found dead under violent circumstances on a beach. The woman’s brother Father Lennox thinks it is a homicide, and not the suicide the police initially suspect, and begins to investigate.

Autopsy is a strange one. It opens with a strong series of violent acts which is sure to get most viewers interested in the film itself. The film then settles into giallo-investigation mode,while occasionally dipping into these moments of burnt-out, freak-outs. The film’s revolves around who sun spots affect suicidal behavior during Rome summers. The film itself has this dry hallucinatory atmosphere during its best sections. The more investigative giallo-typical sections occasionally feel dry, but because of the strange overall tone of the film are improved by sun-dried atmosphere that Crispino was going for. Farmer is great as usual in her role, which feels similar in tone to the one she played in Four Flies on Grey Velvet.

The second film I dipped into while watching this set was Crazy Desires of a Murderer. This is a solid blend of giallo and sexploitation with a tinge of the gothic due to its wonderful location usage. The film follows Ileana who after coming home from Hong Kong brings home a group of friends to her Father’s castle. These friends include some drug runners and smugglers who have included their products among Ileana’s souvenir’s she brought home for her Father. They, of course, plan to get them back. But a murder gets in the way…then another….then some more, and before we know it the castle is a pile of bloody bodies and eyeballs.

Because these films are “Forgotten” gialli I haven’t seen them all, and this and the next are 2 that have gotten right by me. As such I was excited to add to my collection of unseen giallo with this, and I was not disappointed. This was an exciting, violent, and lurid experienced with atmosphere to boot! The film opens well with a nice and creepy atmospheric introduction, and then we kick off into the main plot which takes a bit to get going, but when it does it really goes between sex and violence in decent measure. Does this measure up to Argento or Martino in the quality department? No. It is a total fun watch? Definitely.

Now we come to Murder Mansion. This one I was most excited for, based on title and cover alone. I can’t say why, except that I played a ton of “Maniac Mansion” as a kid (never beat it though). Murder Mansion is a pretty straight-forward Agatha Christie plot. A group of unrelated characters including a woman named Laura who pretty much just hops a ride with a motorcyclist named Fred in a pretty exciting moment at the beginning. The pair of them and more end up at “Clinton Manor” which is occupied by Martha played by Eurohorror icon Evelyn Stewart. The night is foggy, and the weather is bad, and the group are now trapped in the house with murder and potentially supernatural terror.

Agatha Christie as I mentioned is certainly a jumping off point for this one, but it also feels like an adults-only episode of Scooby Doo. Especially when the ending of the film comes into play seemingly out of nowhere. The film is drenched in fog-machine overload which does provide a nice gothic atmosphere.

All 3 films are presented in 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfers and coming from VS you know these are looking great. Detail is excellent, as our textures, colors are well replicated, and everything looks natural and film like. Audio is handled with DTS-HD mono tracks and sound quite solid across the board. Extras include at least one interview on each disc, however, Autopsy being the most well known of the 3 has additional featurettes, interviews, and trailers included on its release. Forgotten Gialli Vol. 3 comes HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!