What Have You Done to Solange? (1972)

- Cosa avete fatto a Solange?
Poor Solange, 29 October 2005

A group of friends from an all-girls school are being brutally murdered. The girls seem to be connected through Suspicion naturally falls on one of the teachers who had an affair with one of the girls. Even though his innocence is proved, he works to solve the case. The only real clue he has is a mysterious girl named Solange. If he is to stop the killer, he must discover the secret of what happened to Solange.

A lot of the Gialli I've seen can realistically be described as quirky or campy. That's not the case with What Have You Done to Solange? It has a much more serious tone to it that can at times be almost depressing. I suppose if I were to compare it with any movie it would be Fulci's Don't Torture a Duckling. Both present dark, gritty portrayals of murder without a lot of the flash found in many of their brethren of the sub-genre. While much of the actual murder scenes take place off-screen, what is implied is as sick and twisted as you'll encounter. The gruesome aftermath of at least one of these deaths always leaves sick feeling in my stomach because of its brutality. And when you finally do meet Solange, she is as sad and pathetic a victim as I've ever seen in a movie. Overall, it's not what you would call a light-hearted watch, but it's one of the more engrossing Gialli I've seen.

9/10