Four Flies on Grey Velvet – Shameless

Director: Dario Argento
Screenplay: Dario Argento, Luigi Cozzi and Mario Foglietti
Starring: Michael Brandon, Mimsy Farmer, Jean-Pierre Marielle, Francine Racette and Bud Spencer
Country: Italy and France
Running Time: 103 min
Year: 1971

Being a genre fan, a lover of Italian cinema and giallo, it surprises me that the most iconic name in Italian genre cinema has never been the subject of one of my reviews… until today. Dario Argento is a figure that needs little introduction, but if you somehow haven’t seen any of his giallo classics such as Deep Red, Tenebrae, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage or The Cat O’Nine Tails before, you owe it to yourself to give into them. That’s not even bringing up his most popular film, Suspiria, a film that’s probably the most visually stunning motion picture ever brought to screen. He’s an incredible filmmaker whose work I’ve found myself diving into throughout the past six or so years, and there’s one film that’s always eluded me for one reason or another, Four Flies on Grey Velvet,  the third in his ‘Animal’ trilogy of giallo. 

The film was lost for a number of years until the late 2000s, where it finally received some official home media releases across the world. In the 2010s, UK label Shameless Screen Entertainment released the film on Blu-ray and honestly, I didn’t find myself overly impressed by their release so I never ended up finishing the film. Flash forward to 2025, and Shameless have made big strides in improving their reputation on the home media front and have consistently been releasing great Blu-ray release after great Blu-ray release. I’ve covered titles of theirs for Blueprint: Review, such as The Frightened Woman, which I adored, and when I heard that they were finally making the jump to UHD with Four Flies on Grey Velvet, I found myself intrigued. Would they pull off the jump, or would this be like the early days of Blu-ray all over again? Well…

First, the film itself. Four Flies on Grey Velvet follows a musician, Roberto (Michael Brandon) who finds himself tormented by a killer in an eerie baby-faced mask, who witnessed him accidentally killing somebody who threatened him with a knife. Before long, the masked figure begins torturing him and it’s up to Roberto to figure out who they are, before something deadly happens.

What separates Four Flies on Grey Velvet from the majority of giallo films out there for me is how genuinely terrifying it is. I find most thrillers to offer excellent suspense sequences, but it’s rare for one to get under my skin and unnerve me to the levels that Four Flies is able to. I’d wager money on this being the scariest film that Argento ever made, with the mask of the killer being nightmare fuel, particularly given how the film is shot. When you’re able to play the film, you’re greeted with a message that says “Dario intended this film to be seen in complete darkness” – Luigi Cozzi. May we therefore suggest that you view the film in as dark a room as possible. That message is essential for anybody who hopes to experience Four Flies in the best way. The film utilises darkness, shadows and voids in a way that feels so uncommon amongst most genre films, and when the gorgeous and haunting Ennio Morricone score isn’t playing, you’re usually experiencing the suspense sequences with very little audio, making everything all the more intense.

It’s a film that also delivers on a great reveal, one that might feel obvious to some, but still took me by surprise and had me thrilled to hear the big reveal speech that you expect from a giallo. Side note, the final two minutes of this film might be the greatest thing that Argento has ever directed, outside of Suspiria. No spoilers but I was floored by this film’s ending. Great, great stuff. 

If it isn’t obvious, I thought Four Flies on Grey Velvet was pretty spectacular. When you’re a filmmaker with so many hits as Argento, there’s always the worry that you’ll eventually miss but during his run from the early 70s to the early 90s, he was unstoppable. I’ll dive into my thoughts on the UHD transfer below, but there’s never been a better way to experience the film either. If you haven’t seen this one and love Argento, giallo or just want to experience a great genre film, you owe it to yourself to see Four Flies on Grey Velvet. 

Film:

Four Flies on Grey Velvet released on April 28th via Shameless Screen Entertainment on Limited Edition 4K UHD and Blu-ray. I was sent a retail copy of their 4K release, which includes a handful of physical extras and the film on UHD. Considering this is their first 4K UHD release, they’ve gone all out on delivering a package that feels up there with the likes of an 88 Films release. Each release is numbered, there’s a booklet featuring a brand new essay by Alan Jones about the film, artcards and a reversible poster. Reversible artwork is also included. It’s a great physical package that’ll satisfy fans without a doubt. When it comes to the 4K transfer, this seems to be sourced from the same scan as the US release from a few years back, with a new encode exclusive to this release. I never got my hands on the US disc, but found myself absolutely blown away by the Shameless presentation here. It blows their Blu-ray out of the water, there’s no more standard definition inserts, the 4K restoration looks perfect, the Dolby Vision colour grade adds depth to the image that Blu-ray could never compete with, it’s a real stunner. On a visual level, it’s one of the most impressive 4K UHD debuts from a label I’ve seen in years and has me thrilled to see whatever the label puts out next on the format. Audio wise, there’s two options to pick from. English and Italian DTS HD-MA 2.0 tracks. Given that the film was made in Italy, each version is technically a dub so I viewed it with the English track, which sounded excellent too. There’s a few moments in the last section of the film where the audio translates back to Italian, subtitled in English, and I’m assuming this is down to the lack of any English dub for certain scenes that may have been excluded from an export cut of the film. Still, it’s brief and didn’t affect my enjoyment, but figured that I’d mention it. There’s English subtitles for the Italian track and for the English dub, HoH subs are included too which is brilliant to see. On a technical level, Shameless have absolutely knocked it out of the park here and if you have reservations because of their earlier releases, fear not, because this is an essential purchase. The following extras are included 

4K-UHD HDR & DolbyVision Presentation features New-Encode from premier German authoring house.

New Exclusive Interview with Dario Argento

New Exclusive Interview with star Michael Brandon

Interview with Writer & Assistant Dir. Luigi Cozzi

English Opening & End Credits

English & Italian Theatrical Trailers

English TV-Spot

Photo Gallery

New English Subtitles & SDH

+ BOOKLET by Alan Jones

+ 2 ARTCARDS

+ 1 POSTER

+ Reversible double inlay sleeve

Inside a Serialised Limited Collector’s SlipCase Edition

Two introductions to the film are included, one with writer Luigi Cozzi, and one with lead actor Michael Brandon. They’re short and brief, but I’ve always been a sucker for films with introductions from the cast and crew. 

Behind the Velvet Curtain is a brand new interview with director Dario Argento, exclusive to this release and it runs for 31 minutes. In the interview, Argento dives into how he wanted to switch it up for the last film in his Animal trilogy, the inspirations that helped him craft the film, including actual nightmares that he had experienced. Given how terrifying the film gets, it makes sense that the scariest scenes would be influenced from something so personal, in the same way that Lynch’s nightmares and dreams influenced his work. He also dives into other aspects of the production, including his working relationships with the cast and crew and more in this great interview. 

The Velvet Chronicles is a brand new interview with lead actor Michael Brandon, exclusive to this release and it runs for 41 minutes. During the interview, Brandon enthusiastically recounts his time during the production of Four Flies on Grey Velvet, his preference to the traditional method of auditioning compared to how it’s conducted nowadays, his time with the actors and crew members of the film and more. Brandon exudes Dustin Hoffman energy throughout the entire thing and it’s impossible to look away from. It’s packed full of great anecdotes and it’s clear that he’s having a great time reminiscing about the film in this excellent interview.

The Art of Murder is an archival interview with writer & assistant Luigi Cozzi, ported over from the previous Shameless Blu-ray and it runs for 41 minutes long. In this in-depth interview, Cozzi spends a good amount of time talking about his time working in the film industry, how he became acquainted with Argento, the experiences they had making Four Flies and much, much more. It’s a great, in-depth piece that I’m beyond thrilled to see included.

The English opening and ending credits run for five minutes and as you’d expect, translate the text into English during each sequence. It’s great to see these included for films with alternate, export cuts and props to Shameless for including them.

Also included are a handful of promotional extras such as English & Italian theatrical trailers, an English TV spot and a photo gallery which runs for five minutes and features a variety of stills from the production of the film.

I went over the physical extras earlier, but the Alan Jones essay, entitled Flies on the Wall: An Inside Story is a great read, it’s twenty pages long (including stills, posters and other imagery) and dives into the film’s production well. There’s information about the restoration included too. 

All in all, Shameless prove that they’re a force to be reckoned with when it comes to their UHD debut. Incredible audio and video, in-depth and insightful extras, a lovely physical package. This is the type of release that physical media enthusiasts desire, and if they can keep up this level of quality with their future releases, Shameless are on track to end up as one of the great boutique labels. Highly recommended.

Disc/Packaging:

Where to watch Four Flies on Grey Velvet