So Lovely, So Young, So Vicious (Blu-ray Review)
Director
Silvio AmadioRelease Date(s)
1975 (April 28, 2026)Studio(s)
Domiziana Internazionale Cinematografica (Raro Video/Kino Lorber)- Film/Program Grade: B+
- Video Grade: B-
- Audio Grade: B-
- Extras Grade: B
Review
The obviously Young, Lovely and as we will come to find out, quite Vicious, Angela (Gloria Guida) seems to enjoy having the attention of her father all to herself. When she finds out that her father has a new lover, Irene (Dagmar Lassander), she is immediately put out and starts making plans to get rid of her. Together with her boyfriend, Sandro (Fred Robsahm), she starts implementing various schemes to rid herself of her potential new mom. First: Sandro will seduce her and then when Angela’s father finds out Irene has a new young lover—that will be the end of that. But that plan doesn’t work, as Irene isn’t a Sandro fan and shows no interest. Next plan: the private investigator route—dig up the dirt. Is there dirt to be dug? Yes—turns out Irene had a lesbian affair that ended with the other woman killing herself when the affair was discovered. No wonder Sandro wasn’t so appealing. Finally, the coup de grâce—the final plan: Angela will emotionally seduce (meaning, a no to sex, but soothing hugs that could be misconstrued if taken out of context seduction) Irene herself on a secluded beach and Sandro will take blackmail pictures to hold over her head and make her go away. To gear up for the blackmail, Angela starts to butter up Irene, to really make it hurt—but Irene is a sweetheart and the more time they spend together, the more Angela realizes that Irene is a really good person and doesn’t deserve this treatment; so she tells Sandro to call off the blackmail. Meanwhile, Sandro’s older lover is starting to realize she’s being replaced by a younger model and starts demanding money that he has been milking from her while staying at her house. Needing an influx of cash fast, he realizes he has a source of cash in the pictures, and he doesn’t really give a s*&% what Angela wants.
This is Italian exploitation through and through. It has gratuitous nudity, love scenes, melodrama, a bit of comedy, and of course disco. Gloria Guida (The Teasers, Under-Graduate Girls and Sophomore Swingers) is really wonderful here as the title description. I wasn’t overly familiar with her work but she really pulls off the sweet girl next door while also being a ruthless manipulator and you can’t keep your eyes off her in any scene in the film—clothed or not. Equally great is Dagmar Lassander (Hatchet For the Honeymoon, The Black Cat and The House by the Cemetery)—she’s always great and this is no exception.
So Young, So Lovely, So Vicious is presented at 1.85:1 1080p. It’s a vintage print and shows signs of wear and tear with heavy grain—but it actually looks great and to me, some movies just feel better when you can see what they are—and this is an old Italian film, so I’m okay with it looking like a 35mm print. Based on the commentary, this film has been relatively lost to Region A film fans, so I’m glad to have it any way I can get it. For its wear, the color is nice and balanced, detail is stable I didn’t see any digital manipulations—it’s a flawed but enjoyable presentation. Sound is in stereo, DTS-HD Master Audio for both an English dub and an Italian dub. Both sound good and the only issues are with the original dubs, which just add to the experience of watching the film, frankly. Look, if you pop in an old Italian exploitation film, you should be prepared for nudity, sex and dubbing. If you can’t handle those things, there are a million other discs out there for you. Oh, and English subs are included as well.
It terms of extras—you get one and it’s fine. It’s an audio commentary by “film historians and hosts” Adrian Smith and Rod Barnett from the Wild, Wild Podcast. They are fun to listen to for the most part. I’m old school and want my commentary to commentary and this podcasts. So essentially, what you’re getting is an archived podcast where you can watch the film as they discuss. They give a lot of good information and both seem to be big fans of every aspect of this film, so having them as co-pilots of your watch isn’t a bad thing. Maybe podcast commentaries are a wave of the future and I should just get used to it. All in all, I had a good time with this film and if you like your exploitation Italian flavored, you might too.
- Todd Doogan