What Have They Done to Solange?

Original Title: Cosa avete fatto a Solange?
AKA: The Secret of the Green Pins / Who's Next?
Year: 1972

Director: Massimo Dallamano

A teacher who is having an affair with one of his students takes her out on a boat. The student sees a knife killing on shore. Other gruesome murders start occurring shortly thereafter, and the teacher becomes the prime suspect

Fabio Testi stars as the school teacher who's gotten himself in all kinds of trouble, first of all, his wife knows he's having an affair, secondly he's having the said affair with one of his students and thirdly, he's a suspect in the murder of a young girl which his piece on the side saw glimpses of. Only Italian cinema could present us with a protagonist who fucks schoolgirls!

Rarely do films in the Giallo genre deliver in every department but What Have They Done To Solange? hits all the right sweet spots. First of all the plot is gripping from the get go & presents you with plenty of suspects which will keep you guessing until the very end to who the killer is. Also the fact the reveal of the killer & their motive is not that far fetched is a real rarity for the genre. The characters are all well presented and the cast all add something to the picture. Testi delivers one of his best performances & look out for Camille Keaton, who'd later go on to star in the infamous exploitation shocker I Spit On Your Grave. She doesn't have a huge role yet her performance is incredibly haunting.

It's J&B time!

What really makes Solange such a great film though is the crew involved. Massimo Dallamano's direction allows the film to really take its time, nothing ever feels rushed & it helps to really give weight to the characters. The film has sleazy moments with naked school-girl shower scenes & a killer which likes to stick knives up vagina's so it would be easy for Solange to feel like an exploitive flick but the real classy Ennio Morricone score helps ensure that it never feels that way. However the real highlight for me is the cinematography which is really beautiful. There are plenty of the voyeuristic type of shots you expect from a Giallo picture but everything feels so wonderfully accomplished, it's an absolute visual treat to look at. Dallamano had been cinematographer on a couple of Leone's dollars trilogy so I expected him to be involved but to my surprise the man behind the lens was no other than cheap shock master Joe D'Amato!

The only criticism of Solange I can think of is that there is a slight pacing issue around the hour mark, there is perhaps a little too much questioning via the police though those scenes are essential in moving the plot forward.

Solange remains one of the most well rounded & near faultless Gialli's & is an absolute essential of its genre.


Rating: ★★★★½

Fabio Testi, loves his pupils.