Arrow completes the American home video availability of the "Schoolgirls in Peril" trilogy with their Blu-ray of WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS?

An anonymous phone tip-off leads Inspector Valentini (Mario Adorf, THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE) to discover in a locked attic loft the hanged body of fifteen-year-old girl who the autopsy reveals was not only had recent sexual intercourse but was also two months pregnant. What further postmortem results reveal that the suicide was actually a murder, homicide Inspector Silvestri (Claudio Cassinelli, THE GREAT ALLIGATOR) takes over the investigation under assistant district attorney Vittoria Stori (Giovanna Ralli, THE COLD EYES OF FEAR). The unauthorized publication of the dead girl's picture in the newspaper leads to her identification by her family's housekeeper (Eleonora Morana, DAY OF ANGER) as Silvia Polvesi (Sherry Buchanan, ZOMBI HOLOCAUST), a well-to-do daughter whose father (Farley Granger, AMUCK) reveals she had grown distant in recent months and whose mother (Marina Berti, AN ANGEL FOR SATAN) had discovered she was sexually active and on the pill. When Silvestri apprehends peeping tom Bruno Paglia (Franco Fabrizi, Fellini's I VITELLONI) taking photographs of the loft from across the street, his earlier photographs reveal that the loft was a meeting place for Silvia and her college student lover Marcello (Paolo Turco, THE LICKERISH QUARTET) but he has an alibi for the time of her death. The discovery of the actual place where Silvia was killed also reveals evidence of another murder, and Silvestri, Stori, and Valentini discover the existence of a teenage prostitution ring frequented by men in positions of power as a cleaver-wielding killer in helmet and bike leathers works to stay a step ahead of them and silence anyone who might talk.

Cinematographer-turned-director Massimo Dallamano's follow-up to WHAT HAVE YOU DONE TO SOLANGE? was originally titled THE POLICE NEED HELP in Italy, identifying it more with the burgeoning poliziotteschi genre, and even the English title WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? seems to turn its accusatory finger from individual suspects to society at large in what is as much a giallo/poliziotteschi hybrid as Sergio Martino's similar SUSPICIOUS DEATH OF A MINOR. The giallo elements of a stalking, blade-wielding killer, and some gory bits mesh well with the greater emphasis on police investigation, action – including a car versus motorcycle chase – and fashionable cynicism about corporate and government corruption. Underneath all this and the salacious elements of teenage sexuality and prostitution is an understanding that the gulf between generations is born out of a lack of communication, and that there are people in power who can manipulate it to exploit youth. The trio of Cassinelli, Adorf, and Ralli are a refreshingly dedicated bunch with Ralli's female DA tempering the forcefulness of Cassinelli's cop while Adorf's single father movingly voices a cause for resentment of the rich and powerful when the case hits close to home. The Techniscope photography of Franco Delli Colli (ZEDER) features many layered compositions that seem to visualize the gulf between the investigators and the victims of exploitation who are either unknown or already dead while composer Stelvio Cipriani (BARON BLOOD) reworks themes from THE GREAT KIDNAPPING and RABID DOGS – particularly one cue that Cipriani would further rework for TENTACLES – around a lullaby-like central theme in keeping with the giallo aspect. Dallamano died in a car crash before he could start the third film of what has become known as the "schoolgirls in peril" trilogy, and the resulting production ENIGMA ROSSO – released in Spain as TRAFFICING IN MINORS, the UK as RED RINGS OF FEAR, and American video as TRAUMA – was a rather disappointing mishmash of elements from the earlier two films directed by Alberto Negrin.

Released theatrically by Peppercorn-Wormser Film Enterprises and later by N.M.D. Film Distributing Company as THE COED MURDERS, WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS? was harder to see than either of the bookending "Schoolgirls" films – SOLANGE having had a Sinister Cinema tape release under the reissue title THE SCHOOL THAT COULDN'T SCREAM and ENIGMA ROSSO on Wizard Video as TRAUMA – until Redemption Films put out a non-anamorphic letterboxed all-region PAL DVD. This release was followed up by an anamorphic transfer from German label Koch and then a Shameless UK release using the same master. Once again, Germany was the first to put this film out on Blu-ray with Camera Obscura issuing a two-disc edition with a new HD transfer, subtitled commentary, and video interviews. Fans of the film who waited out the expensive import will find Arrow Video's US-only 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 2.35:1 widescreen Blu-ray a suitable substitute with a transfer that appears to be from the same 2K master. Italian and English LPCM 1.0 mono tracks are clean enough and the latter once again censors two uses of the word "fuck", the first replaced by "frig" and the second muted out. Optional English SDH subtitles a provided for the English track and another set translates the Italian track. A third track is activated when the film is watched in English without subtitles to translate a few instances of onscreen Italian text.

The commentary with film scholar Marcus Stiglegger and filmmaker Dominik Graf from the German import is replaced with a track from film historian Troy Howarth – author of the three-volume SO DEADLY, SO PERVERSE giallo guide – in which he discusses Dallamano's career as a cinematographer and director, the "schoolgirls in peril" trilogy, Dallamano's death, and makes the observation that the film's more explicit aspects are not meant to titillate. "Masters and Slaves: Power, Corruption & Decadence in the Cinema of Massimo Dallamano" (19:44) is video essay by Diabolique Magazine editor-in-chief Kat Ellinger who observes the exploration of power dynamics, submission, and the exploitation of bodies throughout the filmography of Dallamano from VENUS IN FURS – nothing the ways in which the film adaptation emphasizes Wanda's exploitation even though Severin is the submissive – and DORIAN GRAY through SUPER BITCH and the lighter-hearted ANNIE (with Annie Belle).