What Have They Done to Your Daughters?

What Have They Done to Your Daughters?
Italian theatrical release poster
Directed byMassimo Dallamano
Screenplay by
  • Ettore Sanzò
  • Massimo Dallamano[2]
Story byEttore Sanzò[2]
Produced byPaolo Infascelli[1]
Starring
CinematographyFranco Delli Colli[2]
Edited byAntonio Siciliano[2]
Music byStelvio Cipriani[2]
Production
company
Primex Italiana[1]
Distributed byP.A.C.
Release date
  • 10 August 1974 (1974-08-10) (Italy)
Running time
90 minutes[1]
CountryItaly[1]
Box office₤1.344 billion

What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (Italian: La polizia chiede aiuto, lit. 'The police ask for help') is a 1974 Italian giallo and poliziottesco film directed by Massimo Dallamano.[3]

Plot

Police officers investigate the death of 15-year-old Silvia Polvesi who has been found hanged after receiving an anonymous phone call. After interrogating suspects and witnesses, a tape is discovered where several sexual encounters were recorded. This leads the police to an under-age prostitution ring and a motorcycle riding serial killer.

Cast

[1]

Production

The film was shot at Dear Studios in Rome.[1]

Style

The film is considered a hybrid of two genres: the giallo and the poliziottesco.[1] The film was one among the many hybrid gialli made predominantly between 1974 and 1975 when the popularity of the giallo was waning at the Italian box office while the poliziottesco were beginning to gain box office dominance.[1]

Release

The film was released in Italy on 10 August 1974 and was distributed by P.A.C.[1] The film grossed a total of 1,344,301,000 Italian lira on its domestic release.[1]

It was released on Blu-ray by Arrow Video on August 14, 2018[4] and restored from the original camera negative.[5]

Reception

In his book Italian Crime Filmography, 1968–1980, Roberto Curti described the film as the best of the giallo and poliziottesco hybrids, stating that "Dallamano's direction is well above average".[1][6] Danny Shipka, author of a book on European exploitation films found the film "doesn't hold as much of a grip as" What Have You Done to Solange? as it focused too much on police protocol, but was still "an intense gritty film that deserves to be seen."[3]

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Curti 2013, p. 125.
  2. ^ a b c d e Curti 2013, p. 124.
  3. ^ a b Shipka 2011, p. 110.
  4. ^ Barrett, Micahel (10 August 2018). "Blood, Police and Politics in 'What Have They Done to Your Daughters'". PopMatters. Retrieved 20 February 2019.
  5. ^ What Have They Done to Your Daughters? (Blu-ray back cover). Arrow Video. 2018. AV159.
  6. ^ Curti 2013, p. 126.

References

  • Shipka, Danny (14 June 2011). Perverse Titillation: The Exploitation Cinema of Italy, Spain and France, 1960–1980. McFarland, 2011. ISBN 978-0786448883.
  • Curti, Roberto (2013). Italian Crime Filmography, 1968–1980. McFarland. ISBN 978-0786469765.
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