Pupi Avati made Zeder, the zombie movie that really isn’t a zombie movie, so I was excited to see his take on the giallo, basing it on a story he heard about a priest being exhumed in his childhood.

The Valli di Comacchio area has a fresco on the rotting wall of a church that may be the martyrdom of Saint Sebastian. Painted years ago by the long-dead and always mysterious Legnani, it is being restored by Stefano (Lino Capolicchio, who was the Italian voice for Bo Duke), who is also living in the home of the painter’s sisters. Those very same sisters — according to town legend — assisted their brother in torturing and killing people so that he would have inspiration for his artwork.

No one wants Stefano to fix this painting. People start dying and the secret behind the murders may be in the very painting that our lead is fixing. What a time to start a romance with school teacher Francesca (Francesca Marciano)!

I love when the giallo moves out of Rome and into the small cities, such as Fulci’s masterful Don’t Torture a Duckling and Antonio Bido’s The Blood Stained Shadow. Why should the metro locales have all the deep, dark secrets and horrific murders, right?

Don’t go in expecting sleaze and gore. Do expect to be surprised and delighted by the world and mood that this movie creates. This one needs to be unearthed and celebrated by way more than know it now.

The Arrow Video 4K UHD is a great way to do so. It has a 4K restoration from the original camera negative, graded by Arrow Films, as well as a restored original lossless mono Italian soundtrack and newly translated optional English subtitles. You also get two new commentaries, one by Alexandra Heller-Nicholas and Josh Nelson and the other by Eugenio Ercolani and Troy Howarth.

There’s also Painted Screams, a brand new feature-length documentary on the film directed by Federico Caddeo, featuring interviews with co-writer/director Pupi Avati, co-writer Antonio Avati, assistant director Cesare Bastelli and actors Lino Capolicchio and Francesca Marcia. There are also video essays by Chris Alexander and Kat Ellinger, the Italian theatrical trailer, a reversible sleeve featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain, a double-sided foldout poster featuring original and newly commissioned artwork by Peter Strain and an illustrated perfect bound collector’s booklet featuring new writing by Matt Rogerson, Willow Maclay, Alexia Kannas, Anton Bitel and Stefano Baschiera.

You can get this from MVD.