The Designated Victim

Introduction

Patricia Highsmith's novel Strangers on a Train was famously adapted into Alfred Hitchcock's film of the same name. The Designated Victim doesn't credit either Highsmith or Hitchcock, but it is the same story, with some slight differences.

Stefano Argenti meets the mysterious Count Matteo Tiepolo, who suggests a solution to both their problems: he will murder Stefano's wife and wants his brother killed in return. Stefano laughs this off, but says it's a good idea. When Stefano receives a call from the police telling him his wife has been found dead, it dawns on him that Matteo was serious and the Count contacts him to ask when the favour will be returned.

In the panic, Stefano withholds evidence that would give him a perfect alibi and becomes the prime suspect.

Video

This film has been restored by Shameless to include rarely-seen footage, so the quality dips whenever an inserted section appears, changing the aspect ratio and increasing the grain and detritus, which is otherwise largely absent.

It's good to have the complete version of the film available, but it would have been nice to have both versions available separately, or with the added scenes available through seamless branching. They do put a disclaimer before the film, explaining what they've done and why the picture will look that way.

Audio

Unusually, and I guess this is because this is a Shameless Fan Edition, you have the choice of the original Dolby Digital 2.0 mono Italian soundtrack, or the English dub. The Italian gives is that sense of authenticity, where you're not put off by the slightly dodgy accents that tend to appear in dub tracks, which in this case is very good.

Extra Features

As well as the Theatrical Trailer there is the Shameless trailer reel that starts up when you load the disc and can be skipped through or can be watched from the menu. This comprises:
- Who Saw Her Die?
- Strip Nude for Your Killer
- Oasis of Fear
- Night Train Murders
- The New York Ripper
- Phantom of Death

Stefan Novak (lifelong fan and expert of the film) wrote a commentary track, and the captions appear periodically with information about the cast, different versions of the film and locations. He clearly knows his stuff and this will be of great interest to a Giallo fan, though there's not as much information as a spoken commentary track would have provided.

In addition this disc contains a gallery of video case sleeves from various countries, scans of the New Trolls' soundtrack cassette sleeve and some production stills; there are also 9 deleted scenes.

Conclusion

Hitchcock's Strangers on a Train is a great movie with an unforgettably tense finale, so remaking it is a very hard act to follow. Maurizio Lucidi is no Alfred Hitchcock and this is no Strangers on a Train, but it is an enjoyable and well-crafted mystery thriller.

Thomas Milian is very good as Stefan, showing the talent that led to him having such a long and varied career, with Pierre Clementi really hamming it up as the foppish count, a character who, in his hair and clothes, bears a striking resemblance to Russell Brand!

I am a massive fan of Hitchcock's take on the 'one murder for another' scenario, so I didn't know if I'd like this loose remake. It isn't as rich in the visual symbolism or clever camerawork, but is well worth watching, more for fans of Italian cinema than casual viewers, though it is very accessible. The disc is good with the extra audio track and more bonus material than usual - I hope future releases are given the 'Fan Edition' treatment.