The 10th Victim

Elio Petri anticipated contemporary reality shows with this campy sci-fi social satire from swinging 1965, set in a future where the bored, ambitious, or just plain violent can sign up for a deadly game of cat and mouse. “The big hunt is necessary as a social safety valve,” explains one TV personality. “Why control births when we can control deaths?” Marcello Mastroianni stars as Marcello Polletti, a womanizing Italian media darling with a gift for assassinations who becomes the target of sexy champion Caroline Meredith (Ursula Andress), a New York amazon with a wardrobe as deadly as it is chic. If Caroline can successfully make Polletti her 10th and last victim, she will win the $1 million prize, and she even cuts a deal to turn the deed into a live song-and-dance-filled extravaganza. Petri directs with tongue firmly in cheek, coolly lampooning the media obsession with high-risk contests and games of chance, while Mastroianni delivers a comically blasé performance. Both timely and silly, The 10th Victim is a slice of ‘60s pop-art style and cartoonish satire that has become a minor cult classic. Bowing on Blu-ray (this was also released on DVD in 2009), extras include a featurette on Mastroianni, and stills galleries. Recommended. (S. Axmaker)