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Stateline Motel AKA L'ultima chance AKA The Last Chance AKA Motel of Fear (Blu-ray)
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray ALL - United Kingdom - Shameless Screen Entertainment Review written by and copyright: Rick Curzon (10th September 2025). |
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The Film
 Ursula Andress - voted the No.1 Bond girl of all time, emerged from the sea in ‘Dr. No’ - Bond’s first outing - and into film history. Here she leads a heavyweight cast including a snarling Eli Wallach(The Good, the Bad and the Ugly), and action hunk Fabio Testi (The Big Racket). A second Bond girl, the alluring Barbara Bach (The Spy Who Loved Me), completes this iconic ensemble. But this is no quip-filled Hollywood caper. Under the gritty direction of Maurizio Lucidi - a master of emotional tensions – these cinema legends deliver powerful performances in a sleek psychological thriller elevated by a moody score from Academy Award Winner winner Luis Bacalov (The Postman, Django). After a deadly heist and a breathtaking car chase, criminals Wallach and Testi split up to evade police. Testi is tasked with getting the stolen jewels across the U.S.-Canada border, where he holes up in a sleepy border-town motel. There, he meets Michelle (Andress), smouldering as the trophy wife of the motel owner. A twisted game of cat and mouse ignites, charged by the genuine chemistry between Andress and Testi. In this edition’s exclusive interview, Fabio Testi confirms that their long romance began on the set of this film. As the lovers plan their escape, the stolen jewels vanish… An enraged Eli Wallach loads his gun and speeds toward the Stateline Motel for a final confrontation. This is the definitive, longest ever, uncut, 2K-restored version of this long-lost gem, presented for the first time in its English version, now fully overhauled.
Video
OK Italian crime film set in Canada. Criminal Fabio Testi finishes his six month jail term and promptly helps hardened loon Eli Wallach rob a jewellery store. Not wise given that American Testi has been given 48 hours to leave the country! They split up, Testi taking the loot, to avoid the cops, planning on meeting up the following night over the border in the US; but, Testi's car breaks down and he's forced to stay in a motel while it's repaired. There, the loot is nicked by one of several suspects in the motel, so Wallach turns up and it all goes to shit. Watchable crime film has its moments but is slight and uneven. Benefits from good performances, competent direction but the script doesn't really expand on it's potential with this story and cast. The disc is listed as a "Shameless Restored Edition" and from a 2K master, one assumes that's it's recent as there aren't any other BD releases out there that I'm aware of. Generally, it's a excellent transfer that assembles the most complete version of the film with some brief snatches of dialogue appearing only dubbed in the Italian version ported over to the English edit albeit with optional player-generated subtitles for those moments. Having watched this more or less back to back with the new Powerhouse Films' 4K restoration (albeit in 1080p24) this restoration isn't quite in the same league. I rated that one 'A+' for 1080p24. You can see the difference between the 2K and the 4K restorations in terms of the resolving of the grain. The encode on this Shameless disc is very good with decent, organic grain and detail is generally strong and no signs of digital tinkering. However, it's not as detailed as the Powerhouse Release. Both films were shot within a year of each other in the same non-anamorphic matted 1.85:1 ratio in mind for theatrical exhibition. If I had to guess, colour values for Stateline Motel favour a slight teal lean. It's not consistent but it does turn up here and there, notably in the opening scene where Testi is released from prison. The underlying cinematography favours warm colours, especially on the hotel interiors with some pretty healthy primaries. Delineation is excellent, no bleed and the black levels vs contrast is excellent. Shadow detail is strong certainly for 2K. This is a fine transfer with a nice healthy bitrate in the mid to high thirties and no signs of print damage ('A-'). 1080p24 / AVC MPEG-4 / BD50 / 1.85:1 / 102:53
Audio
English DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit) Italian DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 Mono (48kHz, 16-bit) English (for the Italian track), English HoH (for the English track) This is a strange one. The underlying dialogue sounds fine on both dub-tracks as do the vast majority of the sound effects but the score and some sound effects like police sirens sound mildly distorted with some warble; that underwater sound (listen to Roberta Flack's singing at the end of the film for instance). This effect is not on the score sections played over the menus. I've encountered this before on some other European genre films of a similar ilk so it could just be down to methods of recording during production but it could also equally be down to the state of the elements (and the menu music is taken from the master tapes for the score); I'm erring on the latter with a touch of the former. I heard no other signs of age-related wear and tear. Both sets of subs are spot-on for their respective soundtracks, catching all of the nuance with no dropped, simplified or changed dialogue that I spotted on the lengthy sections I tested ('C+').
Extras
"The Right Chance: Fabio Testi on Stateline Motel" 2025 interview (15:27) "Last Chance Motel" 2025 interview with film historian Davide Pulci (18:41) "Through the Lens of Lucidi" 2025 interview with film historian Davide Pulci (12:05) 46:13 worth of new interviews. The first is with star Testi (taken from the same session as his one on Shameless' Contraband) who gives is a nice account from his point of view of the shoot on location in Canada. He discusses the cast, the director and his view on that period of Italian cinema which he belueves was very fruitful. As usual he's always well worth spending time with and he sees each film as representing a that specific time in his life. He's always very cheerful, positive and enthusiastic. His doggie doesn't make an appearance this time sadly. The final two featurettes are essentially an extended interview with film historian Pulci with whom I'm not previously familiar. In the first he discusses the film and its literary source - a novel of the same name by Franco Enna (real name Francesco Cannarozzo, 1921-90) - and in the second director Lucidi. All the usual bases for such interviews are well covered and seen in concert with each other provide us with a good. All are presented in 1080p24 1.78:1 with uncompressed Italian LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 24-bit) with optional Italian subtitles. Startup Trailers (3:38) - Contraband (1:10) - The Executors (1:31) - The Designated Victim (0:56) The usual newly created mini-trailers made by Shameless from their restored masters to promote their releases. They do a good job. Presented in 1080p24 1.85:1 with uncompressed English LPCM 2.0 stereo (48kHz, 24-bit) and no subtitle options. I can't wait to review the Blu-rays of The Executors (1976 AKA Street People, The Sicilian Cross) and The Designated Victim (1971)! Comes with: - An outer card sleeve featuring a choice of the new photoshopped key art. - A double-sided sleeve with the new photoshopped art and the original theatrical key art as choices What it says really, the new key art featured on the card outer sleeve and the default imagine on the main sleeve is adequate; a photoshop mashup. The superior original key art is available on the reverse of the main sleeve and is a nice one.
Packaging
The usual, patented yellow slimline Keepcase Shameless use for all of the BD releases.
Overall
An enjoyable Italian crime film that wasn't previously on my radar gets a - as far as I'm aware - worldwide Blu-ray (region free) debut from Shameless Screen Entertainment in the UK. Images is generally very strong and a massive upgrade on all prior DVDs that I've seen screen grabs from online. Sound isn't as strong sadly but it's far from a major letdown. Extras are limited to three fine interview featurettes. For fans of European genre cinema and especially of Italian crime films this is an essential purchase ('B+') and highly recommended.
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