Director: Andrea Bianchi
Year: 1975
Country: Italy
Alternate Titles: Nude per l'assassino
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After a series of strange murders, the workers at a high-end fashion magazine find themselves at the center of the reign of terror by the savage killer and must find out the motives and identity of the masked madman before they all fall to his blood-lust.
Review:
This here is one of the best and sleaziest of the giallos ever made. That comes out here almost from the very beginning as the main source of the film being undertaken at a fashion magazine makes for a wholly appropriate base for the film's ongoing and nearly relentless sleaze to come through. Not only does this allow for the expected nudity showing the girls getting dressed for the shoots as well as the nudity found there in those shoots, but the ever-present backstabbing and politicking expected to be a part of such a business gets featured here with the women pressured into sleeping with the prospective new clients, the general snubbing of women in order to break the next big face and the general air of sleaze and temptation featured here makes this fit in so well with the genre as a whole while getting the most out of it's premise.
Getting the chance to see these kinds of women naked as often as they are there would've been enough, but to do so with the addition of the other nude scenes or just simple inserts of them getting topless for no reason makes this one quite a bit of fun and wholly enjoyable with the film really feeling like a continual onslaught of naked female flesh almost from the start which is greatly appreciated here not only because of the quality of such scenes but also for their ability to distract from what else is happening. Generated by such a capable and veteran cast, from the legendary Edwige Fenech as the aspiring model/photographer Magda who gives a stand-out performance in the plucky investigator caught up in the killers' sights as her aspiring model side-arc allows her customary disrobing so long as one buys the storyline that people overlook her as being unworthy of a model career. Still, bringing in Femi Benussi, Solvi Stubbing and Erna Schurer to all provide numerous such scenes helps to offset that with glorious helpings of fine nude females on display.
Once it gets away from the sleaze, there's a lot more to like here. The opening ambush and attack by the killer on the victim at his house works nicely with the surprise stalking getting some nice suspense along the way, a later stalking scene at a victim's house while under the impression of a social visit is pretty suspenseful while the highlight murder sequence of a nude woman in her apartment makes for a wholly enjoyable and suspenseful sequence as the large darkened apartment and amorous activities beforehand set the stage for a wholly enjoyable highlight sequence even without the ever-present nudity. As well, the park- side encounter works out a thrilling suspenseful attack as the blackmail payoff is handled well and the follow-up hit-and-run makes for a rather strong conclusion. Other great scenes include the hair-raising car ride abduction through the city, the thrilling encounter in the photo-lab after the killer cuts the lights for a great sequence and the big chase scene at the finale is a wholly entertaining variant which all give this some rather enjoyable times.
That said, there's still a few issues here that aren't so enjoyable. Like most of the films in this style, the main storyline motivation for the killer here is quite lame and seems as it's an incredibly perfunctory motive for the rampage, letting it play out in rather perfunctory manners and becoming the rather confusing angle that's expected here. As well, the fact that this one is so sleazy and violent might make it hard to get through on same cases, and it can be somewhat difficult for some to really get through here. These here are where the film somewhat gets held down.
Overview: **** 1/2/5
One of the finest entries in just about every type of exploitation angle you could look at, this one not only delivers on sordid sexuality but also on enough genre thrills to work as one of the finest gialli ever. Beyond highly recommended for those who appreciate this one's salacious experiences or are a genre fan in general, while those who can't handle the risque material and subject matter should heed caution.
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