Director: Umberto Lenzi
Year: 1970
Country: Italy/France/Spain
Alternate Titles: Paranoia
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After suffering a tragic accident, a woman is asked by her ex-husband to recuperate at his seaside villa and takes him up on the offer, only to find his wife to be the one to call her over so they can hatch a plot to kill him but things soon become complicated when even more obstacles present themselves.
Review:
This is a fine if decidedly lacking genre effort. When this one works best is the enjoyable setup that plays out as to who’s trying to corrupt who. Being dropped unexpectedly into their marriage out of the blue where they’re well-aware of her past infractions requiring rest and their dissolved relationship is a solid way to go about introducing the eventual plot against him. Although the suddenness of the proposition is a big factor, the fun of seeing their reconciliation which proves the way for the two to come up with their execution plan is a generally fun time throughout here.
The second half then showcases how much fun this setup becomes with the twist involving a fateful accident and how things change. The accident on the boat is a wholly shocking incident that truly feels accidental in the heat of the moment and serves this one well to launch into the second half involving their need for secrecy over the situation. The suspense derived from whether or not they can keep the ruse going while the intrusive nature of the daughter keeps interrupting to throw a wrench into their plans as a series of expert twists and turns featuring plenty of solid suspense and surprises. These manage to give this a lot to like.
This one does have a few issues. The biggest problem is the sheer lunacy of trying to buy into the backstory involving their relationships with each other as these are inherently goofy and tough to swallow. Her race-car driver mindset that we’re introduced to is an entirely ridiculous idea to try this out as a means of getting back together as none of it means anything in the long run with this being forgotten about almost immediately anyway. It comes into play even further when no one gets worried about the disappearance or notices the connection afterward which really makes the whole purpose here silly and unnecessary.
It’s also somewhat problematic in the asinine reasoning displayed to carry on without their getting caught. While the reasoning for keeping up appearances is a solid one that each of them manages to continually act in such a way as to give away what’s going on, especially around the daughter is a strikingly sore point. Freaking out over nothing, breaking into hysterics whenever the moment strikes and eschewing any sort of natural cover-up in favor of suspicious melodramatic breakdowns is a sure sign that something’s wrong and forcing the issue of investigating further while also managing to lower the likeability factor, all of which bring this down somewhat.
Overview: ***.5/5
A not unwatchable entry but one that’s just broken down by several factors that bring it down slightly, this is a serviceable entry for the most part and generally has quite a lot to like here. This is undoubtedly for those who enjoy the creative crew or their previous efforts together as well as fans of this European style of suspense-based thriller, while those who aren’t as fond of these efforts should heed caution.
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