Director: Alberto Negrin
Year: 1978
Country: Italy/West Germany/Spain
Alternate Titles: Enigma Rosso; Virgin Terror; Trauma; Rings of Fear; Virgin Killer
Genre: Giallo
Plot:
After the discovery of a murdered teen, a police officer is called in to investigate the students at a local girls’ college where the victim went and finds that the students there are involved in a high-level prostitution ring protected by corrupt officials and must solve the case.
Review:
On the whole, this was a fairly fun sleazy giallo entry. Among the more likable factors on display is the central mystery and the ensuing investigation that bears the hallmark of so many scenes from typical genre fare. The idea of the murdered classmate forcing the detective to investigate the girls and other members of the staff at the school, which slowly reveals a series of more sordid activity going on at the school than expected, allows for a rather solid enough outing that proceeds to hit the hallmarks for the genre rather well. The sleazy antics going on behind the headmistress's back that the murder victim and other members of her friend group are involved in are kept hidden away from them for so long as to be quite effective at showcasing the kind of setup that hints at a more encompassing corruption scandal than first suspected. The gradual reveal of the true ring involved in the crime and what’s happening to the girls who are involved in this underage prostitution ring makes for a fun time investigating the case as it tends to unravel over time.
On top of that, when it comes to the generally provocative sleaze featured here, this gets some rather fun times here. The lives of the girls at the school undergo all manner of sordid activity on campus that range from full-on shower scenes cleansing themselves to other forms of lesbian play with each other, the activity shown when they’re taken away to the front for their involvement in the prostitution ring that brings about some intense sexual material involving some rather crude subject matter that gets brought up due to the concept at play. The different stalking scenes involved around these features are quite solid, focusing on several individuals being chased around the school or in their apartment, which are quite fun and manage to add a slightly sleazy air that goes along with the somewhat charged sexual material here and are quite enjoyable. The other fun scenes here involve the revelation of the killer and their motive, which is a solid surprise and brings about a fun finale when it all comes together, giving this enough to like overall.
There are some issues here that bring this down. The main issue here is the seemingly randomized nature of the two stories being involved, which is immensely confusing and never makes much sense. The central setup here, involving the girls being in the ring for the older members of society who can use the clothing store as a front to get past scrutiny, makes for a wholly convoluted scenario that makes little sense in how the whole operation comes together, or even why the police need to be involved in covering it up when it’s already this difficult to track down. This makes the interactions with the detective and the captain at the end feel immensely underwhelming and just ends this on a lame note where this resolves everything in such a clunky manner that it is somewhat unrealistic. There’s also the issue about it being so cheap and obviously silly that it’s hard to take seriously at times, making for enough to hold this one down.
Overview: ***/5
A generally likable if somewhat flawed giallo, there’s enough going on here to be worthwhile as a mid-tier genre effort while having some issues that keep it in that middle ground overall. Give it a shot if you’re a fan of the subject matter or are a fan of this approach to the genre, while most others out there should heed caution.
This review is part of our ongoing series of reviews for Italian Horror Month, every November on the site:
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