Not a washout.
Taking a look online at the credits for director Ruggero Deodato 2 years ago,after I had "discovered" him thanks to his excellent 1977 film Jungle Holocaust (also reviewed),I noticed that he had made,what sounded to be a very intriguing Erotic-Thriller influenced Giallo right at the very start of the 90's,just as the third,and final wave of the Giallo sub-genre was about to end.Originally expecting to find the movie pretty easily due to a number of his films having been given pretty big DVD/Blu-Ray release over the last 10 years,I was shocked to find,that unlike his titles for the Cannibal genre,Deodato's late Giallo sadly looked to have been lost in the wash for a number of years.Keeping an eye out for the movie,I decided after at last tracking this "missing" Giallo down,that I would head straight for the launderette,in the hope of finding a special washing machine waiting to be opened.
View on the film:
Despite being a bit "Mr.Grumpy" about the film now in recent interviews saying that he, "Just made it to get a quick bit of cash,and didn't care at all about the results" directing auteur Ruggero Deodato shows a real skill and focus in making sure that the movie stays balanced between dream- logic Giallo and an icy Eroticness that never falls into any sleaze dead-ends,which also helps to give a real elegance to his three gorgeous leading ladies: Ilaria Borrelli,Katarzyna Figura and Barbara Ricci.
Shooting the film in eastern Europe shortly after the fall of the Iron Curtain,Deodato covers the movie in an atmospheric mist,that helps to give the moments when Deodato shows each of the strikingly performed sister's version's of events a wonderful nightmarish,dream like quality (with a particular highlight in the movie being an ultra stylised scene that revels that dreams that Alexander is having over his obsession with the strange sisters.
Matching the mysterious atmosphere that Deodato builds in his directing,the screenplay by Luigi Spagnol shows a real daring nature in putting the sisters criss-crossing versions of events out there without ever giving signal's to the viewer to which ( if any) is the real version of events,to instead allow the viewer to decide on what they believe to be real and fake.
Whilst the screenplay does show real ambition,Spagnol gives a real haziness to the Giallo mystery element of the film,that leads to Alexander's attempt at uncovering the truth and lies that the sisters are telling him,one that feels detached from the viewer and lacking the vice-like grip that the plot line,and actress's seemed to offer,which leads to this being a very interesting Giallo Erotic Thriller that sadly cant wash all of the stains away.
score 6/10
morrison-dylan-fan 14 March 2013
Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2766968/34917
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