It was her ego...

thecynictheratandthefist

Though Fulci had flirted with violence before (1966's brutal western MASSACRE TIME and 1969's pessimistic medieval family drama BEATRICE CENCI), LIZARD represents his first venture into hardcore gore.

Intended as one of hundreds of cash-ins on the then-popular giallo thrillers popularised by Dario Argento's THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE, LIZARD isn't only Fulci's best movie by a mile - yes, I WOULD include in that statement THE BEYOND, ZOMBIE or DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, all of which have slow spots that LIZARD doesn't - it's on an equal with anything Dario Argento ever did. Indeed, Argento's SUSPIRIA, the maestro's most well-known movie, borrows several touches and ideas from this movie.

Carol Hammond (Bolkan) is a born-into-privilege London woman who has a lawyer husband (Sorel), an aspiring politician father (Genn), and a lush flat in Belgravia. She also has a tendency to suffer repeated weird/violent/sexual fantasies concerning her slutty next-door neighbour (Strindberg). When the woman turns up dead in exactly the same way Carol describes to her psychiatrist (Rigaud) in one of her dreams, all the evidence points straight to her. But the smart Inspector Corvin of Scotland Yard (Baker) doesn't think the case is quite as simple as it appears. When a red-haired hippie, who was also an important part of Carol's dream, shows up for real, it seems that the good detective does have a point. Meanwhile, Carol's state of mind is worsening quickly, with dreams involving the rotten corpses of family members, swarms of bats, and a hostile giant swan...

Few films use London locations as well as this one does, and Fulci demonstrates a talent and virtuosity that he'd never achieve again, even though he'd work with much of the same crew on later movies. I won't go into how Fulci squandered his talent on absolute crap later on (his post-1982 career demonstrates very little that's of interest), but watching this side-by-side with something like AENIGMA or TOUCH OF DEATH, you wouldn't believe they were done by the same guy! Good acting helps also, with Bolkan's paranoid 'heroine', Baker's sarcastic chain-smoking detective, and Genn's stuffy father in particular standing out - it's a shame this would be one of the last movies for the latter two, both long since deceased. Sorel is under-used, as is Anita Strindberg, though Fulci has the good sense and taste to ensure she's naked for most of her role.

The gore is used sparingly, but it's extremely well-achieved (apart from this movie, Fulci's movies do tend to have very unconvincing gore FX), though most of it was snipped out of many prints of the movie, chiefly the entire 'notorious slit-open dogs sequence', and close-ups of a knife whacking into Strindberg's tit. So was a lot of sex and nudity, including a neat split-screen edit between a drug-fuelled orgy and a mechanically formal yuppie supper.

Other pluses include Luigi Kuvellier's exceptional camera-work, which showcases some great shots and angles, Vincenzo Tomassi's superb editing, and one of Ennio Morricone's best and most varied all-round scores.

If there are any flaws, they're only teething ones, but the film does maintain interest throughout and it's safe to say that everything that does happen in this movie has some kind of relevance. The last third does tend to bog down slightly, with a bit too much reliance on psychoanalysis and the disproving of alibis. But Fulci has actually created a genuinely effective suspense movie, and the dream scenes and chase through Alexandra Palace in particular, are among the best moments in European thriller cinema.

Even in its cut version released in the States, it garnished good reviews but was unseen for many years. For Fulci's true vision, only uncut and widescreen does the film the justice it deserves.

score 10/10

thecynictheratandthefist 20 May 2007

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw1659079/