While Iguana with the Tongue of Fire was Riccardo Freda's attempt at a post Dario Argento giallo movie this is him more in his element. This film couldn't be further from the mess of a plot that Iguana had. Instead of constantly reminding you that anyone could be a killer, this movie focuses more on one character trying to find out if what he is seeing is real and if his wife is still alive, rather than a slasher-mystery. The British high-class sets, swinging London, the greatest miniature train to car explosion, a surprisingly heroic Klaus Kinski character, and a great layered mystery and reveal make this worth watching. It's a lot closer to being something De Palma would make rather than a typical giallo.
Synopsis: Industrialist John Alexander (Klaus Kinski) falls in love with Helen (Margaret Lee) and they get married. After being happy for a while, they are both involved in affairs. John with his secretary Alice (Barbara Nelli) and Helen with her friend Liz (Annabella Incontrera). When Helen dies in an explosion, John is a suspect. His search to find the killer leads him to the world of drugs and pornography.
The film starts in flash forward of sorts with a miniature toy car getting rammed by a miniature train and exploding. John starts the narrative talking about his wife Helen and how they had a great relationship. This is exemplified in.a hilariously bad rear projection sequence of them sledding. The film transitions to John seeing Helen and Liz having an affair. It is later revealed John is having an affair with his secretary, Alice. The scene then transitions to John and Helen at a racetrack and Helen tells him that he is sole heir to her company's money. Later as Helen and Liz are about to leave on vacation the film cuts to show someone placing a bomb on Helen's car. The film gives you some Checkov's gun moments like zooming in on the scar on the back of Helen's neck and showing you the her serpent pearls and the "H" design on her flask. Helen insists on traveling alone. She is apparently killed in the explosion.
Weeks later after many interrogations from some inspectors, John heads back home. When he gets home a very liberated woman named Christine (Christiane Kruger) has been staying in his house. It seems like no problem to her that she broke in. John eventually follows Christine into a club she leads him to. I enjoy the dark green and red colors present in this swinging sixties type of scene. Somewhere at this party there is a pornographic style video featuring Christine and another woman. John sees this video and gets obsessed thinking it is Helen. This is a lot like Body Double. He interrogates Christine about it saying it was filmed only about a week ago and she is getting the video from a man named Peter. John goes to this meeting and buys the film. When he shows the film to Helen's dad Mr. Brown (Sydney Chaplin) it has been altered so he doesn't believe him about Helen.
Through roughly interrogating Christine, the only time Kinski goes full Kinski in this movie he finds out that the woman she worked with was called "the countess." John later goes to see Liz and she finally reveals more about Helen. At this point John gets a call at the bar saying the Countess wants to meet. This sets up the final reveal and circles back to the beginning. While there aren't many kills in this giallo, there is a decent mystery and some great misdirection. I love little details and MacGuffins that eventually get revealed as well. It's also one of earliest erotic giallo movies. There is a lot of nudity in this one. All of the women are beautiful in this but especially Barbara Nelli who plays Alice. Freda makes use of extremely exaggerated burning effects just like he did in Iguana. The piano part of the score which features many low notes and one high note is great. Look for Krimi regular Gunther Stoll playing the bad cop Inspector in this. He seems to be the only one throughout the movie who thinks John is guilty. Couldn't expect less from him.
Rating: 10/10
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