GL84 Following a brutal crime spree, a police detective investigating a strange killer targeting unfaithful wives and adulterous spouses finds that a potential witness may help solve the case and tries to protect her when the killer starts to torment her while continuing his spree.This was quite the fun if slightly problematic sleazy Giallo. One of the more impressive acts here is the fact that there's a decent investigation wrapped around the strong sleazy thrills. With the introduction of the photography storyline in the crimes and using that as the main basis for catching the culprit, this one offers up the kind of traditional Giallo trope needed to drive the storyline forward with some extra notes that lead rather nicely based on the confines of the action here especially once it starts to signify the killers' chosen targets as that is a nice difference from most others who go for random victims at the start before the spree is found out. This addition makes for some fun as it builds that up into the remaining segments that play off this section of the storyline. Those stalking scenes are really fun, from the first encounter chasing the victim onto the beach from her apartment, appearing in the bedroom of the victim and chasing her into the bathroom for the final murder or to the tense sequence of the wife getting ambushed inside the backyard and ending up having the whole affair witnessed secretly by the daughter which is a rather enjoyable highlight offering. A dispatch on a train speeding through the night is incredibly fun as well with the darkened compartment hiding the killer rather well, and a later scene featuring the killer striking a victim in a bathtub only to then have the husband arrive and alter his exit strategy makes for a thoroughly enjoyable and tense sequence. As these scenarios allow for a constant stream of nudity and softcore fondling in showcasing their carnal exploits before the nude bodies are shown to be hacked to pieces, it gives this a rather fine sleazy air which all make for a rather fun genre effort. There are a few problems with this one, though, in that the film mainly employs a rather distressing hypocritical air that doesn't come off that appealing. Going off on the idea that the victims are being punished for straying from their husbands, a double-standard emerges when the male characters are also shown to be doing the same thing yet they never run into any kind of retribution because of it. Depicting them as heartless and needing to pay for their actions yet allowing the men to be okay with it gives it quite an old-fashioned air and tone that openly condemns their actions even though all the extramarital affairs are given loving, leering close-ups to see their full-on nudity. It's not a very welcoming tone for a horror effort and takes a lot of air out of the film as well as the fact that there's quite a long time in between many of these deaths as the investigation takes over to the point of ignoring a lot of other aspects here that don't make for an enjoyable time here. These hold it back even though it does have some worthwhile points.Rated X: Continuous Full Nudity, strong sex scenes, Graphic Violence and Language.

The_Void Released at the height of the Giallo's popularity, So Sweet, So Dead manages to take in most of the common Giallo trademarks and craft a good example of the sub-genre out of it; although it has to be said that the Giallo has been done to far better effect on numerous occasions. It would seem that director Roberto Bianchi Montero was hoping he could implement a style similar to what Dario Argento is famous for, and indeed he has somewhat as the film features a black gloved killer committing some well worked, bloody and stylish murders, although the film unfortunately seems content to revel in it's sleazy atmosphere too much and this can sometimes have a negative effect on the plot. The storyline centres on a vicious killer who enjoys slashing women who are currently engaging in an extra marital affair. Naturally, Inspector Capuana expects the murderer to be among the city's underbelly; but as the murders continue, he starts to get the idea that he may have to look to higher society; and things get worse for him when the killer sets his wife as the next target! There's a fair amount of sex on display, although it's never overly erotic, and since the film doesn't put too much focus on red herrings and the identity of the murderer, it's sometimes unclear as to exactly what the point of the film is. It's quite possible that So Sweet, So Dead was only ever meant to be a cash-in on other, more successful Giallo's, although the attention to detail with regards tributes to other genre films makes it seem that the director has a genuine interest in this style of film-making. Indeed, the film is rather incomprehensible at times; but even when the plot does start to become tiresome, it's good to know that there's an undercurrent of sleaze to fall back on, and while this isn't exactly up there with heavyweight nasty Giallo's the likes of Giallo a Venezia and The New York Ripper, it's more nasty than a lot of it's counterparts. The film benefits from a good cast, which includes experienced Giallo actor Farley Granger and a small role for the popular Susan Scott. Overall, I can't say this is a heavyweight of the genre; but it's certainly worth seeing for the Giallo fan, despite a number of imperfections.

rjstewart An interesting addition to the Giallo genre. Most commentators have concentrated on the apparent misogyny and gratuitous nudity as well as the unfortunate version with porno inserts (which I haven't seen). I'm not sure about the first criticism and as to the second aspect it's an integral part of Giallo. Why else would most of us sit through badly dubbed plodding dialogue and awful acting except for the occasional glimpse of the unadorned form of Babara Bouchet or Sylvia Koscina? To mind my far more interesting is the political undertone referencing the corruption of the upper classes in 1970s Italy which is in tune with "respectable" movies such as 'Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion' and 'Illustrious Corpses'. I wouldn't want to spoil the movie for those haven't seen it, but there are also definite similarities with later efforts such as 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Seven'.In the Giallo catalogue, I'd put this up with 'Don't Torture a Duckling'. Not as flashy as Argento, but it has something. My DVD is I think a video transfer. Maybe time for a proper digital version?

lazarillo The rap on this giallo is that it is especially moralistic and misogynistic; however,I found the first charge to be untrue and the other greatly exaggerated. A crazed killer is murdering unfaithful wives and leaving photographic evidence of their dalliances next to the bodies. This certainly SEEMS pretty moralistic. But the betrayed husbands don't come off any more sympathetically than the wives. Many knew about their wives' infidelities and/or were playing around themselves (one husband of a murder victim is himself having an affair with another murder victim). Moreover, the killer doesn't turn out to be motivated by vengeance. He is killing these women because he can get away with it, because their high society husbands will thwart the investigation of the beleaguered inspector(Farley Granger) at every turn lest they themselves be publicly exposed as cuckolds! This kind of deep cynicism is typical of later period gialli and Italian poliziani films, but there's nothing especially moralistic about it. Viewed in this way, even the final actions of the detective, which are certainly appalling and take away the only remaining likable and sympathetic character in the movie, are clearly more a final act of despairing cynicism than of righteous anger. As for the misogyny charge, the raison d'etre of this movie seems to be to show a lot of attractive European actresses (Silva Koscina, Femi Benussi, Annabella Incontrerra, Nieves Navarro, Krista Nell) in various states of undress, and the filmmakers don't seem to care too much whether these women are alive, dead, or dying at the time. The movie lacks the flair, the garish delerium, and the stylized violence of better gialli, but it's not really all that different in it's attitude toward women--they're a decorative canvas for a painting of depravity and brutality. But just because the painting isn't very good doesn't make this film any more or less morally reprehensible than other gialli. In fact, the only really sympathetic character in the whole movie is the college-age daughter (Angela Covello) of one of the murder victims, who hilariously admonishes her boyfriend's "bourgeois politics" while he fumbles with the buttons on her blouse. The incompetent filmmakers, however, inexplicably drop this potential heroine halfway through. An appealing female protagonist would have done a lot to mitigate the lingering misogyny, but here this movie once again suffers from its own incompetence.