Director: Lucio Fulci
Producer: Edmondo Amati
Music: Riz Ortolani
Screenplay: Lucio Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, Jose Luis Martinez Molla
Starring: Marisa Mell, Jean Sorel, Elsa Martinelli, John Ireland, Faith Domergue
Dr. George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel) runs a San Francisco medical clinic which is suffering from more than just money problems; the clinic is on the verge of ruin. Other medical clinics don’t take kindly to the fabrications of complicated surgeries supposedly being performed at the clinic in order to boaster it’s reputation.
When George’s crumbling marriage is abruptly brought to an end when his sickly wife, Susan, is found dead from an apparent asthma attack, he is left to take comfort in his mistress, Jane (Elsa Martinelli). Suspicion surrounding Susan’s death quickly falls on George after it is discovered she had taken out a $2 million insurance policy months before her death, all in George’s name. This money quickly relieves George of his debt at the clinic, but George’s troubles are only just beginning.
After supposedly being called to the clinic and having to leave Jane during a dinner date, George instead heads in to a strip club for some frisky night time entertainment. But Jane is quick to George’s deception and she confront him in the club, but they both become intrigued by a stripper George came to watch who bares a striking resemblance to George’s recently deceased wife.
George secretly makes a date with the stripper Monica Weston (Marisa Mell), who does a little prostitution on the side, so money soon begins to change hands. But the similarities to his dead wife are unnerving, and he quickly feels he’s losing his mind.
The insurance company, who have been following George as he conducts his post married and $2 million richer life, go to the police with photographs of what they believe are George and Susan together. The insurance company are under the impression that Susan’s death was faked in a conspiracy to get the insurance money. But upon exhuming the body of Susan, an autopsy reveals that the body is indeed Susan, but it is also shows that she had been poisoned.
Monica is brought in for questioning by the police and she confesses that she was blackmailing George, as she knew the truth behind the murder and how George used a nurse to poison his wife. As the police build their case against George, he is arrested and finally convicted of murder, and as he waits for the gas chamber Jane desperately tries to prove his innocence.
This early Lucio Fulci giallo is miles apart from his later gore films (Zombie, The Beyond etc.). Fulci’s uncanny knack at takings things to the limits is still very evident, but this time in the films sexual content. Although not extremely graphic, the films contains a healthy amount of flesh on display. There is an interestingly filmed concept used a couple times during the film, in one instance, a sex scene is shot from within the bed – through the sheets!
As far as giallo movies go this one is pretty cool, there are plenty of red herrings and enough to keep you guessing a lot of the way through, to varying degrees. What is unique about this giallo is that all is revealed about 20 minutes before the end, and then we are left to watch how this will impact the remainder of the film; and there is definitely a surprise ending which you’ll be hard pushed to see coming. Great stuff!
