Giallo’s a bit of a problem genre for horror fans. Sometimes they’re crime films with a tendency towards horror and sometimes they’re horror films with a bit of crime added to the mix. Obviously a decent Giallo film will press buttons that are common to both genres, but there’s also the added occasional promise of a director who’s going to – er, how shall I put this delicately – go a little batshit crazy on us. After all this is the world that brought us a master like Dario Argento. But it also brings us someone like Lucio Fulci. I’ve seen barely any of Fulci’s massive output, but I already know he can be relied on to throw narrative and structure out of the window for the sake of a bit of madness. I mean have you watched “House by the Cemetery” recently? Can you remember the plot? Here’s my attempt: there’s some bloody killings in an old house, a kid that’s having dreams, some sort of zombie mad scientist in the cellar… it’s like trying to piece together a dream. And although not as striking, or bloody, “A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin” is another example of this tendency of Fulci.
Recently I watched the decidedly iffy Dublin set Giallo “Iguana with the Tongue of Fire” and although “Lizard” is a lot better, it does share a lot of elements. There’s an arbitrary foreign location (London this time, so we get Stanley Baker wandering through it like he’s in a different film, constantly whistling) and an equally vaguely explained title. In fact there are moments in this film where you can probably define almost all of the most – er – Giallest elements of Giallos. Dream sequences that never bare any similarity to any dream you’ve ever had (Have you ever dreamt of nightmarish and never explained geese? Wouldn’t it have made more sense to have her, you know, dream of at least a lizard?) Stylish score (Morricone at his best here)? Pointless sexy shenanigans? Vague and ill explained plot? Narrative that takes detours depending on whatever mad idea the director has (in this case the infamous an utterly pointless dog experiment sequence which nearly got the film banned)? Lots of attractive euro-beefcake failing to act with some confused, washed up English or Hollywood stars? All of these are present and correct here.
What of the plot? Well… There’s something about a woman suffering from paranoid dreams and maybe/ maybe not being a murderer, but I rather suspect you could watch this in the original Italian and still be about as clear about what the film’s about. There are some nice moments in it: amongst the standard writhing naked bodies of the dream sequences, there’s a moment where the heroine unexpectedly finds the long corridor she’s running down suddenly has no floor. And there’s also a genuinely thrilling chase sequence through a deserted theatre between the heroine and a couple of badly sketched killer hippies, which is the biggest tip of the hat to most Giallo directors’ hero, Alfred Hitchcock. And for horror fans? There’s lots of blood, the dreaded dog sequence and, when the director can remember to maintain it, the occasional threat of something nasty just around the corner. But in general, any film where you have to list the bits that are good to try and justify it isn’t going to be considered a classic of any kind. But that’s the lot of a horror fan isn’t it? Wade through the nonsense in the vain hope that you might just find something, anything, worth the effort for. But not here, sadly. Sorry!
Review by Chris Browning
