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| Jean-Louis Trintignant and Carroll Baker |
SO SWEET ... SO PERVERSE (aka
Cosi dolce ,,, cosi perversa//1969). Director: Umberto Lenzi.
Jean Reynard (Jean-Louis Trintignant) lives with his wife, Danielle (Erika Blanc), in a Paris apartment. Danielle has stopped sleeping with Jean, which necessitates his having affairs. Jean becomes intrigued with the woman, Nicole (Carroll Baker of The Fourth Victim), who has moved into the apartment upstairs, and learns that she is being dominated by a lover named Klaus (Horst Frank). It isn't long before one of these people is murdered, while the other three accuse the others of pretending this victim is still alive -- which may even be true ...
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| Jean-Louis Trintignant and Erika Blanc |
So Sweet ... So Perverse is essentially a retread of
Diabolique, with its own twists, including that one of the female characters has come to realize she is a lesbian. The actors use their real voices, but the over-dubbing makes their performances, especially Baker's, seem a little off. Erika Blanc decidedly gives the most impressive performance. An unintentionally hilarious moment occurs when the police insist on one character making an ID in the morgue, although the corpse has been described as "completely unrecognizable!" This is one of four movies that Carroll Baker did for director Umberto Lenzi:
Knife of Ice;
Paranoia, which was originally called
Orgasmo; and
A Quiet Place to Kill, which was originally called
Paranoia! Go figure!
Verdict: Minor but absorbing suspense film -- and nominal giallo -- with some new twists on an old idea. **1/2.
I did watch this recently on Tubi and enjoyed it. I am a huge Carroll Baker fan and thanks to you, Bill, am learning more about these early 70s Italian movies she made. I also saw her in Baba Yaga which I didn't like as much as this one.
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I will have to check out Baba Yaga! I like Baker, too, and will be watching/reviewing a couple more of her Italian horror "epics" in the near-future.
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