"I may be homosexual but I am not homicidal!" -- "Cleopatra."
An unknown killer is running around murdering women who are having affairs. The maniac leaves photos of the women and their lovers, although the latter's faces are scratched off. (Which begs the question: how can the police be so certain that the man in the photo is the lover and not the husband? At least we know that the killer gets the photos while stalking his victims.) In any case Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) is assigned to track down the killer and pursues a number of leads before getting distressing information about the extracurricular activities of his own wife (Sylva Koscina of Hercules Unchained). Along the way he consults with Professor Casali (Chris Avram of The Killer Reserved Nine Seats), stumbles over a number of corpses, and interviews the lawyer Santangeli (Silvano Tranguilli), who's having an affair with a neighbor even as his own wife goes off for a dalliance. (You need a scorecard to count the affairs as well as the corpses.) Farley Granger, Koscina, and the other cast members acquit themselves professionally and the film is undeniably suspenseful, with a satisfying climax. Luciano Rossi plays the weird Gastone and Nieves Navarro is another victim.
NOTE: New hardcore footage with porn star Harry Reems was inserted -- no pun intended -- into this film under the title Penetration. It was taken out of release in the U.S. after Farley Granger threatened a lawsuit.
Verdict: Definitely one of the better giallo films. ***
Have never heard of this one but on your recommendation and the fact that Farley Granger is in it (I love him!), I'm putting this one on my list. Have you ever seen the TV version of Laura he did with Princess Lee Radziwill in the 1960s? I saw it was on YouTube and wondered if you had ever seen it. (Something they should have put in that Capote/Swans series...which I also hope you'll write about.)
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I just rushed to youtube to see if the Lee Radziwill Laura was still on youtube, but no such luck. I keep hoping it will turn up. I did see it when it first aired. I believe the whole family watched and we were all hysterical at poor Lee's very bad acting. I would love to see it again for camp value if nothing else. I intend to look at the Capote Feud series in the near-future.
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