The Film:
Most people know director Luciano Ercoli for some of his later films such as Death Walks On High Heels and Death Walks At Midnight rather than his debut attempt, The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Suspicion, a film that also saved his production company from bankruptcy. Starring Dagmar Lassander (Hatchet For The Honeymoon, House by The Cemetery), Susan Scott (Penetration, Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals) and Simon Andreu (The Blood Spattered Bride), co-written by Ernesto Gastaldi and with a score from Ennio Morricone, The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion was one of hundreds of Italian produced giallos that appeared in the years following Dario Argento's Oscar winning The Bird With Crystal Plumage.
Lassander plays Minou, a housewife who has more than one problem. She drinks to much, has an addiction to tranquilisers and doesn't see as much of her hardworking, company owning husband Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi - Black Lemons, Innocents From Hell) as she would like. One evening, when walking along the beach, she is chased by a man on a motorcycle, who eventually catches up with her and undoes her dress using a knife. He doesn't do anything else to her, but obviously, it scares her senseless. Before Minou realises it, she is thrust into a tale of seduction, blackmail and murder. She finds out from the man that chased her that her husband may have killed someone who he owed money to, in order to save his company, and the mysterious man has a recording on tape. Minou pays him with sex and money to keep him quiet, and when everything eventually comes out into the open, she keeps seeing the man, yet nobody else does. The doctor believes it could be the tranquilisers making her see things and Minou even believes she is going mad herself until the film meets an unexpected twist at the end.
The Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Above Suspicion is an excellent foray into giallo, though it doesn't contain scenes synonamous with the genre such as a high death count and nudity. Instead, the film relies on flashback scenes to provide the viewer more thought into what happens in the supposed sex scenes, making the story tighter than I expected. A great plot and some good acting (though not great), make way for a fun film, that strays slightly from the items that make an excellent giallo, yet still keeps you glued to the screen. Recommended.
The DVD:
Video:
I've read several reviews of this title that all say the video is excellent but I must disagree with them. The picture is good (and in OAR of 2.35:1 anamorphically enhanced), but unfortunately suffers from some edge enhancement throughout. Other than that, everything is fine, and there was surprisingly little grain on the print. No subtitles have been offered for the film which is a shame.
Audio:
Blue Underground have presented the film with an English 2.0 Dual Mono track. Although the film is Italian made, all the actors have given good English performances. The dub is slightly out of synch by about a 1/10th of a second but you soon get used to it. There is also slight hiss present in the background during some, but not all, scenes.
Extras:
Forbidden Screenplays: Interview With Co-Writer Ernesto Gastaldi - A nice, though short at nine minutes, featurette, Gastaldi tells us some more about how he came to write screenplays and how he came to collaborate with director Luciano Ercoli. He goes into more depth about the strength of giallo films in Italy during the seventies and doesn't give a dull moment. Well worth a watch.
Theatrical Trailer - The original trailer running for a little over three minutes.
