A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN

A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN

(A.k.a. UNA LUCERTOLA CON LA PELLE DI DONNA; SCHIZOID; CAROLE)

London-based Carol (Florinda Balkan) suffers from nightmares of claustrophobia and rape that serve to perfectly illustrate her sexual repression. In these dreams she finds solace in the arms, charms and blood-red bed-sheets of gorgeous neighbour Julia (Anita Strindberg).

Disturbed by these visions, Carol visits psychiatrist Kerr (George Rigaud) in the hope of making sense of them. Unfortunately he convinces her that bisexual Julia is a deviant and, following a disturbed dinner the following day where Carol and her wealthy husband Frank (Jean Sorel) are subjected to the noise of their hippy neighbours' orgy through their apartment's thin walls, her dreams become more violent.

Specifically, she dreams of making wild love to Julia ... and then stabbing her repeatedly with a dagger. Which is a little bit spooky, perhaps, but not too bad - until ... Julia is found dead, in exactly the same manner.

Oh dear. Copper Corvin (Stanley Baker) is most definitely unimpressed and, after a bit of melodrama from Carol and insincere scowling from Frank, she's arrested for the crime.

Even Carol seems to consider the possibility of her being responsible for the murder to begin with, such are the similarities to the crime scene she walks in on and her previous dream. And Corvin is quick to pick up on this, citing her fractured state of mind as grounds for murder.

Kerr, too, has his doubts and reveals them to an outwardly concerned Frank.

But, in a film that keeps the twists coming in-between its snappy hard-boiled dialogue and baroque, psychedelic interludes, can we really rely on anything we see until the truth is finally revealed?

It all gets mental pretty quickly: a hippy friend confesses to the murder moments after Carol is incarcerated; hallucinations escalate to include orgies and eviscerated puppies; everyone - literally, everyone - in Carol's immediate circle becomes a suspect ... could it be that she is the victim of some unfeasibly elaborate stitch-up?

Forget the rather blatant silliness of it all, A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN is a tremendous film.

It is one of the finest examples of the giallo genre available - a taut, clever and supremely controlled whodunit with enough lurid content (gore, nudity, demented characters) to keep even the most jaded Gumshoe hooked.

It's also one of the crowning achievements of director Lucio Fulci's long and illustrious career. Best known in the UK for one-time video nasties ZOMBIE FLESH EATERS, THE HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY and THE BEYOND, it's marvellous that one of the brilliant filmmaker's earlier, more restrained and ultimately more satisfying efforts is finally getting a domestic release on these shores. In a "longest version available" format, no less.

Bolkan is great in the lead role, displaying a completely different side of her persona to that which we saw in FLAVIA THE HERETIC or even DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING. The whole cast - a fairly star-studded affair in Euro-schlock terms - are fantastic, in fact. Ennio Morricone's score is suitably iconic, and Luigi Kuveiller's cinematography is unfalteringly beautiful.

Beyond that, Fulci has rarely been better in terms of surreal set-piece scenes that he actually manages to weave convincingly into a tight crime drama without polluting or diluting it beyond all recognition.

While clearly working on a lesser budget to Dario Argento, Fulci manages to fashion a film that is filled with style, panache and invention. The end result is a giallo which, more so than his more rural DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, is probably the decade's best offering of its ilk outside of THE BIRD WITH THE CRYSTAL PLUMAGE and DEEP RED.

The film is presented in 1.85:1 anamorphic widescreen and is as uncut as it's ever likely to be. The running time on this disc (PAL speed) is 99 minutes and 37 seconds. The film has been restored by Nucleus Films' Marc Morris - surely deserving of a "lifetime's achievement award for services to restoring cult horror films on DVD".

Here, per Optimum's own blurb, "In order to produce the most complete version of the film ever available on DVD, shots have had to be inserted from different sources. In some places only Italian audio is known to exist, in which case we have retained and subtitled the scenes." Actually there is only one scene where this occurs, but English subtitles are defaulted to cater for it.

The film itself looks marginally brighter and cleaner than Shriek Show's remastered, "uncut" re-release which came out Stateside in 2007. It's a lovely presentation by-and-large, although the odd scene - the freaky dream scene where a stork (?) attacks Carol, for example - still look pretty grainy.

2.0 audio is available in Italian and English mixes. They're both good propositions. It's worth noting that, unusually for an Italian genre picture of its era, the English dubbing is very good. But if you can't face it for whatever reason, English subtitles are available on the Italian soundtrack.

The disc opens to a static main menu page boasting the nice cover artwork, which itself is a reproduction of the original US one-sheet poster art.

From there, we get access to the film via a static scene-selection menu which offers 12 chapters.

The only extra on the disc is a 2-minute trailer, in English and full-frame. The condition is pretty terrible, suffering from softness and grain galore. It's an enjoyable relic all the same.

Optimum's release of A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN may skimp on the extras but is the definitive way to view the film. It's the longest version available, and features a new remastered presentation sourced from the original negative.

It's a class act, and comes highly recommended.

Review by Stu Willis


 
Released by Optimum Home Entertainment
Region 2 - PAL
Rated 18
Extras :
see main review
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