Rating: **
Alternate Title: So Sweet, So Dead
Review Date: 7/22/24
Cast: Farley Granger, Sylva Koscina, Femi Benussi
Whoever came up with the title for this film would be hard-pressed to find a more awkward sounding one. Adultery is the name of the game, and a serial killer is murdering unfaithful high society wives. Nearly everyone in the film has got a lover or two on the side, so there's no shortage of victims in this trashy giallo thriller. Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) is on the case, but his hands are tied due to the victims' political connections. It's a battle of wits as Capuana waits for the killer to slip up, but time is running out for him.
It's a standard giallo thriller with all of the requisite trappings. The killer is dressed in a black trench coat, black gloves, a black hat, and a black stocking over his face, and he attacks his victims with a switchblade knife. Naturally, the victims are all beautiful young women who have a hard time keeping their clothes on. It's an exploitation film to the core, and serves up plenty of sex, violence, nudity, and tawdry thrills. The inspector remains baffled and helpless for the majority of the film as the bodies pile up, and then somehow miraculously solves the case in the last few minutes. The killer's motives are never explained, and they evidently just enjoy the righteous thrill of slaughtering pretty women as a pastime. Of course, the men are never punished for their infidelity and questionable behavior, and there are only two viable suspects, so it's not hard to figure out who the perpetrator is.
The production values are average, and a melancholy music score helps add a sense of drama and sadness to the entire affair. The women are all lovely, except they all wear very bizarre eye makeup. Even for the early 70's, it looks strange and out of place, but it could also be a European thing. Speaking of which, it's an Italian production performed in English, and the dubbing is questionable at best. The film also suffers from several continuity errors which make it hard to follow at times, and the women look so similar that I was often confused by who was who. Sylva Koscina (with a regrettable hairdo) somehow gets second billing, despite the fact that she only has a half dozen scenes. However, the fact that she was still doffing her clothes at 39 is an impressive feat for anyone in the industry. Femi Benussi has the most gratuitous death scene of the bunch, as she is attacked on a beach in slow motion. Genre fans who know what they're getting into will probably enjoy this guilty grindhouse pleasure.