Listonixio Fresh and Exciting

Intcatinfo A Masterpiece!

ThedevilChoose When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.

Fleur Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

gavin6942 An insurance scam lands a man on death row for murdering his wife. What everyone does not know is she really is not dead.This film has been cited as having been inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's film "Vertigo". Indeed, it has that Hitchcock feel, perhaps much more than the usual giallo. Being filmed in San Francisco does not hurt. The film also has been cited as a thematic precursor to later films such as "Basic Instinct" and "Body of Evidence". Was there a conscious connection? From what I understand, the film has a few different release versions. I one I saw was "Perversion Story", which is said to be the smutty one. Indeed, it is quite smutty and personally I could have used less of that. But the plot is no less good, and although Fulci is best known for horror, he clearly had thrillers mastered as well.

jadavix "Perversion Story", as it is hilariously known, is an extremely entertaining stroll through the psychedelic, kinky '60s with some negligible giallo properties.'69 must have been the height of the whole 'porno chic' thing where strippers and nude photo shoots were not considered sleazy in the least. Rather they had merged with the sex positive, flower power sixties, so when the characters visit a strip club, along with improbably beautiful models, they get girls dancing in front of psychedelic projections and multi coloured balloons everywhere. The photo shoot is weird in the stupidest way, with private parts covered with miscellaneous stickers for no reason other than it was the sixties, man.The movie is only nominally a giallo. There's barely any violence, and certainly no black gloved killer stalking the beautiful, nearly naked model. It's less of a whodunit than a "did he do it" - the movie's protagonist ends up on death row. I was surprised that I actually cared about the conclusion: the movie is a triumph of style; you don't care what it's about, you're enjoying the ride too much. This is Fulci at the height of his powers of direction. He didn't need a story when it looked this good.

happyendingrocks Lucio Fulci's stamp on this meandering and largely forgettable soft-boiled thriller is pretty much limited to his name in the credits. Though Perversion Story pre-dates Fulci's emergence as one of the most beloved Italian horror directors of all time, most genre fans who take a look at this early experiment will end up wishing that he had found his dark muse sooner.Granted, Perversion Story isn't unwatchable, and as a fairly standard twist-driven caper there are times when the film works quite well. Fulci certainly takes a stylish approach to the affair, and manages to wring a fair amount of suspense out of the often-incomprehensible plot. But the absurd denouement falls resoundingly flat, and any steam Fulci builds along the way is abruptly quelled when the film unravels in the final act.The story centers around the womanizing Dr. Dumurrier, his shady mistress, and a stripper/prostitute who bears a striking resemblance to the physician's dead wife, Susan. When police discover that Mrs. Dumurrier was poisoned, suspicion naturally falls upon the doctor, who finds himself $2-million richer thanks to a particularly generous life insurance policy. As the plot unfolds, we discover that Dr. Dumurrier may be being framed for the murder, and more startlingly, that Susan may not actually be dead at all.Despite the alternate titles' emphasis on the carnal components of the story, Fulci's reliance on soft-core sex to drive the movie is actually notably restrained. Only a couple of sequences venture into that territory, and the flat, mechanical nature of the performers' congress strips these sequences of much of their eroticism. However, Fulci does a fine job of using artistic lighting and angles to heighten the sensuality of these scenes, and thanks to nifty touches like a camera shot looking up through the mattress at the writhing bodies above, even if the actors look bored while they explore each other, you won't be bored watching them.Elsewhere, the acting is decidedly above par, with excellent performances from Jean Sorel and the sultry Marisa Mell as Dr. Dumurrier and exotic dancer Monica Weston, respectively. The strongest moments of the film revolve around the sparring between these two characters, and the film doesn't really veer off track until the grander scheme takes center stage.Some of the intricacies of the plot are a bit muddled and hard to digest, and the film errs by spending too much time forcing us to follow ultimately inconsequential characters in an attempt to plant red herrings. The basic story is sturdy enough on its own, and a more tidy presentation would probably have served it much better.The climactic reveal by the character responsible for the machinations plaguing Dr. Dumurrier's life plays out like a James Bond super-criminal confessing their entire nefarious plot, and brings the dangling threads together in a lazy and unsatisfying fashion. The final fate that befalls the villains of the piece likewise fails to pack a punch, and when you really sit down and ponder the logistics of their comeuppance, it ends up being the most absurd element in the film. Worse, by the time this allegedly shocking finale arrives, things have become so tedious and dull that you probably won't really care what happens anyway.Regardless of the more interesting elements at work here, even the most ardent Fulci completist isn't likely to visit this entry on his resume very often. However, if you simply need this in your library, I'd advise you to seek out the Severin DVD edition, which includes a CD of the solid musical score as a bonus. But my most sincere recommendation is to skip this entire fiasco and use the time to watch Zombie again instead.

Coventry "One on top of the Other" predates the biggest successes of Lucio Fulci as a director and definitely his still on-going reputation as The Godfather of Gore. Yet, this is one best films he ever made and it unquestionably ranks among the most solidly plotted gialli ever! From the first minute to the very last, "One on top of the Other" is a compelling thriller that constantly introduces mysterious characters and features clever red herrings until everything sorts out nicely in the astonishing denouement. The story is suitably set in San Francisco, where the infamous doctor George Dummurier owns a private clinic but spends most of his time on the road with his mistress Jane. When George's actual wife unexpectedly dies from a fatal asthma-attack, he receives a two million dollar paycheck from the insurance company. This naturally raises questions, as everybody knew that the couple wasn't happily married. The police suspects George of murder, but things get even more complicated when a nightclub stripper, who's the reflecting image of George's dead wife, is frequently spotted in his company. Despite also being known as "Perversion Story", this movie mainly focuses on style and tension, and the only remotely gore sequence involves an autopsy on a decomposing body. The lack of further murders or sleaze is a bit of a weakness, but this is widely compensated by Fulci's concentration on coherence for a change, and the multiple tributes to classic Film Noirs and Alfred Hitchcock's repertoire. The acting performances are at least ten times better than usual in Italian horror productions, with Marisa Mell ("Danger: Diabolik!", "Seven Blood-Stained Orchids") and Jean Sorel ("Short Night of the Glass Dolls", "Lizard in a Woman's Skin") really leaving a good impression. The music by Riz Ortolani is mesmerizing, as always, the choreography is often very imaginative and there's some splendid camera-work with multiple great shots of San Francisco locations. In case you're an admirer of story-driven crime films, or just Italian cinema in general, this is definitely a movie you should keep an eye open for! You were the man, Lucio... And we miss miss you more every day!