A what in who's skin?

This week we're talking about:

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971).

This Giallo is directed by Italian horror Maestro, Lucio Fulci, who also directed Don't Torture a Duckling (1972), which we've talked about before. Interestingly after Duckling was released, Fulci was accused in court of corrupting a minor until he could prove that it was an adult little person. In Lizard, he was accused of excessive animal cruelty until he could prove, again in court, that it was all special effects. Fulci had bad luck with Gialli and the law.

The story is this: Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan), her husband Frank Hammond (Jean Sorel) and Frank's teenage daughter Joan (Ely Galleani) live in an expensive flat in London. Frank, a lawyer, works for Carol's father, Edmond Brighton who is a wealthy lawyer and politician. Carol sees a therapist in order to come to grips with the vivid and disturbing dreams that torment her. Most of these dreams are about her being seduced by their neighbor Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg). Julia is a bit of a pest in the building as she likes to host drug fueled orgies that are very loud.

One night Carol dreams that she stabs Julia to death, and soon after, Julia is found murdered. Things get worse when it turns out that she was killed in exactly the same way as in Carols dream. The question becomes, did Carol kill Julia? If so, was she even aware that she did it? Was it someone else trying to frame and destroy her by driving her mad?

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin is set and shot in London, presumably because, like with The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire, it was a bit fancier than filming in Italy. Fulci does a great job with the scenery here. He fully uses the fancy old buildings and the rolling green fields that are so unlike Italy. In fact, it lends the movie an almost Hammer Horror feel that other Gialli don't have.

Something that confused me at first was how Fulci mostly uses steady shots that allow you to take in everything, but then suddenly uses a handheld, shaking camera with closeups. Then it dawned on me that this only happens when Carol is extremely agitated. The shaking camera mimics her shaking hands as she lights a cigarette to calm her shattered nerves. There is also a brilliant bit when a person is breaking down a door and every time the door is struck, the camera quickly zooms in on Carol. Annoying at first, but effective at hitting us with some of the stress she feels. One could perhaps accuse Fulci of being gimmicky, but it's done well, and I call it clever camera work.

The actors are all really good, no complaints, and the music by Ennio Morricone is... there.

Besides all that, the standout part for me is the story. Sure, the theme of the heroine loosing her mind as she tries to escape the clutches of a deranged killer is not only a regular theme in Giallo, it's pretty overused, but Fulci does something a bit different with this tired trope. I completely failed to solve the mystery and I had a blast doing so. This is an extremely well crafted movie in every aspect. It doesn't cheat, it actually tells you everything, but putting all the clues together in the right order, and from the correct perspective is the tricky bit.

So, do I recommend this movie? Absolutely! A Lizard in a Woman's Skin rocketed up into my top list of Gialli. It is in my opinion one of the best in the genre. Just be warned that there is a lot of nudity, some simulated sex and while the gore overall isn't that bad, the scene that landed Fulci in court is extremely disturbing and gruesome. Be careful who you watch this movie with and you'll be fine.

That's that and all that. Join me again next time and until then, have a great week!