This movie will probably not appeal to people who are not already hardcore giallo fans, and even those who are might find their patience somewhat taxed at times. It has the usual assets of a giallo--beautiful people, beautiful scenery, and an interesting (if not always appropriate) soundtrack. On the other hand, the story ends up ultimately being pretty trite, and the movie is even more non-linear and choppily edited than your usual giallo (at times it seems like a long, early 70's version of a music video). The acting is also less than compelling. The above-the-title star, Erna Schurer, was strictly a second-tier Eurobabe, but even she's only really only in the very beginning and the very end. Most of the movie is carried by the attractive, but less-than-charismatic Luis LaTorre, Monica Strebel, and Lorenza Guerreri.
A gigolo (LaTorre) breaks up with his wealthy, married(?) girlfriend (Schurer). He consoles himself by taking his boat out to resort island where he meets a pair of beautiful models (Strebel and Guerreri). He starts an affair with one of the women (Guerreri), and they go out to a remote island where they decide to take some kinky pictures of themselves with the man apparently raping and strangling the woman. The man quickly finds himself in trouble though when both the woman and the "incriminating" roll of film mysteriously disappear. Before long he finds himself being blackmailed by a mysterious woman. In a nice touch, the film leaves it a little ambiguous whether the man is actually guilty of the crime or is just a Hitchcockian innocent; the problem is the guy is such a complete douchebag he doesn't manage to be either sinister or sympathetic, let alone both. Meanwhile, the other woman (Strebel) inexplicably falls in love with this dipstick, even though he may be responsible for the disappearance of her long-time friend. Even a hardened giallo enthusiast may find this a little hard to swallow, but with somebody unaccustomed to these absurd giallo conceits, it will no doubt make his or head head explode. Still, a strong ending might have redeemed this, but alas...
Director Mario Imperioli is perhaps most famous for "Monica"and "Blue Jeans", a couple of bizarre comedy-dramas featuring Italian sex kitten Gloria Guida. Guida was not exacting a seething cauldron of acting talent herself, but this movie would have greatly benefited even from the presence of someone of her caliber. Strebel and Guerreri had only appeared in small parts in movies like "Slaughter Hotel" and "Sex of the Witch", so they are only as good as can be expected, while Schurer was not exactly a top talent either, even if her role here was not so completely phoned in. The real problem though is LaTorre. If you're a giallo completist, this is worth seeing, but otherwise you might not want to bother. . .
