Massimo Dallamno takes the most sleaziest of premises and smothers it in luscious cinematography (by Joe D'Amato) and a silky Ennio Morricone soundtrack, to produce something uniquely Italian.
It starts of fairly giallo like, with Italian teacher Enrico floating down the Thames on a boat with schoolgirl Elizabeth (Cristina Galbo, who hasn't aged a day since playing a schoolgirl in The House That Screamed three years earlier). Enrico wants to get into her pants, but Elizabeth tries what Enrico thinks is yet another delay tactic - that of claiming she saw a girl being chased in the bushes, and the flash of a knife. Enrico only has one bush in mind and stomps off in a huff.
Unluckily for Enrico, a girl is found dead with a huge blade rammed into her most private of parts, and she's one of his pupils from the school he works in as a teacher! Enrico now has to try and cover up the affair he's having with Elizabeth, not only from his cold, distant wife, but also from all the staff at the school he works at. He probably shouldn't have dropped that pen when he flounced off either, because now he's got a cop on his tail too.
In an effort to clear his name, Enrico has to hunt down the killer too, and sort out his love life! Maybe Elizabeth can remember something about that day on the river, or if she can't maybe she should shut up and stop using the flashbacks as an excuse to tell Enrico she's not in the mood. Enrico embarks on a journey where everyone around him is a suspect, from the priests as the girls school, to the janitor, and what has the mysterious girl Solange got to do with it all?
This is the beginning of a giallo trilogy by Massimo Dallamano that continues with What Have You Done With Our Daughters and Rings of Terror (written by Dallamano, but filmed after his death). All involve schoolgirls who are a lot less innocent that they appear to be, and all include rampant schoolgirl nudity that is kind of frowned upon these days (don't worry though, we are not in Borderline Jimmy Saville Territory (or BJST) here, as it's mentioned a few times that girls are about eighteen, and very evident that the actresses involved left school long before they appeared in this film!). There's a bizarre scene where the girls all have a communal shower and cigarettes at the same time, which aren't two activities you'd usually associate with each other.
This is a highly rated giallo due to the complex plot and amazing visuals, plus Fabio Testi always makes a good leading man. I've got to admit the plot was quite absorbing as well, as the focus shifts around various peripheral characters throughout, and Camille Keaton as the strange Solange definitely makes her mark. There was one bit that was rather iffy though - if a witness has a vital piece of evidence, would you have her blurt it out in front of every suspect in the film? Apart from that, this might be a good starting point for anyone interested in this kind of film.
