The Case of the Bloody Iris

The Case of the Bloody Iris is one of the most entertaining giallo's of them all.

I do realize that it's far from perfect. It's got wooden performances, childish dialogue, illogical moments (more than a few), plot holes etc..., but it's entertaining as hell. These pure giallo's are guilty pleasures to be sure, featuring a number of knockout damsels in distress, gory murders, black gloved killers, a murder mystery with endless red herrings, law officials without an IQ and almost universally badly dubbed actors.

Here we have it all in abundance and it all works. The women here are quite simply stunning, the murder scenes inventive and well done, the appropriate amount of sleaze, impressive visuals and nice location scenery, a terrific musical score (catchy as hell), decent acting and a fair amount of shocks and suspense. It's also quite funny at times, I've never before or after seen a detective obsessing with stamps.

Highly recommended if you're a fan of giallo films.

After the murder of a call girl in a building, the dweller Mizar Harrington (Carla Brait), who is a fighter and stripper in a nightclub, is drowned in her bathtub by the killer. The administrator and architect Andrea Antinori (George Hilton) offers the apartment to the models Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech) and Marilyn Ricci (Paola Quattrini) for a reasonable price and they move to the flat. Jennifer is the ex-wife of the hippie Adam (Ben Carrá), who forced her to practice group sex and now harasses her all the time. Soon Andrea hits on Jennifer and she becomes his girlfriend. When Adam is found dead in Jennifer's apartment, Andrea becomes the prime suspect of Commissioner Enci (Giampiero Albertini), who assigns his Assistant Commissioner Renzi (Franco Agostini) to follow him everywhere. However, Jennifer believes Andrea is innocent and suspects that one of her neighbors might be the killer.

"Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer?", a.k.a. "The Case of the Bloody Iris", is a Italian thriller silly and predictable. The goofy Marilyn Ricci is an annoying and unfunny character; Commissioner Enci is ridiculous and dull; the dialogs are very poor; and the music score is irritating and dated. It is not difficult to know who the killer is. But may be entertaining for fans of "giallo" genre. My vote is six.

Title (Brazil): "As Lágrimas de Jennifer" ("The Tears of Jennifer")

Giuliano Carnimeo's "Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer?" aka. "The Case Of The Bloody Iris" of 1972 is a great, tantalizing and stylish Giallo that no lover of Italian Horror can afford to miss. A Giallo with Edwige Fenech and George Hilton in the lead should be recommendation enough for a fan of Italian Horror, and this particular film has so much more to offer. I would go even further and say that "The Case Of The Bloody Iris" is a great textbook example for a Giallo: Sleaze and nudity, stylishly violent murders, atmosphere, a jazzy soundtrack and a great cast - this stylish flick has everything that my fellow Giallo-lovers should desire in a film. Nevertheless, I do not agree that this is a giallo-highlight (as some people say). It is a great film, no doubt, but as avid Italian Horror fan (Giallo is one of my favorite genres), I would not name it as one of the highlights of this great sub-genre. That being said, "The Case Of The Bloody Iris" is definitely a great and immensely stylish Giallo that every Horror fan should see.

Seductive beauty queens are being slaughtered one by one in the same house by a masked killer, and the police do not have the slightest clue who the killer could be. When the sexy model Jennifer (Edwige Fenech) moves into a victim's former apartment - and the killer starts stalking her as well...

As mandatory for a good Giallo, the suspense is maintained throughout the movie and the killer's identity and motivations are not revealed until the very end. In a good Giallo almost anybody could be the killer, and "The Case Of The Bloody Iris" sure is no exception here, as almost everybody is suspicious. The characters are very interesting and so is the cast. Sexy Edwige Fenech is always reason enough to see a film, and this is one of the movies that made her a Giallo-queen. George Hilton is also great in the lead, as an architect. Apart from Fenech and Hilton, the cast contains many other familiar faces for fans of Italian genre cinema, such as Giampiero Albertini, who plays the stamp-collecting police commissioner who is investigating the murders. The sexy Carla Brait, who should also be known to genre-fans for her role in Sergio Martino's Giallo-masterpiece "Torso" (1973), is seductive as always as a black stripper. The film is highly atmospheric and excellently photographed in intense colors, and the jazzy soundtrack contributes a lot to the film's style and typical early 70s feeling. All things considered "The Case Of The Bloody Iris" is a great Giallo, that any Horror buff should see. Especially my fellow fans of Italian Horror can not allow themselves to miss this! Highly Recommended!

The quintessential giallo. A perfect example of the golden age of early 70s giallo, replete with gorgeous outfits, a wonderfully modern and terrifying apartment building, a blasé and postmodern approach to violence, hilariously inappropriate music, and zooms galore. Everything about this is everything that giallo "essentially" is at its core, and although there are a few times I wish the excess could have been amped up and the sensuality more lurid and less hinted at, perhaps that's what makes this a good example of the original score of gialli; after all, it was the tendency of filmmakers to move further towards sex and violence at the expense of atmosphere and mis-en-scene that led to the collapse of the genre.

Again, this is just about the perfect giallo film. There is, unfortunately, not much to set it apart, but I also don't think that's necessary when it comes to the well made core gialli. This one is perfect, as an introduction or to rewatch for the 20th time.

Out of all the gialli I own, the Case of the Bloody Iris is the most fun to watch. It has a healthy dose of humour, great atmosphere, beautiful euro-babes, and a tight plot. It's also extremely funky and stylish. A winner all the way.

Edwige Fenech, one of the most jaw-droppingly gorgeous women ever to grace the screen, plays Jennifer, a model who moves into an apartment with her crazy model buddy. The problem is, someone in the building has a habit of killing models, and Jennifer and her pal are next up for a stabbing.

You've got the classic giallo list of suspects, most of which spend their time drooling over Edwige's body: the lesbian neighbour and her father, the old lady and her dark secret, the landlord and his fear of blood, Edwige's ex-husband the cult leader. Plenty of inappropriate sexual advances follow, sometimes under the craziest of circumstances.

Throw in a couple of bumbling cops, some topless wrestling involving the also-gorgeous Carla Berle (Torso, Bronx Warriors), and the dizziest sidekick ever to appear in a giallo, and you've got a great movie right there. Edwige, Carla and some other girls ain't too shy about showing off their assets either, if you know what I'm saying.

Top marks go to Edwige's roommate, who has the best dialogue throughout the entire movie. She's possible my favourite Giallo character ever, what with her non-chalant attitude to everything. At one point she recreates on of the murders with ditsy glee - jumping out of a bath in the scud and shouting "I'm a ghost!", which earns her a seventies slap in the gub.

Get it now - Academic, over serious, chin-strokers with no sense of irony need not apply.