The Slasher ...is the Sex Maniac! (1972) User Reviews

So Sweet, So Dead, So Booby

[Bezenby · 6/10 · 1 December 2017]

Someone is the classic giallo uniform (hat, gloves, raincoat, stocking over the face) is murdering the adulterous wives of the upper classes and leaving pictures of their crimes at the scene. Try not to focus on the men in this situation getting off without punishment - just go with the flow.

A moustachioed Farley Granger is on the case, which quickly becomes a serial killer case when another unfaithful woman is stalked, in slow motion, on a beach, then slashed to death. Farley finds pictures scattered about that crime scene too, although the offending male always has his face scored out. Who could be putting paid to the pampered people of the pompous populace?

So everyone that's rich is knocking boots with each other, we find out as all the surviving ladies have a naked massage thing going on. Silvano Trinquili is having it off with his neighbour, whose husband is crippled, and when she's murdered, her husband stupidly falls down a flight of stairs and dies, which may be the most pointless random death in a giallo I've watched to date.

Oh, and there's the obvious red herring. Played of course by Luciano Rossi, this red herring is the guy who prepares the corpses - he loves running his hands over them and speaking to them and tells the policeman that they are at the most beautiful in this state. I think the character's name was Reddo Herringi.

Although it is packed full of naked women, the plot kind of plods along bumping off people here and there. The ending is a cracker however - one of those out of nowhere endings you get in Italian cinema (see Black Turin for another one I didn't see coming). This is one of those gialli that you'll get to once you've watched the more interesting ones.

Giallo 101.

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 11 December 2021]

It's the 1970s, so everyone is having an affair. It's Italy, so all the women are hot. It's a giallo, so there's a killer on the prowl, and he's targeting all those unfaithful beautiful Italian wives, mutilating their bodies with a knife and leaving behind evidence of their illicit behaviour. Farley Granger plays Capuana, the inspector on the case, whose investigation ultimately leads to a shocking personal discovery.

Roberto Bianchi Montero's So Sweet, So Dead is a textbook giallo, with a plot that offers up several suspects (although it's not too difficult to work out the identity of the killer), a big subplot that goes absolutely nowhere (beautiful Bettina witnessing the murder of her father's mistress), plenty of opportunity to ogle the very attractive actresses in the altogether, a touch of gore, and a killer who shops at Psycho Italiano, the boutique of choice for all serious Euro-maniacs (where they stock a complete range of trench-coats, fedoras, and leather gloves, plus the latest in black stocking masks and switchblades). Hell, there's even a bottle or two of J&B on show, and it don't get more giallo than that!

Even though the story is fairly routine, and the film lacks the visual style of the likes of Argento or Bava, the numerous kills and frequent nudity (babes in the buff include Femi Benussi, Krista Nell and Sylva Koscina) should keep most giallo fans happy for the duration.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for hilarious camp queen Cleopatra, for the surprisingly dark ending, and for having one of the longest Italian titles for a giallo that I am aware of (Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile - which is even longer than Il tuo Visio e una Stanza Chiusa e Solo io ne ho la Chiave AKA Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key).

the knife and the flesh

[andrabem · 7/10 · 14 February 2008]

One of the things I like in the gialli is their mixture of sex and crime - you can have your thrills and watch at the same time beautiful women with scanty or no dress at all being pursued and killed - their eyes bulge in terror, they scream, their beautiful arms try to defend themselves and finally they lie still .... so sweet... so dead! Very politically incorrect, I know! But we can't deny that we all have our darker side - personally, in real life, I don't like violence, but in my imagination many things can happen - I can even fly!

Other attractive thing in the gialli is their sense of improvisation - as they are made mainly on a low budget, many times, friends and relatives are called to act in minor roles, or to work in the crew. This is why "So sweet, so dead" (Rivelazioni di un....) transmits a feeling of spontaneity. Scenes like a party in a house, friends playing volleyball etc. feel natural. There are also some comic touches added here and there and Luciano Rossi gives us his usual dose of weird humor. Women are getting undressed most of the time, and some, as soon as they undress, get killed. I think you already know the plot: A serial killer is murdering all the unfaithful wives in a well-to-do circle.

The final scene is somewhat shocking! It seems to condone the killer's feelings, if not his actions. If you take the film seriously, you won't like it. Take the film as it is, with its fast and active camera work, lots of female flesh and thrills, and you can't go wrong.

Accuse the film of misogynistic or of whatever you want. Explain me just one thing: Why is it that beautiful women from all over the world went to Italy to get barbarically killed in the gialli? Just answer me that. Enjoy!

Not good, but somewhat misunderstood, giallo

[lazarillo · 31 October 2004]

The rap on this giallo is that it is especially moralistic and misogynistic; however,I found the first charge to be untrue and the other greatly exaggerated. A crazed killer is murdering unfaithful wives and leaving photographic evidence of their dalliances next to the bodies. This certainly SEEMS pretty moralistic. But the betrayed husbands don't come off any more sympathetically than the wives. Many knew about their wives' infidelities and/or were playing around themselves (one husband of a murder victim is himself having an affair with another murder victim). Moreover, the killer doesn't turn out to be motivated by vengeance. He is killing these women because he can get away with it, because their high society husbands will thwart the investigation of the beleaguered inspector(Farley Granger) at every turn lest they themselves be publicly exposed as cuckolds! This kind of deep cynicism is typical of later period gialli and Italian poliziani films, but there's nothing especially moralistic about it. Viewed in this way, even the final actions of the detective, which are certainly appalling and take away the only remaining likable and sympathetic character in the movie, are clearly more a final act of despairing cynicism than of righteous anger.

As for the misogyny charge, the raison d'etre of this movie seems to be to show a lot of attractive European actresses (Silva Koscina, Femi Benussi, Annabella Incontrerra, Nieves Navarro, Krista Nell) in various states of undress, and the filmmakers don't seem to care too much whether these women are alive, dead, or dying at the time. The movie lacks the flair, the garish delerium, and the stylized violence of better gialli, but it's not really all that different in it's attitude toward women--they're a decorative canvas for a painting of depravity and brutality. But just because the painting isn't very good doesn't make this film any more or less morally reprehensible than other gialli. In fact, the only really sympathetic character in the whole movie is the college-age daughter (Angela Covello) of one of the murder victims, who hilariously admonishes her boyfriend's "bourgeois politics" while he fumbles with the buttons on her blouse. The incompetent filmmakers, however, inexplicably drop this potential heroine halfway through. An appealing female protagonist would have done a lot to mitigate the lingering misogyny, but here this movie once again suffers from its own incompetence.

So Sweet..So Dead(The Slasher)

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 24 May 2009]

Recently appointed Homicide detective, Inspector Capuana(Farley Granger)must uncover the identity of a serial killer who preys upon the adulterous bourgeoisie wives of High Society prominent city figures. The "sex maniac"(..he doesn't sexually molest his victims, but murders them because of their whoring ways)leaves photographs at the scene of the crime containing the victim with her lover in the act of passion. The very intelligent killer wears a stocking over his face, fedora hat, coat, black leather gloves, and uses a knife to stab his victims multiple times in a vicious, cold-blooded manner as they seek help, finding no one. Capuana is put in a corner by his superiors because he is not allowed to question the husbands of those killed, yet comes under scrutiny from the press in his difficulty catching the fiend. Paolo Santangeli(Silvano Tranquilli)is a very successful attorney with many affluent clients whose daughter sees the killer murder his lover(..and next door neighbor whose husband, after attempting suicide, is an impotent cripple).

Solid casting of Granger adds quality to this ultra-sleazy giallo(..if you're looking for a giallo that doesn't skimp on the nudity, SO SWEET..SO DEAD is just right for you)with a really powerful conclusion(..it concerns Capuana himself and a sad, startling discovery really packs an emotional wallop;equally shocking is Capuana's decision not to help a victim in need). What I found truly amusing was how practically all married women were screwing around with a man behind their husband's back(..although, in Paolo's case, he and his wife, Franca, played by Annabelle Incontrera, both have open affairs with other people). Basically this film features bored, beautiful, glamorous women playing hanky panky while their hubbies are away on business. A minor problem that rather nagged me a bit was the inclusion of a sub-plot that is left unattended..Paolo's daughter, Bettina(Angela Covello)and her boyfriend Piero(Fabrizio Moresco)are featured, with her witnessing the murderer at work, seemingly a major development which will have the girl in mortal terror, only for it to be abandoned later altogether. Some of the most curvy, attractive, gorgeous European women you'll see in a giallo, parade(..without shame)around nude, stripping from their elegant wardrobes, without any inhibitions. Particularly tasty is Nieves Navarro as Lilly(Paolo's lover), Sylva Koscina(..as Capuana's wife), and Krista Nell as Renata(..a victim who attempts to escape up a spiral staircase, soon trapped and stabbed).Chris Avram is Professor Casali, a coroner(..and Capuana's confident)working with the police. Luciano Rossi is Casali's assistant, Gastone, a real weirdo who takes nude photographs of his dead ladies once his work is completed.

He liked his victims naked and slashed.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 2 September 2012]

"So Sweet So Dead" aka "The Slasher Is...the Sex Maniac" tells the story of a Italian detective Inspector Capuana who tries to catch an elusive serial killer entirely clad in black a la "Blood and Black Lace".The killer's victims are sexy and nude or semi-nude married women who cheat on their husbands.Our killer is a misogynistic slasher who enjoys stabbing his victims to death with a switchblade knife and throwing photos on their bloodied bodies.Along with Renato Polselli's "Delirium" "So Sweet So Dead" is one of the sleaziest giallos of early 70's.It features plenty of female nudity and some perverse murder scenes including one particularly nasty slashing on the beach.There is also truly bizarre necrophiliac character of pathologist's assistant Gastone.The cast includes Farley Grangers and some sexy Eurobabes including Sylvia Koscina,Femi Benussi,Annabella Incotrera,Nieves Navarro and Krista Nell.7 razor wielding maniacs out of 10.Feminists will love this film.

SO SWEET, SO DEAD (Roberto Bianchi Montero, 1972) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 19 February 2010]

This is yet another giallo helmed by a little-known director; the suggestive but actually deceptive original title, which translates to REVELATIONS OF A SEX MANIAC TO THE CHIEF OF THE MOBILE SQUAD, would lead one to believe that this is very low-brow stuff indeed – however, the end result (propelled by a pounding Giorgio Gaslini score) is not bad at all. Besides, there is a good cast on hand: the obligatory American 'star' is once again Farley Granger (looking remarkably more mature than in SOMETHING IS CREEPING IN THE DARK [1971]), but then we have what can best be described as cameos by "Euro-Cult" regular Silvano Tranquilli and three of its luscious starlets – Sylva Koscina (playing Granger's wife), Femi Benussi and Susan Scott; all the females are made to shed their clothes, with the latter two even involved in surprisingly explicit sex scenes! Incidenatlly, along with STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER (1975; also with Benussi), this was the most erotically-oriented genre effort I have watched so far; in fact, the movie under review was subsequently re-assembled and distributed as outright hard-core material under the moniker PENETRATIONS (but Granger understandably – and successfully – sued the producers over it)! The plot sees the traditional black-gloved killer targeting a small town's apparently unending population of cheating wives (leaving as calling-card photos of them caught in flagrante, albeit with their respective partners' face clinically erased); in this respect, it also emerges as one of the more moralistic giallo entries (at least, this time around one is spared the usual pursuit of the proceeds of either an inheritance or an insurance policy!). By the way, the film even foregoes the last-minute explanation of the killer's motives which concludes (unsatisfactorily) many a giallo – though, in view of just this unexpected striving for satirical relevance (which proves rather vapid nevertheless, given the sheerly exploitative elements by which it is surrounded), here was perhaps a case where one would have liked to know what made this particular person tick (a gratuitously deranged morgue attendant had been made to fit the bill all along, but the real culprit was not too far off the mark anyway)!!

More creativity could have elevated this to classic Giallo status

[acidburn-10 · 7/10 · 18 August 2022]

'So Sweet So Dead' is an ultra-sleazy giallo flick directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero with a simple yet effective plot, good pacing, a lot of kills and tons of nudity. All the elements that you would expect from a decent giallo movie. But what holds this back from being a great genre entry is the lack of creativity within several elements of the kills and story, but it's still an enjoyable time.

The plot follows Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) who is assigned to investigate the case of a serial killer who is murdering unfaithful wives and leaves compromising photographs of the women with their lovers at the crime scene.

I have heard good things about this and while I was certainly entertained throughout (mostly), it just feels like its missing that something special that could have really elevated this to classic status. Of the genre. The lead performance by Farley Granger was very uneven which is a shame as he's normally great in classics such as (Rope & Strangers On A Train), but here he just seems embarrassed to be here and feels very much phoned in. Not saying that this was bad or anything in-fact there was a lot to enjoy here such as the decent visuals with some nicely stylish shots, a good amount of tension and an awesome looking killer that will delight any fans of the genre.

Overall 'So Sweet So Dead' is good enough with a solid mystery, but the movie does lose its way in several areas and could have done with a bit more imagination and a stronger lead male performance.

Carnale Grande

[radiobirdma · 4/10 · 3 May 2016]

A long Roman Holiday: That's what washed-up actor Farley Granger and his lover Bob Calhoun spent over in Italy in the 70s, resulting in the most dreadful c-flick bummers of Granger's career. So Sweet, So Dead isn't the worst of the bunch, though also not exactly a Roberto Rossellini movie: A fiendish maniaco sessuale (see Italian title) is slashing adulterous women who by happy chance all give us eye candy galore before they meet their maker – the usual stupido giallo fare, this one despite the lousy exploitation script nonetheless now and again creating a crude indiscrete-charm-of-the-bourgeoisie feel, including the quite intriguing soundtrack by Giorgio "Musica totale" Gaslini culminating in atonal territory while accentuating a Scena Carnale Grande with Miss Drop-Dead Voluptous 1972, Nieves Navarro, getting up for a truly unfaithful ride. Breathless moments the movie can't live up to, the dichotomy between clothes-off and hats-off being a fair way wider than that between the Apollonian and the Dionysian.

Straight out of the Giallo playbook

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 26 April 2017]

I was looking for another Sylva Koscina movie to watch last night and stumbled across a Giallo she did that I had never seen. So Sweet, So Dead turned out to be a rather predictable, but highly enjoyable film. The set-up is straight out of the Giallo playbook - a masked, gloved killer is butchering beautiful women. Each of the women is involved in an extramarital affair. The killer leaves pictures of the women with their lovers at the scene of each murder. The police, led by Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger), are baffled.

I wrote that So Sweet, So dead was predictable. That's to say there's not a lot of originality to the movie. The masked killer, the beautiful women, and the knife to the throat are standard fare in most any Giallo. Until the very end, the movie plays it reasonably straight without a lot of the plot twists and turns found in a lot of other Gialli. That all changes, however, in the last 10 minutes. The plot twist at the end is incredibly dramatic and left me with an uneasy, cold feeling. It completely caught me off guard. The twist was really a nice turn of events. I also want to give director Roberto Bianchi Montero (unknown to me) extra credit for creating atmosphere. For a movie like So Sweet, So Dead to be effective, you have to have atmosphere. Montero expertly ramps up the tension just prior to each kill. Nicely done.

The cast is especially strong. Granger is very good. I've always found him underrated in any movie of his I've seen. Koscina is as delightful as ever. I only wish she had played a more prominent role in more of the movie. There are a lot of gorgeous women rounding out the cast, including a brief, but welcome performance from genre fav Susan Scott. I say "brief" because she shows up, has sex, and promptly gets killed. Not a lot of screen time in this one for her.

"Strangers on a Train" star Distracting.

[m0rphy · 3/10 · 6 February 2004]

Most movie buffs will have seen the captioned Hitchcock film from 1950 and perhaps the earlier "Rope" (1948) but here is a chance to see another Farley Granger performance 22 years down the line - I was impressed how little he had aged.He plays Inspector Capuana in this very average Italian horror film from 1972.In fact I found him unwittingly distracting because I kept thinking of the above films and how he now looked a bit like Rock Hudson in his mature years, wearing a moustache.

Put simply, it is the story of a psychotic maniac who murders unfaithful wives by stabbing them after first taking the necessary photographic evidence which he then liberally sprinkles at the murder scene to "justify" his act.I was amazed how he knew who all these faithless wives were and where he found the time for his "hobby".The victims all seemed to know each other so the film seemed to be set in a hot bed of adultery.All the usual horror film cliches were present - the murderer who always seems to magically appear in the house by apparantly walking through solid doors and windows,(doesn't anyone ever lock their houses in horror films?).The chase scene where despite the girl running away, the slower moving maniac is always closer behind, the car door which is always locked preventing escape, the closed doors and windows etc.My! how all these women loved to smoke!!None of them seemed happy unless puffing away continually - its amazing they hadn't all died earlier from lung cancer!.I only bought the video to see Krista Nell but she only had one decent scene and then gets "bumped off" for her trouble before her boyfriend arrives at her house for "a bit of nooky".

My video arrived with rather irritating Japanese subtitles.What was rather comical was that Farley Granger was obviously originally speaking his lines in English (the other actors in Italian) but his voice had then been overdubbed by another English speaking actor so we could understand.Instead, I kept hearing in my head his real voice from "Strangers oon a Train"..."Bruno you're crazy"!I won't provide spoilers in the extremely unlikely event anyone would want to buy this title after reading this review.The plot becomes rather repetitve after a while and the characters of the femaile adulterous victims become very one dimensional and there is a lot of bare bosom around from virtually all these lady victims.

Another "comical" character was the blond mortuary attendant, he really seemed to be in his element as a rabid necrophilliac!Overall poor and I rated it 3/10.

Definitely worth a look

[rjstewart · 8/10 · 24 May 2006]

An interesting addition to the Giallo genre. Most commentators have concentrated on the apparent misogyny and gratuitous nudity as well as the unfortunate version with porno inserts (which I haven't seen). I'm not sure about the first criticism and as to the second aspect it's an integral part of Giallo. Why else would most of us sit through badly dubbed plodding dialogue and awful acting except for the occasional glimpse of the unadorned form of Babara Bouchet or Sylvia Koscina? To mind my far more interesting is the political undertone referencing the corruption of the upper classes in 1970s Italy which is in tune with "respectable" movies such as 'Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion' and 'Illustrious Corpses'. I wouldn't want to spoil the movie for those haven't seen it, but there are also definite similarities with later efforts such as 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Seven'.

In the Giallo catalogue, I'd put this up with 'Don't Torture a Duckling'. Not as flashy as Argento, but it has something. My DVD is I think a video transfer. Maybe time for a proper digital version?

All unfaithful married women are punished by dead by such sin!!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 15 May 2023]

Since Senso Farley Granger perceives that move to Europe should be an answer to get better roles and even in top billing casting, due in America he already lost space among newest stars, has been invited just for TV movie and Series as guest star, at Europe through his strong name from the past he got interesting projects has been paid according his status.

An unnamed small city at Italy a corpse of a married woman is found dead by throat cut and several cuts on the breast and thighs also many photographs were left there where it proves that such young woman was betraying his husband, although the face's lover was erase for all them being impossible pinpoint the lover.

According the local coroner Prof. Casali (Chris Avram) reasserting that the throat cut is the cause of death, soon Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) reaches at local of murder to find out a clue, due he is in charge of the case, no fingerprints is found, actually a clean murder indeed.

After the second murder, the patten is the same, an unfaithful wife cheating on his husband and the photographs left at crime scene proving the betrayal once more the face of the lover scratched, Inspector Capuana wondering that is dealing with a kind of moralist serial killer, or something like that.

Also there are not any connection with their husband at all, due they had strong alibi whereby all them were far away where the crime were committed, worst no lovers were identified, thus Inspector Capuana throws his last trump card to catch the serial killer, that already has in mind his next victim the unfaithful wife of own inspector Capuana his beloved Barbara (Sylva Koscina).

The screenplay provides bountiful nude scenes with sexy women scattered along the movie, a sort of decoy to grab eagers cinephiles on those hot girls, including the star Sylva Koscina, concerning in the plot at my point of view the writers concealed on purpose some key hints to the audience, have some missing scenes whereof just Inspector Capuana knew previously, somehow it could be understood as mendacity, wasn't fair enough to us, under such too much knavery it 's a crying shame for them, even so a fine Giallo.

Thanks for reading.

Resume:

First Watch: 2023 /How many: 1 /Source: DVD /Rating: 7.

Distasteful film whose ultimate message is disturbing

[ccmiller1492 · 2/10 · 27 May 2004]

"The Slasher" has a pedestrian plot of multiple murders of beautiful married women who cheat on their husbands. Not only is the lovingly rendered pictorial dwelling on their naked bodies both before and after death disturbingly unnecessary, this distasteful film's message seems to be that women who are unmarried can be acceptably promiscuous. However, once they are married and continue to be promiscuous they deserve death. Not so the husbands, whether condoning it or ignorant of it. They can have as many affairs as they want without any disapproval. What decadent hogwash! The sole redeeming feature of this film is the chance to see expatriate Farley Granger in a lead role at 47, and he looks good, even with the mustache. Unfortunately he's way too expressive for the one-note role he's given here. A year later, he looks even better in the comedy thriller "Arnold" in which he ironically gets bumped off in a nude shower scene in an odd reversal of "Psycho" ."

Hilariously Bad Yet Strangely Comforting

[thalassafischer · 6/10 · 24 July 2023]

There's something that makes this seem like a 1969 or early 70s daytime soap opera. I have no idea who is complaining about the nudity or misogyny in this flick because I find it relatively tame for a giallo. I laughed at out loud at "how will we find all the impotent men in town? Advertise?" If anything The Killer...is the Sex Maniac! Has various goofy men like the grumpy disabled husband and the apparent necrophiliac who lacks a wife, or any sort of life to speak of. Sure the victims are cheating wives, but there's clearly some cheating menfolk here too. Also, everyone is rich so it's more of an attack on the amorality of the bourgeoisie than on young feminists or something.

It has almost an English murder mystery quality to it rather than being excessively violent or exploitative. It's not the most beautiful giallo I've ever seen or with the best atmosphere but it has that comforting mid-century control over chaos I seek in nighttime viewing.

Average slasher with lots of nudity but thin on gore

[abduktionsphanomen · 7/10 · 31 March 2024]

The Slasher Is the Sex Maniac (So Sweet, So Dead (Italian: Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile) - 1972 (This Film Rates a C+ ) The films starts off with a nude woman who was already fatally slashed in the neck. There are photographs scattered around her body, Inspector Capuana is sent to investigate the murder. The initial suspects include prostitues, "pimps and whores", transvestites and homosexuals. Meanwhile, the masked killer takes photographs of a couple having sex and that night murders a woman who is having an affair with a married man. At the morgue the doctor recounts how the woman died as the creepy assistant fondles the dead womens breasts. He also takes pictures of their breasts and gets excited over them. Infact, he shows them off to the inspector. Now, the assistant is the primary suspect. The doctor suggests that the murderer most likely is a jealous homosexual. Impetient. The bodies start piling up with no viable leads. The morgue assistant confesses to the murders which are publiscide and makes the real killer angry. He phones threatening the inspectors wife. "You have no idea where your wife meets her lover". But who is the masked killer and why? There is lots of sex, nudity and sleeze. The gore is hit or miss with some effects being too dark to appreciate though it has some intense brutality. Sadly, the story seems to drag on a bit. The acting and script are typical and below average with no real highlights. The title seems to be the most exciting part of the film.

Average Giallo

[dopefishie · 7/10 · 21 February 2022]

Average Giallo

Rather predictable and straight forward film. A bit more erotic and cynical than some giallo. But the overall plot, serial killings, and detective work is nothing special. Nothing stood out about the acting or cinematography. It is quite dark and cynical.

nasty knifings

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 11 November 2023]

I'm not sure I've ever seen this and had got a blu-ray of Code Red from the US and was pleased that I got it. It is not brilliant but rather good and the dead girls are very naked for their killings. And rather nasty knifings they are, the killer is certainly in the classic style with black coat, big hat and of course black leather gloves. Roberto Bianchi Montero made many different films but I think this was his only giallo and was 65 at the time. Farley Granger is impressive and the girls lovely especially Sylva Koschina and I always love to see Nieves Navarro (Susan Scott). It was an interesting idea that the naughty girls get it and the end is really good as we get to see Farley looking on!

Giallo moral story

[BandSAboutMovies · 6/10 · 23 February 2020]

In case you thought So Sweet, So Dead wasn't an amazing title, this movie also has the alternate titles Rivelazioni di un Maniaco Sessuale al Capo Della Squadra Mobile (Revelations of a Sex Maniac to the Leader of the Mobile Team), The Slasher is a Sex Maniac and Penetration, which was used for a U.S. re-edit that also has x-rated scenes courtesy of Deep Throat's Harry Reems and Tina Russell.

Director Roberto Bianchi Montero bounced around from genre to genre, like the spaghetti westerns Seven Pistols for a Gringo and The Last Tomahawk to peblum (Tharus Son of Attila) and horror (The Island Monster, which starred Boris Karloff).

This movie has a great pedigree in spite of all that sleaze, as star Farley Granger appeared in two movies by Alfred Hitchcock: Rope and Strangers on a Train.

Someone is killing the rich and adulterous wives of Rome. First, he or she takes photos of them as they do some crab fishing in the Dead Sea - so to speak - and then he kills them. The images of their trysts are laid next to their bodies with the faces of the men scratched out. And Siskel and Ebert thought slashers were anti-woman! They would have lost their minds in 1972 Italy!

Sylva Koscina from Lisa and the Devil is in this, as is Annabella Incontrera (The Case of the Bloody Iris), Chris Avram (Enter the Devil), Femi Benussi (Hatchet for the Honeymoon), Krista Nell (The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance, another Italian horror film that was re-edited to feature adult scenes) and giallo queen Nieves Navarro, whose resume includes favorites like Death Walks on High Heels, All the Colors of the Dark and Death Walks at Midnight.

The rich society wives don't stop sleeping around - neither do their husbands but the killer wants nothing to do with punishing them -and even discuss the crimes while getting their nails done in the nude. Such is the world of So Sweet, So Dead. It's also a place filled with opulent homes, awesome fashions, squeaky horns, dance parties and a killer named the Avenger that completely was influenced by the look of the murderer in Blood and Black Lace.

Wonderfully Sleazy and Elegant Giallo-Madness

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 8/10 · 16 September 2010]

"Rivelazioni Di Un Maniaco Sessuale Al Capo Della Squadra Mobile" aka. "So Sweet, So Dead" from the golden Giallo-year 1972 is a film that many seem to regard as particularly nasty, sleazy and misogynistic. It is definitely sleazy, but I cannot say I agree with the 'misogynistic' part. Sure, the insane killer in the only Giallo by director Roberto Bianchi Montero (the father of sleaze-director Mario Bianchi) targets (hot and exhibitionist) unfaithful wives only, while he leaves the unfaithful husbands alone; however, this may just as well be seen as a comment on the hypocrisy of misogyny as it may be seen as misogyny as such. Anyway, whoever is too squeamish when it comes to sleaze and slight sexism should probably stay away from the wonderful Giallo-genre in general. What I can say is that "Rivelazioni Di Un Maniaco Sessuale Al Capo Della Squadra Mobile" is a textbook example for the golden age of Italian Gialli, a film that is elegant, sleazy, brutal, beautiful and irresistibly stylish, fantastically photographed on beautiful locations, full of gorgeous naked women and sadistic murders, and accompanied by a brilliant score by Giorgio Gaslini that is on a par with the works of greats like Morricone, Ortolani and Bacalov.

A sadistic serial killer is on the loose, and his prey are unfaithful wives, all of them gorgeous and belonging to the high society. While Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) is nagged at by his superior not to annoy the victims' influential acquaintances too much, the bodies of more prominent unfaithful wives pile up...

As typical for a Giallo, the victims are primarily hot women (the easiest to be scared for and the sleaziest to kill). The female cast includes well-known Italian genre-beauties such as Femi Benussi, Sylvia Koschina, Krista Nell (who sadly died of Leukemia at age 29 in 1975), and, most prominently, the drop-dead-gorgeous redhead cult-siren Nieves Navarro. Needless to say that all these women are more than willing to take their clothes off at any given opportunity. Farley Granger fits very well in the lead, the male supporting cast includes cult actors such as Benito Stefanelli and the ugly and always-sinister Luciano Rossi in a typically demented role. The murders are quite sadistic, some of them also pretty gory. As mentioned above, the cinematography is (genre-typically) elegant and stylish, the locations are beautiful and the score is fantastic (genre-typically including a text-less but eerie female singing voice).

The most controversial aspect about "So Sweet, So Dead" is arguably the (in my opinion great) climax, which, of course, I will not discuss in order not to spoil anything. The only reason why this film does not rank among the very greatest of Gialli is the lack of a truly likable protagonist to be scared for. Even so, the mystery, sadistic murders, demented characters and beautiful victims make it incredibly suspenseful, creepy and atmospheric. "So Sweet, So Dead" is the prefect combination of Horror and Mystery, Sleaze and Elegance that one may expect in a good Giallo. Criminally underrated, and a must for every Giallo/Eurohorror/Cult-Cinema fan.

MY favourite Giallo

[Solid_Gold · 9/10 · 3 March 2013]

I love this movie. The first time that I saw it was when I was a little girl, around 9 or 10 years old. The storyline is great: a killer who targets women who have been unfaithful to their husbands. It is unfair that the killer does not target unfaithful men, but hey, this is a giallo after all. It's funny because I am pretty sure that I only like this movie because I watch it in Italian, and that makes it exotic to me. If it were an American movie, I would probably not like it as much. Farley Granger is quite handsome, even more so than in "Strangers On A Train". There is a red herring that I found predictable, but I've been watching horror films for most of my life, so I often guess correctly what's going on. I knew who the killer really was long before it was revealed. I found the ending quite sad though. It would have been nice to have a different outcome. At least this giallo doesn't have the graphic violence that some of it's contemporaries have.

Fine if slightly troubling Giallo

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 8/10 · 20 March 2017]

Following a brutal crime spree, a police detective investigating a strange killer targeting unfaithful wives and adulterous spouses finds that a potential witness may help solve the case and tries to protect her when the killer starts to torment her while continuing his spree.

This was quite the fun if slightly problematic sleazy Giallo. One of the more impressive acts here is the fact that there's a decent investigation wrapped around the strong sleazy thrills. With the introduction of the photography storyline in the crimes and using that as the main basis for catching the culprit, this one offers up the kind of traditional Giallo trope needed to drive the storyline forward with some extra notes that lead rather nicely based on the confines of the action here especially once it starts to signify the killers' chosen targets as that is a nice difference from most others who go for random victims at the start before the spree is found out. This addition makes for some fun as it builds that up into the remaining segments that play off this section of the storyline. Those stalking scenes are really fun, from the first encounter chasing the victim onto the beach from her apartment, appearing in the bedroom of the victim and chasing her into the bathroom for the final murder or to the tense sequence of the wife getting ambushed inside the backyard and ending up having the whole affair witnessed secretly by the daughter which is a rather enjoyable highlight offering. A dispatch on a train speeding through the night is incredibly fun as well with the darkened compartment hiding the killer rather well, and a later scene featuring the killer striking a victim in a bathtub only to then have the husband arrive and alter his exit strategy makes for a thoroughly enjoyable and tense sequence. As these scenarios allow for a constant stream of nudity and softcore fondling in showcasing their carnal exploits before the nude bodies are shown to be hacked to pieces, it gives this a rather fine sleazy air which all make for a rather fun genre effort. There are a few problems with this one, though, in that the film mainly employs a rather distressing hypocritical air that doesn't come off that appealing. Going off on the idea that the victims are being punished for straying from their husbands, a double-standard emerges when the male characters are also shown to be doing the same thing yet they never run into any kind of retribution because of it. Depicting them as heartless and needing to pay for their actions yet allowing the men to be okay with it gives it quite an old-fashioned air and tone that openly condemns their actions even though all the extramarital affairs are given loving, leering close-ups to see their full-on nudity. It's not a very welcoming tone for a horror effort and takes a lot of air out of the film as well as the fact that there's quite a long time in between many of these deaths as the investigation takes over to the point of ignoring a lot of other aspects here that don't make for an enjoyable time here. These hold it back even though it does have some worthwhile points.

Rated X: Continuous Full Nudity, strong sex scenes, Graphic Violence and Language.

A little unfair to the ladies.

[parry_na · 9/10 · 12 September 2018]

The formula for the film, steeped with spoilers, is this: unfaithful women are targeted by a masked man dressed in black, and are stabbed to death. The men these women are having an affair with are left entirely alone, which strikes me as being a little unfair - but who am I to rationalise the thinking behind that stocking face?

Although director Roberto Bianchi Montero keeps things moving and provides a few stylish moments, there is no escaping the fact that much of the 88 minutes running time is devoted to watching sex scenes involving promiscuous couples followed by creepy knife deaths. By its very natures, this creates a certain repetition. The killer has a certain style, however, scattering his murdered victims with photographs of them in flagrante delicto.

Among the cast, giallo royalty Nieves Navarro (or Susan Scott if you prefer) makes a brief appearance as short-lived Lilly; Farley Granger is suitably grouchy as Inspector Capuana trying and failing to apprehend the killer, Angela Covello is very endearing as young Bettina Santangeli, who you feel certain is going to be added to the growing list of corpses.

Not the greatest giallo film I've ever seen, but definitely worth your time.

Killing in the name of... Marital Vows!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 10 August 2006]

This little seen but nonetheless notorious Italian giallo opens with the SECOND-best footage imaginable. A bunch of policemen are standing in the room where the horribly mutilated body of an attractive woman has just been discovered, and this disturbing discovery heralds the search for a sadistic killer. The absolute best horror opening would of course be that we actually witness the killer take the life of his victim but, no worries, as we're treated to that not more than ten minutes later already and several times after that! The maniac at large is exclusively interested in adulterous women with a high-society standing. He stalks them as they secretly meet up with their lovers, patiently waits until they're alone again, then kills them barbarically and leaves behind photographical evidence of their liaisons. Inspector Capuano faces huge difficulties in his investigation, as the prominent husbands of the killed women don't want to see their names mentioned in this scandal. This oddly titled Italian film (actually, NONE of the many titles is completely relevant) can be described best as a straightforward and unscrupulous giallo. The killer fully answers to all the standard characteristics (black gloves, black coat, face covered by a black veil), the gore is graphic & plentiful and every female cast member extendedly shows off her ravishing body before getting slashed. All this should already satisfy pretty much every giallo-fan, but there's more. Good stuff mostly, but bad stuff as well unfortunately.

The greatest thing about "So Sweet, So Dead" is unquestionable the whole climax which, regretfully, I can't write about much. Peculiar but surely innovating about this movie is how the revelation of the murderer's identity is totally downgraded by the setting and circumstances of his last killing. The face behind the veil isn't surprising but the whole ending is definitely shocking and highly memorable! The film's negative elements are fairly obvious: the plot and message are very women-unfriendly (although many gialli are…). Only the women are punished for their salacious lifestyles even though their rich husbands & lovers aren't without sin, neither. If I have no defense for this, but to immediately label the entire film as misogynistic is a bit exaggerated in my opinion. The other and more annoying flaws include a lack of plausible red herrings, bad use of soundtrack and wooden acting performances by pretty much the entire cast. You can clearly tell that Roberto Bianchi (father of Mario Bianchi) isn't Italy's finest horror director but he does an overall adequate job. In all honesty, "So Sweet, So Dead" doesn't deserve a rating higher than 6 or maybe 7, but I'm giving it one point extra if only for that end-sequence! Definitely worth looking for if you're a giallo fanatic!