Italian Exploitation: So Sweet, So Dead

And we are back for another helping of Italian Exploitation Week. Well after getting drafted into the Emanuelle series I thought I could find something wholesome to watch and then I remembered the week so on to the Horror Erotica. So a pleasant tale of a serial killer offing unfaithful wives and leaving compromising pictures to show their guilt. Not sure that warrants being stabbed to death but what do I know,eh? Feeling Giallo like this can only mean one thing, the cops are bumbling asses with the exception of maybe two of them. This is So Sweet, So Dead a.k.a. Bad Girls, Penetration, The Slasher...is the Sex Maniac, Romance Mortal and Confessions of a Sex Maniac.

Their forbidden love is subtitled.

Rife with alternative titles, let's see if my print for this is grainy than Cheerios or if it was deemed worthy of a cleaned up print to better show the gacking of unfaithful women. No title cards, music or build up. Boom. Dead blond on the bed, naked, stabbed and throat slashed. Well that sets a new record for me. The Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger of Rope, Strangers on a Train, The Edge of Night, The Prowler, The Imagemaker and Very Close Quarters) surveying said dead girl and cut to orchestral opening, title cards and whisked away to the morgue. The girl's death was the slit throat and the rest of the wounds were post-mortem. Yup, our villain was so pissed off at this girl he attempted to mutilate her. Boy you guys do suggest the best film genres.

Inspector, the subtitle agrees with you.

Deeper investigation points out the late girl was wed to a high ranking general making the investigation tricky as some racy photos indicates her stepping out on her man. After a lengthy interviewing/interrogation of small time thieves, thugs and hookers the inspector heads home trying to make heads or tails of this horrific murder with next to no suspects or relatives of the deceased to talk to without raising a scandal. Over coffee his lovely wife,Barbara (Sylva Koscina of Man of Iron, Hercules, Hercules Unchained, Lisa and the Devil, Dracula in the Provinces, The House of Exorcism, Clara and Nora and Some Like It Cool) and she pleads with Capuana to tow the line and make the Commissioner happy. Leaving no evidence aside from the naughty snaps, they have to figure out who the lovers are to the victim. Meanwhile another gorgeous girl is out on her husband getting some action.

Gurgle.

Our killer/photographer is stalking these women and keeping records of their misdeeds on film. Serena (Femi Benussi of The Hawks and the Sparrows, Blood Brides, Stripe Nude for Your Killer, The Bloodsucker Leads the Dance and Corpi nudi) finished with her mustachio Lothario and opts to freshen up so her husband is not suspicious. The day for night lens is incorporated in the chase and honestly it actually works this time around. Avoiding clouds and even the waves in afternoon tide could be as easily explained as late evening tide. Frankly I am confused how this fits in the Horror Erotica subgenre when it feels more Giallo but I guess they could go hand-in-hand.

With a second death in a high ranking circle of people the inspector's job just got difficult, Serena's lover confesses her loss and is worried the police will track and blame him for her death but his well paid lawyer tells him to not worry and all will be handled. The morgue attendant, Professor Casali (Chris Avram of Time to Live, The Rage Within, Sentence of God, So Sweet, So Dead, Cuore, Enter the Devil, Voodoo Sexy and Emanuelle in Bangkok) are busting ass trying to find a connection to these wealthy and powerful people. Are they doing a copycat murder to off their wives thus avoid almony? Is there something sinister going along with these brutal murders? How come none of the men these women were cheating on with didn't also die?

The inspector has a heart-to-heart with the professor's attendant swimming around the obvious red herring and no clearly not the killer but a perv taking snaps of the dead girls..for his own entertainment. Yeah I think he needs to be fired but creeper aside he doesn't seem driven enough for a killer. Barbara chatters with her high society friends and it is revealed they knew the other girls and I don't think Barbara bothered to tell her husband that. GASP!!! PLOT POINT!!

With the upper crust tying the inspector's hands for the sake of reputation and avoiding scandal, they sure are up to their adultery. Politics are as usual, dragging this case into the dirt.

The sex scenes are softcore but steamy enough. The composer Giorgio Gaslini (But You Were Dead, The Sisters, The Pacificist, Night of the Devils, So Sweet, So Dead and When Women Were Called Virgins) captures a bit of disco, jazz and suspenseful music. Blended together brings out the scenes rather well telling the story. Overall the story is fair, the gore mild and the nudity isn't slapping you in the face. I had the uncut Euro release so sadly no English dubbing. A friend of mine told me that one of the credited voices for the Inspector was supposedly legendary porn star Harry Reems. 

Late night jog obviously.