"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.
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.