The Case of the Bloody Iris

Killer giallo with atmospheric cinematography and luscious women.

Excellent product delivered quickly

Warning: SPOILERS!!! A woman gets on the crowded elevator of her highrise apartment complex and before it reaches the top floor, she is viciously stabbed to death by someone wearing flesh-colored latex gloves and brandishing a scalpel. When the doors open on the top floor, three people discover the body lying in a pool of blood, but one of them, black model Mizar Harrington (Carla Brait), leaves before the police arrives, saying she is late for her job (she wrestles men at a casino for money!). Meanwhile, beautiful model Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech) is being stalked by Adam (Ben Carra), the leader of a sex cult that Jennifer once belonged to, but has since left (Adam believes her to be his wife, since he conducted a ritual "marriage" to her in the cult). Adam nearly drugs her while she is walking to her car one night (he wants to free her from the temptation of other men), but she manages to get away with a well-placed elbow to his gut. The mysterious gloved killer then murders Mizar in her own apartment, delivering a karate blow to her throat, tying her up and drowning her in the bathtub. Stamp-collecting Police Commissioner Enci (Giampiero Albertini) is assigned to the case and begins questioning suspects, first beginning at the casino where Mizar worked (the Commissioner at first believes the killer could be a disgruntled male customer who lost to her in a wrestling match). Rich advertising executive Andrea Barto (George Hilton), who was going to use Mizar in his latest ad campaign, uses his influence to get Jennifer and her friend, Marilyn (Paola Quattrini), Mizar's apartment to live in. Barto not only wants to use Jennifer in his ad campaign, he also begins a romantic relationship with her. Barto, who gets queasy at the sight of blood (to put it mildly), isn't quite truthful with Jennifer (he tells her that he's never met Mizar or been in the apartment before, which are both lies) and Adam threatens him with a knife as he leaves the apartment complex, telling him to stay away from Jennifer. That night, the killer (who wears a black stocking mask and a large-brimmed hat) comes into Jennifer's bedroom, but her screams scares the killer away. The next morning, Adam shows up at the apartment and rapes Jennifer, telling her, "From the day of our celestial marriage, you belong to me!" Jennifer can't catch a break, because later that night, the killer is waiting for her in her apartment. The killer attacks her, but she breaks free and runs to the apartment next door, occupied by Shiela (Annabella Incontrera) and her elderly violin-playing father (he plays the damn thing all day and night!). When Sheila takes Jennifer back to her own apartment, they find an iris (a flower) covered in blood on the floor and Adam in her bedroom closet, dead with a knife sticking in his stomach. Luckily, Commissioner Enci doesn't believe that Jennifer is the killer. He instead uses her to bait and trap the real killer and tells her not to trust any of her neighbors. But are the neighbors (including a little old woman who loves to read a magazine called "Horror Tales", who has a hideously-burned son she keeps hidden in a secret room behind her closet) the only people Jennifer shouldn't trust? This early 70's giallo, directed by Giuliano Carnimeo (EXTERMINATORS OF THE YEAR 3000 - 1983; THE RAT MAN - 1988), using his frequent pseudonym "Anthony Ascott", contains some good set-pieces (including an eerie sequence set in an auto graveyard at night), frequent nudity and some bloody violence. My favorite scene is when Marilyn is stabbed by the killer on a busy street in the middle of the day and she staggers (unnoticed by all the pedestrians) over to a waiting Barto. When he notices all the blood on her hands, he freaks out and runs away, making him look like the guilty party. As with most giallo films, the list of potential suspects and red herrings are many and this film has some memorable ones, each with their own unique quirks. There's also some humor to be found here, most of it coming from Commissioner Enci's second-in-command, Frankie (Franco Agostini). While staking-out Barto's apartment, he spots Barto and Jennifer making love through his binoculars. He radios the Commissioner and says, "Those two are really going at it! Don't be surprised if instead of a corpse, we have a birth on our hands!" Edwige Fenech (YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM... - 1972) makes a great first impression here, appearing with painted-on clothes (yowza!) during a photo shoot and George Hilton (THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN - 1975) is also good as a man with too many secrets for his own good. As with all good giallo films, the opening minutes hold a clue to unmasking the killer. Required viewing for giallo and mystery films. THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS is also known as EROTIC BLUE and WHAT ARE THOSE STRANGE DROPS OF BLOOD DOING ON JENNIFER'S BODY? (phew!). Also starring Oreste Lionelli, Marie Tedeschi, Carla Mancini, Gianni Pulone and George Rigaud. Originally available on DVD from Anchor Bay Entertainment as part of their four-film GIALLO COLLECTION box set and now available as a stand-alone DVD from Blue Underground. Not Rated.

"The Case of the Bloody Iris" is an Italian Giallo, a type of film often considered the ancestor of modern slasher films -- but with more style. One can expect: serial murders of beautiful women, a psychopath, nudity, "sexual situations", a police investigation (often ineffective) and lots of blood, along with stylish photography and distinctive music. In other words, salacious good fun.Edwige Fenech plays Jennifer, a photographer's model who moves into an apartment where the former tenant had recently been murdered by drowning her in the bathtub. Though a second woman was brutally murdered in the building's elevator shortly before they moved in, neither Jennifer nor her ditzy roommate seem overly-concerned about two murders in and around their new apartment.There are plenty of suspects: a strange elderly woman who buys stacks of crime magazines, a lesbian neighbor and her sad, violin-playing father, a gay photographer who employed the drowning victim, the building's architect who has a phobia about blood, Jennifer's menacing former husband, plus a few others who pop up along the way.Jennifer first meets handsome architect Andrea Barto (George Hilton) at the photographer's studio, their eyes meeting suggestively. Andrea arranges for the girls to move into the murder apartment, and soon begins an affair with Jennifer.The police inspector assigned to the murders is a world-weary stamp collector, with an almost useless assistant. There is an amusing running joke about the assistant being recognized by passers-by while tailing suspects. The police investigation is very weak; the police turn up no clues to the killer's identity, only more suspects. In fact, the killer is found out only because one of the victims manages to call for help in time.My main criticism of the film is that no one takes what happens seriously. The roommate plays a practical joke on Jennifer by pretending to drown in the bathtub, then later refuses to believe Jennifer when she says she saw a shadowy man standing over her bed. When Andrea is threatened at knife point by Jennifer's former husband, he simply starts his car and drives off -- without even mentioning it to the police. Indeed, both Jennifer and Andrea have more interest in romance than concern over the possibility being murdered!There is some nudity, but relatively little by modern standards: a few brief topless scenes, some costumes that might as well be topless, and a nude love scene. Nothing really salacious by today's standards, but no doubt more so in the 70s when the film was made.Reviewers of Edwige Fenech's films often mention her beauty. She is gorgeous! But make no mistake, Fenech is also a capable and talented actress who usually gives a solid and convincing performance. I strongly recommend her outrageous Italian farce "Giovannona Long-Thigh", or Mario Bava's black comedy "Five Dolls for an August Moon" for sampling more of her talent.This film is enjoyable, but not one to watch over and over. It has all the right parts, but the parts do not fit together quite as well as they should. A stronger directer could have made a better film.

qualità buona

A brilliant piece of work.Keeps you guessing from start to finish.Awesome thank you.

Hier waren gleich mehrere Giallo-Experten am Werk: Luciano Martino produzierte, Ernesto Gastaldi schrieb das Buch, Bruno Nicolai komponierte einen seiner besten Soundtracks, und mit Edwige Fenech und George Hilton waren zwei der prominentesten Genre-Stars mit an Bord. »Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer?« ist ein Paradebeispiel für einen Giallo, man könnte fast von einer Blaupause sprechen. Alle wichtigen Elemente werden vereint. Dazu gelangen Western-Regisseur Carnimeo und seinem Kameramann Massi einige beeindruckend schöne Bildkompositionen.Es beginnt mit einem Mord im Fahrstuhl, der einige Jahre später von keinem Geringeren als Brian De Palma in »Dressed to Kill« (1980) für ein größeres Publikum abgekupfert wurde. Eine Blondine (Evi Farinelli) wird von einem behandschuhten Killer in schwarzem Regenmantel regelrecht abgeschlachtet. Ganz oben in dem zum Lift gehörenden Hochhaus teilt sich das schöne Model Jennifer (Fenech) mit einer Kollegin (Quattrini) eine Wohnung. Auch sie müssen bald um ihr Leben bangen, denn die polizeilichen Ermittlungen greifen ins Leere, und Verdächtige gibt es zuhauf. Da wären beispielsweise eine alte Nachbarin mit scheußlicher Perücke (Maria Tedeschi) und einem ungesunden Hang zu Gewalt-Comics, Jennifers eifersüchtiger Ex (Ben Carrà) und ihr neuer Verehrer, der schmucke Architekt Andrea Barto (Hilton). Der Ex kann es schon mal nicht sein, denn der kippt alsbald ebenfalls mit einem Messer im Bauch aus Jennifers Kleiderschrank, so dass jetzt auch noch sie ins Visier der Ermittler gerät. Die Nachbarschaft im Hochhaus dünnt sich langsam immer weiter aus…Der Killer mit den markanten Handschuhen — hier sind sie ockerfarben —, dem überbordenden schwarzen Hut und dem vermummten Gesicht, die ausgefeilten, in diesem Falle aber nicht zu brutal in Szene gesetzten Morde, die wunderschöne Frau im durchsichtigen BH, deren dunkle, etwas nebulöse Vergangenheit, eine lesbische Nachbarin, ein zwielichtig wirkender Lover, die hanebüchene Auflösung am Schluss, der reißerische Titel: »Perché quelle strane gocce di sangue sul corpo di Jennifer?« ist ein hervorragender Thriller, der zwischen den Meisterwerken des Genres leider ein wenig untergegangen zu sein scheint. Zwischen 1969 und 1974 entstanden so viele Gialli, dass es leider nur allzu leicht ist, dieses Kleinod zu übersehen. Die Connoisseurs des Genres bemängeln oftmals, dass der Plot diesmal nicht so trickreich und brüchig ist, wie man es von den meisten Gialli her gewohnt ist. Gerade Sergio Martino hatte da in den Jahren 1971 und 1972 die Messlatte ziemlich hoch gelegt. Auch sind die Morde im Vergleich zu einem Argento verhältnismäßig zahm. — Zu gerne würde ich auf das interessante Ende eingehen, aber ich mag Euch den Spaß an dem Film, der hierzulande auch unter dem Titel »Das Geheimnis der blutigen Lilie« zu sehen war, nicht nehmen. Im US-Titel war aus der Lilie übrigens eine Iris geworden. Wenn man den italienischen Titel wörtlich übersetzt, würde man einfach auf »Warum diese seltsamen Bluttropfen auf dem Körper von Jennifer?« kommen. Ein Muss für jede Giallo-Sammlung. Zudem empfehle ich, sich die Musik von Bruno Nicolai zuzulegen. Ein Ohrenschmaus auch ohne Bildbegleitung.

作品は古いのですが、ストーリーもしっかりしててジャーロは十分楽しめます

Thank you