Customer Reviews

The Case of the Bloody Iris

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4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most cite the 60s as when the first Giallo film was made and in the 70s these films reached their peek and would continue to go on before fading away around the mid 80s. But the 70s it seemed like every film out of Italy was a Giallo, while some suffered from being the same as all the others some filmmakers were able to offer a twist. The Case of the Bloody Iris is pretty much the standard Giallo of the time, but works well and is one of the better ones of an era dominated by them.

In many ways I suppose the Giallos can sort of be seen as the Italian slasher movies. If you watch slasher flicks you can see the influence the Giallo had on them. Slasher films are sort of the poor mans Giallo, but the thing is like the slasher you've seen one you've seen them all and that does apply to Giallos a lot of the times. The murder scenes are kinda hard to mess up. Hot women being chased by a psycho killer pretty much sells itself, but the investigation scenes if they aren't good than the Giallo won't be any good.

The screenplay was written by Ernesto Gastaldi who is no stranger to the Giallo; he wrote many of the more popular ones in the 70s most notable writing for Sergio Martino. The script at times sure can be a bit silly, but it works well overall with mostly interesting characters and the mystery aspect is actually solid. Normally by the middle of the movie you can figure out who the killer is, but I actually didn't figure it out. While it wasn't a huge surprise it did get by me.

Director Giuliano Carnimeo going under the name Anthony Ascott does a solid job at keeping the pace moving along and there's no shortage of suspects and nudity. The murder scenes are done well with some pretty good suspense and tension and the investigation scenes are handled well and never lag. There is always something happening here to keep it from getting slow. Either we get a murder or stalk scene or we get some nudity. The Case of the Bloody Iris moves at a very good pace and like I said there is always something happening to hold the viewers interest.

The Case of the Bloody Iris in my opinion is a very strong Giallo that doesn't get the attention it deserves. While this is pretty much the standard Giallo of the time everything works rather well. One of the problems with these movies sometimes is there are so many characters who are just there to be suspects things get very messy, but here that doesn't happen. I wasn't sure what to expect out of this, but it was a lot better than I thought it would be.

The cast is solid led by the amazingly stunning Edwige Fenech as Jennifer. I haven't seen a lot of her work, but what I've seen I have liked. You'll be hard pressed to find a woman more beautiful than Edwige who I think might be the most beautiful woman I have ever seen. If you are a fan of Edwige this is essential viewing. George Hilton also stars as Andrea Barto and like Fenech I haven't seen a whole lot of his work, but what I've seen I have liked. The two previously worked together in The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh, which was produced by Luciano Martino who also produced The Case of the Bloody Iris.

Overall The Case of the Bloody Iris is an excellent Giallo in my opinion; there is some good suspense and nudity and the mystery angle works well. While not a perfect movie it's highly enjoyable; I think fans of the Giallo and Edwige Fenech should enjoy.

The case of the bloody iris is an early 70's italian gialo film thats slighly cheesy, some reviewers have said that it was bloody or violent although I didn't see that but it did have more nudity than your average giallo, its not as violent or gory as other giallos from Mario Bava or Dario Argento. The problem is that the film is more of a murder mysterie and it focuses on that aspect more than the violence which is good but if you expect more than that you might be dissapointed. There were a few bloody stabbings but that was it most of the characters were strange or bizzare like the photographer who looked like Woody allen so you wouldn't know who the killer is or maybe it was from all the unintentionaly hilarious and bad acting. A beautiful young model named Jennifer played by Edwige Fenech moves into a new apartment with her ditzy blonde roommate however the previous tenant was viciously murdered and the culprit is yet to be found. with more girls being sliced open and surrounded by possible suspects is Jennifer to be the next target of the leather clad murderer armed with a cutthroat razor?. What you get with this film is some very cheesy 70's fashion, disco music and night clubs that have a black exotic dancer/wrestler? also some of the models worked part time as prostitutes so there is a seedy element to this film and the killer might have a problem with women or something like that. The film was average but if your going to get it make sure you get the boxset from Anchor Bay which includes four more giallo films, I thought that the film was average if you want a better italian horror film then check out A blade in the dark or Deep red.

It was a beautiful day indeed when Anchor Bay released a box set of four classic Italian gialli films. Most fans of Italian horror films know all about these colorful murder mystery pictures-- thanks to Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci, and Dario Argento--but how many of us know about the lesser entries in the genre? "The Case of the Bloody Iris" contains all of the elements we know and love about the giallo picture. We've got the black clad killer, gruesome killings, red herrings, and very sexy European ladies willing to give it their all at the drop of a hat. "Iris" also gives us point of view shots from the killer's perspective, bizarre flashbacks, and style wafting off the screen in waves. "The Case of the Bloody Iris" is definitely a giallo film in every respect. In my opinion, it's nearly as good as the films made by the masters of the genre. This picture comes close to approaching the greatness of Argento's epic films "Deep Red" and "Tenebre," and close if not touching to Lucio Fulci's massively entertaining "Don't Torture a Duckling." Without a doubt, "The Case of the Bloody Iris" is one of the better discs in the box set. It's far superior to Aldo Lado's "Who Saw Her Die?"

In fact, it's quite easy to follow the plot of "The Case of the Bloody Iris" despite its numerous major and minor characters. Andrea Barto (George Hilton) is the owner of an apartment with a lot of problems. When a young lady with an unusual wrestling job (watch and see) perishes in the apartment thanks to a black-gloved killer, Barto approaches models Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech) and her friend Marilyn (Paola Quattrini) with a heck of a deal. He offers them the spacious apartment for a song, a piece of luck the two attractive women can't believe is true. Of course, there's the murder to worry about, but its resolution is only a matter of time with Inspector Enci (Giampiero Albertini) on the case. Enci is an odd duck, a man given to shouting at his insubordinates while he roots through people's mail in search of new stamps to collect. Anyway, Barto makes the offer and the girls agree. They're so happy about the deal that Jennifer strikes up a torrid relationship with Andrea despite increasing suspicion that he might be involved in the murder. Too, Jennifer's jealous ex-husband Adam (Ben Carra) presents a formidable challenge; he's the leader of a free love type cult Lansbury left after she tired of starring as the main attraction on the activities roster. The title of the film refers to the flower Jennifer's husband uses in his free love ceremonies.

More bizarre characters march across the stage. One of the neighbors, Mrs. Moss (Liana Del Balzo), has a son stashed away in her apartment who personifies the word "weird" in a way that would make Ted Bundy proud. Throw in Sheila (Annabella Incontrera) as a nosy young female neighbor with a great interest in beautiful women, along with her violin playing college professor father, and you have all the makings of a great giallo. There are so many possible suspects in this film that to try and put together a possible scenario to identify the killer would give Columbo a nervous breakdown. All the while the murderer continues his activities. Jennifer wakes up one night convinced that the murderer entered the apartment to do her harm. Shortly after this incident, black glove strikes down Marilyn by stabbing her in public during the middle of the day. It's obvious Jennifer Lansbury's life is in serious danger. Immediately before the killer makes a play for the model, in a great scene involving the landing outside the apartment, I guessed the killer's identity and the reasons for the crime. But the movie doesn't give away its secrets easily.

Two very special words sum up "The Case of the Bloody Iris": Edwige Fenech. Here's a woman so incredibly beautiful that you're astonished to see her in a low budget film. Well, maybe not: Italian thrillers and gore films of the 1970s and 1980s always employed extremely attractive women to serve as cannon fodder, but Fenech is so incredibly stunning that she stands out even amongst the well known Eurobabes. Apparently of French and Tunisian extraction, she struts through every scene of the movie with her long black hair, beautiful face, and amazing figure. They could have placed a picture of her face on the movie poster, called this movie "Edwige Fenech," and it would have sold well, probably better. Take her away and what do you have? You still have a good movie in terms of plot and style, but Fenech definitely adds an important dimension to the film. My only concern about "The Case of the Bloody Iris" is the lack of sufficient gore. The movie lacks the sort of cringe inducing carnage that makes Argento and Fulci so memorable. The little bit of blood we do get here is so thick and bright that it looks like paint.

The DVD version of this film contains the least amount of extras of all four discs in the set. No interview with the director or cast members here--just a trailer, an alternate stabbing scene involving the Marilyn character, and a director's filmography round out the DVD. Still, thanks go to Anchor Bay for a job well done. If you told me five years ago that I would soon see movies like this restored with loving clarity and great audio, I would have laughed you out of the room. I'm hearing rumors that Anchor Bay will soon issue a Giallo Collection #2 with four more obscure Italian thrillers for our viewing pleasure. I can only applaud if this rumor is true, then immediately follow up with a request for more.

"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.

This is a great all round movie and it has the stylish murders, curious mystery and nude sexiness you would expect from the giallo genre. Visually the movie is very nice to look at, with plenty of engaging camera work, but without getting overly artistic. The plot revolves around finding a murderer who is stalking attractive women living in an apartment building. Like many similar movies, there are plenty of curious suspects to choose from. The movie is also typically violent and in the first murder sequence, the killer stabs a woman in an elevator and then shows her the scalpel covered in her own blood before plunging it back into her. In another scene the murderer ties up an exotic dancer naked and leaves her to drown in her own bathtub while he watches. Director Giuliano Carnimeo doesn't seem to have made to many giallo movies, nevertheless this is a particularly enjoyable film. Lovers of giallo films should add this to their collection and I'd recommend buying it as part of the great four movie boxed set Anchor Bay have put out.

Beautiful women, gruesome murders, mistaken identity, and a great musical score make "The Case of the Bloody Iris" an entertaining giallo. Gorgeous women - all of which are engaged in amoral occupations (prostitution, nude wrestling, and nude modeling) - are being murdered in a luxurious high rise apartment building.

Jennifer (Edwige Fenech of Mario Bava's "Five Dolls for an August Moon") and her co-worker/friend move into an high rise apartment that was recently occupied by the last victim of the serial killer. She is being stalked by her estranged husband who leaves behind torn irises to remind her he was there. Furthermore, all of her strange neighbors are connected with the murders.

"The Case of the Bloody Iris" has a "Psycho"-like stabbing in an elevator; this scene was later imitated in Brian De Palma's "Dressed to Kill." The killer, with his/her black mask and coat, resembles the maniac who is murdering models in Mario Bava's "Blood and Black Lace." ("Blood and Black Lace" is considered to be the granddaddy of Italian gialli.) Also, the staircase in the high rise building and the killer's demise reminded me of Dario Argento's "Cat O' Nine Tails" which is another great giallo.

Overall, "The Case of the Bloody Iris" was unique. At least the killer wasn't a priest like in so many other gialli I've recently seen. If I see another giallo where the killer is a priest, I'm going to scream!!!

For some reason I expected more from 'The Case of the Bloody Iris' - I don't remember exactly now what it was I heard or read that led me to think that this film was a standout in the genre, but that is what I was hoping for. As a relative newcomer to Giallo films, I haven't seen enough of them to make any definite judgments in relation to the others of the same type, but as a standalone film, I felt only so-so about 'Iris'.

The always beautiful Edwige Fenech is embroiled in a mystery surrounding the high-rise apartment that she has just been offered by the mysterious architect (George Hilton) who designed the building. Two women have been murdered either in the apartment or close by, and suspects abound, including an estranged husband, a Boo Radley type next door, and especially the young architect. More murders take place, and a net of menace encircles Ms. Fenech until it seems unavoidable that she will be the next victim.

It's my understanding that most of the Giallo genre consisted of shocking violence and sexual situations, and which was probably very true when this film came out in 1972, but to my more modern, jaded eyes, it just doesn't have the same punch that I imagine it did nearly forty years ago. I suspect that's what spurred my disappointment - I was expecting something truly out there, and 'Iris' seems a little ordinary by today's standards. Still, I think the key to enjoying these films is to leave comparisons to today out of the equation all-together, and appreciate them on their own merits. With that in mind, I still think of 'Iris' as just a bit above average, with all the requisite parts in place (beautiful women and red herrings galore), but too unexciting in its pacing and tension. I like George Hilton better here than in his westerns, where he always seems to be mugging for the camera, but ultimately he may be too aloof as the young architect. Ms. Fenech, on the other hand, is a delightfully distressed damsel, almost perfect in her vulnerability and in her attractiveness.

I'd say director Carnimeo is most at fault here, as the other film of his I've seen (also with Hilton), 'I am Sartana...Trade Your Guns for a Coffin' was equally flat. Be that as it may, 'Iris' is still worth checking out to fans of Italian film in general - disappointing or not, I don't regret watching it, and as in almost all films from this time and place, I always find something interesting.

George Hilton stars in this Giallo where there is a murderer killing people in an apartment complex. Obviously someone who lives in the apartment complex is doing it. I do like the mystery and story and characters were decent to very good. Nothing like Dario Argento or Mario Bava, but a good movie anyway. This one has more nudity than gore(not by much) and just a good portion of sleaze to it. I found one scene where one the ladies (the ladies are all hot in this especially Edwige French) gets stabbed in public and no one does anything, they all just let her pass, which I thought was kind of awkward. Still the story, plot and pace are good and it is only a 90 minute movie. Above average for its type but not as good as a Dario Argento movie in that era..
I own the Anchor Bay DVD and the Blue Underground is basically a double dip as the person who used to work at Anchor Bay is with BU,so all those titles are getting a double dip

Like a lot of those 70's Italian sexy thrillers, or "giallos", this movie isn't as trashy as it may initially seem. Yes, there's gore and sex, but there's also style, humor, beautiful women, and credible acting. Set in the world of fashion photography, "The Case of the Bloody Iris" delivers a pretty good time. Excellent widescreen print and good dubbing, too.

i think that this movie is very well written and directed.
luci fuchi