Customer Reviews

Your Vice Is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key

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

 

 

Interesting little Italian giallo released in 1972 and expertly restored by the folks at No Shame. Not a really bloody one per se, but a tale filled with the usual assortment of red herrings, unbridled sensuality, deception, deceit, murder, a cat named "Satan".....and motorcross dirt biking! (Well, actually the last one is just a device to move the romantic subplot along...) At any rate, the story borrows heavily from Poe's "The Black Cat", but don't let that turn you off to watching it. Scenes from the film itself will recall the madness of Argento's "Deep Red" and Kubrick's "The Shining" in moments of suspense and terror.

No stranger to this medium, Edwige Fenech is as gorgeous as ever and she looks just as lovely in the interview extra with director Sergio Martino as she did over 30 years ago when the film was produced. Supporting players Anita Strindberg and Luigi Pistilli raise the bar of this giallo over the standard fare typical of this genre. A good solid giallo, but not in the caliber of, say, "The Case of the Scorpion's Tale" (also directed by Martino) or "The Fifth Cord."

In fact, the extras, especially the interview with Martino and Fenech is well-done and most informative; the crew at No Shame have really presented a first-class DVD release re-mastered from the original print and now available in the USA for the first time.

I know you Torso and Scorpion's Tail fans will disagree, but this is Martino's best giallo. GREAT location, music, and acting. The murder scenes are wonderfully executed, and Edwidge Fenech is HOT in her first villainous role. And the cries of the black cat! Creepy! Is it alive or dead? Great giallo. Period.

Life has been difficult lately for Irina (Anita Strindberg). Her husband Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli) abuses and humiliates her at every opportunity; he's been accused of slashing to death a young woman he knew; their housekeeper has just been killed in a similar fashion; and now she thinks he's trying to kill her. Enter Oliviero's niece Floriana (Edwige Fenech) and things begin to get even more interesting.

This film is based on Edgar Allan Poe's story "The Black Cat" and so is different from other gialli that I've seen with it's dark, haunted, gothic atmosphere (with the requisite cellar, of course). It also marked a change in roles played by Edwige Fenech. Looking very sly and seductive with a short bob, this was the first time - as she notes in her interview on the disc - that she played something of a bad girl: she arrives with a notorious reputation ("Is it true that you're a two-bit tart?," Oliviero asks her, to which she replies, "Well, it could be two bits well spent"), she goes to bed with her uncle and she definitely has her eyes on the family jewels.

Luigi Pistilli does a fine job as the threatening, frequently drunken Oliviero and Anita Strindberg really gives off a sense of nervous terror coming from being trapped in this hell of hers, complete with Oliviero's terrifyingly annoying black cat, Satan.

The picture looks very nice with good colors in a 1.85:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for widescreen sets and filling the screen. The original Italian audio track is provided along with an English dub and the subtitles are easy to read. Extras on the disc include interviews with Fenech, director Sergio Martino and writer Ernesto Gastaldi; and trailers for other Martino films. No Shame Films also includes a 12 page booklet with background on the film, placing it within the context of Italy's political situation at the times, plus bios and filmographies of Martino, Fenech and Stringberg. There are also some nice color still photos, though the photo on Fenech's bio page is that of another actress in the film!

While I can't say that I enjoyed this Martino film quite as much as his earlier effort with Edwige Fenech, "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" - it's a little slow at times and Edwige is absent from the first half hour - I'd still give it four stars in the giallo category for the performances, the stylish direction and the Poe-like sense of claustrophobia, terror and madness.

(A note for the curious: the title of the film was taken from a threatening letter one character sends to another in "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh.")

this is a bizarre film that has everything: soft lighted romantic scenes to violent scenes and gothic to giallo suspense. It is a good film to have on DVD because it is not entirely successful, and i like it better the more I watch it. It is important to realize what is really going on in this film is a contrasting of the neurotic aristocratic sexuality of the Rouvignier with the young freelove people they have chosen to surround themselves. There are several bridge characters who only make sense if you understand this contrast: the maid, "Giovanna","Flo", Rassimov's character. The Rouvigniers have desires for the shallow young people who surround them and ultimately that will drive them mad. Is the movie successful at communicating this? At first watching, the answer is no. However, after several viewings, I believe that it does capture what it would be like to lecture on Edgar Allen Poe to a group of hippies.

"Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have The Key" is an excellent, top-notch giallo directed by one of the masters of the genre, Sergio Martino. Martino also crafted another of my personal favorites, "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail." "Your Vice" has an excellent cast composed of gialli regulars that includes Luigi Pistilli (Mario Bava's "Bay of Blood"), Anita Strindberg (Lucio Fulci's "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin"), and soft porn queen Edwige Fenech (Giuliano Carnimeo's "The Bloody Iris"). Not only does "Your Vice" boast a top notch cast, but it also has a top notch writer, Ernesto Gastaldi, who wrote Martino`s "Torso" and Bava's "The Whip and the Body." Music was provided by Bruno Nicolai who has scored countless other gialli such as "The Red Queen Kills Seven Times," "The Case of the Bloody Iris," and "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail."

"Your Vice" is very similar to Bava`s "Bay of Blood." The plot can be summed up in one word: Greed. Most of the key characters are greedy and corrupt. They will do most anything for money. As in "Bay of Blood," there is more than one killer and the weapon of choice seems to be the curved blade of a sickle. There are also theatrical elements that are similar to Stephen King's "The Shining" and Henri-Georges Clouzot's "Diabolique" Pistilli is an abusive, alcoholic, has been writer living in a huge, crumbling villa; he is slowly losing his grip on reality. Two women, his wife and niece (Strindberg and Fenech, respectively) begin conspiring against him. Meanwhile, his beloved black cat keeps an eye on all the action from afar. Needless to say "Your Vice" is a tribute to Edgar Allan Poe's "The Black Cat." If you've read "The Black Cat," you can predict the ending. However, there are plenty of other twists to keep you entertained.

As always, NoShame films did a stellar job of restoring "Your Vice" and packaging it with plenty of extras. The film looks as though it was released in the theatres only yesterday. The photography and music are beautiful. This film contains many elements that were considered taboo in the seventies, especially the love scenes between Strindberg and Fenech. However, everything was delivered with great taste. "Your Vice" is a must have for anyone who collects Italian gialli; it is a definite keeper.

if you can find a copy of this or willing to pay a bit for one, this is worth checking out. I enjoyed it. As a fan of Giallo, this is up there with the best. Edwige Fenech does a great job here, as always. I enjoyed the twists throughout the film. Poe influence is apparent and works better than most Poe inspired films.

Other recommended rare Giallo:
AMUCK!, A DRAGONFLY FOR EACH CORPSE, DEATH LAID AN EGG, FOUR FLIES ON GREY VELVET, BODYCOUNT, DEATH KNOCKS TWICE, BODY PUZZLE, THE KILLER MUST KILL AGAIN, EYEBALL, & DEATH CARRIES A CANE.

This an interesting slasher flick that takes place in a secluded mansion in the Italian country side. The cinematography is beautiful and the women are gorgeous. However, outside of the few slasher scenes there really isn't much to this movie. Stephen King obviously has seen this movie because there's a few incredible similarities to his novel The Shining.

We have a failed alcoholic novelist (sound familiar?) obsessed with his dead mother who sadistically abuses his timid wife who is terrified of their black cat named Satan. When his mistress is brutally murdered, his wife suspects him of being responsible and the body count begins. Who's the killer? Could it be the novelist who is prone to alcohol induced black outs? Could it be his timid wife? Perhaps it's the shadowy figure that appears just before some one is murdered? Maybe it's the ghost of his mother possessing the cat or his sexy niece who suddenly shows up on their door step?

This is a fairly slow moving misogynistic film with a lot of unnecessary nudity and sex but it was the early 70s so it's understandable. The end is pretty good in an Edgar Allen Poe kind of way but first you have to trudge through several long drawn out scenes of sex and nudity before the final payoff.

Recommended only for true fans of Italian "giallo" horror. If you're not a fan, chances are you'll be pretty bored with the whole thing.