Die Bestie mit dem feurigen Atem

After a brutal and attention-grabbing opening murder, this movie settles into a predictable rut. Riccardo Freda seems content to borrow the conventions of the giallo genre--such as giving the killer a recognizable trait like a limp, and then having half the characters in the film limp in various scenes--but manages to suck the life out of them, leaving a rather slow-moving film. Freda is considered a top-notch Italian director but it's hard to see why, especially since his protege had outclassed him and positively defined the genre the year before. Still, it's done with enough care to have (apparently) taught Brian DePalma a thing or two when it came to "Dressed to Kill," and the finale has a jaw-dropping viciousness to it that has to be seen to be believed, involving a nude 16 year-old, an old woman and a completely berserk black-gloved killer. It's just a shame that the scenes between the violent ones aren't more involving and interesting.

Riccardo Freda's rude giallo is not quite a masterpiece, but it still delivers good entertainment and some stuff quite unusual for the "typical" Italian thriller of the Sixties and Seventies. First of all, the movie plays in Dublin, which I already assume unique in the history of giallo. Second, the family involved in the crimes is the one of the Dutch ambassador in the Republic of Ireland, which makes the case even more complicated for the policemen involved.

Also very remarkable is the fact that this giallo delivers no nude scenes, which is quite rare for this genre. And last but not least, it's one of the goriest gialli before Dario Argento made "Profondo Rosso" (Deep Red). E.g.: Some hapless victims get their faces mutilated by acid before the killer slits their throats.

By the way Freda delivers some thrilling and uncanny moments, and the climax is extremely nasty for various reasons: It has to be seen to be believed. The cast - including Anton Diffring, Luigi Pistilli, Dagmar Lassander and Werner Pochath - is above average and always convincing.

All in all, "L'Iguana dalla Lingua di Fuoco" is not a masterly but still very cool giallo. Its only fault (possibly) is that it's too nasty for the easily offended - but easily offended people don't watch gialli anyway, I guess.

The title of this film is one of the most ludicrously lurid in the whole Giallo sub-genre, and that gives the viewer the right impression of this film. Some Giallo's strive for artistic merit, while others are more than happy to depict graphic, violent murders and make the sleaze and trashiness the main ingredient; this film is one of the latter. The film gets off to a very promising start, with a bloody murder that sees a young woman have acid thrown in her face before having her throat sliced open with a razorblade. While this sequence is poorly brought to the screen and suffers from really bad special effects, it's at least entertaining. However, from there the film quickly moves downhill, and director Riccardo Freda bombards the viewer with tedious sequence after tedious sequence, until the ending in which the film gets back on track. The plot after the initial murder sees the mutilated corpse turn up in the boot of the Swiss Ambassador's car. The Ambassador refuses to cooperate with the police as the girl was a former lover of his, and hard-bitten ex-cop John Norton is soon drafted in as the murders continue...

If Riccardo Freda could have made the middle of the movie as trashy and violent as the beginning and end, this could have been a pristine slice of Giallo sleaze; but the fact that the plot gets far too convoluted means the film gets boring too quickly, and despite a couple of decent scenarios in the centre of the film, there really isn't much to remember it for. The best sequence in the movie sees a young woman being chased through the streets by the murderer. The scene setting is good as the smoke filled pathway looks absolutely gorgeous, and the total lunacy of the conclusion to the chase bodes well with the trash theme of the movie. The acting leaves a lot to be desired and the poorly dubbed voices don't help. Of course, this isn't an actor's film; but considering the talent involved, this part of the movie should have been better. The murder scenes feel a little too much like an excuse to show blood and guts, and the fact that they aren't very well realised helps to ensure this. The climax is good, however, and while the identity of the killer doesn't really matter after watching the ninety minute ordeal, the revelation scene is good trashy fun. There isn't a lot I can recommend this for other than the obvious cult value; but fans of lurid cinema may find something to like.

This starts very well, indeed, startlingly so with surreal quality about it as we proceed from outlandish and vivid killing to child finding body in trunk of car and something strange going on with eyes. Various persons emerge from secret doors and there is emphasis upon dark glasses and limited sight with some weird sound going off to suggest something untoward is about to happen. Things calm down and killing become a bit mundane, very bloody but not very involving until the end when things spark back into life. Along the way, Anton Differing is effective, if a little one note and Dagmar Lassander lovely as ever. Veteran actress, Valentina Cortese puts in a great little performance and Italian movie stalwart Luigi Pistilli is most effective. Great shots of Dublin and Switzerland along the way and if this is not the finest giallo, it is certainly entertaining enough.

Hi, Actually some of this film was made in Waterford, including the 'bridge in the fog' and river scenes. I was an eighteen year old working as an assistant in a chemist shop on the quays in Waterford when some of the crew came in and asked my boss Michael F. O'Connor to make up a concoction that would fizzle like acid when thrown on the victim. This he duly did, after some experimentation! They spent at least three days in Waterford. This was a very exciting event for me as I was a huge movie buff, and I still am of course! I have the DVD release and also the soundtrack composed by Stelvio Cipriani. Great memories. I would be glad to hear from you if you ever read this message. Niall.