Reflections in Black

A young woman nicknamed Nellie is murdered with a razor by a woman dressed in black.The next victim named Emma has her throat slashed in a park.The police begins their investigation and question lawyer Anselmi with whom Emma worked as a secretary.The third woman is slashed to death by enigmatic beauty in black.All the victims were friends of layer's wife Leonora Anselmi."Reflections in Black" aka "Vice Wears Black Hose" is a dreary and unremarkable Italian giallo with plenty of sleaze and some sexy Euro-exploitation starlets including Dagmar Lassander and Magda Konopka.My copy runs 74 minutes and I don't have any idea where to find fully uncut 90 minutes Italian version.If you like your gialli with sleaze and full-frontal nudity check this one out.6 out of 10.

Reflections in Black is a good name for a movie. And this one has a tantalising poster too if you bother to seek it out. But you know that old saying about never judging a book by its cover…

This is certainly one of the least impressive examples of the Italian giallo that I have seen. It was directed by Tano Cimorosa, who also plays the diminutive detective with the 'tache. Cimorosa will be familiar to a lot of you from his memorable appearance in Renato Polselli's brutally sleazy giallo Delirium (1972). Well this movie sure has its fair share of sleaze as well but it's a much less entertaining affair. On the one hand it certainly contains many of the giallo conventions such as a convoluted mystery, violent murders and a healthy amount of nudity; on the other hand it completely lacks any sense of style. As a result it merely comes off as rough edged and at best semi-interesting. It stars giallo regulars such as Dagmar Lassander and Giacomo Rossi-Stuart but they aren't really given a lot to do.

It should be pointed out that the copy I saw was pan and scan and 72 minutes, with poor sound. Perhaps if I saw it in a better version my opinion would improve, as I do believe that there is a 90 minute cut out there. But my main feeling is that the basic ingredients of this one are not terrific no matter the version.

This is one of your sleazier gialli right up there with scuzzy favorites like "Strip Nude for Your Killer" and "The Slasher Is a Sex Maniac". The plot even by giallo standards is hopelessly convoluted and ridiculous with far too many thinly-drawn and similar-looking characters for any non-Italian viewer to keep straight. To his credit, the first-time director, sleazeball character actor Gaetano Cimorosa, obviously tried to inject some visual style into the proceedings, but to little avail. Still there is fun to be had here; at least, if you can get past the unusually homophobic storyline that has any number of heterosexually desirable bisexuals and lesbians being killed for no other reason than their sexual orientation (even as the movie itself hypocritically wallows in prurient lesbian sex).

Normally, I'd describe the plot right here, but, believe me, it really doesn't matter with this one. The movie is currently available in two versions. The English version is full-screen with Dutch(?)subtitles, but it looks pretty decent. The Spanish language version (obviously from the post-Franco, post-censorial "destapa" period) is wide-screen and is the only version featuring nudity from the ravishing Dagmar Lassender and Magda Kopovka. Unfortunately, its also WAY too heavily padded with softcore sex scenes that manage to slow even further the movie's already glacial pace, and it looks horrible to boot. Pick your poison (lucky me, I own 'em both).

We've all been there - the middle of a murder mystery just because you happen to be a lesbian countess with an angry husband, and the victims being all your ex-lovers. Them damn police don't let up with their questions either. Don't they know that lesbian sex scenes are a giallo film's way of distracting you from the lame plot?

Yep, the killer has black gloves and an open razor, the victims are young and often naked ladies, and there's loads and loads of nudity to keep you awake between the interminable police investigation scenes. The main focus seems to be mainly on John Richardson the policeman and his sidekick, who suspiciously is played by director/actor Gaetano. There's also a keen rookie cop and his girlfriend that clog up the investigation side of things too, and bulk out the plot.

As usual a photograph is a main plot point, there's a few effective stalking scenes, but even the rampant nudity couldn't really carry this one all the way through. They didn't give Giacomo Rossi-Stuart enough screen time either.

Mixed bag... but mostly pretty bad.

First, this film does a couple things right. The dialogue is better than it has to be, and it mixes in moments of wit and humor throughout the script which are a nice bonus. The acting varies. Some of the actors are quite good. Some even convey appropriate grief in response to murder. However, there are other actors here that are utterly unconvincing as their "characters." It's pretty bad at times.

The film never decides on a proper protagonist. There are 3 or 4 contenders. But no central hero to root for.

In the end, the villain does not get their proper time to shine in all their madness. It felt unsatisfying. I'd skip this one.