Mannekäng i rött

This is not necessarily a good movie, with a creaky storyline (along with the old lady's wheelchair), some stiff and some overplayed performances and silly "funny" moments. Still, I am very fond of this. It has several suspenseful sequences, a few on-the-spot performances and, above all, a gorgeus photography. It predates all the giallos of the sixties and seventies in its appearance with at least 4-5 years and some chunks could have been lifted from this movie to "Blood and black lace", Mario Bavas tour-de-force in giallo and the start of a whole trend. These films also share its environment, a fashion-salon. The murders are not gruesome by todays standards of course, the atmosphere is right!! Two thumbs up!!

Sometimes in life you've gotta change your plans. For example, my initial plan was to watch all the "Hillman" films I could get a hold of, because the idea of a Swedish Nick-and-Nora-ish detective couple sounded appealing to me. But after watching "Mannequin In Red", I will probably not follow through on any of their other films. Though well-photographed, this film is boring, flat, uninteresting and tiresome. What's more, there is no snap in the dialogue, no banter between the leads. It's one of those films that within the first 14 minutes you feel that if you turned it off right there, you wouldn't miss a thing - and it goes on (and on, and on....) for 104 minutes! The "comic relief" assistant character is especially wasteful. * out of 4.

The second of Arne Mattson's 'Holman' series - and the first in colour - based on the novels of Folke Meling, known for always having a colour in the title.

Known as "the Swedish Hitchcock ", in common with Hitchcock Mattson here employs bright fifties colour in this murder mystery set against the backdrop of Swedish high fashion in which the models keep turning up dead.

The ladies all being Swedish are awesome, with even the old woman confined to a wheelchair possessing perfect bones. The victims themselves predictably are all absolutely fabulous. While for those sophisticates among you Anita Bjork has a lady friend with she keeps exchanging meaningful looks; if you know what I mean.

This the second of the 'Hillman Thrillers' sees husband and wife detectives John and Kajsa Hillman, along with assistant Freddie, investigating the murder of a model at a fashion house, with Kajsa going undercover as a new model. It quickly becomes clear that the dead woman had been blackmailing various people but they might not be the only ones with a motive to kill... and her death won't be the last.

Having enjoyed 'The Lady in Black' it made sense to watch other available films in the series. The first obvious difference with this one is that it is in colour. It is also set in Stockholm so has a different feel to the previous film's rural setting. It still has the same protagonists though. John and Kajsa are good protagonists; serious and getting the job done while Freddie continues to provide light relief along with beautiful girlfriend Sonja. The mystery provides plenty of suspects as well as some good twists and turns that one would hope for in the genre. It may be over sixty five years old but it doesn't feel too dated; the colour looks great. The cast does a solid job and despite the grisly nature of the murders nothing really unpleasant is shown meaning it can be enjoyed by more squeamish fans of the genre. Overall a good second instalment in the series; I'll certainly be watching more and would recommend it to anybody looking for a solid mystery.

These comments are based on watching the film in Swedish with English subtitles.

After one of the models vanishes from the fashion house La Femme Kate Hillman starts her investigation along with Captain John Hillman.The chain of ghastly murders begins..."Mannequin in Red" is often cited as the main influence on Mario Bava's legendary giallo "Blood and Black Lace".It's a murder mystery that takes place in a fashion house.The film is gorgeously photographed by Hilding Bladh and offers some suspenseful moments.The killings are tame and completely bloodless and there are some irritating scenes that are supposed to be funny,but I wasn't amused.However if you want to see stylish giallo from Sweden check out "Mannequin in Red" before or after watching Bava's masterful "Blood and Black Lace".7 out of 10.