Bajo el vestido... nada

When it comes to horror cinema, I love the Italian Giallo and I love the 80's, but a combination of both usually isn't worth the effort. The Giallo is irreversibly linked to the 70's and unfortunately only a handful of gratifying titles came out during the 80's, mostly either directed by Dario Argento ("Tenebre", "Opera") or Lamberto Bava ("Midnight Ripper", "Delirium"). Therefore it was an extra pleasant surprise to discover that "Nothing Underneath", directed by the relatively unknown Carlo Vanzina, is an overlooked gem in the sub genre. The scenario often doesn't make a lick of sense and the plot twists are implausible and absurd, but that doesn't matter and actually even makes it cooler in terms of Giallo-cinema. The setting, premise and character drawings are as rudimentary as it gets in this type of film. In the glossy and competitive fashion business of Milan, there's a crazed psychopath killing models with a gigantic pair of shiny scissors. The fatigue old police commissioner, who's only two weeks away from his retirement, doesn't have a clue where to begin his investigation, but luckily he receives the help of a young Wyoming park ranger. For you see, the kid witnessed the attack against his twin sister through a telepathic connection between them, and now he traveled to Milan to look for her. Whilst he's messing around with gorgeous models, the killer cheerfully continues to cut up more beauty queens.

Although entirely irrelevant to the plot, this film at least has a title that actually makes sense. Gialli often have lovely sounding but nonsensical titles, but this one is totally accurate as several of these models are wearing nothing underneath their dresses and mini-skirts. In spite of the nudity and a remarkably stylish presentation, the first half hour is rather slow-paced and on the verge of boring. "Nothing Underneath" is then luckily rescued by a few highly inventive and delightfully far-fetched plot twists; making the rest of the film satisfyingly exciting and even suspenseful. The last ten minutes are downright fantastic and almost on par with the quality level of the 80's films by the aforementioned directors Argento and Bava. As said already, director Carlo Vanzina even manages to demonstrate style and flair, like through the use slow-motion images and colorful fashion show glimpses. The murders, on the other hand, are a bit disappointing, as there should have been more of them and especially bloodier. There's one impressively nasty kill involving a backstabbing, but the concept offered so much more opportunities to depict gore and bloodshed. The screenplay greedily processes all the typical Italian fashion industry clichés and stereotypes into the film, including the voyeuristic hotel clerks, the wild drug parties and the harsh competition between the women. The soundtrack contains some wondrous 80's tunes like "One Night in Bangkok", which always puts a smile on my face. Donald Pleasance stars as the aging commissioner who desperately – but in vain - tries to look and sound Italian. Pleasance's role isn't that important, but he definitely brings some name fame to the overlooked production.

The sequel, entitled "Too Beautiful To Die" is a pretty worthwhile film as well. The stories of both films have no plot aspects or characters in common but are nevertheless considered sequels because they were both released in the second half of the 80's and take place in the Italian fashion universe.

This one tries oh-so-hard to be a stylish giallo in the Argento-manner, combined with some erotica, and almost succeeds. Of course, you get all the pros and cons of the giallo-genre. Inventive cinematography, nice settings, elaborate murders, good score (by dePalma regular Pino Donaggio) and a plot with more twists and turns than you can shake a stick at, are bonus points plus a walk-on by Donald Pleasance who gives the picture a touch of class.

We also get silly dialogue to howl at, so-called actors/actresses who read their lines in incredibly stilted fashion (my 'fave' is the girl who says 'a maniac is trying to kill us all' with a tone of voice that suggests indigestion more than fright) and a motive for the killer that is far-fetched to say the least. Renee Simonsen is adequate in her part, as is Schanley. Because of the setting, the fashion industry in Milan, the array of beautiful women is neverending (but many of them are made up to look like hookers, not models), but almost none of them are presented in a positive way, rather as money-hungry bitches, ready to do everything for fame and/or money.

For the true giallo-fan there may be one thing that disappoints: the murders. If you are familiar with the works of Argento/Soavi/Fulci, you know that the murders should be vicious and yet beautiful almost. "Nothing Underneath" builds these set-pieces with some flair, but the payoffs (i.e murders) are usually (with one exception) pretty lame. However, the last ten minutes are quite suspenseful and competently put together, and Vanzina manages to pull off some neat set-pieces. Give it a try, but don't expect too much.

Sotto Il Vestito Niente or Nothing Underneath is one of those releases that never had an official uncut release on DVD. Even the US DVD clocks in at 90 minutes. To find it uncut you will have to search the Japanese VHS release on the obscure 'Suncrown' label. It clocks in at 94 minutes and 14 seconds. 4 minutes more then all DVD releases worldwide. The VHS is very hard to find but still is it all worth searching?

If you are a giallo buff you will need this version and also the Donald Pleasance fans should search for it. He has a weird Italian accent. You can easily spot the extra 4 minutes throughout this flick, they have more drops and scratches. It's indeed a pure giallo with the black gloves and scissors but it's low on red stuff. Don't expect to see a Argento styled giallo.

The story is also rather simple. When Bob Crane (Tom Schanley) hears that his sister is in danger he immediately goes to Milan, Italy to find Jessica (Nicola Perring). Of course nobody believes Bob and detective Danesi (Pleasance) doesn't want to help until other models do disappear. Together they go hunt the maniacal killer as it's Danesi's last case.

When the killings happen it's all done off-camera except with the brown girl. And that doesn't help the giallo to become a classic. But it's full of gratuitous nudity and Pleasance with his worth voice is worth watching. A late entry in the giallo genre and not that good for the red stuff but the story flows smoothly, somehow you keep watching.

Gore 0/5 Nudity 2,5/5 Effects 1/5 Story 3/5 Comedy 0/5

Okay, I admit: the eighties is a guilty pleasure for me and most of of the horror movies I watch are from those years.

I´m very fond of giallos from the eightes and this is one of my guilty pleasures. Not as good and stylish as You´ll die at midnight, but good entertainment and quite a good story.

Someone is killing models in Milano and the brother to one of them comes to town to find out what happened to his sister. He get´s help from the soon-to-retired police Donald Pleasence. Because he and his sister are twins, he can sense things that happened to her and that helps him a lot during the investigation.

Carlo Vanzinas direction is simple and very effective and he makes the movie work. I enjoyed his work before, the strange espionage-giallo Mystère (with Janet Ågren, Carol Bouchet and John Steiner).

Blood? Yes, a small amount is shed with happiness and those scenes look really good. But most of the stuff is off screen or just not-so-graphic.

The ending is fabulous, I love the use of slowmo there.

Recommended for the die hard giallo-fans :)

"Sotto il vestito niente" (Nothing underneath) is what one could call a "standard " giallo. The film tells a straightforward story and is directed to the general audience, as it becomes clear by a more "conventional" soundtrack, but all the same – "Nothing underneath" is still a stylish and inventive film.

The plot , derivative as it may seem, is also interesting. A model in Milan is about to be killed. Her twin brother in Wyoming, Bob Crane (Tom Schanley) feels that something is about to happen. He tries to warn her. Too late. He flies in a hurry to Milan but his sister is missing. What happened to her? He warns the detective inspector, Comissioner Danesi (Donald Pleasance), that his sister may have been killed. But, as they say, "no body, no crime". Another model is murdered and this is just the beginning. Now Comissioner Danesi and Bob Crane join forces to investigate the murders...

As I said before, "Nothing underneath" is, like many other gialli, stylishly filmed, with good murder scenes, beautiful actresses etc., in other words, it has all the ingredients that make gialli so attractive. One can feel in "Nothing underneath" the love of Vanzina for the giallo genre, and for Hitchcock too.

"Nothing underneath" may not be a groundbreaking film, but it's quite an enjoyable one.