Mannekäng i rött

Deceit, blackmail, and vicious murders in a posh fashion house where lots of ravishing female models are employed. Hey, that sounds like the plot synopsis of an Italian Giallo from the 60s or early 70s! But "Mannequin in Red" is Swedish and got released in the 1958 already, so could this possibly be a sort of blueprint/pioneer for my absolute favorite cult sub-genre of all times? The answer is "yes", but nobody in the cast or crew was aware of it at the time. Fact remains that, six year later, the stupendous Mario Bava came with the similar "Blood and Black Lace" and changed euro-horror cinema forever.

"Mannequin in Red" plays out like a mystery thriller centering around a married couple of private detectives named John and Kajsa Hillman. I actually like the concept of a man and wife solving murder puzzles together! This is apparently the second of four Swedish thrillers revolving around the sleuth-couple, and the other three have a color in the title as well. Here, Kajsa Hillman gets hired by the stern and wheelchair-bound fashion guru Thyra Lennberg, supposedly as a model but, in reality, it's to keep eyes and ears open for all the lies & deceit at the La Femme fashion house. Shortly after, the body of a brutally murdered model is discovered - in the shop window, of all places - and several grim and dark secrets of the fashionista family come to the surface.

It's a good film, with a handful of intelligent twists in the script and a stunning photography, but there are also unsurpassable flaws. "Mannequin in Red" is too long and has too many unnecessary supportive characters and sub plots. Particularly all the sequences with the clumsy sidekick Freddy and his girlfriend should have been cut because they are embarrassingly unfunny. The twists/revelations at the end are not too difficult to guess, but bear in mind the release year was 1958, and thus long before all those other titles where you've seen similar endings.

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.

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!!

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 is the second of five movies involving the Hillman detectives and unlike the first (The Lady in Black) this is in colour. And it looks great, John and Kajsa Hillman are visiting friends at Fashion House La Femme, when bodies start piling up, starting with model Katja Sundin. The head of the fashion house is Thyra Lennberg is not a pleasant woman so when she is murdered in a house fire there's plenty of suspects. Annalisa Ericson and Karl-Arne Holmsten are great as the detective couple ably assisted by Freddy (Nils Halberg) and his girlfriend Sonja (Lena Granhagen) who provide a comedy element. Decent fifties fayre.