Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile

I love this movie. The first time that I saw it was when I was a little girl, around 9 or 10 years old. The storyline is great: a killer who targets women who have been unfaithful to their husbands. It is unfair that the killer does not target unfaithful men, but hey, this is a giallo after all. It's funny because I am pretty sure that I only like this movie because I watch it in Italian, and that makes it exotic to me. If it were an American movie, I would probably not like it as much. Farley Granger is quite handsome, even more so than in "Strangers On A Train". There is a red herring that I found predictable, but I've been watching horror films for most of my life, so I often guess correctly what's going on. I knew who the killer really was long before it was revealed. I found the ending quite sad though. It would have been nice to have a different outcome. At least this giallo doesn't have the graphic violence that some of it's contemporaries have.

It's the 1970s, so everyone is having an affair. It's Italy, so all the women are hot. It's a giallo, so there's a killer on the prowl, and he's targeting all those unfaithful beautiful Italian wives, mutilating their bodies with a knife and leaving behind evidence of their illicit behaviour. Farley Granger plays Capuana, the inspector on the case, whose investigation ultimately leads to a shocking personal discovery.

Roberto Bianchi Montero's So Sweet, So Dead is a textbook giallo, with a plot that offers up several suspects (although it's not too difficult to work out the identity of the killer), a big subplot that goes absolutely nowhere (beautiful Bettina witnessing the murder of her father's mistress), plenty of opportunity to ogle the very attractive actresses in the altogether, a touch of gore, and a killer who shops at Psycho Italiano, the boutique of choice for all serious Euro-maniacs (where they stock a complete range of trench-coats, fedoras, and leather gloves, plus the latest in black stocking masks and switchblades). Hell, there's even a bottle or two of J&B on show, and it don't get more giallo than that!

Even though the story is fairly routine, and the film lacks the visual style of the likes of Argento or Bava, the numerous kills and frequent nudity (babes in the buff include Femi Benussi, Krista Nell and Sylva Koscina) should keep most giallo fans happy for the duration.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for hilarious camp queen Cleopatra, for the surprisingly dark ending, and for having one of the longest Italian titles for a giallo that I am aware of (Rivelazioni di un maniaco sessuale al capo della squadra mobile - which is even longer than Il tuo Visio e una Stanza Chiusa e Solo io ne ho la Chiave AKA Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key).

'So Sweet So Dead' is an ultra-sleazy giallo flick directed by Roberto Bianchi Montero with a simple yet effective plot, good pacing, a lot of kills and tons of nudity. All the elements that you would expect from a decent giallo movie. But what holds this back from being a great genre entry is the lack of creativity within several elements of the kills and story, but it's still an enjoyable time.

The plot follows Inspector Capuana (Farley Granger) who is assigned to investigate the case of a serial killer who is murdering unfaithful wives and leaves compromising photographs of the women with their lovers at the crime scene.

I have heard good things about this and while I was certainly entertained throughout (mostly), it just feels like its missing that something special that could have really elevated this to classic status. Of the genre. The lead performance by Farley Granger was very uneven which is a shame as he's normally great in classics such as (Rope & Strangers On A Train), but here he just seems embarrassed to be here and feels very much phoned in. Not saying that this was bad or anything in-fact there was a lot to enjoy here such as the decent visuals with some nicely stylish shots, a good amount of tension and an awesome looking killer that will delight any fans of the genre.

Overall 'So Sweet So Dead' is good enough with a solid mystery, but the movie does lose its way in several areas and could have done with a bit more imagination and a stronger lead male performance.

An interesting addition to the Giallo genre. Most commentators have concentrated on the apparent misogyny and gratuitous nudity as well as the unfortunate version with porno inserts (which I haven't seen). I'm not sure about the first criticism and as to the second aspect it's an integral part of Giallo. Why else would most of us sit through badly dubbed plodding dialogue and awful acting except for the occasional glimpse of the unadorned form of Babara Bouchet or Sylvia Koscina? To mind my far more interesting is the political undertone referencing the corruption of the upper classes in 1970s Italy which is in tune with "respectable" movies such as 'Investigation of a Citizen Above Suspicion' and 'Illustrious Corpses'. I wouldn't want to spoil the movie for those haven't seen it, but there are also definite similarities with later efforts such as 'Dressed to Kill' and 'Seven'.

In the Giallo catalogue, I'd put this up with 'Don't Torture a Duckling'. Not as flashy as Argento, but it has something. My DVD is I think a video transfer. Maybe time for a proper digital version?

I'm not sure I've ever seen this and had got a blu-ray of Code Red from the US and was pleased that I got it. It is not brilliant but rather good and the dead girls are very naked for their killings. And rather nasty knifings they are, the killer is certainly in the classic style with black coat, big hat and of course black leather gloves. Roberto Bianchi Montero made many different films but I think this was his only giallo and was 65 at the time. Farley Granger is impressive and the girls lovely especially Sylva Koschina and I always love to see Nieves Navarro (Susan Scott). It was an interesting idea that the naughty girls get it and the end is really good as we get to see Farley looking on!