Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave

Boasting one of the most outlandish titles of the giallo genre, Sergio Martino's Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key is yet another loose adaptation of one of Edgar Allen Poe's most famous titles, The Black Cat. Like most Poe adaptations, the film shares little with its source material, apart from the presence of the titular black cat, here named Satan. While it is chocked full of narrative stumbles and frustrating red herrings, Martino's refusal to bend to the genre rules of the giallo makes Your Vice an extremely interesting entry into the genre, avoiding being bogged down with drawn-out set pieces and mind-bending visuals, and instead focusing on the psychological - and physical - interplay between its two leads.

Bored writer Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli) spends the majority of his time throwing drug and alcohol-fuelled parties for the local hippies, and enjoys mentally and physically abusing his long- suffering wife Irina (Anita Strindberg) in front of them. When a young student is brutally murdered on the night she had arranged to meet Oliviero, the wife-beating pig naturally becomes the prime suspect and withdraws into a state of deep paranoia at his labyrinthine mansion. When their maid also shows up dead, Oliviero and Irina hide the body just before the arrival of his niece Floriana (Edwige Fenech). Floriana is a confident and wise young woman, and hatches a plan with Irina to deal with her abusive husband. But not all is as it seems, and just who is the handsome grey-haired man lurking behind every corner?

Far from your average giallo, Your Vice... doesn't subvert the genre but frequently surprises. The plot and ludicrous climax, like most gialli, seem not be taken from the yellow-covered pulp fiction they are normally adapted from, but something akin to an episode of Scooby- Doo. While that may seem like a criticism, it really isn't - it's the type of insanity that makes these movies so much fun to watch. Bolstered by a fantastic score by Bruno Nicolai and lavish cinematography by Giancarlo Ferrando, they are nonetheless overshadowed by Fenech, surely one of the most beautiful women to ever grace the screen. Floriana is a no-nonsense, well-travelled lady, and just when you think you have her worked out, the film throws in a surprising, if in no way believable, twist. It may not be remembered as Martino's best entry into the genre (1973's Torso is certainly up there), but Your Vice... throws in enough twists and turns to keep it consistently entertaining and occasionally disturbing.

Only thing I can compliment in this movie is some clever use of camera, decent, though, as usual, over the top acting and some hints of dread. What remains is, I can only guess, having seen the same director's movie "Torso", trademark style of Sergio Martino. A LOT of nudity and some gore mixed with a "Black Cat" story from E.A.P. If you are even little familiar with the story, you basically know how the movie will end few minutes in. I do not consider this to be giallo, in true meaning of that word... This is yet another thriller with very little things to be scared of, since you don't really care for any of the characters, because they are all sleazy and perverse. 6/10 and I don't really recommend it. You are not missing anything significant by not watching this movie.

Author Oliviero Rouvigny (Luigi Pistilli) is, simply put, a vile pig. His long-suffering wife, Irina (Anita Strindberg) endures most of his abuse, along with his vast array of lovers and mistresses. When one of them is slashed to death, Oliviero is suspect number one on the police inspector's list, along with the horde of hippies that hang out at the writer's enormous estate. When another murder takes place right in the mansion, Oliviero decides to cover it up.

What could all of this have to do with Oliviero's mother? Annnd, what's going on with her old gown? Annnnd, just what is the deal with that irascible black cat named "Satan"?

Enter Floriana (Edwige Feneche), a long-lost relative, who just happens to come for an extended visit. Her stay definitely livens up the place, for Oliviero AND Irina! Meanwhile, more vicious attacks occur.

YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM AND ONLY I HAVE THE KEY is a classic, suspenseful giallo with some wicked twists and turns. Ms. Faneche is both seductive and strong in her wily role, while Pistilli plays Oliviero as the perfectly washed up hack he's become, plagued by his addictions and weaknesses.

EXTRA CREDIT FOR: #1- Ms. Strindberg and her... metamorphosis! #2- A grand finale for the ages! Great stuff!...

Once a successful writer, nowadays in mental crisis, the depraved libertine Oliviero (Luigi Pistilli) is living at his mansion near Verona, but he can't break out of a persistent pain after the death of his adored mum . Today , Oliviero being plagued by nightmares but he takes great joy in mistreating his attractive wife Irina (Anita Strinberg) who lives in terror and their black servant Brenda (Angela La Vorgna) , as he enjoys humiliating her in front of his friends as well as a prohibited love affair with an ex-student (Daniel Giordano) . But when someone slits the throat of a young girl , Oliviero becomes the prime suspect, further complicating his already fragile relationship with Irina . Along the way , the stealthy killer strikes again . Then things go wrong , as if killing wasn't enough, Oliviero's bombshell niece Floriana (Edwige Fenech) enters the triangular equation . More and more killings take place , watching all is a black cat named Satan and a silver-haired stranger observes as well . Various women are mercilessly pursued by an ominous killer wielding a knife . A blood-drenched nightmare from which you awaken too late !

An unsettling and thrilling Giallo produced and written by Luciano Martino freely adapted from the story "The Black Cat" by E. A. Poe , including habitual grisly killings. Sergio Martino's Gialli getting certain success , being compellingly shot , including well staged crimes with plenty of startling visual content and adding the mysterious series killer thematic and subsequent red herrings . The main question of the movie is find out who's behind the grisly murders and to guess what's Floriana's game and who's the observant stranger at the Oliviero's secluded, blood-spattered mansion . This is the usual Gialli with a series of murders committed around the estate of a degenerate author , it results in a complex intrigue , tension , suspense , stabbing and a weird threat shows up lurking or stalking throughout garden, building , cellar , corridors and grim interiors . The film combines atmospheric blending of thrills , chills , nudism and suspenseful final . The rather perplexing tale weavers so many red herrings when ultimately the murderer is unmasked . Being an Italian production here appears ordinary Latin actors usual in the 60s and 70s sub-genres : Poliziesco , Spaghetti Western , Giallo , Horror , Sex comedy , Euro-spy , such as : Edwige Fenech as the young, beautiful, and self-confident niece Floriana , Luigi Pistilli as the burned-out , abusive writer whose adorable dead mother goes on dominating his imagination , Anita Strindberg as the mistreated , charming wife , Ivan Rassimov as a suspect watcher , Enrica Bonaccorti as a Hooker , Daniela Giordano as a gorgeous student and very brief appearance by Dalila Di Lazzaro as a Stripper .

Nice ambiance and appropriate settings , enhanced by the well photographed Padua , carried out by good cameraman Giancarlo Ferrando . Shot on location in Montagnana, Padua, Veneto , Lazio, Italy , Villa Lugli, Bresseo, Teolo, Padova, Veneto, and Elios Studios, Rome . As well as terrifying and Giallo style musical score by Bruno Nicolai, usual collaborator to Ennio Morricone . The motion picture was professionally directed by Sergio Martino who delivers the goods with skillness and aplomb enough . Competently made by the prolific filmmaker Sergio Martino who usually uses pseudonym as Martin Dolman . Sergio began his cinematic career in his early 20s as an assistant to his writer/producer brother Luciano Martino and handled second unit director chores on Mario Bava's The Whip and the body (1963), and made his directorial debut in 1969 with the mondo documentary Mille peccati... nessuna virtù (1969). He really hit his stride in the early 1970s with several superior Giallo murder mystery thrillers that usually starred popular actress Edwige Fenech (who was married to Martino's brother Luciano at the time) : The strange vice of the Mrs Ward (1971), All the Colors of the Dark (1972) , Scorpion tail (1971) and Il tuo vizio è una stanza chiusa e solo io ne ho la chiave or Vicios prohibidos (1972) . Talented and versatile writer/director Sergio Martino has made a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror , Giallo , comedy , Western , and science fiction in a career that spans over 40 years . He was especially expert on Pasta Western as proved in ¨Mannaja¨,¨Arizona returns¨; Giallo such as : ¨The case of scorpion's tail ¨ , ¨Torso¨ ,¨The scorpion with two tails¨ , ¨The strange vice of Mrs Ward¨; Cannibal movies as "Mountain of the Cannibal God", Italian crime thrillers as "Violent Professionals" and ¨Sci-Fi as ¨Destroyer¨ , "2019: After the Fall of New York" . Rating: 6.5/10 , acceptable and passable , this is a great Giallo in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with decent visual skills . This is a bewildering story , enjoyable as well as violent , and it will appeal to hardcore Giallo fans . A hugely chilling and entertaining flick.

Behind the dynamic title of this Sergio Martino giallo is an adaptation of Edgar Allan Poes' 'The Black Cat', albeit a rather loose one for a while. Luigi Pistilli ("A Bay of Blood") plays Oliviero, a washed up author living on a villa with his very put upon and frazzled wife Irina (Anita Strindberg). Irinas' neuroses soon manifest themselves in her antagonistic relationship with Olivieros' black cat (amusingly named Satan), while assorted characters occasionally get murdered on or around the premises. Complicating matters is the arrival of Olivieros' sultry niece Floriana (genre star Edwige Fenech).

Martinos' film does go on longer than it needs to, with a subplot about Florianas' romance with a delivery man / motorbike racer not really adding anything to the story. It might disappoint viewers hoping for more sleaze, or a higher body count, or more flamboyant stylistics. It actually functions more as a character study and portrait of a descent into debauchery (for Oliviero) and madness (for Irina). This domestic drama is interesting stuff, with some pointed dialogue, but the film is never more fun than when it's giving in to the more exploitative tendencies of the genre. To that end, viewers will be satisfied with some lesbian sex and nudity, and some pretty good (but never overdone) gore. Bruno Nicolai composed the wonderful music score, and this benefits further from the location shooting and photography. (Those opening credits are particularly well done.) This definitely hits its stride once Fenech shows up, and the story more closely follows the classic Poe tale.

The acting is solid from all concerned (Ivan Rassimov plays a mystery man named Walter, Franco Nebbia the standard police inspector character you always get in this sort of entertainment), with special mention going out to Ms. Strindberg. You do feel pretty bad for this lady given the treatment that she must put up with. Fenech is at her absolute sexiest.

Enjoyable for fans of the genre.

Seven out of 10.