Jovens, Malvados e Selvagens

Titles can be misleading. Antonio Margheriti's "Nude... Si Muore" (aka. "Naked You Die"/"Schoolgirl Killer") is NOT the exploitative and blood-soaked Giallo full of sleaze and nudity one might expect from its title. Sure, the film was made in 1968, at which time the Italian Giallo had not reached the sleaze and violence level it obtained in the early 70s, but the title "Naked You Die" still promises nastiness, especially in the wonderful Giallo-genre. What "Nude... Si Muore" is, however, is a superbly set, beautifully shot and atmospheric Giallo that sets its focus on the mystery, more than on the Horror elements. Yet I cannot deny that the film did just not quite reach my (very high) expectations. For two reasons, that is. First off, I am a great fan of the late genius director Antonio Margheriti. His brilliant Gothic masterpiece "Danza Macabra" (aka. "Castle Of Blood", 1964, with the wonderful Barbara Steele, my favorite actress, in the lead) is a personal favorite of mine, and many of his other films, such as "La Vergine Di Norimberga" ("Terror Castle", 1963) are also excellent films that every Horror fan must see. Secondly, this film was recommended to me by a fellow Giallo-buff as being particularly great and atmospheric. And atmospheric it is, and doubtlessly a very good thriller, but, as far as I am considered it is not a particularly impressive film within my beloved Giallo-sub-genre.

A posh boarding school for girls from rich families is being stalked by a killer. Several new teachers have arrived, and, naturally, everybody is a suspect... The performances are quite good, the cast includes well known faces for fans of Italian genre-cinema, such as Mark Damon ("I Tre Volti Della Paura") and regular cult-cinema actor Luciano Pigozzi, who, among many other films, often had supporting roles in Mario Bava's films. Beautiful Elonora Brown stars in the lead, sadly it is the last role the then 20-year-old actress has played up to date. The girls are entirety pretty, and I also found the actresses' performances quite good. The film's most memorable qualities are the superb and beautiful setting and ingenious camera work, intensified by a funky and great score by Carlo Savina. What (slightly) annoyed me at times was the constant attempt of bringing in (very cheesy) humor. Also, the mystery part could have been a little more complex. Overall, "Nude... Si Muore" has some flaws, but it is supremely shot, highly atmospheric and very entertaining, and a film that my fellow Giallo-buffs should enjoy. Recommended.

Margherriti directs a pedestrian giallo in a highly styli-zed way that results in a watchable film that's entirely predictable. Plus, despite the title, there's no nudity and a lot of the murders are stranglings! That's almost as bad as that slasher I watched once where someone was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning!

Following a murder at the start of the film, with the corpse getting dumped into a fancy suitcase, we find ourselves at the Gary Glitter Boarding School for Horny Teenagers, where our group of teenage girls are all into Mark Damon (and he's into them! Ah, young love), or into the new swimming teacher (that's a plot point), or avoiding the attentions of the headmistress, who is into them. Hmm.

Basically, this is about as average as you can get, plot wise, for a giallo. You've got your black gloved killer, the red herrings (especially Luciano Pigozzi as a peeping tom), the sexism, but also great colour schemes, set design, and costume design. I even managed to guess the killer and their motives, which is unusual for me as I'm a dumbass.

Despite all the odds, it's still worth a watch, because Margherriti's no fool when it comes to making film, or you could just wait and watch Seven Death's In The Cats Eye, which has a gorilla as a suspect! You heard me.

While this is quite a popular giallo – thanks largely to its sensationalistic title and the fact that the film was originally conceived, as CRY NIGHTMARE, by Mario Bava – its reputation is rather mixed and, having watched the thing for myself, with good reason! Not only is there barely any nudity (with the violence being similarly tame!) but the plot itself – despite the much-used girl-college setting (among the picture's myriad alternate titles are SCHOOLGIRL KILLER and THE MINISKIRT MURDERS!) – is fairly weak…references to Alfred Hithcock's PSYCHO [1960] and Bava's own THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH [1963] notwithstanding or, for that matter, its own affinity with another far superior effort from Margheriti himself, SEVEN DEATHS IN THE CAT'S EYE [1973], and Dario Argento's PHENOMENA [1984])! Besides, the whole giallo atmosphere is further nipped in the bud with an overwhelming light touch courtesy of a vivacious girl student who fancies herself a sleuth! Of course, the script supplies plenty of red herrings – with at least three characters made out to be the possible killer – but the revelation at the climax brings little surprise (while admittedly effectively handled); the attempted murder at the pool, however, is simply ludicrous. The film is nevertheless good-looking, features a kitschy score by Carlo Savina (shamelessly borrowing the instantly-recognizable riff from Neal Hefti's "Batman" theme!) and a reasonable cast – including ex-Hollywood leading-men Mark Damon and a rapidly-aged Michael Rennie (as the Police Inspector on the case), Luciano Pigozzi (the Italian Peter Lorre as the school's peeping-tom caretaker i.e. the type of role he could play in his sleep) and, it goes without saying, a bevy of attractive females, on both the student and teacher fronts – a lesbian undertone is even implied in the relationship between the middle-aged headmistress and her young assistant and a newly-arrived teacher sports androgynous features! – but especially put-upon heroine Eleonora Brown (who had actually been Sophia Loren's victimized daughter in Vittorio De Sica's award-winning TWO WOMEN [1960]!).

Unlike many Giallo films, Antonio Marghetiti's Schoolgirl Killer hardly features any of the blood, sex and general sleaze that have made the genre famous, and instead puts its focus on the murder mystery and central set of characters. In fact, it's amazing just how restrained this film is, considering that it is set in an all-girls school and how almost every Giallo film with a similar setting takes full of advantage of this. The director does an exquisite job of presenting his story and his setting, and the film features some stunning camera work, which beautifully captures the well designed sets, and the fashion sense of the girls at the college. The film begins with a murder in which the killer strangles a woman and has the body put into a trunk which is then delivered to an all-girls school. Shortly thereafter; Betty-Ann, a student at the school is murdered in the basement, and when another young girl is killed in the shower, the police, led by Inspector Durant, are called in. And they're not the only ones on the case, as amateur detective Jill is also investigating.

It's true that there is hardly any originality at all in the film, and influences range from the obvious films such as Blood and Black Lace, to a certain American classic. This has lead many to call the film tired and unexciting, but I disagree as the relaxed way that the story is told allows the audience to get involved with the mystery, and the comedy elements of the film bode well with all giggling girls school environment. The main problem with this film is that's barely any blood whatsoever, which leaves the murder scenes feeling rather. There are other subplots going on, however - things such as the tentative romance between a teacher and one of the pupils, and Margheriti does well at presenting a whole range of characters, any of which could be guessed at as the killer before the twist ending is revealed. The ending of the film has been used so many times now that it's a cliché, but that aside; it does come as something of a surprise. The problem with the ending, however, is that it basically admits that most of the film has been rather pointless, as there were only two people that needed to be murdered - but Giallo isn't well known for logic, and while this might be derivative, it's still well worth seeing!

This 60's giallo is from the days before the genre truly took form. With the notable exception of Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, gialli produced before Dario Argento's groundbreaking debut The Bird with the Crystal Plumage were relatively restrained affairs with very little violence. Despite its exploitative-sounding title, Naked You Die is firmly in this bracket. It has a somewhat playful tone much of the time and the murders are very tame indeed and contrary to what you might reasonably expect from the title, there is no actual nudity either. Instead it's a bloodless but reasonably stylish mystery-thriller that displays some key hallmarks of the genre.

The film starts out typically enough with a woman being murdered by a black-gloved assassin while taking a bath. Although the actual violence here - and throughout the movie - is extremely tame; the killer merely squeezes the victim's necks quite lightly and briefly and they then fall over dead. It's very soft stuff but is indicative of the tone of the film as a whole, as despite the girl-school setting and the topic of a maniac on the loose, the movie adopts an almost comic approach a lot of the time, with quite a lot of playful humour and a lightness of touch that certainly would not go on to be a recognisable feature of the giallo genre in subsequent years. Still the film does have other more typical elements of this sub-genre such as a great Euro soundtrack, some nice photography, a host of eccentric characters, a barrel-load of red herrings and a convoluted conclusion – this said ending is both predictable and senseless, while somehow still being quite effective.

Naked You Die is not a prime example of giallo cinema. It's a minor entry which showcases the type of films from the early days of the genre. It might disappoint those after something sleazy or violent. However, if you are at all a fan of this sub-genre then there is certainly enough here to enjoy. Just be aware that the thrills on offer are of a more breezy kind.