Si douces, si perverses

Trying to keep their marriage afloat, a man begins to be slowly drawn to his new upstairs neighbor and begins to woe her even though she claims to be in danger, and when it proves true as he becomes a stranger's target tries to get to the bottom of her stories to be able to save her.

This was a rather solid and enjoyable outing. Among its best features comes from the strong build-up to the overall thriller aspects here. As this one generates some intriguing elements here with the strained, loveless marriage fueled by his unfaithfulness, the potential intrigue of a new relationship with the upstairs neighbor and the baggage she brings featuring the troubled relationship involving the strange man following him around creates an engaging setup. As everything gets equal timing to where his womanizing matters interfere with their marriage and their new burgeoning romance at the expense of his time around his wife gives everything a nice clarity. There's also quite a lot to like as the series of games that emerge from this setup. As the idea of the stranger following them is also planning to kill him by using her as bait in the orchestrated plan, there's a fine intrigue at play here with the change in loyalty involving who she's really playing for as the constant claims of his mistreatment towards her contradicting her claims of what she's doing it for. The exceptional twist about their game gets played off masterfully about the necessary steps to carry it out which is a logical plan to think through in how this thoughtfully changes everyone's allegiances when all the pieces get revealed. As this setup gives the film a lot to like regarding the sleaze elements on display, there's quite a lot to like with this one. There are some issues to be had here. One of the main problems is the somewhat sluggish first half that doesn't develop much in the way of a thriller setup. Since it focuses on his cheating and romancing the neighbor in such a lazy manner, this doesn't offer much in the way of excitement as there's nothing about why he does. Despite being incredibly attractive, there's nothing given here about why he goes for her as deep as he does as quickly after meeting, overall making this feel somewhat underwhelming. The other real issue is a somewhat problematic factor in the second half where the twists are revealed and the hysterical screaming doesn't seem realistic to the setup since everything's gone to plan but instead this just feels highly unrealistic about the purpose for it. While none of these are truly detrimental, they do lower this slightly.

Rated Unrated/R: Nudity, Sex Scenes, Language and Mild Violence.

So Sweet...So Perverse is one of the late 60's gialli that Umberto Lenzi directed. It's an Italian variant on H.G. Clouzot's Les Diaboliques. It focuses on a couple with martial difficulties. The husband is lured into the arms of an upstairs neighbour who is being terrorised by a brutal boyfriend. But all is not what it seems.

This one has a pretty good cast. The husband is the brooding Jean-Louis Tritignant (Death Laid an Egg), the wife is Erika Blanc (Kill, Baby…Kill!), the mistress is played by Caroll Baker (Baba Yaga)) and the boyfriend is the sinister Horst Frank (The Cat o' Nine Tails). Unfortunately, the film itself isn't a great vehicle for these actors. The story itself is not too engaging and there was a distinct lack of thrills and suspense in this one. In fairness, though, a lot of my frustration came from the awful copy that seems to be available of it. It was a terrible pan and scan job, that not only cuts off the sides of the picture but the top and bottom too! It means that the framing is constantly out and most of the shots are close-ups of the actors. This really effected my enjoyment of this one. I would like to revisit it when/if it is given a half-decent transfer.

Great title and if not particularly appropriate for the film, no matter, for this is a fine film. Carroll Baker, excellent as ever, although she does keep herself fairly well covered here and not always in the most stunning of outfits, Jean-Louis Trintignant does pretty much what he always does, well and Erika Blanc puts in a very strong performance. Solid directing by Lenzi, might have been stylish but pan and scan print ensures it does not appear so, and for the first half we have a rather fun, colourful and bright story of an extramarital affair. Things change, however, just as we begin to wonder if all is as it seems things change very much indeed. Hardly any blood or bare skin for that matter but a most involving tale, exceedingly well told, that certainly starts to flip about towards the end. Indeed until the very end!

A zillionaire (Jean-Louis Trintignant) strays from his frigid wife Danielle (Erika Blanc), winding up in an affair with a woman named Nicole (Carroll Baker). All goes well until Nicole's ex-lover Klaus (Horst Frank) starts creeping around.

SO SWEET... SO PERVERSE is a twisty giallo from Director Umberto Lenzi. The story seems to take its cues from DIABOLIQUE. While not quite as masterful as that film this movie does have its memorable moments, especially during the finale.

Ms.' Baker and Blanc are as beautifully beguiling as ever, and Frank is extraordinarily sinister! He's always been a good heavy, and uses his skills well here...

Umberto Lenzi Giallo's range in quality from sublime to trash, but his earlier genre entries tended to be the best; and So Sweet...So Perverse is certainly at the higher end of Lenzi's Giallo achievements. One of the trademarks of Giallo is a high dosage of sex scenes; but despite the fact that this film has the word 'perverse' in it's title; So Sweet...So Perverse is actually not all that perverse at all, especially not by Giallo standards. Rather, the film focuses more on the plot details than perversity, and it just about serves it well. Italian directors were famous for ripping of successful films from other countries, and the plot here is clearly lifted from the French classic 'Les Diaboliques'. We focus on a couple with marital problems; Jean and Danielle. When Jean hears a woman screaming in the upstairs apartment one day, he immediately decides to investigate. There he finds Nicole; a woman frightened of her boyfriend Klaus. The pair soon begin to fall in love, but it later transpires that this was just a trap set to snare Jean...

So Sweet...So Perverse is a classy little thriller and much unlike later Lenzi Giallo's such as Eyeball, almost everything about the film is well done. The film benefits from a good cast, which feature early Lenzi muse Carroll Baker in the central female. Baker's role here initially appears to be a lot like her role in the earlier 'Orgasmo', but she soon gets to switch to a more interesting character. Baker is joined by the sexy Erika Blanc, and like most Giallo's with two sexy leading women; the pair do get to get it on, although you shouldn't go in expecting a full blown lesbian sex scene. Jean-Louis Trintignant rounds off the cast, but isn't given as much to do as the ladies. The plot does get a bit slow at times, but the film never slows down to the point of becoming boring. The second half is much more exciting than the first as that is when the plot gets into full flow. When the twists start to come into play, So Sweet...So Perverse really is an intriguing thriller and unlike many Giallo's, this one also features an ending that wraps most of the plot up nicely. This film is highly recommended to Giallo fans!