Si douce, si perverse

With such a wondrous English title, the presence of Gloria Guida and Dagmar Lassander and the Amuck director at the helm, how could this go wrong? Well, actually I like it but I seem to be in a bit of a minority. I suppose Dagmar is passed her prime and not all the close ups are as great as they might have been, plus a lot of the acting requirements are beyond the lovely Gloria. Nevertheless this is hardly the frothy, sexy nothingness one might expect and for all the limitations is always interesting, with plenty going on and a really nasty edge, with the Guida character scheming to come between her father and his new woman. Lots of cars, sex and cigarettes and always has that mid seventies look and sound. Always enjoyable.

I didn't know quite what to make of this. It was directed by Silvio Amado who is most famous for the sexy Italian giallo "Amuck". This movie isn't really stylistic, deliriously plotted, or violent enough to be a giallo, however. On the other hand, it's not exactly a serious drama either. It's definitely pretty sexy--Gloria Guida looks good naked and she is naked A LOT. And there's the usual gratuitous Italian lesbian scene between Guida's character and her stepmother-to-be(!)played by Dagmar Lassander. This movie kind of reminded me of the French film "L'Annee des medusas", but it's not nearly as well-photographed or deliciously nasty. If you really have a thing for barely-legal Italian starlets, gratuitous nudity, and gratuitous lesbianism, you might want to check this out. Otherwise, I wouldn't bother.

My main reason for seeing this film was due to the fact that's directed by Silvio Amandio, the same man who directed the Giallo masterpiece 'Amuck', as well as the very nice 'Smile Before Death'. This film is often mistaken for a Giallo, but I knew it wasn't before I began watching it, so no disappointment there. All I really wanted from this film was an erotic extravaganza similar to the other two Amandio films that I'd seen, and when I looked at the plot description; it seemed as though I was going to get one. The plot focuses on a relationship between a daughter and her father's wife to be. This relationship is ripe for heinous sexual activity, and when you throw the daughter's 'not too clever, but sexually efficient' boyfriend into the mix; you know there's going to be a lot of nude scenes. Silvio Amandio obviously enjoys filming lesbian scenes, and may even be a bit of a pervert as all three films that I've seen from him have an astute lesbian angle...and that's certainly no bad thing. Anyway, the main plot focuses on the idea of the daughter trying to rid herself of her future step mother.

I've got to say that I absolutely loved the style of the film. It feels very seventies, and the central location; a beach setting looks gorgeous with its golden sand and crystal clear waters. It also provides the film with a distinct fantasy style, which might have gone well with the sex themes if they were more well done. The lead women are both your typically sexy Italians, but their scenes together aren't very tender and feel a little too rehearsed; strange coming from a man who shot possibly the best lesbian scene ever filmed in Amuck. Gloria Guida spends a lot of the film with little or no clothes on, which is nice as she has a great body; while Italian horror star Dagmar Lassander provides the film with a suitably sexy older woman performance. The plot isn't very deep, and it's clearly more of a premise for Amandio to shoot sex scenes from. This isn't a big problem; however, as the film is mostly interesting all the way through and while there's no violence or gore, the central character does impose a rather vicious screen presence. It's easy to feel sorry for Dagmar Lassander's character by the end, although the ending itself left me rather cold. Overall, I wouldn't recommend going out of your way to find this film; but it's certainly not bad.

Italian sex drama loaded with manipulation and mind games, in which bored spiteful heiress Angela (Gloria Guida) engineers the downfall of her new stepmother Irene (Dagmar Lassander). She initially uses her hippie gigolo boyfriend Sandro (Fred Robsham), who resembles a young Klaus Kinski, to attempt to seduce Irene. Angela then discovers a lesbian shadow in Irene's past and exploits in to the full by showering in front of her, showing her nudie pictures of her with other girls, and finally pouncing on her at the shorefront while Sandro takes polaroids. Angela has an attack of conscience later but Sandro doesn't, revealing the gory details to Irene before the devastating finale.

Gloria Guida was Miss Teenager in Italy in 1971 before she went on to specialize in frothy sex comedies or sleazy dramas like this, and preens, pouts and plots her way through the role like a continental Linda Hayden. In 1975 alone she was in over 7 films, including two more for prolific director Silvio Amadio, best remembered for the ultraviolent giallo Amuck (1973) with Barbara Bouchet and Farley Granger. But Euro-sleaze fans tend to agree her best role was in To Be Twenty (1977), a seedy piece of nihilism from director Fernando Di Leo.

Angela Batrucchi (Gloria Guida) is less than happy when her father returns home to tell her he has found a new woman and intends to marry her very soon, that woman is Irene (Dagmar Lassander)a very pretty and quiet woman who tries to befriend Angela but is given mixed signs by her, one minute she is friendly the next she is rude. Angela though has bigger and better plans to rid this intruder from her life and steps about it in a ruthless manner. From its title you might guess it's a Giallo, but you'd be wrong, it's a drama/thriller from the director of the excellent Amuck!, it's a character study that concerns Angela's quest to end her fathers relationship and harm the new woman in his life in every imaginable way, she delves into her past looking for some dark past that might encourage her to leave, she also tries to lure her into bed herself and when that doesn't work she employs her boyfriend to do it, that doesn't work either, eventually Irene and Angela get it on and the boyfriend is there to take the pictures. So Young, So Lovely, So Vicious is rather low on thrills but has an interesting storyline and a good cast, its filmed on some beautiful locations and has some sexual content to keep you awake, it also has a very mute downbeat ending, as I said its not a Giallo but fans of that genre will still find plenty to enjoy.