Una lucertola con la pelle di donna [A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin] (1971)

(In French, On Cable TV, November 2020) A big flash of bright colour and crazy imagery, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is classic giallo, bright red blood and subjective unreality boosting an already twisted script of murder and insanity. That probably sounds like praise, but anyone’s reaction is likely to vary considerably: while the result can be more interesting than staider thrillers of the time, it’s not hard to feel as if this is writer-director Lucio Fulci simply throwing as much crazy stuff at the screen (including gutted dogs) in the hope that something will stick no matter if it makes sense. Of course, giallo works more on senses than sense: it’s about the experience of watching a film far more than the intellectual aspect of ensuring that all of the parts fit together from a narrative and logical standpoint. In this light, A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin is exactly what the viewers ordered: a hallucinatory nightmare of dread and suspense, leading up to a twisty (or maybe anti-twisty) finale. Giallo fans will love it, while non-fans may only appreciate it—but the result is decidedly representative of its subgenre.