Well it certainly has been along time since I posted anything here. As I'm now recovering from a cold I felt with some spare time I should relax and treat myself to some 70s giallo. This film's title is probably the longest title I have ever seen. I didn't read much into this film before buying it. Coincidentally I began writing this on the 19th November, which is the same date when the film was released in Italy.
So we open with a lady making some plans for the evening, a smart technique as it has a voice over of the actress while she is walking round her apartment she doesn't actually speak, we are listening to her thoughts. This lady being the beautiful redhead Minou (Dagmar Lassander who had a small role in Fulci's House by the Cemetery and Bava's Hatchet for the Honeymoon). She then leaves for a walk on the beach where she is stalked by someone on a motorbike. As he finally gets closer to her, he pins her down and informs her that her husband Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi) is a fraud and a murderer. Minou ends up at a local watering hole drinking Heineken with 2 locals when Peter comes to meet her. Minou seems overjoyed to see him. They make their way home where Minou tells her husband the scenario but doesn't ask about him being a fraud or a murderer.
Minou then goes to meet her good friend Dominique (Susan Scott) where they have a couple of drinks and head back to Dominique's apartment. Once there Dominique beings to show Minou some raunchy pictures of herself. Discussing which ones are best. Then looking over some more material Minou recognizes one of the male models has her attacker. She asks to keep that one photo and where her friend got it from. Minou then goes to where Peter works and learns about decompression. Thus helping the mystery of how Peter's business assciociate died of unusual circumstances. It appears that Minou has developed a strange obsession with her attacker. At 2am she has a phone call from her attacker asking her if she now knows who her husband murdered and how, as you would she threatens to bring the police into it.
He then plays a clip of her husbands voice along with another man, describing how "His face is turning blue" and that "It'll look like a normal drowning...a suicide" and threatens to show it to the police. He asks to meet her the next day if she doesn't meet him he will send the recording to the police. So she goes to meet him, this is where things get a little kinky. She goes there to pay him money for the tape. He has other ideas...Minou gets the tape and hurtles it into the sea. When she arrives home her husband asks her where she has been, she has to lie of course saying she was with Dominique only Dominique is with Peter at the house. Fortunately she covers for Minou saying they had a meeting she couldn't keep. Over dinner all Minou can think about is her encounter with the blackmailer. All the things he said and the love making. With the scenes and the music building up it becomes very nightmarish ending the scene with Minou waking up and taking a shower. The next day the blackmailer; as we never do know his full or true name goes to see Minou at her house where he tells her of his true plans. This is where I must stop my description of the film, if I said anymore I would completely ruin it for anyone who has never seen it. Lets say...that's a taster with many more red herrings and twists to come.
This is a truly underrated giallo. Some shots are in the same vein as the legendary Sergio Leone close ups. I have to recommend this to every giallo fan. There are no real amounts of blood and gore, it's a more psychological aspect than a simple murder mystery plot. The acting is great and the Ennio Morricone soundtrack is truly astounding.
DVD: Blue Underground
Running Time: 96 mins
Extras: Forbidden Screenplays - Interview with Co-Writer Ernesto Gastaldi, Theatrical Trailer.
