Lizard in A Woman's Skin (1971)

aka Una lucertola con la pelle di donna, Schizoid (USA)

LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN may be one of Fulci's best and it's not even a horror movie, but more of a mystery/thriller that will leave you guessing until the very last scene. It has everything a good mystery should have, interesting characters, lots of twists, a few red herrings and above all, a plausible and interesting plot. Not to mention, Fulci's above and beyond directional skills (this is truly one of his best movies as a director), a fantastic score by my favorite movie composer of all time, Ennio Morricone and a great performance by Florinda Bolkan (FLAVIA THE HERETIC) as Carol Hammond, the woman on the edge of sanity. Classic screen actor Stanley Baker as the Inspector, and Jean Sorel (PERVERSION STORY) as Carol's loving husband also give stellar performances.

 

Carol Hammond is a daughter of a well-to-do lawyer, who's mostly been catered to her whole life—in other words, a stuffy rich bitch. She has a street-smart daughter, and a good husband who works for her rich Father. She seeks therapy, because rich people have nothing better to do, and she tells her shrink about a dream she had where she murders her smoking hot female neighbor. In the dream (the dream sequences are fucking killer), they make-out (YES!) and then Carol stabs the other woman with a knife (more of a shank, really). Then, whata-ya-know? The neighbor is found dead the next day, and she was killed in the same way, in the same clothes, in the same room, as Carol's dream—dun-dun-duuuuh!

An inspector with a bad whistling habit is put on the case. Inspector Corvin is a hard-nosed guy that is determined to find the killer, and he's also kind of an asshole—but still likable. At first, Carol's husband is the suspect, but it doesn't fly, and the murder gets pinned on Carol, after her recorded therapy sessions are basically used as a confession. She gets sent to a loony bin (more of a safe house for rich loonies), but it doesn't end there, of course. Turns out there were witnesses to the murder. Some friends of the neighbor (known for her wild hippie drug parties) were present, but they were fryin' 'balls on LSD, so there memory isn't the greatest. Thus the title of the movie—one of the hippies claims he saw a lizard with a woman's skin (whoa--trippy, man!), kill Carol's neighbor.

I don't want to say to much more about the plot, but I will say, LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN is a great who-dun-it, that thanks to Fulci and Morricone is a feast for eyes and the ears. There’s a scene where Carol is trying to escape an assailant in a huge church that ends on the roof, and it's a fucking nail-biter! Fulci could do suspense better than he did gore, and the proof is in this film. I mentioned the whistling inspector, well through the whole movie the inspector whistles the same tune—almost like it's stuck in his head, and can't control it (he even apologizes for it in one scene). At a certain point the tune he's whistling 'becomes' part of the score. I don't know if it was Morricone or Fulci's idea, but it is sheer brilliance! It made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

Fans of Fulci's gorier flicks may be disappointed here, for there is not much gore beyond some tame bloodshed. Though there is a brief scene in the uncut version of the film where Bolkan’s character stumbles into a room with some disemboweled dogs that got Fulci in some hot water. Fulci had to prove in court that the dogs were fakes because the effects were so good. This scene is not featured in the SCHIZOID version of film (The American version of the film), so if you want to avoid the site of cut up and bloody poochies, should watch that version. Though, anybody who writes off Fulci as being just a goremeister and not making movies of substance, have obviously not seen many of his films out side of his splatter era (late 70’s/80’s). Those people should check out movies like this one, PERVERSION STORY and DON'T TORTURE A DUCKLING, and then they will see just how much of a misjudgment they've made. There is genius in movies like THE BEYOND and CITY OF THE LIVING DEAD as well, but most people can't see past the disturbing violence, and the dream-like story telling, to catch it.

I've seen quite a few Fulci films. His movies are kind of a mixed bag, you never know what you're gonna get—I'm not going to lie and say all of his movies are works of genius (I hated AENIGMA), but I will say that this one comes damn close. If you're a fan of Italian Gialli or Hitchcock style mysteries, or just the art of cinema, you can't go wrong with LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN. The movie does drag a in a few parts (though I never got bored—boring is a big no-no for me), and there could have been a little more character development with Carol, but other than that, the film is flawless.

A LIZARD IN A WOMAN'S SKIN trailer