Jean and Danielle are unhappily married (he has affairs and she feels oppressed by what we nowadays might call his toxic masculinity). In the apartment above theirs, young Nicole has moved in, and the couple can hear Nicole get beaten regularly by her lover Klaus. At some point, he tries to intervene but when he notices that the apartment has a cabinet with whips and knives, he leaves. Eventually, however, the disgruntled Jean and the possibly abused Nicole have an affair, the details of which Danielle can hear from below. Then Nicole tells Jean that Klaus has been paid to kill him. But by whom? And what part does Nicole play in all this? That’s about all I can say without giving away the game in this sexy thriller made in the Diabolique mode. (I don't think saying that is really a spoiler, since to my mind, relating the film to Diabolique only suggests that not everyone, or every murder plot, is what they seem to be.) This is
another film directed by Umberto Lenzi and starring Carroll Baker, and though it's perhaps related to the giallo genre, it's not a good fit—not enough sex and blood, for starters. It might be better called a Eurothriller or Eurosleaze, as it looks and feels like any number of other European psychological suspense movies which often include at least a bit of sexy sleaze. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your viewpoint), the sex here is tame; even the sparse hints of S&M and sapphic lust go nowhere. Baker, ever ready to go the distance as a potential damsel in distress in these films, is fine as Nicole, and Jean-Louis Trintignant is equally good as Jean—he has the perfect face and affect for the hero (or antihero) of a Eurothriller. Erica Blank (Danielle) and Horst Frank (Klaus) aren't able to do much with their roles. The final two plot twists are good, if improbably moral. Directorial style is fairly plain but there is nice location shooting. Giallo night, no; thriller night, sure. Pictured are Trintignant and Baker. [Blu-ray]
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