Strip Nude For Your Killer

Strip Nude For Your Killer

"In our kind of business a person doesn't take long to know who he does and doesn't like."

A mysterious murderer in a black helmet and leather motorcycle gear is killing the employees of a photography studio. Photographer Carlo Bianchi (Nino Castelnuovo) and his girlfriend and assistant, Magda Cortis (Edwige Fenech), are piecing together the clues. Could the killer be the studio's stern owner, Gisella Montagni (Amanda)? Or jealous model Patrizia (Solvi Stubing)? And what motive could possibly tie all the killings together? Carlo and Magda must race to find the vital clues and solve the case!

Some gialli are scary and some gialli are sexy. Strip Nude For Your Killer is definitely a sexy giallo, with pretty much the entire cast in minimal wardrobe (or nothing at all) throughout the film. And if you like something shocking to go with your bewbs, consider that the movie opens with a woman in stirrups dying from complications of a botched abortion. That really sets the tone for some brutal killings, unapologetic misogyny, and gratuitous sex. In short, it's everything you want in a giallo film.

• There's certainly nudity and there's a whole lot of killing, but no one is forced to "strip nude for the killer" as the title suggests.
• The traditional killer's costume of a black trench coat and hat is re-imagined as a tight leather jumpsuit and helmet, making him look like a psychotic member of Daft Punk.
• There's a water motif throughout the film: fountains, spilled booze, faucets, and pools are recurring elements thought the film. The killer's trademark is to turn on a tap to lure victims. It's all meant to remind the victims (and the audience) of the initial killing, which was staged to look like a drowning.
• The murder of Maurizio Montagni (Franco Diogene) is the Psycho shower scene, staged in reverse. He is standing in the bathroom and the killer strikes from inside the shower,  behind the curtain.
• In that scene, we can clearly see the camera crew in a mirror as Maurizio walks by.
• There is one off-screen killing: the gynecologist from the opening scene.
• I don't think the killer was killed at the end, so I didn't count him in the body count. It was just a fall down some stairs and he was wearing a helmet, so the injuries couldn't have been too bad.
 

What the Hell am I Watching?

After the credits, we're taken to some sort of... facility. I'm not sure if it's a rec center, a spa, or a sex club, but there's a bar and nearly-naked people are everywhere. Carlo tails the beautiful Lucia (Femi Benussi), lures her into the sauna, gets her naked, and then jumps her. What makes it most uncomfortable is that she protests the whole time before going along with every step. Rather disturbing in our modern era of "no means no."

Chubby Maurizio is the saddest character in the entire giallo canon. The poor guy is married to a cold, domineering woman who gets more chicks than he does and when he does try to have an affair, he bursts into tears, clumsily offers to pay the woman anyway, and finds solace with his blow-up doll. It's supposed to be funny, but I just find it depressing. It makes me even sadder when the poor guy is killed later.

Hey, Magda, honey? You're working with caustic chemicals in that film lab. Maybe take off the bulky fur coat?

And speaking of which, she must have done millions of Lira in damage, knocking down lights and furniture while trying to stealthily evade the killer in the photo studio.

Fashion Moment

It takes a confident man to wear a swimsuit like this.