The Fourth Victim

The Fourth Victim

"Sometimes you have to go to terrible places to find out the truth."

Arthur Anderson (Michael Craig) is a serial monogamist... but is he also a serial killer? His first two wives died under mysterious circumstances and now his third wife is the victim of a suspicious drowning. But, thanks the perjurous testimony of his housekeeper Mrs. Downing (Miranda Campa), he is found not guilty. Despite the jury's decision, Inspector Dumphy (José Luis López Vásquez) is determined to keep an eye on Arthur. The night of his acquittal, Arthur meets a pretty trespasser named Julie (Carroll Baker) and the two are soon married after a whirlwind romance. But is Julie who she claims to be or did she have an ulterior motive for marrying a man under suspicion of three murders? Did Arthur kill his wives? And what secrets lie in the dark house down the street from the Anderson estate?  Can Inspector Dumphy find out the answers before more people are killed?

The Fourth Victim is an interesting and twisty giallo that keeps bobbing and weaving, regularly changing directions just enough to stay ahead of an audience's expectations. Not everything makes perfect sense and not all the questions are answered by the end of the movie, but it makes "giallo sense." Which is to say, it's best to enjoy the ride and not to think too hard about weather or not the sequence of events is realistic or even probable.

• Michael Craig may look familiar if you're a fan of classic Doctor Who. He played Commodore Travers in the 1986 series "Trial of a Time Lord" opposite sixth Doctor Colin Baker.
• The score was written by composer Piero Umiliano, who worked with Mario Bava and Umberto Lenzi, but is best known for composing the song "Mahna Mahna," made famous by The Muppets.
• The Fourth Victim was based on a short story by J. B. Gilford, though elements bear resemblance to movies like Rebecca, Vertigo, and the Italian crime movie Amuck!, starring Barbara Bouchet.
• Note that three of the deaths listed in the body count above occur before the action of the movie starts.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

The first thing that throws suspicion on Arthur and Mrs. Downing is that, upon finding the 3rd Mrs. Anderson's body floating in the pool, they calmly fish her out, take her upstairs, brush her hair, and change her clothes before calling a doctor or even trying to resuscitate her. And they go about it without a word, like they've done all this before. Hella-suspicious.

The first thing that throws suspicion on Julie is that she goes home to a dark, dusty mansion and is living out of a tent in the living room, with newspaper clippings about Arthur lining the walls. Super-creepy.

The Psychiatrist tracks Julie (or, at least, a Julie) to the dark house. He knows better than anyone that she is dangerous and yet he not only comes alone and unarmed, but the first thing he does is turn his back on her. Not smart, Doc.

Fashion Moment

As usual, Carroll Baker is smartly dressed throughout in crisp, modern active wear.  I especially like this fitted floral blouse...

 

...and her sensible wedding ensemble.

But this flowing, romantic evening gown is a real departure from her normally structured wardrobe.

  

So Sweet... So Perverse

So Sweet... So Perverse

"Danger brings out the best in a man."

Jean Reynaud (Jean-Louise Trintigant) is bored with his upper-class Parisian life – bored with his job, bored with his wife, Danielle (Erika Blanc), bored with his mistress, and even his hobbies fail to challenge him. So when he hears his beautiful blonde neighbor Nicole (Carroll Baker) getting beaten by her boyfriend, Klaus (Horst Frank) Jean comes to the rescue and runs away with her, thrilled to have some excitement back in his life. But is Nicole the innocent victim she appears to be or is she the bait in a deadly trap? Jean soon finds that his life is in danger but who is it that wants him dead? And who can he trust? It all turns out to be more adventure than he bargained for.

So Sweet... So Perverse (not to be confused with So Sweet, So Dead) isn't your typical giallo in that it doesn't have a mysterious black-coated killer. Instead, the mystery is in unraveling the complicated con game and figuring out who is behind it. It's a sexy (rather than scary) giallo and the script is full of swanning, melodramatic dialogue and overwrought romantic proclamations. Carroll Baker gives the standout performance in a role that is custom-fit for her talents, alternating between demure, innocent victim and cold-blooded vixen.

• Jean-Louis Trintigant is a French acting legend who regained the public's attention just last year when his movie Amour was nominated for Best Picture at the Academy Awards.
• So Sweet... So Perverse is the second of three Lenzi-Baker collaborations. The trilogy also includes 1969's Paranoia (a.k.a. Orgasmo) and 1970's A Quiet Place To Kill which, technically, is not a giallo due to a lack of mystery in the plot.
• Co-writer Ernesto Gastaldi would go on to become one of the greatest screenwriters in the world of giallo, creating such films as The Case of the Bloody Iris, Death Walks at Midnight, and Torso.

 What the Hell Am I Watching?

Early in the movie, we're treated to a crazy psychedelic flashback/dream sequence, rendered in bold colors and wild, spinning camera moves. The short segment really stands out in what is otherwise a conservatively-shot film and it presages the more innovative work of both Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento.

Danielle throws a fancy cocktail party for the Paris elite and, for some reason, invites a stripper as the entertainment. She's quick to show off the goods. How was this a good idea?

Apparently in France, mistresses can claim their lovers' inheritances. Seriously? Even though we're talking about the French, I find it a little hard to believe.

Fashion Moment

As the most dynamic and interesting character, Nicole gets all the best clothes. She wears this dress early in the movie and it really illustrates her fragile emotional state well – agitated, confused, and blue.

  

Later, at the cocktail party, things turn on their heads as Danielle glams it up, dripping in diamonds and bold red sequins...

 

... while Nicole shows up in a frumpy pantsuit that looks like bad upholstery.

 That's the stripper in the background, by the way, wearing only a pink boa, bikini bottoms, and butterfly pasties.

Knife of Ice

Knife of Ice

Zombies, voodoo, demons, and Afro-Cuban witches.
There's enough here to rob you of a month's sleep!"

Martha Caldwell (Carroll Baker), mute and skittish since she witnessed her parents killed in a train crash as a child, is being stalked by a mysterious killer who leaves behind satanic clues. As the people around her die, Martha wonders if the killer could be the creepy driver, Marco (Eduardo Fijaro), Dr. Laurent, her doctor (Alan Scott), or even her frail Uncle Ralph (George Rigaud), whose interest in the occult may be more than academic.  Or maybe it's the crazy-eyed morphine-addicted Satanist hippie who keeps popping up everywhere she goes.

No nudity or extreme gore in this film – it's a classy production that relies on suspense and focuses on the drawing room-style mystery at hand. There's not even a love story here, but the reason for that is apparent by the end of the film. Except for a few odd moments and the Satanist angle, this is a very buttoned-up production. The twist ending is a doozy, though, and it's one you probably won't see coming, even though it makes good sense once you look back on the film.

• The title of this film is explained away with a metaphorical quote from Edgar Allan Poe, hence my marking that it "sort of" make sense. There are no actual ice knives in the film.
• This is one of the very few gialli that has a priest character, where the priest isn't the murderer.
• You may recognize Carroll Baker from the movie Giant or from her Oscar-nominated role in Baby Doll. Or maybe from her other gialli like The Sweet Body of Deborah. Or maybe you know her as the villain in Kindergarten Cop. In any case, she brings a sweet sense of innocence and a sort of Doris Day wholesomeness to the role of Martha.
• It's also good to see George Rigaud, from The Case of the Bloody Iris and Death Walks on High Heels.
• The crazy-eyed hippie's look is clearly based on Charles Manson, who terrorized Los Angeles and caught the world's attention just a few years prior to this film's production.

Fashion Moment: Did I mention that the crazy-eyed hippie wears a velvet cape? And that at the second funeral scene, Martha wears a tight black mini-skirt? It gets its own close-up:

The Sweet Body of Deborah

The Sweet Body of Deborah

"You must die, Deborah. You must die to pay for Marcel's crime."

Newlywed jet-setters Deborah (Carroll Baker) and Marcel (Jean Sorel)  are honeymooning in Europe, but visiting Geneva brings back bad memories for Marcel, whose ex-girlfriend Suzanne (Ida Galli, credited as Evelyn Stuart) was killed there years ago under mysterious circumstances. In fact, when Marcel runs into his old friend Philip (Luigi Pistilli), he is accused of murdering the woman he once loved. After that, Deborah is besieged by threatening phone calls and notes and begins to wonder if her husband could be capable of murder. Neighbor Robert (George Hilton), who prefers the term "voyeur" to "peeping tom" adds even more stress to Deborah and Marcel's relationship. Is Deborah getting Gaslighted? Is Suzanne sabotaging the marriage from beyond the grave? Or is a more diabolical plan in motion?

The Sweet Body of Deborah (not to be confused with Your Sweet Body To Murder) isn't a great giallo. The body count is low and the setting moves around so much that the pool of suspects stays small. But what The Sweet Body of Deborah lacks in big scares and blood, it makes up with lots of grown-up time. Carroll Baker is certainly not shy about her body in this movie and she has obvious chemistry with Sorel, who looks like a young, Gallic Robert Redford.

• Some of the elements of the film walk a line when it came time to check the boxes above. Someone gets buried in a backyard, which, technically, is not a graveyard, so I left "Scene in a graveyard" unchecked. Also, the couple visits a nightclub where a dancer of African descent strips to tribal drums. Is that racist? I'm not exactly sure.
• Co-screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi later worked on such giallo classics as The Case of the Bloody Iris, Death Walks on High Heels, and Torso.

What the Hell Am I Watching?

Let's talk about the scene where Deborah and Marcel play an outdoor game of Twister. That is a thing that happened in this movie.  Let's also talk about the pop art comic book-themed nightclub with "POW" and "CLANG" drawn on the walls in the style of the 60's Batman TV show. And there's also a wall of what appears to be Doctor Who cybermen. Groovy, man.

Fashion Moment

Deborah sports some great outfits in this movie, but none is more eye-catching than the lime green knit catsuit she wears during the aforementioned Twister match.