Die Bestie mit dem feurigen Atem (1971)

Die Bestie mit dem feurigen Atem: Directed by Riccardo Freda. With Luigi Pistilli, Dagmar Lassander, Anton Diffring, Arthur O’Sullivan. A corpse is found in the trunk of a car that belongs to the Swiss ambassador to the UK. Speculations run wild, as more people around the ambassador keep falling victim to the vicious killer. A former detective is hired to investigate.

“Riccardo Fredau0026#39;s rude giallo is not quite a masterpiece, but it still delivers good entertainment and some stuff quite unusual for the u0026quot;typicalu0026quot; Italian thriller of the Sixties and Seventies. First of all, the movie plays in Dublin, which I already assume unique in the history of giallo. Second, the family involved in the crimes is the one of the Dutch ambassador in the Republic of Ireland, which makes the case even more complicated for the policemen involved.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlso very remarkable is the fact that this giallo delivers no nude scenes, which is quite rare for this genre. And last but not least, itu0026#39;s one of the goriest gialli before Dario Argento made u0026quot;Profondo Rossou0026quot; (Deep Red). E.g.: Some hapless victims get their faces mutilated by acid before the killer slits their throats.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eBy the way Freda delivers some thrilling and uncanny moments, and the climax is extremely nasty for various reasons: It has to be seen to be believed. The cast – including Anton Diffring, Luigi Pistilli, Dagmar Lassander and Werner Pochath – is above average and always convincing.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAll in all, u0026quot;Lu0026#39;Iguana dalla Lingua di Fuocou0026quot; is not a masterly but still very cool giallo. Its only fault (possibly) is that itu0026#39;s too nasty for the easily offended – but easily offended people donu0026#39;t watch gialli anyway, I guess.”