The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

What's immediately noticeable to the viewer is that definitely isn't your run-of-the-mill giallo. For a start, the film has little nudity and there's nary a black-gloved killer to be seen. Perhaps most obvious of all is the singular lack of a body count; there are no brutal murders here, no sinister knifings, in fact the film feels quite wholesome. Instead this is a giallo that focuses around a mysterious blackmailer and has one of those "is she mad or isn't she?" plot evolutions in which the heroine is being secretly terrorised only to have nobody, including her husband, believing her.Much of the film centres on Dagmar Lassander's character, a wife forced into sex with a stranger who then realises that she's been tricked. Unfortunately, Lassander is the weakest actor in the film, and she's pretty unconvincing in the emoting scenes. Far better is the sexy, sassy Susan Scott, who unfortunately is relegated to a minor supporting role as the female friend. Swap these two around and the film would have been far better.Director Luciano Ercoli delivers the proceedings from a script by giallo veteran Ernesto Gastaldi; thankfully, the plotting is more convincing than most entries in the genre and the benefit of a decent English dub makes things easier to bear. What the film lacks in action it makes up for in style; this movie shows the height of (dated) fashion, with the women frequently donning blonde wigs and hanging around in local haunts. A swinging, annoyingly catchy score by Ennio Morricone adds to the experience. The rest of the cast is good, with Pier Paolo Capponi as the loving husband, veteran Osvaldo Genazzani as the detective and Simon Andreu as the suitably sleazy villain of the piece. Ladling on the mystery and suspense throughout while also investing proceedings with a typically sexual flavour, Ercoli's first film as a director is a low budget success.

"The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" is a good entry into the Giallo genre, with a plot (concocted by Ernesto Gastaldi and Mahnahen Velasco) that's actually pretty easy to follow. It does have some twists along the way, but never gets overly convoluted. Director Luciano Ercoli takes full advantage of the Techniscope aspect ratio (2.35:1) to fill the screen with colour and detail. Some devotees of the Giallo may not find it to be completely satisfying as it really isn't all that sleazy, and it certainly isn't ever gory. Mostly, Ercoli uses the film as a means of showcasing the charms of his dynamic and luscious actresses, Dagmar Lassander and Nieves Navarro (Ms. Navarro would become Ms. Ercoli two years later).Lassander plays Minou, the bored wife of businessman Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi), who is accosted by a stranger (Simon Andreu) on a beach one night. It seems as if he intends to rape her (and indeed, this depraved man does have sex on the brain), but what he does is he warns Minou that her husband is a killer and is not to be trusted. Minou ends up caught in his blackmailing scheme, and when she tries later to convince people of what has been happening to her, there's no evidence to back up her claims.Lassander is a pleasure to look at, and delivers a sympathetic performance as well; Navarro is a saucy delight as her friend Dominique. Capponi is engaging as Peter, and Andreu does look like he is having a good time playing the creepy blackmailer. Osvaldo Genazzani as the police inspector and Salvador Huguet as Peters' associate George round out the principal cast. These performers and filmmakers do a creditable job of holding your attention and interested in how things will develop, although some viewers might predict where it's going on prior to its resolution.With outfits and music that strongly evoke this era (Ennio Morricone composes a nicely mellow score), this is worthy of viewing for lovers of the more exploitative side of Italian cinema.Seven out of 10.

Pill-popping, alcoholic wife of a struggling businessman, Minou(the foxy bright red head Dagmar Lassander, often covered with heavy facial make-up)is being tormented by a sexual deviant/sadist(Simón Andreu)who has her listen to a cassette tape that might just possibly link her husband the killer of an investor who was recently found dead. Minou adores her husband and even if he's a killer she's willing to give up her body to this cretin if it saves her beloved from being implicated in a crime of his own doing. What Minou doesn't realize is that the blackmailing sicko photographed their sexual activity and now threatens to expose pictures to her husband if she doesn't allow herself to becoming his sex slave! The blackmailer is quite elusive and any trace of his identity seems hard to come by..Minou's husband Peter(Pier Paolo Capponi)and Police Commissioner Frank(Osvaldo Genazzani)believe it's quite possible she's having a nervous breakdown or a collapse in sanity. Only her nympomaniacal best friend Dominique(the VERY sexy Susan Scott who is wardrobed to show the goods and figure she's blessed with)seems to believe Minou's cries that there is a sadistic fiend threatening to kill her if she doesn't comply with his demands at sexual servitude. But, is the blackmailer REALLY the mastermind of the degrees of mental anguish bestowed upon Minou?Crazy giallo has a few twists and turns, but this is a psycho-thriller where we know the heroine is voicing the truth although he's cagey and able to hide away from capture. The film puts out everyone as a suspect, even Dominque at one point. As in the very best gialli, the success of the plot depends on how the viewer is fooled..if you can see the twist coming a mile away(..and I did)then perhaps it fails. As far as the fashions..this is a gay fashion designer's wet dream. The film's a practical run-way of Italian fashion dressing Lassander and Scott in various styles. Plenty of sleaze for the average giallo-lover.

If you like Giallo films because they are all blood, nudity, style and senselessness this one will probably disappoint you. Not that a little more of any of those elements might make this better than it is. This is very well done and though the story doesn't actually involve murder as much as extortion it is consistently interesting and involving. The recent DVD from Blue Underground is a spotless near perfect way to see it since a big screen is probably too much to ask. Unfortunately.Screenwriter Gastaldi always comes up with interesting plots and this one holds together on the strength of the plotting for most of its run. The motivations of the wife at the start are a little fuzzy but this becomes clear later. It is too bad the casting of the two leads occasionally makes things confusing, in the dark they look too much alike. Both the lead women look great and act well and the dubbing into English isn't too bad. A solid low budget film (though you'd never know) well produced on all levels with stark/striking photography.