Strip Nude for Your Killer
Alternative Titles: Nude per l'assassino
Director: Andrea Bianchi
Year: 1975
Starring: Edwige Fenech, Nino Castelnuovo, Femi Benussi.
Context:
1975 was the year of a true masterpiece, not this film but Argento's DEEP RED and so although the golden period had ended the genre was far from dead but while that was a terrific master class in suspense, intrigue and with a touch of class on the opposite site of the spectrum were the more lurid films of the genre such as Rizzo's THE BLOODSUCKER LEADS THE DANCE and this effort by Bianchi.
Director Bianchi hasn’t got the strongest reputation but would become well acquainted with sleaze starting with his only giallo entry, STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER but he is best known for his 1981 zombie flick BURIAL GROUND: THE NIGHTS OF TERROR, which sadly receives most attention for its nipple biting and odd casting decisions rather than the fun trash that it actually is as the proletariat zombies rise to punish the hedonistic bourgeoisie partying in the nearby villa.
Interesting to note that director Bianchi would also go by the alias Andrew White while directing soft porn.
Synopsis:
A backstreet abortion of a model goes horribly wrong and her death is covered up. Soon after the gynaecologist is brutally murdered and the killer turns their attention to those who work at the modelling agency in order to gain revenge.
Review:
Bianchi sets the tone of the movie from the very start as the opening shot features a gynaecologist between a woman’s legs before she quickly succumbs to a cardiac failure and dies. The gynaecologist quickly covers it up along with his accomplice ‘Carlo’ who we soon learn is a photographer of female models and a quick mover, but sadly Bianchi also shows us a bit too much as we are ‘treated’ to Carlo chasing after a woman in some very tight budgie smugglers.
The gynaecologist is soon brutally murdered in what we know is an act of revenge and this pretty much is how the rest of the film goes, a leather clad assailant with a motorcycle helmet goes around like a murderous vigilante dispensing justice. Coming out in 1975 the standard giallo killer uniform had already been created and so it is refreshing to see something different even if it most likely was inspired by the look of the killer in WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOUR DAUGHTERS (1974), which is possible Bianchi knew about while filming. This borrowing of the killer’s attire is made even more likely as Bianchi has his motorcycle leather clad maniac driving around in a car with the helmet on instead of on a bike. Very bizarre choice if not.
However, that fashion decision is irrelevant when the murders start to stack up but unlike in other films of the time it the police aren’t incompetent it just appears like they couldn’t really be bothered while the knife fodder characters of the Albatross modelling agency seem to go either way on whether to bother solving the mystery or not making for a very odd dynamic and narrative. Thankfully Magda, played by giallo queen Edwige Fenech (THE CASE OF THE BLOODY IRIS, ALL THE COLOURS OF THE DARK) and photographer Carlo (Nino Castelnuovo – ROCCO AND HIS BROTHERS, THE ENGLISH PATIENT) do have a bit more of a passing interest and slowly attempt to work out just who is behind murdering all their friends and colleagues.
As you can tell from the title, director and opening shot though, the mystery itself is not so much the film but rather the flesh and this is best evidenced from the long lingering shots that are incorporated into the film and really the whole demeanour of the modelling agencies owner husband, the creepy Paul Bearer lookalike Maurizio. It is in fact Maurizio that gives the film one of its best sequences as he takes one of the models to his town house scaring her half to death as he speeds , weaving his way through the traffic only to beg her for sex once they arrive. She finally relents only for him to come up short. Sparing his feelings she leaves, and as we begin to feel some sympathy for our fat friend, semi naked and holding a blow up doll he is quickly dispatched. In this case almost as a precursor to the slasher we see that (almost) sex equals death.
Despite being an entertaining watch the film does suffer from a lacklustre ending but Bianchi is a professional and knows to always leave the audience smiling and that’s what he does with a last bit of sexual humour right at the end.
Ultimately STRIP NUDE FOR YOUR KILLER not only lives up to its title but is a surprisingly coherent and reasonably stylish film, so much so that it is a surprise that it was by Bianchi. The actresses generally spend more time out of their clothes than in and the J&B product placement is as gratuitous as the sex making this one film that truly lives up to Koven’s definition of vernacular cinema as the (dwindling) cinema audiences would certainly have switched off during the perfunctory plot yet returned their attention every time flesh was shown or stabbed.