 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1971 Italian giallo film a lizard in a woman's skin It is a Lucio Fulci film, and it's one of the better Giallo films that I've seen now if you're not familiar with my channel I do a lot of horror film reviews But lately I've been diving pretty deep in giallo, and I finally got around to this one which I was happy about I actually jumped this up my list Because some people commented on one of my other videos that they really think I will enjoy this one And I really did enjoy this. It's it's up there for me for these giallo films So just so you know I also have an entire playlist on my channel of those giallo film reviews I also have ones for like all Fulci films a bunch of Bava films a bunch of Argento films so on and so on so Let's get into a lizard in a woman's skin directed by Lucio Fulci who also did don't torture a duckling the New York Ripper zombie a cat in the brain the beyond the house by the cemetery It's city of the living dead all fun very good-looking films now Fulci doesn't always have the best content in his films But visually he's always really interesting So this film I like for the fact that it's actually an interesting story And it is a windy windy road to get to the end which with plenty of red herrings But I like that about it keeps you very engaged and it's good flick So the script for this was written partially by Fulci But also by a few others including Roberto GM Vidi who wrote scripts for the conspiracy of torture seven blood-stained orchids Which is going to be my next giallo review don't torture a duckling and five women for the killer Also, Jose Luis Martinez Mola involved with writing scripts for master stroke Spanish fly pulse beat and a bunch of Western and war films and then Andre Trunch or Trunche Who wrote scripts for long live Robin Hood and the guana with the tongue of fire Which at some point I plan on getting my hands on and doing a review for as well I'm gonna hit all the giallo now. I thought it was interesting when I first saw the daughter I forget what her name is in this. I'm sure I'll remember it later because it's in my notes somewhere But the daughter in this the youngest Hammond Played by Ely Galliani She played. Oh, she plays Joan. Sorry. It's actually in my notes She plays Joan in this film Joan Hammond She was also in $5 for an August moon as Isabelle Which I just watched very recently and put a review up on my channel for I always find it interesting when there's this crossover of These actors and actresses showing up in multiple giallos Obviously my favorite of which is Edwige Fennec, but I won't talk about her that much in my obsession because she's not in this one In France this film was released as the title under the title of Carol And in the United States it was released under the title of schizoid Which I think that a lizard in a woman's skin is a much better title Than the other two actually because I like how it just refers to that one little bit of the film where the redheaded hippie guy Says that they saw who did who committed the murder who killed Julia And that was a lizard in a woman's skin, which obviously he's referring to Carol So it's just cool because it's literally a bit of dialogue from the film and it literally tells you who the killer is Without telling you who the killer is so I really like that about that title plus it just sounds like a good title This film was an Italian Spanish and French co-production, which is interesting Fulci was almost sent to prison for this actually because of the very notorious graphic disgusting disturbing scene of At the clinic those dogs all like splayed open disemboweled But still alive with their organs pulsating and blood being pumped out of them while they're hung up I don't understand where that film came from Fulci has come up with some wacky messed up stuff And that's just another one of them I don't really understand the need for that film other or that scene other than shock value I mean they made they did make it look realistic, and it was a situation where he was going to be You know sent to prison Except for the fact that the the guy what's his name? Carlo Rambaldi who's the guy who did the practical effects for the film was able to show up with the prop dogs and prove Look, these are actually fake. It's not real dogs in that film. We wouldn't do something like this so just another one of those instances kind of like with rejaro diadato with Cannibal holocaust where he almost got sent to jail because they thought that the practical effects in cannibal holocaust looks so good That they thought he actually murdered the actors and actresses making the film. It's crazy But that that dog scene is intense It's a lot and even I knew like from the research I knew that was coming at some point But when you see it, it's just that next level of oh my gosh like that is messed up It is very messed up and it looks relatively realistic The way the opening in this film is shot makes you feel claustrophobic and frantic Which I believe is really what Carol's supposed to be experiencing in it Obviously that then ties into you know her dreams her nightmares, which is obviously very very important in this film because that's her whole alibi that's the basis of the alibi that she creates we find out in the end of the film to Create a defense for herself so she can kill Julia and hopefully get away with it Which she'd really just you know spend her time at the clinic So yeah, so it's important that they start with with this alibi nightmare dream whatever which is Laced with some truth in what actually happened But I thought it was very interesting in the beginning how how it was shot in the train that scene where she's like running through the train with all the people in there and Obviously that's supposed to kind of represent her at the party in the craziness at the party and she was kind of you know Putting all that stuff in there for the psychiatrist. She was seeing to unpack or psych out psychiatrist I think is that it I always get confused between psychologists and psychiatrists. Who are the ones that interpret the dreams? I think psychiatrist, but okay anyway, so Yeah, I just think that they did a good good job the way Fulci shot that of making you feel claustrophobic Making you feel frantic like her acting was portraying at the time and how her character was supposed to feel in that situation another thing I want to point out is that the She pulled a lot of things from her life into these dreams slash nightmares that she was talking about Including if you notice the painting behind her bed on the wall that swan shows up In the film or in the film in one of her nightmares So she was just you know finding inspiration in many places and pulling it in It didn't take Fulci long to get to the nudity in this film and on top of that gets to a girl-on-girl almost sex scene Really early really really early now. That's obviously kind of a calling card of giallo. It's super sexualized And there's usually a decent amount of nudity But you know Fulci in particular I expect these types of things from him, but it was like oh, okay Well, we're getting to that real quick But it calms down a lot after that. There's not nearly as much nudity It's like they kind of got it out of the way up front and then they're like, okay now story The juxtaposition of the calm dinner that the Hammons are having versus the loud sex party That is drug-fueled and everyone's drinking and just getting crazy Orgies having orgies next door. I love that kind of juxtaposition going between the two It's also interesting to note that at that point There's a little portion where you see they pan to Carol's foot and she's kind of like tapping her foot Which I think is supposed to be a little bit of a hint that she's kind of like feeling the music coming from next door She has been there before and she's kind of interested in being there So I think that's that kind of like little connection to kind of wink at you a little in the beginning to let you know Hey, there's something going on here. She's tapping her foot for a reason and that's because she's been there She's the murderer. I like that little hand I'll I feel like with the setup of crazy nightmares killing a woman in a nightmare and the visits to the shrink It's set up to plant the idea that Carol has psychological issues Obviously, they ride this film very or bride that concept very very hard in the beginning which Typically giallo films if they follow the kind of typical formula, they always have one very strong Suspect which it's never that suspect In the end so they give you the strong suspect You're supposed to think it's them then they give you a bunch of red herrings And then they surprise you at the end with someone who has been in the film But minimally who you didn't necessarily think would end up being the killer now One of the things I think is kind of the genius of the writing of the script is that they turn that on its head and say Okay, we're gonna make you think heavily that it's this person. We're gonna get you all these red herrings We're gonna make you think this film is about to be wrapped up numerous times and tell you who the killer is numerous times But then in the end we're gonna reveal that all along it was the person that we Led you to believe in the beginning But the situation's a little bit different and then they reveal how she did what she did So in the beginning when they're trying to make you as an audience member feel like she's got psychological issues She is trying to do that to everyone in her life So that she can commit the murder against julia and get away with it with that plea deal of insanity Basically that apparently they keep referring back to some court case where that was kind of a precedence Like oh, they had a split personality disorder. So therefore they should just go to a clinic instead of to prison So, uh, but I let I I like how they did that how they kind of turn the giallo formula on its head The super shaky camera work in this Specifically at the dinner table and it does happen a few other times in this film is pretty off-putting I really hate like very unstable super shaky camera work and there's a decent amount of it early on in this film I think it calms down a lot after but um, it's off-putting. I don't like that about it Why would the police let frank see julia's dead body? And then they let carol in too and the one officer is also eating at the crime scene Once again, this is actually another thing that shows up in giallo a lot Which is these stupid police officers who they just play them up it's totally stupid and it unable to do their jobs because It wouldn't be a fun good giallo film if they are really good at their job and they solve the case super fast Uh, but I just thought it was funny that they just let these people into this crime scene and then on top of it This one police officer is literally eating while it's going on which reminds me of Was it torso? It was either torso or what have you done to salange? There's one I believe there's there's like a coroner who's eating a sandwich and then he like puts it down on the dead body I think Or maybe I'm misremembering that Anyway, moving on So the guy the redheaded hippie guy his confession scene is one of my favorite moments of the film Because his acting is so over the top. It is so wacky It is so nuts and then he goes to the length of like pulling out this vial and being like, yes I killed julia and here are her guts So I don't understand why at that point they are then just like not interested in this guy as an actual suspect until later When he tries to kill carol, which obviously later he's trying to kill carol because I believe at that point He's remembering she's the actual killer. So he's trying to take care of that But from the perspective of the audience at that time, you're thinking. Oh my gosh He's potentially the killer and he's coming after carol. He's gonna kill another person But yeah, I just love love love that scene of his initial interrogation Well, it wasn't actually interrogation. He was admitting to the murder even though he didn't do it I think maybe they just let him go because they were like, oh, he's just super high on drugs. Just just let him go Don't really make sense though, but whatever. It's giallo I like how carol's family immediately just tries to create a split personality defense instead of trying to prove that She actually didn't do it And that's a weird kind of plot hole thing just because They're not in on it Until we find out that the father is but the others involved just kind of go along with it You know, like her husband and her daughter aren't like, yeah, but I don't think she did it. They're just like, okay Yeah, split personality. She did it. Let's just use this defense. It just seems kind of weird that no one like Voice a strong opinion to not do that and be like, no, she's innocent. It's just like, yeah, she did it and split personality The scene of carol running from the red-headed um Hippy at the clinic was pretty funny in my opinion And it was a combination of the fact that she keeps falling And the way he was running like the way he ran just looked funny. He's like kind of hunched over like And and what he was wearing you have like this weird cape on he looked kind of like Frodo Baggins I don't know if anyone feels me on that one. Just saying uh That same scene though of of her being chased at the clinic by that guy Is a cool scene because their music isn't used a whole lot in it I'm a big proponent of not using too much music in a film and The fact that you are able to just focus on the kind of noises in the environment that are going on And kind of her heavy breathing and her just like being in fear and running I think is a cool thing. Now the music doesn't really pick up and start in again until it's getting very close to her You know entering that scene where we're finding the that messed up dog situation But yeah, I like how it leads in that way The reveal of carol writing down her dreams is cool because it really kind of opens things up as far as Considering a lot more people as being suspects when they dropped a little bit of knowledge saying well Hey, hasn't carol been writing down her dreams doesn't that mean that she could basically be framed by anyone Who would have access to Her diary basically her dream diary so that would include her daughter her husband and her husband's lover That's another thing they create that nice bit of suspicion with the husband because he's been cheating Well all along we find out that she's also been cheating with julia So yeah Going to an abandoned building to find out who killed the person you're accused of killing Doesn't seem like it's a good idea. It seems like a setup now in retrospect That's fine. It's not like a plot hole or a stupid Move on the part of carol necessarily because she knows she's the killer at that point But as an audience member when you're seeing that you don't know she's the killer necessarily So you're like, why would she show up to an abandoned building when some Crazy-looking hippie person says do you want to know who killed him? Show up to this abandoned building at a certain time and I'll you'll be told Definitely a setup to get killed and it was The subterranean chase scene during that I think is awesome the way that was shot. It's very very tense The music is really really helpful in kind of keeping that building and maintaining that tension The acting is well done with it as well acting in general in this film is good Um, but yeah, I that's another scene. I really love is that kind of subterranean chase scene with carol and the hippie dude I laughed when carol accidentally set off the electric organ by the way during that scene It was the way it was acted out and just like how abrupt it was. It was just funny. I I enjoyed it The bat scene during that chase excessively long. There is no reason for that scene to be as long as it was this is just I don't know why fulcrum made that choice. It was way too long Uh, the paint covered knife throwing at the canvas is cool The female hippie when the daughter when jone goes to see her right before she's gonna end up getting murdered She's thrown She's like dipping those knives and in paint and throwing them in a canvas And you can tell that what they were doing is they were then they were showing her throwing them And then they were cutting to the canvas with the knife already in it And then they were having paint pumped in from behind the knife in the canvas So it just like went down but it looked cool. It was awesome. And it's a cool concept for doing art. Um, I really enjoyed that Uh, good visual the movie does seem to almost end numerous times Like I said before but you do stay engaged because it's such a winding path and you do kind of stay on Like the edge of your seat thinking, okay, you know, is this where they reveal that it's the husband Is this where they reveal it's the daughter? Is this where they reveal it's the father? And then you find out in the end. It's none of them. It's carol Um, so I I do like all those red herrings. I do like that you numerous times feel like it's about to end It's gonna come to a close and everything's gonna be tied up It's cool. Um, but it also makes the film seem a little long at the same time Even though it's basically like an hour and 35 minutes ish. So Cool twist at the end with uh her with carol's father taking his life after writing that confession note Obviously that's because he knew that she was the murderer And he was trying to protect her basically he thought if I kill myself and leave a suicide note saying I did it Then maybe I can protect her from having to go to jail Or even the mental clinic or any of that stuff. So I and obviously, you know You find out at the end that he knew because he got that call from julia when carol was physically with her Basically saying I know you want to you know be a public figure get into politics But uh, I know something about Your family that uh May not be so good that I can blackmail you with which is obviously the lesbian relationship that she's having with carol at the time So I do like that aspect of the story Overall I like how they make carol such a strong suspect then convince you that it's not her only to reveal that it was her Yes, I already said this but it bears repeating That is one of the biggest strengths of the story in my opinion. Also just having kind of interesting characters I mean the hippies are unbelievably interesting and drug addled The film is stylish as hell. It really is no one can deny that. I mean that's fulcrum Seems like the camera is always moving and it's rarely stationary, which I think is cool That helps, you know With engagement with the audience when you're watching the film it makes you feel more involved It makes you feel like the you know, the scenes kind of open up a little bit more. I like that There are a lot of shots that show reflections of characters, which looks cool. Uh, that's another thing There's a real strong focus on reflections of characters And shootings so that you're seeing the character not straight on or at the side or anything like that But seeing them only within the reflection and then a lot of the times then moving to showing the actual character Now I'm wondering if that's a little bit having to do with showing kind of like the split personality idea to the film Just a just a thought on that But I do like how often that uh reflection thing is used because it just looks cool. It's it's an interesting way to shoot Uh anyo marcones anio marconi marconi I'm sorry. I just really screwed that up anyo marconi did the score for this It's great. Like a lot of awesomely done giallo scores. This one is a good giallo score quite like it There are a lot of cool shooting locations in this as well Just kind of adding to the aspect of this film looks great. The environment looks great. The shooting locations look great There's a lot of cool architecture used In particular the abandoned buildings, you know the subterranean portion and the You know above ground portion. They look really cool. Love it Especially, you know, kind of those those like long shots of showing like one person walking through this huge Abandoned place. It just looks good so In the end, what will my rating be out of five stars with half stars in play for a lizard in a woman's skin This one's up there. I am quite liking it I think I'm gonna go four stars on this one. I think Were the last two giallo films I did four stars as well. They might be I don't know But I'm gonna go four stars on this one. I think it's quite good Like I said, it ranks up there for giallo films for me and I quite enjoy it Too bad. I'm done watching lucio full chi giallo. I've watched them all already. I've reviews for them all But there's plenty of other giallos out there. Like I said, the seven blood stained orchids is my next one Which will be my first umberto lensi giallo film and I have more because you can see up here this yellow thing That is a four film collection of lensi Films when he collaborated with carol baker So I'm excited to get into those as well But my first taste will be seven blood stained orchids So you can look forward to that now do me a quick favor while a few things one put some comments down here If you want to say anything about this film or just giallo in general We can get nerdy about it But do me a favor of hitting that subscribe button because I'm trying to build a nerdy horror community Specifically, I'm very interested if you're into giallo Because obviously I'm getting very nerdy and deep into giallo I'd like to have you as a part of this community. So hit that subscribe button Also hit the notification bell and that way you'll know whenever i'm putting up any new videos Whether it be an unboxing a haul video a movie review, whatever So anyway, yeah, but regardless, I appreciate you taking your time to watch this and until next time keep it brutal