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11 out of 13 people found the following comment useful :-
Guilty pleasure, 24 January 2005
8/10
Author: Bjorn (jbjorns) from Iceland

The Case of the Bloody Iris is one of the most entertaining giallo's of them all.

I do realize that it's far from perfect. It's got wooden performances, childish dialogue, illogical moments (more than a few), plot holes etc..., but it's entertaining as hell. These pure giallo's are guilty pleasures to be sure, featuring a number of knockout damsels in distress, gory murders, black gloved killers, a murder mystery with endless red herrings, law officials without an IQ and almost universally badly dubbed actors.

Here we have it all in abundance and it all works. The women here are quite simply stunning, the murder scenes inventive and well done, the appropriate amount of sleaze, impressive visuals and nice location scenery, a terrific musical score (catchy as hell), decent acting and a fair amount of shocks and suspense. It's also quite funny at times, I've never before or after seen a detective obsessing with stamps.

Highly recommended if you're a fan of giallo films.

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6 out of 9 people found the following comment useful :-
A gloved maniac, topless women and a dodgy plot — it's giallo time again!!, 27 April 2006
6/10
Author: BA_Harrison from Hampshire, England

Light on the gore and heavy on the nudity, The Case of the Bloody Iris is a passable giallo from director Giuliano Carnimeo (under the pseudonym Anthony Ascott). Made in 1972, this shocker has nearly all of the elements one would expect from the genre: a gloved killer, POV shots, bloody murders, and a convoluted plot in which everyone is both a suspect and a possible victim.

The story revolves around a spate of vicious killings which happen in a posh high-rise block of apartments; gorgeous Edwige Fenech plays Jennifer, a model who has moved into the building and soon becomes a target for the deranged, rubber-glove wearing maniac.

Logic takes a backseat during the storytelling and there are moments which had me laughing in disbelief. In one scene, our hapless heroine wanders through a junkyard at night; for cheap 'shocks', car doors swing open, boots slam shut and a whole vehicle even topples off a stack — no explanation for these spooky happenings is given.

Another moment has Jennifer attempting to enter a suspect's apartment. Finding it locked, she tries the keys on her own keyring, and — hey, presto — the last key opens the door!! What great security they have in this building.

As always, the killer's identity is only revealed in the final minutes, and the reason given for his violence stretches well beyond the realms of credibility.

Despite the flaws in the plot, the film moves along at a reasonable pace and when there is any danger of the momentum flagging, Carnimeo throws in some gratuitous T&A (and a lesbian) to keep us amused — how very thoughtful of him! Nearly every actress gives us an eyeful before her untimely demise.

As giallos go, this is a consistently entertaining example and should definitely be seen by fans of the genre.

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful :-
DeMented, 18 March 2008
4/10
Author: SJSondergaard from United Kingdom

Imagine, if you will, an episode of Murder She Wrote with added nipples. That pretty much describes The Case of the Bloody Iris (as in flower). The characters are paper thin and the actors (genre stalwarts most of them) appear to have been bought-in wholesale from the MFI school of acting.

On her way to a secret assignation with a mysterious someone, a young woman is murdered in the lift of an apartment complex by an assailant with a black leather fetish. Soon after, another woman is killed in an apartment in the same building, which is then occupied by model Jennifer (Edwige Fenech) and her model chum ... and then the screaming/howling starts depending on your point of view. The plot is negligible really and serves as little more than brief respite between scenes in which Fenech has her blouse ripped off. The attitudes on display toward race, sexuality and gender very much tick that box marked "of their time". In fact, if ever assistance were needed in bringing to bear the charge of misogyny often levelled at the much-maligned Italian Thriller genre, the prosecution need look no further than the scene in which Fenech, confronted by her estranged ex-husband in her apartment, is knocked to the floor then told "You're an object and you're mine!". Before having her blouse ripped off.

The killings themselves are actually quite inventive, with the opening lift scenario and a later one which occurs in bright daylight in a crowded shopping arcade particularly audacious, but the handling is very much by-the-numbers and they are too quickly out of the way. In more assured hands (De Palma's say) they could have been the film's saving grace. Overall there is a distinct lack of tension, no real sense of danger and little that surprises. The identity of the killer is easily deduced by default as there are only three possibles and one of those is despatched half way in. Poor old Fenech (who could give lessons in eye-acting) spends most of her hard-earned running around and falling over like a Dr Who assistant on crack, and you'll probably while away most of the film noticing how much she resembles an attractive Martine McCutcheon. The film also loses points for bringing us, in the shape of Jennifer's bubble-headed roommate and the wholly unfunny ineptitude of the junior police officer, two of the most irritating characters in the genre. On the plus side it has a terrific signature theme - like a Saint Etienne instrumental co-written with John Barry.

The transfer from Blue Underground is as adequate as we've come to expect - serviceably sharp and the colours are bright enough, though there is one scene when Jennifer is leaving her apartment at night where it looks like she's walking through a cloud of bluebottles. The Americanised dubbing, like an extended episode of Badly Dubbed Porn with all the jokes removed, is appaaaaalling, though a few doozies have emerged during translation, not least of which is the moment Jennifer, in defence of her lover (the dapper George Hilton), throws herself on the mercy of the caveman leading the investigation with a plea of "No I'm sure he's not mental!". There's also a great moment where she receives a faceful of vitriol from an elderly neighbour who sets a record for the number of times the word "whore" can be used without pausing for breath.

If you've only experienced the high end of the giallo genre (Blood and Black Lace, The Bird with the Crystal Plumage, What Have You Done to Solange?) then this one is probably not for you. Because it's silly. In all fairness, it had no aspirations to be anything but. Coming from the frenzied height of the giallo era in Italy it wears its production-line credentials loudly. If you're into this particular sub-genre of the sub-genre or simply looking for something to guffaw over post-pub while you count the cost of that last kebab, this is trash of the highest order (though there's more gore to be had in an average episode of Taggart and is only titillating in the way some might find a Benny Hill sketch titillating). As its appeal is limited to a certain corner of fandom it makes rating this sort of thing a bit tricky. In all good conscience I suppose I'll have to base it on whether I'm ever likely to voluntarily watch it again without first troubling the local kebab house.

Great cover anyway.

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3 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Decent Giallo has, unfortunately, limited availability, 26 July 2007
8/10
Author: TheatreX from Louisville, KY

I was fortunate to find a copy of Anchor Bay's out of print Giallo Collection for cheap, but it's worth getting strictly for this alone, although, of the other films, Short Night of Glass Dolls is the best. "Bloody Iris" is the tale of a masked killer who targets young women, seemingly ones that live in a particular apartment building. When a lady is killed, her apartment becomes available, and in moves Edwige Fenech and her goofy room mate. George Hilton as Andrea also figures in this somewhere, and he seems to be a suspect although we, the viewers, haven't seen anything that leads us to believe that's true, but anything is possible. There's a lesbian neighbor and her violin-playing father (a familiar face who also plays a priest in "Eyeball"), and there's an old grumpy widow who seems to be fond of horror magazines. But there may be more neighbors than the two girls realize. After one is stabbed in a public shopping area (not Edwige, thankfully) and dies, she just happens to single out Andrea to wipe her bloody hands all over before she dies, incriminating him further. There's also something about a man who was the leader of some hippie cult or something, that used to be an item with Edwige but she decided apparently, that he was a bit weird for her taste but he seems to be stalking her. Of course, when it's all revealed it's not at all what was expected, and there's of course, several red herrings along the way to keep you guessing. Well done, with good acting and a good cast, and cool jazzy music to move things along nicely. 8 out of 10, great stuff.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
This gem is what 'giallo' is all about!, 7 August 2005
8/10
Author: Coventry from the Draconian Swamp of Unholy Souls

I've seen quite many Italian giallo-horror movies by now and, not reluctantly, I would call "What Are Those Strange Drops of Blood Doing On Jennifer's Body?" the ideal prototype to illustrate what exactly are the marvelous aspects for which this unique sub genre stands. This movie has them all: beautiful women (preferably large-eyed fashion models or strippers) are brutally stabbed to death by a masked killer whose motive remains a big mystery until the very last minutes of the movie. Indispensable also are the many eccentric characters, going from dumb coppers to a large collection of uncanny suspects, beautiful music, sleaze and nudity (although stylish at all times) and imaginative camera-work. As top of the bill, and this really is what makes this gem a truly representative giallo for me, the amount of red herrings is just enough to constantly trick you without the risk of making you lose your interest for the actual revelation of the killer's identity. Too often it happens that one silly twist too many turns an initially compelling whodunit-mystery into a ludicrous comedy and that's certainly not the case here! The drop-dead-gorgeous Edwige Fenech (also a regular Sergio Martino muse) stars as the petrified new tenant of an apartment where a black stripper violently got murdered. She becomes the new target of the relentless killer but she doesn't receive much help from anyone around her. Her brainless roommate Marilyn laughs her fear away and the police inspector in charge of the investigation cares more about finding rare postal stamps for his collection! Just to make things more complicated: all the other people living in the building complex behave strangely and distant, Jennifer's ex-husband returns to stalk her and she can't yet trust her new boyfriend Andrea enough. The screenplay for this film was written by the true Italian horror prodigy Ernesto Gastaldi (just click his name and browse through the gigantic list of horror beauties this man delivered) and, even though he sometimes borrows ideas from his own previous work, his script is very original and genuinely shocking. The building complex makes a great setting with its ideal filming perspectives and the murders are intriguingly sadistic. Some of Italy's finest horror directors made unforgettable gialli movies, like Mario Bava, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento, but there are numberless other highlights out there that are lesser known but equally unmissable. And this gem certainly is one of them.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
MMMMM - Edwige, 9 January 2005
8/10
Author: bensonmum2 from Tennessee

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

- I've now seen this movie twice and I enjoyed it even more this time. It's a fairly standard, straightforward giallo – a series of murders in an apartment building committed by a gloved, black-cloaked figure. There are no shortage of suspects and the police are unable to do much other than find stamps for their collection (yes, that's right – stamps). But there are three things that really make The Case of the Bloody Iris stand out to me:

1. Cast – Any giallo with both George Hilton and Edwige Fenech is going to be a winner as far as I'm concerned. Hell, anything with Edwige is a "must see" for me.

2. Murder scenes – Each murder scene is very well handled. There's even one that takes place on busy sidewalk that is so well done that it seemed plausible to me.

3. The Score – I think Bruno Nicolai's score is one of the best I've heard. I'm especially fond of the main title music. So much so that I've burned it to a CD (with some music from 5 Dolls for an August Moon, Deep Red, and others) and listen to all the time on my way to and from work.

- The Case of the Bloody Iris is part of Anchor Bay's The Giallo Collection. While I enjoyed some more than others, none of the four movies was what I consider bad.

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4 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
An Extraordinary Giallo, 20 July 2002
10/10
Author: bdeyes81 (bdeyes81@aol.com) from Boston

"The Case of the Bloody Iris" (as it has been redubbed for DVD) is, without a doubt, one of the finest gialli to come out of Italy during the subgenre's heyday in the early 1970s. It's tense, it's funny, and it's deliriously inspired, the type of film that could almost pass for a work by genre masters Dario Argento or Mario Bava.

Jennifer (Eurohorror fave Edwige Fenech) is Jennifer, a beautiful model who moves into a luxury highrise shortly after its previous tenant had been brutally murdered. Soon enough, she encounters a masked man creeping into her room at night; her estranged husband's possessiveness turns violent; she finds herself falling in love with the most peculiar landlord....and, of course, the bodies start piling up.

'Bloody Iris' is a most unusual giallo in that it was released in 1971, at the peak of the genre's Italian output, and yet it always seems so supremely self-conscious. The traditional giallo elements (the gloved killer, the violent flashbacks, the sexual taboos) are all present here, but not necessarily in the manner you'll usually find them. It is as though director Giuliano Carnimeo put all the cliches into a blender and let the screenplay mix itself up...meaning that seasoned fans of this type of film will have a much more difficult time guessing the killer's identity, and thus a much more satisfying time watching the film. As some one who has seen more of these movies in recent years than I would care to count, I was shocked to find that I was WAY off on figuring out the killer OR the motive. The red herrings are all so subtle and the colorful supporting characters (usually fertile ground for the killer in these movies) so expertly presented that the viewer never feels manipulated by the director. It's anyone's guess as to who is killing and why, and it makes the experience all the most exciting.

Furthermore, the film has more going for it than merely a good mystery. The acting is surprisingly solid throughout, especially Edwige Fenech, who is every bit as goregous and innately watchable as you've heard. Bruno Nicolai's score is appropriately minimalist while being beautiful and often creepy, and at least one piece certainly seems to have influenced music played in a similar scene in "Halloween"...astute fans should pick up on this towards the end of the film, when Jennifer sneaks into a neighbor's apartment... There is a fair amount of humor throughout the film, most of which is, surprisingly, quite effective (!), and several of the suspense sequences are smashingly successful; you don't have to be easily scared to find yourself hanging off the edge of your seat during several of the film's most memorable set pieces. Speaking of which, fans may want to note that some of the film's highlights actually predate (and dare I say influenced?) similar bits in such Dario Argento classics as "Deep Red" and particularly "Tenebre". Although those two gems are, ultimately, superior films, 'Iris' does deserve credit for influencing later efforts of the man who essentially defined the genre in the first place.

Finally, I should close my review by offering typical kudos to Anchor Bay Entertainment for yet another stalwart DVD release. Can they do wrong? Probably, but I have yet to find any concrete proof myself! Simply put, their transfer of this film is out of this world. Taken from what seems to be an immaculate print of the film (or, perhaps more likely, the original negative!), the gorgeous job they have done made it hard to pay attention to what was going on onscreen during several sequences. Stelvio Massi's gorgeous photography looks stunning on this DVD, boasting a unique and highly appealing array of pastel colors and bright lighting; an unusual choice for a thriller, but a smashing choice all the same. And as Anchor Bay has been kind enough to present the film in its original 2.35:1 scope ratio, fans can fully appreciate director Carnimeo's masterful use of the widescreen lens. I don't know of any other thrillers he has directed, but if this is his only contribution to the genre, then it is a damn shame...with a few more titles under his belt, he could easily have wrestled his way onto the same shelf as Argento and Bava.

All in all, this is a terrific, wonderfully inspired giallo that any fan of Italian thrillers will want in their collection.

My Grade: A-

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An extremely enjoyable giallo, 23 April 2009
8/10
Author: Woodyanders (Woodyanders@aol.com) from The Last New Jersey Drive-In on the Left

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

Sweet and beautiful young model Jennifer Lansbury (a winning performance by the strikingly gorgeous Edwige Fenech) moves into a swanky apartment where a previous fetching female tenant was brutally murdered. Pretty soon Jennifer is being stalked by the mysterious killer. Propable suspects include predatory lesbian neighbor Sheila Heindricks (lovely Annabella Incontrera), Jennifer's possessive ex-husband (creepy Ben Carra), a weird old lady with a deformed son, and even suave, handsome architect Andrea Barto (a solid turn by George Hilton), who suffers from a severe blood phobia. Director Giuliano Carnimeo and screenwriter Ernesto Gastaldi concoct an engrossing thriller that unfolds at a steady pace, delivers a pleasing plenitude of tantalizing red herrings, tasty female nudity, and a few bravura brutal and shocking murder set pieces (the single most startling murder occurs on a crowded street in broad daylight!), and tops things off with a deliciously sly sense of playful humor (for example, the ineffectual cops on the case are more interested in rare expansive stamps than they are in catching the killer!). Fenech and Hilton are both excellent in the leads; they receive fine support from Paola Quattrini as Jennifer's ditsy airhead pal Marilyn Ricci, Giampiero Albertini as the feckless Commissioner Enci, Franco Agostini as Enci's equally inept assistant Redi, Oreste Lionello as effeminate homosexual photographer Arthur, George Rigaud as the friendly Professor Isaacs, and Carla Brait as brash, formidable nightclub stripper Mizar Harrington (Mizar's fierce fight with a cocky macho jerk is an absolute hoot!). Stelvio Massi's fluid and dynamic cinematography boasts a lot of great crazy tilted camera angles. Bruno Nicolai's funky, yet elegant score likewise does the trick. Director Carnimeo's smooth style and infectious verve keep the proceedings lively and entertaining throughout. Well worth watching for giallo fans.

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Conventionally enjoyable Itallian fun, 27 January 2009
6/10
Author: DisgorgedMenstrualSludge from Hell

*** This comment may contain spoilers ***

"Case of the Bloody Iris" is a very solid old giallo that plays more off the murder mystery/sexy ambiance rather than shock value through gore. The plot: a model is tormented by her sexually promiscuous past while being stalked by her possessive husband. She apparently belonged to his orgy cult of which which she decided to part ways with, bothering her sleazy spouse quite a bit... Could he be the one murdering all these other hot girls in a fit of jealous rage? Is it the horribly disfigured boy in the next apartment? Whomever it may be, his blood lust seems devoid of motive otherwise and his trail lead the bumbling police in no particular direction. With a quirky cast, sharp storyline, and enough sudden death scenes thrown in, this movie will definitely hold up for fans of the gialli sub-genre. Just about all the actresses here (excluding that wicked old lady) are all scorching hot (notably Edwige Fenech... yeah, from all those 70s sex comedies!) and never seem to survive long enough to get to know them. That's what I call some fine ass giallo! Priorly mentioned, the gore won't hold up for fans of other movies like "New York Ripper" and "A Bay of Blood", though it does supply enough of the red stuff in certain intervals to keep it going. That spunky black chick and her intense, aggressive stage show is worth the viewing alone as well as those inept police officers attempting to crack the case is pretty humorous at times. So as a whole, it IS a bit slower moving than other movies of it's kind - a bit tame on the blood and sleaziness, but if you appreciate well constructed giallo story lines combined with twists than check out "Case of the Bloody Iris".

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Just how many knife-wielding psychos are there in Italy?, 16 March 2008
6/10
Author: Jonny_Numb from Hellfudge, Pennsylvania

The problem with being a fervent connoisseur of '70s-era Italian horror is that it's only a matter of time before the good stuff (the Fulcis, the Argentos, the Bavas) gives way to the derivative rip-offs, until there's nowhere to go but down in the dregs of amateurs who were thrown some money to satisfy a "market demand." And the problem with gialli in particular is that, even the well-made ones begin to seem similar in structure, character, and plot. And while "The Case of the Bloody Iris" is well-done enough for me to recommend, it is ultimately a pretty conventional offering. The excellent opening scene has a beautiful woman murdered in an elevator within her apartment; soon after, luscious models are being slain by a "Blood and Black Lace"-styled killer. Like other gialli of the era, "Iris" sets up its premise early on, and spends the rest of the time twisting it into a pretzel of red herrings, misdirection, and talky exposition. But director Giuliano Carnimeo (under the pseudonym Anthony Ascott) keeps things well-paced and intriguing, giving us some great setpieces and camera work (including a lot of vertiginous shots), and Edwige Fenech ("Strip Nude for Your Killer") is an enticing example of '70s sex appeal who looks great in skimpy negligee or nothing at all. Not the best example of the genre, but certainly worth a look for fans.

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