The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (1970) User Reviews

A stylish Italian thriller full of blackmail and perversity

[bensonmum2 · 7/10 · 9 April 2006]

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion (let's shorten that to Forbidden Photos for the rest of this write-up) is a stylish Italian thriller full of blackmail and perversity. Forbidden Photos would easily be among the best Gialli I've seen if it weren't for the lack of actual murders and other on-screen mayhem. To be so titillating, Forbidden Photos is in reality restrained, something you don't normally see in this genre. To be so restrained, it's amazing how the story held my attention throughout. And in the end, the convoluted plot and mystery all fit together quite nicely and it all makes sense. The cast is solid with good performances from Dagmar Lassander and Simon Andreu. But, as expected, Susan Scott steals every scene in which she appears. She never looked better or was she more mysterious than in Forbidden Photos. Finally, Forbidden Photos features an interesting score from Ennio Morricone. I went to bed last night with the main theme playing in my head.

Other than the minimal extras, Blue Underground's new DVD is very nice. You just don't expect something so obscure (I don't believe that Forbidden Photos was ever released in the U.S. in any form until now) to look this good. From what my untrained eyes could see, the transfer looked flawless. Nice job!

A Winning Giallo With Another Great Score By The Maestro

[ferbs54 · 7/10 · 19 October 2007]

My old buddy Rob, who knows more about psychotronic movies than anybody I know, was the one who turned me on to one of my favorite film experiences of 2006, "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (1970), so when he recently raved about another giallo thriller from 1970 that he'd just seen, "The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion," I made a mental note to check it out as quickly as possible. And boy, am I glad I did! In "Forbidden Photos," Dagmar Lassander plays the part of Minou, a woman who is being sexually blackmailed by a man who has incriminating evidence of a murder her hunky businessman husband supposedly committed. Lassander looks a bit like a redheaded Debra Messing here, and her character is indeed quite the mess even when we first meet her, smoking and drinking too much and popping tranquilizers the way I'd pop Pretzel Nuggets. Needless to say, the events she must go through in this sexy, stylized thriller push her ever closer to the cracking point. Anyway, while gorehounds may be a tad disappointed by the lack of extreme violence in this picture, there are abundant joys to be found. Luciano Ercoli's direction is impeccable; the script by Ernesto Gastaldi (who seems to have written every other giallo that I see!) is one made to keep you guessing (although, plotwise, the film is much more straightforward than many other gialli); and Susan Scott, playing Minou's best friend, is remarkably sexy. But the single best element of this picture, for me, is yet another superb score by the maestro, Ennio Morricone. Isn't it remarkable how many hundreds of outstanding film scores this man is responsible for? I'm just in awe of this friggin' dude! I promise that you'll have this film's catchy theme song bouncing around in your head for days...and won't be forgetting this little giallo picture too quickly, either. Thanks, Blue Underground, and thanks again, Rob!

So-so giallo

[Superwonderscope · 6/10 · 16 February 2000]

Ever after giallo writer Ernesto Gastaldi teams up with producer-director Luciano Ercoli for this Forbidden Photos... Set in 1970, this early giallo is nicely shot in Techniscope. No murders, just plain old blackmail story and some shy eroticism. Sultry Dagmar Lassander is at her best and Susan Scott is also fab as the devious friend.

The plot is totally implausible but the suspense works til the end...

It's always surprising to see in these 70's gialli how the women look incredibly sexy and how the men are all ugly...projections of the writers/directors fantasies, maybe? Anyhoo... not boring at all, funny at some point -check out the dresses and the hats, it's a blast!-, not necessary but worth a look.

Unusual, but very well-acted giallo

[lazarillo · 10 January 2006]

This film is rather unusual for a giallo. It's well-filmed but not particularly stylized. The plot is rather strange, but generally makes sense. It has no graphic violence, and although it has plenty of perverse sexual situations, it barely has even the circumspect nudity of the earliest Caroll Baker gialli ("Sweet Body of Deborah", "Orgasmo", etc.). A society woman (played by Dagmar Lassender) is nearly raped on the beach by a sinister man who tells her that her industrialist husband has murdered one of his colleagues. The man blackmails her into sleeping with him by threatening to expose her husband, and then blackmails her again with graphic photos of their affair. The husband meanwhile is himself involved with her sexually voracious best friend (played by Nieves Navarro aka Susan Scott), and the whole thing might be some kind of plot to drive her mad.

This movie works mainly because of the acting. Dagmar Lassander was one of the better actresses to appear in gialli, second only to Edwige Fenech and the aforementioned Carroll Baker at playing these hysterical, beleaguered victim roles. Even better is Nieves Navarro as her sex-hungry best friend who has pornographic pictures taken of herself and says at one point, after Lassender's character confides about her near rape, that she would have "adored being violated" (there's a kind of refreshingly politically incorrectness to the ridiculous dubbed dialogue of these movies). She is such a dubious and ambiguous character that even at the end it is not clear whether she is a loyal friend to the protagonist or an unexposed villain.

The director, Luciano Ercoli, is the Italian husband of former Spanish model Navarro. He made several other gialli, all featuring his wife, but this is probably the one where he made the best use of her. He is no Dario Argento or even Sergio Martino, but his direction is certainly adequate. The screenwriter, Ernesto Gastaldi, contributed scripts for any number of these pictures and he puts forth a pretty decent and suspenseful one here. This movie is kind of hard to find right now, but it is worth seeing if you like these kind of movies.

Flawed, Erotic, but with a Great Plot Point in the End

[claudio_carvalho · 7/10 · 20 May 2020]

The dull Minou (Dagmar Lassander) is spending a couple of days in her house nearby the beach. When she goes to a restaurant to have dinner, she is harassed by a stranger (Simon Andreu) riding a motorcycle that tells that her husband has killed a business investor. Minou calls her husband Pier (Pier Paolo Capponi) and they return home. Pier is a businessman near bankruptcy and former lover of Minou's best friend Dominique (Susan Scott). Soon Minou receives a phone call of the stranger that tells that he has a tape of Pier killing an investor. He proposes to trade the tape for kinky sex with her, and Minou accepts the proposal to protect Pier. But soon she learns that she was victim of a scheme and Pier did not kill the investor. Further, the stranger now has photos of their sex and blackmails her, and she confides everything to Dominique. What will they do?

"Le foto proibite di una signora per bene", a.k.a. "The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion", is a flawed and erotic thriller with a great plot point in the end. The actresses are extremely sexy and gorgeous, and the erotic tension is kept along the story. However, their characters are silly and shallow. The story has many flaws to misguide the viewer, but the final twist is unexpected. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "Fotos Proibidas" ("Forbidden Photos")

Quite good relatively bloodless

[HEFILM · 7/10 · 29 March 2006]

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.

A fine vehicle for some very sexy ladies.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 25 May 2014]

"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.

Le foto proibite di una signora per bene

[RaulFerreiraZem · 2/10 · 15 July 2019]

Didnt like this one at all. The first thing that threw me off was that every character acted so weird and there was no explanation whatsoever to their relationships, that is, i was left wondering why it is that Minou was friends with Dominique since they do not have anything in common and Dominique is always patornizing and rude to Minou; Not only that but Minou's husband is absolutely annoyingly passive agressive to her since the first time he appeared on screen. I do not expect much from these sexploitation type films but Le foto proibite amazed me in how simple its plot was and did not make up for it in style at all(which to me came as a surprise). I wish the film showed the city, gave Minou something to do to define her as a character instead of just saying "she likes to drink, take pills and eventually read comic books(?)" i also wish Dominique had more screen time and that they had better developed her relation with Minou.

Supremely sexy Giallo mystery!

[The_Void · 9/10 · 8 May 2006]

The Forbidden Photos of a Lady above Suspicion is a Giallo that is different to what most fans will be used to, as the graphic, over the top murder scenes have been scrapped in favour of a sexually charged plot line. I was worried that this might not work out, as murders are a key element of this sort of film for me - but to my surprise, Luciano Ercoli has turned out another first rate Giallo that makes up for it's lack of blood with a constant stream of intrigue. The film works from a script by Giallo luminary Ernesto Gastaldi, who manages to keep every other Giallo trademark besides murder in the film. The atmosphere is charged with desire and frustration, and the central plot; which features blackmail, sex and mystery makes best use of its array of amoral and perverse characters. The film focuses on Minou; the attractive wife of a businessman named Peter. The story picks up when Minou is attacked by a stranger on a beach who informs her that her husband has committed murder and blackmails her into sleeping with him. The plot then takes another turn when the assailant furthers the blackmail with pictures of their rendezvous...

Luciano Ercoli is never going to get huge respect from Giallo fans simply for the fact that he hasn't made a great deal of films; but it seems that the ones he has made get rated down too often, and just like Death Walks at Midnight - Forbidden Photos is an underrated Giallo. The director does an excellent job of ensuring that Forbidden Photos fits the plot in terms of look and style. The lighting and scene setting is excellent, and the upper class locations bode well with the central cast of characters. The acting is also surprisingly high quality with Dagmar Lassander impressing in the lead role. She is joined by Pier Paolo Capponi who takes the sinister role of her husband, while the cast is rounded off by the talented Susan Scott, whose husband and director Luciano Ercoli allows her to steal every scene she's in. The bisexual element of Scott's character fits the film well, and provides more perversion to the already sleazy atmosphere. The plot is significantly less convoluted than most Giallo's, but if you ask me; this is a good thing as it allows the director to put all the implications of the story across without being bogged down by plot details. Overall, this is a great Giallo film and while I know that it's high praise - I really wouldn't hesitate to list it alongside Gastaldi's collaborations with Sergio Martino in a list of premium Giallo films. Highly recommended!

Not your usual giallo, this is nevertheless a low budget success

[Leofwine_draca · 6/10 · 19 July 2016]

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.

Meister of Merda

[radiobirdma · 4/10 · 7 January 2016]

"The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion" has undoubtedly its assets: the remarkable camera work by cinematographer Alejandro Ulloa, quite meticulously chosen, très chic décors, exquisite sixties fashion, an expertly done soundtrack by Ennio M., and above all the ravishing beauty of Andalusian actress Nieves Navarro who would later marry director Luciano Ercoli. Alas, after a more or less promising first half - sadistic erotomaniac is stalking innocent Italian hausfrau (Dagmar Lassander) -, the script by hackmeister Ernesto Gastaldi is going downhill, and fast - including a "surprise" ending even more devastatingly silly than other Gastaldi baloney à la "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" or "The Case of the Scorpion's Tail". In the DVD extra feature, round-faced and highly likable Gastaldi grins knowingly: he sure sold a lot of merda.

A WOMAN ABOVE SUSPICION

[mmthos · 8/10 · 28 April 2022]

The setting is Barcelona, a glamourous European destination typical of the jet set denizens of these Italian Detective Horrors. Trouble starts when our heroine Minou (Dagmar Lassander) is assaulted by a strange man (Simon Andreu) who threatens she will beg him to rape her when next they meet (a breach of taste served with the misogynistic flair typical of the genre), then runs away (!) When she tells her husband (Pier Paolo Capponi), he naturally wants to call the police, but she says no: "All they do is make you fill out forms" (!) Well, in a case like this, lady, I think maybe you might make an exception and fill out a form for a change, just this one time. But she doesn't, of course, otherwise we wouldn't have a movie. She does, indeed, regret not making that call, as she is sucked down deeper and deeper into the gaslighting whirlpool of her stalker/rapist's devising, blackmailing her that he will show her husband the eponymous photos of the title. Her shoulder to cry on through this is Dominique (Susan Scott), a happy-go-lucky porn model (she sends them to Copenhagen for sale), a free spirit whose appetite for sex goes far beyond the job. Off the job, she sure likes to wear clothes, lots of them, and both of them galavant around town like a couple of high fashion Barbies . Each scene in new outfits of the most outrageously fabulous 70's fashions: hats, gloves, shoes-and wigs (!)-- to match (another convention of the genre). And I mean Every scene: After one last heart-to-heart sob session, Dominique finally convinces Minou to tell her husband everything. She tells her they'll go tell him Right Now!-but not until they've changed into entirely different outfits, restyled wigs, and wiped away the tears to fortify their make-up, as is how they show up at his place in the scene immediately following. It's pretty obvious pretty early on who the real Bad Guy has to be, though there are a couple of clever red herrings to try to trick you. What's fun are the impossibly outrageous contrivances (also a convention) that wend their way to a ridiculously satisfying conclusion, and the particularly salacious aspects of this plot are notably original in that regard.

There, I said "outrageous" again, but Over-The-Top Outrageousness is really what a good giallo is all about. Enjoy.

Great music, insane clothes and murder

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 4 January 2018]

Minou (Dagmar Lassander, The House by the Cemetery) loves her husband, Peter. But Peter is cold and only really seems to care about work. All she does all day is pine for her husband and take care of a turtle. Yep. You just read that correctly.

One night, a mysterious stranger attacks her, cuts open her clothes and then warns her: her husband is a killer.

The mysterious man is proven correct when a man who owed Peter money shows up dead. He demands that she come to his home, where he blackmails her into sleeping with him. Seeing as how he has recorded their tryst, he now has more material on her.

Even her friend Dominique (Nieves Navarro, All the Colors of the Dark, who was married to the director, Luciano Ercoli) can't be trusted, as Minou finds photos of the blackmailer in provocative poses in her possession. When she finally gets the police to investigate, the man's home is empty and Dominique tells the police he never even existed. Oh yeah. Dominique was once Peter's woman before Minou. So there's that.

Minou has a nervous breakdown and overdoses on tranquilizers before sobering up and learning that it's all been a plot against her from the beginning. But come on - if you've watched any giallo, you knew that going in.

Despite its lurid title, Forbidden Photos of a Woman Above Suspicion isn't filled with sex or even all that much violence. It's more about alcoholism and how women were taught that they had to have the skills to land a man, but not what to do with their lives to make them fulfilled beyond just a relationship.

Director Luciano Ercoli has some gorgeous shots in here that really take advantage of the space age 1960's aesthetic. And a bossa nova score by Ennio Morricone keeps this film bouncing. It wouldn't be the first giallo I'd recommend, but it's not the last, either.

Goes on Forever

[joymontgomery-04744 · 3/10 · 17 February 2020]

Take all the major giallo hallmarks - tons of style, sleaze, and creative murders and toss them out the window and you're left with something that resembles The Forbidden Photos of A Lady Beyond Suspicion. It's a plodding, turgid affair with little flair and even less thrills.

A woman is attacked by a perverted creep who tells her that her husband isn't the man she thinks he is. He ultimately blackmails her into taking lurid photos and, by that point, we've all gone to sleep.

Not one of the better giallos and I'm starting to believe that, unless Argento or Bava's name is attached to a giallo, I'm not going to love it.

Entertaining giallo that keeps you involved to the very end.

[Infofreak · 11 January 2003]

'Forbidden Photos Of A Lady Of A Lady Above Suspicion' is an above average giallo that fans of the genre should seek out. The beautiful Dagmar Lassander (Fulci's so-so 'House By The Cemetary') plays a woman who is attacked by a stranger who almost rapes her then retreats telling her that her husband is a cheat and a murderer. She is devoted to her husband, a businessman who unbeknown to her is having an affair with her best friend, the cynical Dominique (Susan Scott). The mysterious stranger continues to haunt her and plants doubts in her mind about her husband. A business associate of his died under unusual circumstances and she becomes convinced that he was involved in his death. Her would be rapist becomes a blackmailer threatening to unmask her husband unless she allows him to take pornographic photos of her. Still loving her husband she is forced to comply. This is just the beginning of this entertaining thriller which has several surprises in store. While nowhere near the best giallo I have watched it is still to be recommended. I was entertained, and the story had me involved up to the very end.

$20K or Dagmar? Ah, who needs money anyway?

[BA_Harrison · 7/10 · 16 August 2020]

It's got a convoluted title, an intriguing mystery plot, a cool Morricone score, and a gorgeous woman-in-peril in the form of ravishing redhead Dagmar Lassander, and yet I hesitate to class The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion as a giallo simply because no-one actually commits a murder. Protagonist Minou (Lassander) BELIEVES that her husband has killed someone, but it eventually transpires that he hasn't. Giallo fans expecting a maniac in leather gloves offing numerous women in gruesome ways will surely be disappointed.

This non-giallo movie sees pill-popping beauty Minou (Lassander) menaced by a mysterious man (Simón Andreu) who informs her that her husband Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi) has killed someone he owed money to, convincing her by playing a tape recording of Peter talking about the murder. Minou goes to see the man and offers him money for the tape, but he's only interested in one thing, and it's not cash! Minou reluctantly sleeps with the blackmailer in exchange for the incriminating recording, but is horrified when the man continues to stalk her, this time armed with photographs of them doing the dirty (Doh!).

Confiding in her sexually liberated friend Dominique (hottie Nieves Navarro), Minou returns to the man's apartment and offers him more money ($20K), this time for the negatives, but again he refuses. Desperate to be rid of the man, Minou eventually comes clean to her hubby, who goes to his police friend for help. However, when the blackmailer's apartment is searched, the place is totally bare, and no-one appears to be living there. It's at this point you will no doubt ask yourself 'Is Minou crazy or is this one of those films where someone is trying to drive the main character mad, no doubt to claim on an insurance policy?' and the answer to that is 'The latter, of course!'.

The only thing that remains is to work out who the villain is, and because the pool of potential culprits is relatively small, there's a very good chance you'll guess correctly. Still, as predictable as the story is (and frustratingly bereft of a razor-wielding psycho), The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is still a very enjoyable movie, thanks largely to Lassander's incredible sex appeal, but also to Luciano Ercoli's more than capable direction and Ennio's jazzy lounge music.

6.5/10, rounded up to 7 for IMDb.

Good Spanish/Italian Giallo with intrigue , plot twists , turns and completely shot in Barcelona , Spain

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 9 December 2021]

Atmospheric and imaginative Giallo with chilling frames , a lot of erotism , twisted scenes and confusion around a beautiful wife in distress . A decent , oddball mystery/thriller with abound suspense and combining the elements of intrigue with drama and plot twists . Gorgeous Minou (Dagmar Lassander) is newly married to Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi) , an entrepreneur in overdue debts as he works to bring a new product to market . They met through Dominique (Nieves Navarro who married director Luciano Ercoli) , Minou's best friend, and a sexually active woman , in addition , Peter's former and possibly still love r. An ominious stranger (Simón Andreu) harasses Minou one night on the beach while Peter is away . He tells her that Peter has murdered a business colleague and blackmails her into sleeping with him . He compounds the blackmail with photos taken of their tryst . To Minou's surprise , this same man is in an erotical photo Dominique has imported from Denmark . Along the way , a stubborn commissioner (Osvaldo Genazzani) investigates the bizarre events . Then , things go wrong, resulting in a deadly game with unpredictable consequences.

Luciano Ercoli's great success is compellingly directed with well staged set pieces and plenty of startling visual content , though it was submitted to limited censorship in Spain . Dealing with a twisted triangle of love , and adding betrayal , suspicion , friendship , sex , brief nudism , and , maybe killing . Being a Spain/Italy co-production here shows up familiar faces such as Italian actors : Dagmar Lassander , Pier Paolo Capponi , Osvaldo Genazzani and Spanish players as Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott and Simón Andreu . This is a customary Gialli where the intrigue, tension , suspense appear threatening and lurking in every room , corridors and luxurious interior and exterior . The picture packs atmospheric blending of eerie thrills and creepy chills combined with a twisted finale . This is pretty entertaining stuff about a wealthy wife who's blackmailed by a mysterious man into having a sadistic relationship with him , while her husband , a businessman in trouble , seeks answers . Suspenseful and interesting screenplay by expert , prolific Ernesto Gastaldi and Mahnahén Velasco , though slow-moving at times. This intriguing/chilling Italian/Spanish exploitation movie displays colorful images , disturbing frames , eerie scenes , nakedness , mysterious events and pretty unexpected and unpredictable climax . Some illogical parts in the story are more than compensated for the excitement provided by some bizarre images , though are sometimes poorly shot . The movie is running out of ideas a lot ; however , being still good enough to be fun . Stars the extremely attractive Dagmar Lassander as the beautiful young who's stalked by a stranger , Pier Paolo Capponi as his jealous husband as well a financially struggling businessman , while Nieves Navarro or Susan Scott is the sexually voracious friend and Simón Andreu as the Blackmailer.

It displays an adequate and brilliant cinematography by Alejandro Ulloa who photographed Horror Express , totally filmed in Barcelona , though interiors shot in Elios Studios, Rome, Lazio, Italy . Equally , it contains a mysterious and evocative musical score by the great Ennio Morricone . The picture was professionally directed by producer/filmmaker Luciano Ercoli. Talented and versatile Ercoli has produced/directed a vast array of often solid and entertaining films in all kind of genres as horror, Giallo and Western, in a middling career . He produced a trilogy for Duccio Tessari formed by two Western as ¨A pistol for Ringo¨, ¨The return of Ringo¨ and ¨Kiss, Kiss , Bang , Bang¨ , the latter is set in modern times and deal with a heist . All of them are amusing and entertaining and starred by similar cast as Giuliano Gemma , Fernando Sancho , Lorella De Luca and Nieves Navarro who married the producer Luciano Ercoli . He also produced the Giallo trilogy starred by Simon Andreu and his wife Susan Scott formed by ¨Death walks on high heels¨ , ¨The forbidden photos of a lady above of suspicion¨, and ¨Death walks at midnight¨. Rating: Acceptable and passable : 6/10 , this is one imaginative slasher picture in which the camera stalks in sinister style throughout a story with acceptable visual skills though contains some flaws and gaps . This is a bewildering story , funny in some moment but falls flat and it will appeal to hardcore Gialli fans .

Psychological Giallo with fetishism approach !!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 11 July 2019]

A different kind of Giallo, no murder, bloodess, just a blackmail tale, drifting to fetishism approach, in many scenes are extremely exploited, the plot is exotic, a well married woman the gorgeous Dagmar Lassander as Minou is involved on a wide range of the blackmail by a unknown maniac, including compromising photos, she got inside of a true nightmare which she slowy is gone mad, in fact she got a psychological disorder, so many possibilities are scattered for the veiwers, nothing seems be true, a genuine ambiguous atmosphere is put there deliberately trying misleading to make us in a wrong conclusion, extremely sexy, but no nudity is offer, the ending is striking, the storyline is supported by two beauties Lassander and Nieves Navarro as Dominique, nothing too great, but enough to hold us until to the surprisingly outcome!!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7.25

A giallo with Mediocre plot

[rortrain · 4/10 · 27 April 2020]

There is 3 good things about this giallo is that it tells it story without any scenes of violence. Dagmar Lassander is beautiful, she is convincing in her role and the cinematography is nice, but not great. The plot is weak however and there is no suspense, so it is painful to go through the whole movie.

Forbidden pleasures

[Red-Barracuda · 8/10 · 3 May 2006]

This is a slightly unusual giallo. In fact, it is debatable whether it is actually a giallo at all, as there is no knife-wielding black-gloved assassin and there are no murders to speak of. Strictly speaking, this is a mystery movie with a giallo feel. The gialloesque elements come in the form of an eye-catching title, stylish camera-work, great interior decor, a Morricone score, a convoluted mystery, sleazy undertones and the usual quota of beautiful looking women and hideous looking men. In other words, its great fun. The cast is very small, including giallo regular Pier Paolo Capponi, but the undoubted stars of the show are the leading ladies. Both Dagmar Lassandar and Susan Scott look very alike, and this is no bad thing as they are both stunning. Susan Scott is particularly effective here, she has a great screen presence and truly shines in this film - it really is hard to take your eyes off her. The Morricone score is pretty varied, from dreamy lounge to cheesy Euro-pop. It isn't necessarily one of his better soundtracks but it certainly has kitsch value. There is also some incredibly un-PC dialogue and the plot itself is not exactly coming at us from a feminist angle! However, this is to be expected from a 70s giallo movie and its one of the reasons why we love them. They are time-capsules of a different era. I would recommend this film for giallo completists and lovers of obscure Italian movies. Its unusual and camp fun. But if you are expecting an Argentoesque violent thriller you may be best served looking elsewhere.

An Average but Somehow Troublesome Giallo

[hae13400 · 7/10 · 24 May 2003]

In one evening, a beautiful married woman, Minou, is attacked by a strange man who informs her husband, Peter, is a murderer. Although Minou can't and doesn't want to believe the apparently crazy story, her best friend, Dominique, meaningfully suggests that a man named Jean Dubois, who was found to be drowned, might be somehow murdered. So, even in the troublesome circumstance that people around her including the police Commissioner can't conform the stranger really exists, it is natural that an unpleasant idea that Peter killed Jean Dubois crosses Minou's mind... Ostensibly the story of this film is a little too old-fashioned to be that of a 1970 Giallo. But, in the last sequence, it takes an desirably satisfactory (if not new) turn which not only is manifestly influenced by Mario Bava's THE TELEPHONE (which is the first and most Giallish segment of his 1964 BLACK SABBATH) but also has rather an usual Giallish element of bisexuality which conforms the Freudian thesis that sadism and masochism must be assessed in the framework of the bisexual organisation. Speaking of the Freudian psychoanalysis, the two leading characters, namely, Minou as a masochist and the black-mailer as a sadist, are almost innocently conformable to the Freudian definitions of masochism and sadism, which are accountable for the different roles of the female and the male. Especially, Minou is a very typically Freudian woman who is, paradoxically enough, so dependent upon her husband that she can sleep with the black-mailer to protect her husband. In this sense, though Dagmar Lassander adequately plays Minou whose actions and reactions, spoken and unspoken utterances, tones of voice, facial expressions and gestures are Freudian and/or psychoanalytically explainable, this film per se isn't and can't be the one in which Lassander is at her best because her character lives in and only in the strangely self-limited world. (Incidentally, I think the 1970s' film in which Lassander is at much better is nothing but SO YOUNG, SO LOVELY, SO VICIOUS...in which she plays much more humanly ambivalent person named Irena. Unfortunately this 1975 film per se is a little to melodramatic to be an average Giallo.) And regarding the Ennio Morricone's music, though it per se doesn't seem to be particularly bad, its strangely independent cheerfulness is not adequate for the appropriately essential seriousness of the film at all. Indeed this music is an unnaturally added sense of the-reality-IN-the-film, and confuses and/or disturbs the-reality-OF-the-film. In conclusion, though I can say this film as a whole is an average Giallo, I have to say the director's similar Giallo film, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS, which has more serious and twisted detectiveness, is better than this.

A classy effort all round

[acidburn-10 · 9/10 · 23 July 2022]

'The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion' is a low key yet solid giallo flick from director Luciano Ercolli that blends together elements of sex, murder & mystery into a rather sleek and stylish thriller. This movie is often overlooked in the giallo genre, probably due to it being less violent and sleazy, unlike some of its other counterparts, but it does boast a smart narrative laced with tension and overflowing with red herrings.

The plot follows a beautiful housewife Minou (Dagmar Lassander) who gets blackmailed by a mysterious stranger (Simon Andreu) who informs her that her husband Peter (Pier Paolo Capponi) is a murderer.

The movie is well acted with Dagmar Lassander giving a great performance with the demanding role of Minou as you witness her brought to the brink of madness as the twists and turns of the plot further unfolds, she really gives her character personality and carries the movie rather well. Pier Paolo Capponi as Peter the husband fits his role with class balancing the line between loving husband and suspicious suspect to perfection. Simon Andreu gives a delightful performance as the perverted blackmailer, heartless and vicious, he really gives the role his all. Nieves Navarro also gives a standout performance as the alluring sex pot Dominque, with the unknown intent of her character adding another great layer to this mystery.

This movie is stunningly shot with gorgeous cinematography that gives everything an unnerving dreamlike atmosphere with stellar set pieces, all of which is further benefitted from a striking score by Ennio Morricone. Full of tension & mystery this movie is jam packed with an intriguing set up and enough twists and turns to keep you interested throughout.

Overall 'Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion' may not break new ground, but perfectly represents the earlier and classier giallo efforts, before they went further into the world of underground sleaze. A classy effort all round.

Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion

[Scarecrow-88 · 7/10 · 14 August 2007]

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.

Fashion victim Luciano Ercoli

[Camera-Obscura · 12 February 2007]

THE FORBIDDEN PHOTOS OF A LADY ABOVE SUSPICION (Luciano Ercoli - Italy/Spain 1970).

Luciano Ercoli can be called many things. He might not be the most innovative director, but he definitely is the king of fashion, with all the women dressed up in some truly outrageous '70s outfits. His muse Nieves Navarro in particular parades through the film in some truly skimpy outfits, resulting in unintentional campyness. When talking camp, watch the dancing scene in the club in the beginning of the film with Dagmar Lassander. In God's heaven, this is one tacky dancing scene we're watching. All the men are in suits, the women are outrageously dressed, the music is a hallucinate boggle of easy-listening tunes James Last wouldn't even dare to come up with and the way they dance (how do you even dance to this kind of music?) is truly a perfect showcase of tacky '70s euro-nonsense. Guilty. Case closed. Still, it's a complete riot when watching it now and that's probably why I enjoy these films so much.

In all his three Gialli, FORBIDDEN PHOTOS, DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS and DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, Ercoli presents his story from a female perspective, but they are presented as utterly helpless when dealing with the various male perpetrators and chauvinist male detectives surrounding them. Even husbands or boyfriends, or any male capable of help turns out to be just as malevolent as all the blackmailers, wife-beaters and murderers. Nudity level and body count are low, but as a mystery it's actually much more effective than most Gialli, stylishly filmed, well acted and permeated with intrigue, blackmail and fetishistic violence, supported by a groovy Ennio Morricone score. Although graphic violence is restricted to a minimum, Dagmar Lassander has to undergo quite the ordeal with a mire of sedatives, alcohol and sleazy sex and strange conversations with the assertive bisexual figure of Nieves Navarro. She repeatedly keeps hearing from all male characters: "Get undressed!"

Just imagine this film, which was extremely obscure and hardly ever seen until its DVD-release in June 2006, sold almost 638,000 tickets in Spain alone according to the IMDb, probably largely due to the appeal of Spanish-born Nieves Navarro (over 2 million admissions in Europe is my guess). Blue Underground presents the film without an Italian audiotrack, but - surprise, surprise - the English dubbing is actually quite good now, which is always a major bonus.

Camera Obscura --- 7/10

Good performances

[r96sk · 7/10 · 10 March 2022]

Just has enough about it.

'The Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion' includes good performances from Dagmar Lassander, Pier Paolo Capponi, Simón Andreu and Nieves Navarro. It's also paced well enough, despite a few slower moments, and has a solid ending. The film is also short at around 90mins and features a neat score from a certain Ennio Morricone.