For about its first hour, half of this movie consists of people having sex in inappropriate places, at inappropriate times and with inappropriate partners, which makes them easy to spot for the exact person that should NOT be able to spot them, and the other half has them walking, looking into the distance, or talking about nothing that really matters. Then a crime plot begins to form, but it's a bit too late to work up much suspense (where are the police, by the way?), and the film remains generally uninteresting. It doesn't help that 3 out of the 4 main characters (the young girl who works at the hotel is the exception) are unsympathetic. Loredana Romito has a great face and body and certainly fits the genre, but this film is just too boring to recommend to anyone. *1/2 out of 4.
4 Reviews
80s giallo
BandSAboutMovies13 January 2024
Warning: Spoilers
By 1988, the giallo fever of the early 70s was over for some time. The genre then began to embrace the feel of the erotic thriller, but inside their heart, they all remain giallo.
Directed and written by Remo Angioli (who also wrote the Joe D'Amato-directed The Hyena as Harry J. Ball and this movie and Intimacy as Bob J. Ross) and Beppe Cino (The House of Blue Shadows), this is all about restaurant owner Paolo Piattelli (John Armstead, Interzone), an unfaithful husband to Silvia (Loredana Romito, You'll Die At Midnight) who is blinded in a car accident where he is caught with his lover (Carmen Manzano). His wife then meets Alessio (James Villemaire), the motorcyclist who caused the crash, and hires him to be their driver. Despite being blind, Paolo still has a working Italian libido and equipment, so he gets caught again with his mistress, which causes Silvia to ask Paolo - who she has already fallen for, but so has a cook at their restaurant named Cosetta (Ann Margaret Hughes, Top Model) - to kill Paolo.
Silvia goes from a faithful wife to someone who has sex with her husband's killer moments after he's shoved that man off a cliff, as well as ordering the death of her new man's other girl and then shooting him right in the head. It's an arc, as they say.
In the 80s, giallo forgot the black gloves, the knives, the music and often, the plot. They did remember the synth and sax-heavy sex scenes as well as the outfits, because Loredana Romito has fur coats long after people were protesting them, as well as long nails and big 80s hair. She also smokes throughout the movie, something that may not be as much a part of a giallo as J&B, but it's close. It also has so much nudity that you'll wonder why anyone wears clothes.
Directed and written by Remo Angioli (who also wrote the Joe D'Amato-directed The Hyena as Harry J. Ball and this movie and Intimacy as Bob J. Ross) and Beppe Cino (The House of Blue Shadows), this is all about restaurant owner Paolo Piattelli (John Armstead, Interzone), an unfaithful husband to Silvia (Loredana Romito, You'll Die At Midnight) who is blinded in a car accident where he is caught with his lover (Carmen Manzano). His wife then meets Alessio (James Villemaire), the motorcyclist who caused the crash, and hires him to be their driver. Despite being blind, Paolo still has a working Italian libido and equipment, so he gets caught again with his mistress, which causes Silvia to ask Paolo - who she has already fallen for, but so has a cook at their restaurant named Cosetta (Ann Margaret Hughes, Top Model) - to kill Paolo.
Silvia goes from a faithful wife to someone who has sex with her husband's killer moments after he's shoved that man off a cliff, as well as ordering the death of her new man's other girl and then shooting him right in the head. It's an arc, as they say.
In the 80s, giallo forgot the black gloves, the knives, the music and often, the plot. They did remember the synth and sax-heavy sex scenes as well as the outfits, because Loredana Romito has fur coats long after people were protesting them, as well as long nails and big 80s hair. She also smokes throughout the movie, something that may not be as much a part of a giallo as J&B, but it's close. It also has so much nudity that you'll wonder why anyone wears clothes.
A Movie for Nobody
lazarillo6 November 2004
This movie is considered by some to be latter-day Italian giallo, it was marketed in America as an "erotic thriller", and it obviously borrows liberally from American film noir like "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Double Indemnity". Nevertheless, it is sure to disappoint fans of all three genres. A woman's husband is blinded in an auto accident, so she hires the other driver as a chauffeur.(If he'd been mugged would she hire the mugger as a security guard?) Then she catches her blind husband with his mistress so she seduces her new chauffeur into murdering him a la "The Postman Always Rings Twice". This movie is just too stupid and nonsensically European to make it as an American film noir. On the other hand, it's too pedestrian to qualify it as a giallo (which usually feature much more bizarre and imaginative plots). It also lacks the stylistic flair of either genre--it looks more like a crappy "Penthouse" video. It's certainly not any worse than your average "erotic thriller", but it likely has a little too much plot and not enough sex to please the fans of that deservedly maligned genre (although I doubt anyone will complain about lead Loridawn Romito's numerous nude scenes).
The only really entertaining part of the movie is the hilarious English dubbing. Somebody dubbed all these dark, sensuous-looking Italian actors with twangy Texas accents! It's like Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly" but without the (intentional) humor.
The only really entertaining part of the movie is the hilarious English dubbing. Somebody dubbed all these dark, sensuous-looking Italian actors with twangy Texas accents! It's like Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly" but without the (intentional) humor.
Just what I expected...
eternal_celestiality7 January 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Fatal Temptation, at first glance, left nothing to my imagination. I immediately prepared myself for the usual fare that erotic thrillers of its class routinely offer. As expected, the elements were in full force.
The sultry and seductive Loredana Romito stars as the main character, Silvia Piatelli, a woman married to a two-timing hotel owner. After a questionable auto accident involving Silvia's hubby, she makes an even MORE questionable employment choice by hiring as a chauffeur the young motorcyclist (Alessio) involved in the same crash. This perplexing and cringe-worthy event is done simply to introduce Alessio, who soon becomes Silvia's lover after she discovers her husband and his mistress sexing it up. Not content with having Silvia in the sack, Alessio begins relations with Cossetta, a young woman working as a cook in the hotel that Silvia now manages due to her husband's injury. Soon we're treated to the consequential deaths of the husband, Cossetta, and Alessio.
All in all, Fatal Temptation is just what I expect of a Little Caesar's pizza; cheesy, satisfying in small amounts, and done on a budget. The story rarely engages, the characters are almost entirely forgettable, and the English dubbing is paltry. A few scenes are baffling; for example, both Silvia and her husband catch each other in sexual encounters with other people in their own home. If you're gonna cheat, at least have the discretion to take it somewhere else, especially if you *own* a hotel.
Some scenes are just downright bizarre. After Silvia persuades Alessio to push her husband off a cliff, she laughs hysterically before the corpse even gets soggy. This prompts Alessio to slap some sense into her which strangely evolves into sex against a tree at the crime scene.
That said, I must say that Loredana Romito is the best part. Not just because her body is SMOKING hot, but I enjoyed seeing her character change from a loving wife to a scorned woman who adeptly manipulates and eliminates those around her. When Silvia methodically puts a bullet through Cossetta's head, its a significant moment because Silvia has now gone from just being an instigator of death to someone who can bring it to people she believes may be working against her. There was a chance of personal redemption where a naked Silvia, straddling Alessio in bed, reveals her desire to be in a faithful, loving relationship with him so long as he remains silent about the murder she committed. But Alessio, unknown to Silvia, grieved the loss of Cossetta when he disposed of her body and car under the harsh command of an emboldened Silvia. In an attempt to avenge Cossetta, he shares her fate when Silvia bores a tunnel through his skull with a bullet as well.
The film leaves us with Silvia pondering her life on the shore. Three people are dead because of her; two of them perished at her own hands. Is she still searching for true love, or has the taste of blood forever changed her?
5/10 stars for this movie but Romito gets them all.
The sultry and seductive Loredana Romito stars as the main character, Silvia Piatelli, a woman married to a two-timing hotel owner. After a questionable auto accident involving Silvia's hubby, she makes an even MORE questionable employment choice by hiring as a chauffeur the young motorcyclist (Alessio) involved in the same crash. This perplexing and cringe-worthy event is done simply to introduce Alessio, who soon becomes Silvia's lover after she discovers her husband and his mistress sexing it up. Not content with having Silvia in the sack, Alessio begins relations with Cossetta, a young woman working as a cook in the hotel that Silvia now manages due to her husband's injury. Soon we're treated to the consequential deaths of the husband, Cossetta, and Alessio.
All in all, Fatal Temptation is just what I expect of a Little Caesar's pizza; cheesy, satisfying in small amounts, and done on a budget. The story rarely engages, the characters are almost entirely forgettable, and the English dubbing is paltry. A few scenes are baffling; for example, both Silvia and her husband catch each other in sexual encounters with other people in their own home. If you're gonna cheat, at least have the discretion to take it somewhere else, especially if you *own* a hotel.
Some scenes are just downright bizarre. After Silvia persuades Alessio to push her husband off a cliff, she laughs hysterically before the corpse even gets soggy. This prompts Alessio to slap some sense into her which strangely evolves into sex against a tree at the crime scene.
That said, I must say that Loredana Romito is the best part. Not just because her body is SMOKING hot, but I enjoyed seeing her character change from a loving wife to a scorned woman who adeptly manipulates and eliminates those around her. When Silvia methodically puts a bullet through Cossetta's head, its a significant moment because Silvia has now gone from just being an instigator of death to someone who can bring it to people she believes may be working against her. There was a chance of personal redemption where a naked Silvia, straddling Alessio in bed, reveals her desire to be in a faithful, loving relationship with him so long as he remains silent about the murder she committed. But Alessio, unknown to Silvia, grieved the loss of Cossetta when he disposed of her body and car under the harsh command of an emboldened Silvia. In an attempt to avenge Cossetta, he shares her fate when Silvia bores a tunnel through his skull with a bullet as well.
The film leaves us with Silvia pondering her life on the shore. Three people are dead because of her; two of them perished at her own hands. Is she still searching for true love, or has the taste of blood forever changed her?
5/10 stars for this movie but Romito gets them all.
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