A Lizard in a Woman’s Skin, Remastered (1973)
Shriek Show / Anamorphic Widescreen (1.85:1) / Color / 1 disc / 103 minutes

Before Italian director/writer Lucio Fulci made a name for himself in low-budget (but compelling) early-80s zombie sleaze, he reinvented the giallo genre with his influential and surprisingly well-made LIZARD IN A WOMAN’S SKIN.

Fulci channels a sleazier Alfred Hitchcock in his 1973 thriller starring Brazilian native Florinda Bolkan (DON’T TORTURE A DUCKLING) and Stanley Baker. LIZARD is a defining film in the giallo (”yellow”) genre — those stylish Italian murder-mystery films popularized by Dario Argento (DEEP RED), Mario Bava (BLOOD AND BLACK LACE), Sergio Martino (TORSO) and others.

With LIZARD, Fulci managed to strike an auspicious balance between quality actors, confident direction, a complex, but engaging story and occasional bursts of sleaze and shock that would light the way for the creative direction for his later horror films. Rounding off the experience is a funky soundtrack by experimentalist Ennio Morricone (THE GOOD, THE BAD, THE UGLY).

Bolkan plays Carol, a conservative English society gal who is trapped in her upper-class hell with her politician dad and her husband, Frank, who has another woman on the side. Carol suffers from vivid, homicidal nightmares, and sees a shrink on a regular basis because of them. One night she dreams of stabbing her promiscuous neighbor to death with a letter opener, only to learn some days later that her neighbor has indeed been murdered, and all evidence at the scene points to Carol.

The story plods after the explosive first act, offering up red herrings and confusing muttered dialogue. Pay close attention or you may miss some crucial details … or not, because hardly any of it matters. Fortunately, the ending is strong — it’s just the dull, poorly-paced middle section that seems to make this film much longer than its 100 minute run time. Even so, the journey from beginning to end offers some nice moments of shock.

LIZARD has had a history of censorship, thanks to its violent dream sequences of lesbianism gone wrong, a scene of dog “autopsy” that landed Fulci in court (Dogs were NOT actually harmed), and random sex, drugs and nudity. The film’s best scene, the trippy drug orgy in the apartment next to Carol’s, is like an early-1970s time capsule, all set to the free-jazz drum, bass and guitar grooves of Morricone.

Bolkan handles the challenges of her role admirably, using anguished facial expressions to convey her character’s range of emotions. The angular Baker, who allegedly turned down the role of James Bond in DR. NO, plays the film’s lead investigator, who has the annoying penchant for whistling the same atonal tune in every scene. He may have the most important role in the film — the expository ending speech which explains all the movie’s twists and turns.

Visually, LIZARD is a great film, combining colorful psychedelics with the gloom of Britain and stark, shocking dream imagery. Fulci’s attention to the sets and artwork is impressive. His portrayal of Carol as being “caged” by her “proper” lifestyle is illustrated by the cage-like frame that surrounds her bed and the closed doors in her apartment. In the neighboring flat where hedonism resides, artwork with vaginal themes adorns the walls, and shades of dark reds and velvet are the main notes in the palette.

LIZARD has an avid following, and many fans of the film rejoiced when Shriek Show finally released this digitally remastered version containing scenes that had been missing from previous releases. Personally, I wish I had watched the shorter version. LIZARD drags on in some places and rushes though others. Just when it winds up, it bogs down, and introduces another character or red herring. Here’s an example: The great chase scene with Carol and the “red-haired hippy” in a decaying cathedral has a nice build-up, that is eventually ruined by the next scene with some uttered dialog about drug money and a confusing sub-plot with a knife-throwing painter.

Overall, LIZARD is a solid three-star effort, but it’s a flawed masterpiece. The DVD comes with an interview with Fulci expert, Professor Paolo Albiero, a history of the film’s censorship, original Italian titles, 5.1 surround sound, and a Fulci trailer reel containing titles such as DEMONIA and the Euro-trash dancesploitation slasher, MURDER ROCK.

Check out a trailer for this film below: