MYTHICITY: *fair*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: *drama*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTION: *psychological* *SPOILERS* In one respect, I'm not really surprised IRIS isn't one of the great giallos. Director Giuliano Carnimeo uses most of the familiar visual tropes of the genre-- beautiful women getting killed, sometimes with copious nudity, a mysterious killer unseen by the audience, and a host of oddball suspects. But IRIS was Carnimeo's only such thriller, and he's better known for his westerns, like the above-average HIS NAME WAS HOLY GHOST. In another respect, I am surprised that IRIS wasn't better, because the sole credited writer on IMDB was Ernesto Gastaldi. HOWEVER (once again), IRIS is a bit of a transition for Gastaldi. Before IRIS (also going by IMDB), I found all of the author's giallos just okay: STRANGE CASE OF MRS. WARDH (which many fans like better than I do), CASE OF THE SCORPION'S TAIL, and DEATH WALKS ON HIGH HEELS. Yet after IRIS, IMDB lists three of the most myth-intensive giallos of Gastaldi or anyone: YOUR VICE IS A LOCKED ROOM, DEATH WALKS AT MIDNIGHT, and TORSO. IRIS isn't a good as the latter three, but it sports some innovative sequences, suggesting that Gastaldi was warming to his work.
The story follows the travails of two models, Jennifer (Edwige Fenech) and Marilyn (Paola Quattrini), as they talk on new lodgings at a ritzy high-rise constructed by rising young architect Andrea (George Hilton). They're not aware when they move in that two beautiful female residents have been murdered there. After they've moved in, Andea starts cozying up to Jennifer, and in a short time she reciprocates. But Andrea has an odd, intense inversion to blood, which references the Italian title of the movie, WHAT ARE THESE STRANGE DROPS OF BLOOD ON THE BODY OF JENNIFER? So could he be the mystery maniac, or is it one of several eccentric residents of the high-rise? Of course, it could be the most high-profile suspect (yeah. right): Jennifer's ex-husband Adam, who despite having been divorced from the gorgeous model, still follows her around trying to force her to his will. Adam is the source of the American title, for he ran a small-time sex-cult and wanted Jennifer to participate in the orgies. Adam symbolized the unity of the cult with an iris, asserting that the joined petals of the flower represent the unity of the membership-- though the audience never sees any members in "movie time," suggesting that the organization may be falling apart. Adam hassles Jennifer on the street, trying to browbeat her into coming back to him, because he "owns her." Since this is a spoiler-review, I have no hesitation in stating that neither Andrea nor Adam is anything but a red herring. Perhaps that makes IRIS the first giallo with two titles, each of which references a blind alley.
IRIS's main problem is far too many suspects, all of whom have rather arbitrary eccentricities: a lesbian who hits on Jennifer, her violin-playing father, an old woman who reads horror novels and hides an even bigger secret. Because the police suspect that one of the tenants is the killer, the cops ask Jennifer and Marilyn to continue residing at the complex. Neither model has any reason to do so, but they do to make the script work, and Marilyn dies to show the audience that, yes, it is one of the tenants. The cops are also boring eccentrics in their own way, and the killer's murder-methods are violent but not uncanny. He is crazy, though, and the revelation of his ID justifies my category of "clansgression" here, though for all the buildup we've been given, almost anyone could have been revealed as the serial psycho. IRIS is distinguished by one great scene in this so-so movie. One of the early victims is a beautiful Black woman named Mizar, and she performs for an Italian casino a unique act: challenging individual men in the audience to a wrestling-match. If Mizar can't counter a challenger's attacks with her judo, she promises to become the victor's "slave"-- by which I presume she means "sex slave." This is a fine juxtaposition of a female performer using her sexuality to entice challengers, only to embarrass them with her superior skills. Once or twice, there are remarks that highlight other examples of male chauvinism, but Gastaldi didn't organize these tropes into anything coherent, and all that results is a competent giallo with one kickass scene.
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