Watch A Lizard in a Woman's Skin For Free

Thanks for the memories!

It's entirely possible that sending the audience out feeling lousy was intentional

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

How can there possibly be anything comforting about a giallo film, that cold, ruthless and brutal world in which 'Lizard in a Woman's Skin' is a shining example? Could it be the haze of nostalgia for the period in which such films were made, the lush and vivacious production values that belies the lack of a huge budget? Could it even be the game of spotting the actress uncomfortable with cigarettes playing the part of an awkwardly casual smoker? Whatever it is, 'giallo' is a fairly stylised genre that straddles murder/thriller/horror with much success.Familiar British face Stanley Baker here plays Inspector Corvin. Baker gives his usual exemplary performance (Corvin's habit of – dubbed - whistling isn't convincing, however), despite this being a period in his life when his own financial challenges required him to appear in films that diminished his star-billed status. His son Glyn later described 'Lizard…' as 'a movie which makes absolutely no sense whatsoever.' Stanley himself declared that he enjoyed everything he worked on, 'including the bad pictures'.I love the look Director Lucio Fulci gives this. Trippy psychedelia contrasts with some very sombre, often rainy locations to great effect: the false sense of safety in the warmly lit indoors, fighting with the sinister frostiness outside. The comfort of sex against some truly disturbing, if not always convincing, special gore effects (a shocking sequence involving dismembered canines required the makers to prove no real animals were hurt at the time). These things conspire to transport the audience into a dangerous world that is rarely quite real, and all the more effectively unnerving for that. This dreamy, druggy atmosphere doesn't serve to make the complex plot any clearer, however! As is often the way, revelations come thick and fast during the latter moments, and whilst it is true to say that another viewing may well help me make total sense of developments, the finale is a visual tour-de-force and stays in the mind for a good while after the credits have rolled. A word too for Ennio Morricone's score; whilst it is a given that he produces some incredible melodious soundtracks, this has certain similarities to my favourite of all his works, that of his music for 'Maddalena (1971)'. Beautiful.

The 'godfather of gore' Lucio Fulci is certainly most famous for his gory Zombie flicks, such as "Zombi 2" (1979), "City of the Living Dead" (1980), or "The Beyond" (1980). Great films, of course, but, as far as I am concerned, his less widely known 70s Gialli are at least as memorable. Especially his 1972 masterpiece "Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino" aka. "Don't Torture a Duckling", easily Fulci's greatest film, ranges among the greatest Italian Horror films ever made, and outshines all his Zombie flicks in a heartbeat. This earlier Giallo-outing by Fulci, "Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna" aka. "Lizard In A Woman's Skin" (1971) is doubtlessly also a very intense, beautiful and creepy Giallo that impresses with a wonderfully uncanny, fever-dream-like atmosphere and a wonderful Florinda Bolkan in the lead. Yet I do not fully share the enthusiasm of some of my fellow Giallo-lovers, many of whom even seem to regard this as Fulci's best. While "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" is doubtlessly highly atmospheric and furthermore has an ingeniously convoluted plot, it does have its lengths, and, even in regards of atmosphere, it cannot possibly compete with "Don't Torture a Duckling", in my opinion.Tormented by bizarre lesbian dreams about her seductive neighbor (Anita Strindberg), the respectable lawyer's wife Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan) regularly visits a psychotherapist. One day, Carol tells the psychotherapist about a dream in which she murders the neighbor. Shortly thereafter, the neighbor is actually murdered, in the exact same manner that Carol has dreamt of... "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" is a Giallo that delivers in almost all regards. It has a convoluted plot and certainly isn't easy to predict. The cinematography is great, and the generally creepy, dream-like atmosphere is intensified by another ingenious score composed by maestro Ennio Morricone (the orchestra is conducted by another maestro, Bruno Nicolai). The film has a great ensemble-cast, especially Florinda Bolkan is brilliant in the lead. Bolkan is very beautiful and a great actress, and her performance here is just great. Anita Strindberg is mysterious and seductive in her role. The rest of the cast includes prolific characters such as Jean Sorel (as Carol's husband), Leo Genn (as her father), and Alberto De Mendoza (as one of the investigating police inspectors). Even though there are only few killings for Giallo-standards, the film has some very gory scenes and genuine shock-sequences. The film is very suspenseful, but, as mentioned above, it is partly a bit confused and has its lengths in-between. All in all, this is a very good film, but I personally wouldn't call it Fulci's best. That title doubtlessly goes to the masterpiece "Don't Torture A Duckling", but the two films can hardly be compared due to the very different theme, style and setting. If there is one film I would compare "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" with, it is probably Sergio Martino's underrated "Tutti I Colori Del Buio" (aka. "All Colors of the Dark", 1972), due to the psychedelic atmosphere and the confused female protagonist (though I personally preferred Martino's film). "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" provides a wonderful 70s feeling, with hippie-characters, orgies etc. Overall, "Lizard in a Woman's Skin" is highly recommended to all Giallo-lovers, particularly those who appreciate a psychedelic atmosphere. My rating: 7.5/10

(Second review: pertains to the recent DVD release that clocks in at 103 minutes--allegedly the most complete version available.)To those--such as myself--who were weaned on Lucio Fulci's post-"Zombie" gorefests, looking back at his earlier work can be a jarring experience. Films like "Don't Torture a Duckling" and "The Psychic" show a filmmaker bringing a sense of macabre mystery to the mainstream; the same can be said for "Lizard in a Woman's Skin," his first foray into the 'giallo' subgenre...though the result is terribly disappointing.It's hard to ignore the cue Fulci takes from Dario Argento, making an animal-themed (and relatively restrained) film in the footsteps of "The Bird With the Crystal Plumage." There are glimpses of the frenetic (almost invasive) camera tricks and stylistic techniques Fulci would mine with more confidence (and effect) in his gritty horror outings. While he stages an impressive extended chase through Alexandra Palace (beginning in the underground tunnels and finishing on the rooftop), piques our interest with a smattering of sex, violence, and psychedelics at the very beginning, and gives us a dog-vivisection dream sequence that foreshadows his later work (and is still gruesomely effective today), what lies in between is talky and largely uninteresting.The plot is simple enough: Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan--"Don't Torture a Duckling"), daughter of a prominent politician in Great Britain, is afflicted with strange hallucinations that literally bleed over into reality when her next-door neighbor, Julia Durer (sexy Anita Strindberg) is stabbed to death. Meanwhile, Carol's husband Frank (Jean Sorel) is carrying on an affair with a family friend, and Carol's daughter-in-law, Joan (Edy Gall) is somehow involved with a bunch of hippie types who know something about the murder.I consider Fulci's "Don't Torture a Duckling" one of the finer examples of a giallo done right--it wasn't so heavily stylized that it detracted from character or story, and at times invoked a sense of realism-through-restraint. "Lizard" is almost the total opposite--the characters tend to become dancing puppets within a plot that's constantly twisting itself into a pretzel; indeed, much like Argento's style-drenched films, the best method of viewing is to just drink in the look and feel of things, and wait for the inevitable Closing Revelation, in which all the convoluted plot points are explained. Yet "Lizard"--save for its experimental, color-soaked LSD scenes--isn't even that much fun to watch; taking place in a perpetually gloomy Britain, one feels Fulci stretching for legitimacy and falling short. The dialog scenes are endless to the point of tedium, and produce more confusion than intrigue.In short, "Lizard" is required viewing for the Fulci completist, but otherwise not worth the bother.

I've tried to like cult director Lucio Fulci's films, I really have. I've seen his 80s gore 'classics' (House By The Cemetery, The Beyond, Zombi 2, City of the Living Dead, The New York Ripper), his later splatter films (Cat In The Brain, Touch of Death) and his one brief foray into crime thriller territory (Contraband); none of them have really impressed me. Now I'm giving his giallos a go; they're supposed to be good, aren't they?Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a trippy hippy early-70s thriller which sees a woman accused of murdering her promiscuous neighbour. In typical giallo fashion, nothing is quite as it seems, until the final scene when the truth is divulged. Once again I believe that I am destined never to be a Fulci fan, finding the film rather dull and extremely dated.With only a couple of murders, which take place off-screen. and plenty of scenes depicting boring police procedure, Lizard in a Woman's Skin is yet another disappointment from the Italian 'godfather of gore'.In true Fulci fashion, the film manages to shock (most notably with a scene featuring several dissected, but still living, dogs; with their bloody organs and guts on display, these whining canines are very effective and are the highlight of the film), but it also bores.And even when Fulci manages to occasionally impress, his hard work is blown with some truly awful moments. For example, during a chase scene in which a woman is pursued through a church by a knife wielding maniac, the tension so carefully built up by the director is quickly dissipated when the woman reveals her momentary hiding place—by resting on a switch which activates a huge church organ. And not much later she gives herself away again by screaming at the body of a dead bat. Duh!I'm going to give Lucio one last chance at impressing me with Don't torture A Duckling, another of his giallos. I'm not expecting it to be great though!