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Powerful

A Major Disappointment

a film so unique, intoxicating and bizarre that it not only demands another viewing, but is also forgivable as a satirical comedy where the jokes eventually take the back seat.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Rich type Arthur Anderson returns home to find that his third wife has drowned in his swimming pool and of course is immediately arrested due to the fact that his previous two wives have also met premature ends. *Reference to Michael Barrymore removed following legal advice*. The local police inspector is certain that Arthur has been bumping off his wives for money, but is it true?One court case later and Arthur is a free man once again, which annoys the inspector so much that he takes to following him around everywhere, even bringing along his nagging wife while doing so! Worse still, Arthur is awoken one night to find someone swimming in his pool – Carroll Baker. Carroll seems to be very interested in Arthur and starts putting the moves on him almost right away, but is this love or is Carroll up to something?It seems that Arthur himself is rather suspicious and is continually fighting the voice in his head that's telling him she's up to something and the voice in his trousers that's telling him to get on with it and get her into bed. For most of the duration of the plot Arthur keeps catching Carroll in places she shouldn't be (like the attic, about ten seconds after he told her not to go up there), plus he's still go that Welsh police inspector following him to make sure Carroll doesn't end up like the other Mrs Andersons…For the first hour this film drags along, as it's one of those old school Gialli where people are up to something but we don't quite know why, what, where, or who. It's not too boring as Carroll Baker is always entertaining but the whole genre had moved on from this kind of stuff. However, director Eugenio Martin (who would shortly give us the awesome Horror Express) seems to realise this and takes the plot in a more welcome absurd direction for the remainder of the film. I won't spoil it here, but it gives the plot a bit more tension, even if it doesn't make much sense. It probably shouldn't be too high on your list of must-see gialli, however.

Michael Craig stars as Arthur Anderson whose blonde wife is found suspiciously drowned in their swimming pool.Because he two previous wives also died strange deaths Anderson is charged with murder and only gets off because his motherly housekeeper lies to clear his name.Soon a pretty blonde woman(Carroll Baker)shows up and starts flirting with Anderson but it's clear from the get-go that she may not be who she seems to be.She quickly becomes the fourth Mrs. Anderson."The Fourth Victim" is very rare Spanish giallo with capable cast and nice score by Piero Umiliani.There is not much gore and the pace is slow,but last 20 minutes are quite twisted.6 out of 10.

The Fourth Victim is a film very much in the style of Umberto Lenzi's late sixties Giallo's (including Orgasmo and So Sweet...So Perverse). The film is very tame and relies on its story, rather than brutal and bloody murders, for its thrills; and that, unfortunately, is its downfall. While the storytelling is not particularly bad for the most part; it's just not exciting enough and by the time the film takes a turn for the final third, many audience members will already be switched off; and that's a shame because the basic story here is stronger than that of a lot of other genre films. The film takes place in Britain and the plot focuses on Arthur Anderson. We begin with a wordless sequence that sees Anderson find his wife dead in the swimming pool. He and his housekeeper drag her body from the pool and call a doctor, who gives a death certificate. However, it transpires that Anderson has already had two wives die on him; but an insurance investigation leads to there being no wrong-doing on his part. Shortly thereafter Anderson meets Julie and marries her...but will Julie become 'the fourth victim', and is there more to her than meets the eye? The film stars American actress and Umberto Lenzi favourite Carroll Baker alongside Michael Craig. The male lead is good and provides just the right tone for his slightly sinister character; while Baker just goes through the motions in what is a rather lightweight part in the movie. The script is the film's downfall as it is rather dull and not very realistic. Most of the film is just soap opera stuff that fails to fascinate, and it's not very realistic either. The dialogue is poor and the film rushes headlong into its first major plot point - a wedding - all too quickly and unrealistically. The film does deliver a twist around the start of the final third, and it does serve in making things more interesting...although it's a rather strange twist that comes in almost from nowhere and pretty much undermines the main plot of the film. This is made worse by the fact that the ending doesn't give any credibility to the main plot, and it's all just kind of brushed away, almost like the filmmakers got bored and just wanted to end things early. Overall, this is just an average Giallo and I wouldn't recommend anyone goes out of their way to see it.

This is quite a stylish production with a fine cast and a good ending. However, it is rather slow which may cause some viewers to lose interest half way through the film. This is definitely worth seeing if you are a fan of obscure giallo's or Spanish Horror/Exploitation (like me!), otherwise it's probably not worth tracking down. (For those interested, there is only one video release of this that anybody has been able to find, which was on "Master Home Video" in Greece. It was fully uncut, but is long deleted as it was released sometime between 1984 and 1987. The cover art is very cool and totally misleading!)