Holy Sheeit! Although plot wise this giallo is the old-school type where a bunch of folk in a huge mansion double cross and play mind games with each other before everything comes to a head (like The Third Eye or Libido), this one also gives everything a contemporary seventies vibe with wall-to-wall nudity from start to finish – and those getting naked are Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri! Barbara Bouchet is the newly appointed secretary employed to transcribe a novel that smug writer Farley Granger is writing, and this involves shacking up at his huge mansion where he lives with his equally smug wife Rosalba Neri and their butler Umberto Raho. Seems that the police have been sniffing around for a while as Farley's last secretary Sally has gone missing, and Barbara doesn't seem too surprised to overhear this. She is surprised by finding a hulking brute standing outside of her window and is given a chill pill by Rosalba, which leads to an eye- popping scene where a half-conscious Barbara writhes about naked while Rosalba also strips off and gets busy with her – all in slow motion and immaculately filmed. But don't knock one out yet fellas, there's much, much more where that came from!The next day Barbara doesn't recall that Sapphic encounter but is clued into things right away when, during one of Rosalba's sexy parties, she puts on an adult version of Red Riding Hood ("That hood will be red from all that riding!" – someone exclaims!) and Barbara recognises the actress as her pal Sally! A brief and subtle flashback showing the two of them naked under a waterfall may or may not hint that they might have been more than friends, but I'm not sure. There is actually some sort of mystery in amongst the boobs and arses. Barbara thinks someone has killed Sally, and coincidentally the audio tapes that Farley gives her to transcribe seem to detail the plot of the film she's in, and around this time she begins to suspect that she may be next. Who can she trust? Rosalba, who at one point jumps out of a swimming pool to have a quick puff on a cigarette? Umberto, whose motives are unclear? How about the big brute guy, who guts a live eel in front of Barbara for some reason? Could have done without that bit, which is something I seem to be saying more frequently. It's not very violent and as you'd expect things kick off at the end a bit. There are twists right up until the last thirty seconds. The thing with Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri is that the two of them can actually act too – especially Rosalba, who can switch from sweet to evil to sexy at the drop of her knickers. Barbara Bouchet's Boobs will return in Lucio Fulci's Don't Torture A Duckling!

Rosalba Neri looks stately and picturesque when holding a cigarette, but never entirely convincing when smoking. She stars as Eleanora in this exotic, erotic giallo as the wife of novelist Richard Stuart (Farley Granger). Between them, they exude an aloofness that inclines you to believe they know everything that is going on, certainly more than the audience. So when Greta Franklin (Barbara Bouchet) arrives on their stately island near Venice as the new secretary, their initial smoothness soon becomes something more. A crushed tablet in her drinking water, and soon Greta and Eleanour are stripped naked and getting to know each other.Greta is posing as a secretary to investigate the disappearance of the Stuarts' former employee, Sally, who was Greta's lover. The upmarket sleaze and atmosphere of kinkiness prevalent in their stately home can be ascertained when you look at some alternative titles for this: 'Maniac Mansion', 'Leather and Whips' and 'Hot Bed of Sex' give you every reason to believe that the sex quota in this giallo is generous indeed.Petar Martinovitch is excellent as simple-minded Rocco, a hugely physical fellow who is aroused by the sexuality around him and cannot control the after-effects. Is he a victim in all this? He is certainly deliberately used, and his resultant unrestrained qualities have a large part to play.This may be Neri's best role. She's terrific throughout, and has an incredible presence that dominates the screen. But she's not given an easy ride by Bouchet, who is compelling and never reduced to being a screaming cypher. As is nearly always the case with giallos, the girls get the best moments. Farley Granger shouldn't be overlooked though – his delicate flamboyance as Richard masks a villain in the classic line of frustrated weaklings.

The first time I can say that I really liked a Giallo. Barbara Bouchet must be one of the most beautiful women to be shot on screen. Her slow motion lesbian scene with Rosalba Neri to Teo Usuelli's dreamy background score makes this film worth watching. Another lesbian scene under a waterfall was also terrific. The hunting scene where a paranoid Barbara Bouchet runs around like a scared rabbit was well edited. The plot, suspense and resolutions are all quite banal. But the beautiful women, the excellent score and the locales made me like this film. Farley Granger looked quite creepy i guess.(7.5/10)

This giallo is probably most famous for the slow-motion lesbian sex scene between Barbara Bouchet and Rosalba Neri near the beginning. That scene is certainly impressive (as you might imagine if you have ever seen either of these two actresses in action), but it shouldn't overshadow what a well-made, classic giallo this is. It has everything fans of gialli love--great visuals and setting, pulse-pounding suspense, sordid and perverse characters, truly surprising plot twists, and a great musical score and soundtrack. Farley Granger is wonderful, going convincingly from evil to sympathetic and back again. Bouchet and Neri are also both very good, particularly the latter. Neri is justifiably famous for her beauty (and her frequent nude scenes). She had plenty of competition in that respect when it came to gialli--Bouchet,Edwige Fenech, Nieves Navarro, Ewe Aulin to name a few--but she had no close rival when it came to sheer acting talent. This is definitely her best role, better even than "Lady Frankenstein". To get an idea of how impressive this film is try watching it back to back with one of those terrible "erotic thrillers" they make these days. How did we get from wonderfully sexy gialli like this to that dreck? The Eurovision DVD has recent interviews with both actresses (who look about the same even though they must be close to sixty by now). They both speak English (Bouchet quite fluently)and reveal some interesting tidbits. The director of this film Silvio Amado, according to Bouchet, dropped out of sight after an unrequited love affair with actress Gloria Guida (the Italian Lolita of the era). I have actually seen a second-rate melodrama Amado made with Guida a few years later, which is why I was genuinely surprised with the talent he shows here. It's truly a misfortune that he didn't stick around to do more films like this. A true classic of the genre