The Case of the Bloody Iris (1972)

We start with the hallmark of this style: a beautiful woman slashed to death by a masked killer in a public location — this time an elevator in a modern high-rise. That body is discovered by a black exotic dancer — well, she's more of a wrestler who challenges men in the crowd to fight her on stage — who soon becomes the next victim in a bathtub drowning with a killer that references the look of the killing machine behind Bava's Blood and Black Lace.That leaves us with two models, Jennifer Lansbury (Edwige Fenech, Your Vice is a Locked Door and Only I Have the Key, Strip Nude for Your Killer and many more — she even had a cameo in Hostel 2) and Marilyn Ricci, who become friends with Andrea Barto, the architect of the building (George Hilton, All the Colors of the Dark) and move into the vacant room of the first victim. Nevermind that the police believe that Andrea is the killer!Meanwhile, Jennifer's ex-husband, Adam, used to use her for strange group sex rituals — we see a flashback of him giving her communion and initiating her into the group. He's been stalking her, trying to get her back. Turns out he could make love to anyone he wanted and was the jealous type. "You're not any man's special girl because any man can take you," he tells her. She tells him that she wants to belong to someone special. He replies by attacking her in an alley and tries to inject her with a needle. She escapes and he exclaims that she will "come crawling back on her knees."The cops bumble their way through the investigation, more concerned with naked women than they are with the case itself. Oh yeah — Marilyn fakes her death in the same tub the black victim died in, driving Jennifer crazy. And also — Andrea is afraid of blood. And then again there's that nosy old Mrs. Moss who keeps showing up to find the bodies and has a subscription to Killer Man comics. And another red herring — Adam tries to kill Andrea. Whew — so much to keep track of!Here comes another one — the murderer keeps showing up in the window of the apartment, scaring Jennifer. And then Adam shows up to attack her. Running from her apartment, she finds refuge at her neighbor Sheila Heindricks' place. However, Sheila turns out to be a lesbian — with a violin playing dad — who wants to molest her. She runs back to her place to find a blood stained orchid and Adam's dead body.There is some good news. Even though the police think Andrea is the killer, Jennifer still falls in love with him. They make love while the police watch. The next day, Marilyn says hello to someone in the street and is stabbed in front of the world. She falls into Andrea's arms, covering him in blood before dying in Jennifer's arms. Covered in gore, the blood freaks out the architect, who runs into the streets to hide.Read more at bandsaboutmovies.com/2017/09/05/the-case-of-the-bloody-iris-1972

Great Giallo, Not the best story. But great cinematography, acting, music sets and humorI am not a fan of Mario Bava. I've seen Blood and Black Lace, and was not impressed. The story and acting sucks. I've seen Planet of the Vampires and it truly is a garbage movie. Everything from story, sets, acting is garbage. I am also not a fan of Dario Argento. I think he is a no talent with a film budget. I just saw Four Flies on Grey Velvet and it is pure garbage. Again story, acting, sets, cinematography all crap. I hat Suspiria, what a pile of garbage. The music sucks. The color gels are disgusting. Non actors in front of the camera. It hurts to watch this movie.Now on to Bloody Iris. This is not a great movie. However, it is professionally made. It has superior camera work, decent acting, decent story but that part needed help, good music. It has humor, but not too much. Rating is a B-, or 6 stars. Worth checking out.

***SPOILERS*** Italian bloody Giallo film with a bit of bite to it in the killers reasons for doing in his victims for both personal as well as family concerns. There's also the police chief Commissor Enci who's more interested in his stamp collection then in finding the killer who seems to be a tenant of a high rise building where the first two murders in the movie were committed. It's Jennifer who seems to be the target of the killer who's ex-husband Adam was the head of this sex cult that she was a member of. Adam for his part after trying to bring his ex-wife back into the cult is himself murdered by the masked killer who also goes so far as murdering Jennifer's room-mate Marilyn-while not wearing his mask-in broad daylight in front of dozens of people without anyone being able to see or recognize him.It's now up to the building architect the fainting at the sight of blood Andrea Barto who for some reason is the #1 suspect in these bloody murders-with the exception of that of lady wrestle Mizar who was drowned in her bathtub-who's not only on the run from the police but determined to find the real killer in order to exonerate himself of the crimes.****SPOILERS****Wild life and death struggle at the top of a 20 floor staircase between Barto and the killer with a terrified Jennifer whom the killer was really after looking on and unable to help. The deranged killer by now completely losing it, that his both grasp of the situation as well as the stair rail, ends up falling to his death in spectacular fashion. Meanwhile Barto ends up not only exonerated of the killer's slew of murders but also seemed to have, through shock treatment, overcome his fear of blood phobia. P.S Among the crazy cast of characters in the movie is Arthur the Woody Allen like photographer who only seems to be in this gory film for needed comedy relief but in that by him stealing every scene he's in almost makes you forget about the murders committed in the movie.

"The Case of the Bloody Iris" (1971) stars giallo's "Golden Couple," Edwige Fenech and George Hilton, who had recently appeared together in the Sergio Martino masterpiece "The Strange Vice of Mrs. Wardh" (1970) and would soon costar in Martino's giallo/Black Mass hybrid "All the Colors of the Dark" (1972). The two make a handsome couple, to put it mildly; indeed, they almost make Grace Kelly and Cary Grant in 1955's "To Catch a Thief" look dowdy! The story here concerns a whacko who's been killing the female residents of the luxury high-rise building where fashion models Edwige and her roommate have just moved. This giallo nutzo shows some imagination, however, and doesn't just depend on a straight-edged blade to do his work; he also drowns his victims in a bathtub and scalds them with hot steam! Many suspects are offered to the viewer: an old lady who loves horror stories, her burnt-faced son, the lesbian next door, her violin-playing dad, Hilton himself (the architect of the high-rise), Edwige's stalker ex-hubby, et al. I amazed myself this time by nailing the culprit halfway through, and I usually stink at these guessing games. Anyway, director Giuliano Carnimeo has shot his film in a fairly straightforward manner, with little of Martino's flashy "stylistics," and composer Bruno Nicolai's theme music is as hummable as can be. All in all, a fun giallo, if nothing great, that is hindered here by some pretty poor dubbing (subtitles would've been so much more preferable!). But Edwige...OMG! I've seen her in five films lately, and still can't quite believe how extraordinarily beautiful she is. My fellow men, you owe it to yourselves to see this spectacular Eurobabe at least once in your lifetime. Then you'll understand why I laughed out loud when one of the characters in this film tells her that she's not his type!