Jacomedi A Surprisingly Unforgettable Movie!

ChicDragon It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Mischa Redfern I didn’t really have many expectations going into the movie (good or bad), but I actually really enjoyed it. I really liked the characters and the banter between them.

happyendingrocks Lucio Fulci's stamp on this meandering and largely forgettable soft-boiled thriller is pretty much limited to his name in the credits. Though Perversion Story pre-dates Fulci's emergence as one of the most beloved Italian horror directors of all time, most genre fans who take a look at this early experiment will end up wishing that he had found his dark muse sooner.Granted, Perversion Story isn't unwatchable, and as a fairly standard twist-driven caper there are times when the film works quite well. Fulci certainly takes a stylish approach to the affair, and manages to wring a fair amount of suspense out of the often-incomprehensible plot. But the absurd denouement falls resoundingly flat, and any steam Fulci builds along the way is abruptly quelled when the film unravels in the final act.The story centers around the womanizing Dr. Dumurrier, his shady mistress, and a stripper/prostitute who bears a striking resemblance to the physician's dead wife, Susan. When police discover that Mrs. Dumurrier was poisoned, suspicion naturally falls upon the doctor, who finds himself $2-million richer thanks to a particularly generous life insurance policy. As the plot unfolds, we discover that Dr. Dumurrier may be being framed for the murder, and more startlingly, that Susan may not actually be dead at all.Despite the alternate titles' emphasis on the carnal components of the story, Fulci's reliance on soft-core sex to drive the movie is actually notably restrained. Only a couple of sequences venture into that territory, and the flat, mechanical nature of the performers' congress strips these sequences of much of their eroticism. However, Fulci does a fine job of using artistic lighting and angles to heighten the sensuality of these scenes, and thanks to nifty touches like a camera shot looking up through the mattress at the writhing bodies above, even if the actors look bored while they explore each other, you won't be bored watching them.Elsewhere, the acting is decidedly above par, with excellent performances from Jean Sorel and the sultry Marisa Mell as Dr. Dumurrier and exotic dancer Monica Weston, respectively. The strongest moments of the film revolve around the sparring between these two characters, and the film doesn't really veer off track until the grander scheme takes center stage.Some of the intricacies of the plot are a bit muddled and hard to digest, and the film errs by spending too much time forcing us to follow ultimately inconsequential characters in an attempt to plant red herrings. The basic story is sturdy enough on its own, and a more tidy presentation would probably have served it much better.The climactic reveal by the character responsible for the machinations plaguing Dr. Dumurrier's life plays out like a James Bond super-criminal confessing their entire nefarious plot, and brings the dangling threads together in a lazy and unsatisfying fashion. The final fate that befalls the villains of the piece likewise fails to pack a punch, and when you really sit down and ponder the logistics of their comeuppance, it ends up being the most absurd element in the film. Worse, by the time this allegedly shocking finale arrives, things have become so tedious and dull that you probably won't really care what happens anyway.Regardless of the more interesting elements at work here, even the most ardent Fulci completist isn't likely to visit this entry on his resume very often. However, if you simply need this in your library, I'd advise you to seek out the Severin DVD edition, which includes a CD of the solid musical score as a bonus. But my most sincere recommendation is to skip this entire fiasco and use the time to watch Zombie again instead.

Witchfinder General 666 Lucio 'godfather of gore' Fulci may be best known for his ultra-gory Zombie films, but the majority of my fellow fans of Italian Genre-Cinema will probably agree that his Gialli from the early 70s, most notably his greatest masterpiece "Non Si Sevizia Un Paperino" aka. "Don't Torture A Duckling" (1972) are easily as noteworthy. The master's first Giallo, "Una Sull'Altra" aka. "Perversion Story"/"One on Top of the Other" pf 1969 is a very gore-less but utterly fascinating Thriller/Mystery which no Cult-fan should consider missing.As some other early specimen for the genre, this isn't a typical example for the Italian Giallo, as it doesn't focus on a series of murders. The womanizing San Francisco Doctor George Dumurrier (Jean Sorel) is with his mistress, the erotic photographer Jane (Elsa Martinelli) when he hears that his wife, who suffered from grave asthma, has died. Soon thereafter, George makes the acquaintance of the sexy and mysterious stripper Monica Weston (Marisa Mell), who happens to be the spitting image of his wife. Shortly thereafter, it is revealed that his wife was poisoned... I do not want to go into detail about the wonderfully convoluted storyline, but I can assure that "Una Sull'Altra" should satisfy any fan of suspenseful mysteries in general and Italian Cult cinema in particular. Italian cult-directors had a unique talent for combining sleaze and elegance; the late 60s in particular were a period when elegant films about sexual perversion (such as "Femina Ridens" or "La Malizie Di Venere") would lead from the restrictions of 60s cinema into the openly and explicitly sleazy 70s. "Una Sull'Altra" is from that period, and while the film is not yet quite as graphically explicit as many 70s Gialli, the focus on erotic elements is strong. Especially the gorgeous Austrian cult-beauty Marisa Mell ("Diabolik", "La Belva Col Mitra", "Milano Rovente"...) epitomizes eroticism as the femme-fatale stripper Monica. The film is full of tasteful female nudity, most notably by Mell. Elsa Matinelli makes another great, strong and sexy female as the sleaze-photographer Jane and Jean Sorel ("La Corta Notte Delle Bambole Di Vetro", "Una Lucertola Con La Pelle Di Donna", "Belle De Jour") makes a very good lead. The rest of the cast includes several other well-known cult-actors such as Alberto De Mendoza ("Lo Strano Vizio Della Signora Wardh", "La Coda Dello Scorpione"), John Ireland and Riccardo Cucciola, who is probably best known for his role in Mario Bava's 1974 masterpiece "Cani Arrabbiati".As Fulci's later Gialli, "Una Sull'Altra" is elegantly shot. While the San Francisco setting differs from the typical Italian Giallo-Settings it has a great potential for atmospheric beauty which Fulci makes best use of. The psychedelic score by maestro Riz Ortolani is hypnotic and brilliant and one of the most mesmerizing atmospheric aspects of the film. While the film is almost completely gore-less, Fulci's talent for gore manifests in one sequence in a morgue. "Una Sull'Altra" is a suspenseful, atmospheric and highly interesting film that is worth watching for many reasons. The gorgeous Marisa Mell is only one of these many reasons, but she's undeniably the most obvious one. 8/10

christopher-underwood This may not be a horror film or even strictly a giallo but still it's a top notch sex and psychedelic dressed mystery that is a must see for fans of mid sixties to mid seventies Italian cinema. Perhaps more restrained than one might expect from Fulci and the pace a little uneven but this film looks so good! Great cinematography with splendid sweeping scenic shots of San Francisco and playful quirky close-ups that make one gasp. Full of delights such as the photo shoots, the nightclub sequences as well as the splendid use of the locations plus a super soundtrack from Riz Ortolani and not forgetting plenty of colourful nudity. The conclusion is sensational and the death row sequences suitably creepy and if there is more than a whiff of Hitchcock, whose complaining? Excellent.

Battledragon Una sull'altra, which is more likely better known as One on the top the other is hard movie to categorize to a single genre. It has as much erotic and exploitative elements as it has elements from pre-giallos like Mario Bava's excellent Blood and black lace and his older work, Girl who knew too much. It isn't as psychedelic as Fulci's other giallos like Lizard in a woman's skin or as tense as his Don't torture a duckling or Sette notes in nero. Una sull'altra doesn't contain any gore or splatter either. Still, however, I found it very entertaining and I would even say it's one of the best non-gore movies from Fulci I've seen (and trust me on this one, I've seen lots of them too).Movie follows a basic giallo structure, even though it was made in the same year with "the first actual giallo", Dario Argento's fabulous L'uccello dalle piume di cristallo, and in the way that it doesn't rip-off that movie as many other giallos does. That's why I cannot really say honestly that I found this one to be real giallo, but more like pre-giallo.What comes to the plot of the movie, it's not really as simple as it might seem, but has many twists and misleads when police are trying to find out how the things really are (who is lying, who is telling the truth). Really nice twists and turns, I couldn't tell at the whole time how did what (and what comes to that matter, even who was who). Ending was really nicely surprising too, I really enjoyed it.So, if you are bored with Fulci's not as good non-gore movies or if you just want a quick peak to the fantastic world of pre-giallos, One on top of other is highly recommended. At the scale of 1 to 10, I would give it 9, this movie really deserves it.