Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have The Key (1972)

Dir: Sergio Martino

This damn-near perfect giallo is largely a three-hander, telling the story of an alcoholic, washed-up writer (Luigi Pistilli), his long-suffering wife (Anita Strindberg) and his sexpot niece (Edwige Fenech) who shows up to stay with them at their gothic villa. There's sex, violence, heavy sadomasochistic themes, (obviously) a black-gloved killer on the loose, a cat named Satan who may or may not be key to the mystery, and enough crossing, double-crossing and triple-crossing to satisfy the even most jaded (yellowed?) giallo buff. The simmering gothic atmosphere is soundtracked by a sumptuous Bruno Nicolai score, the photography is vibrantly imaginative and everything feels a cut above its peers; more artful, intelligent and thematically coherent. The acting is fantastic too, for a change. Fenech is on top form with a complicated character but even she is outshone by Strindberg, whose wide-eyed hysterical Irene is one of the best women-on-the-edge performances of the genre. A masterpiece. ****