[a.k.a. Sotto il vestito niente] (Italy/1985) 
Review By-Johan Melle
Cast: Tom Schanley, Donald Pleasence, Renee Simonsen, Nicola Perring, Catherine Noyes, Maria McDonald, Paolo Tomei, Mimmo Sepe, Cyrus Elias, Sonia Raule, Anna Galiena, Big Laura, Bruce McGuire, Zaira Zoccheddu. 
Directed by Carlo Vanzina.
Written by Carlo Vanzina, Enrico Vanzina & Franco Ferrini. 
Source: Grey Market 

The giallo genre had its peak in the early 1970s before somewhat petting out in the middle of the decade. Subsequent gialli have often been few and far in between but there was some renewed spark in the genre in the 1980s – in the wake of Dario Argento’s highly touted TENEBRAE (1982). A few of these 80s gialli have managed to build a small fan base, such as Lamberto Bava’s A BLADE IN THE DARK (1983). Many of the others, however, are largely forgotten – brushed off as glossy, fashion-oriented attempts at emulating Argento’s style. Carlo Vanzina’s NOTHING UNDERNEATH (1985) is one of those forgotten films, and while it may indeed be guilty of some of the “offenses” mentioned above, it is actually one of the most enjoyable and effective gialli to emerge from Italy in the 1980s. 

The story centers on a pair of young twins – brother and sister Tom and Jessica Crane. Tom (Tom Schanley) is a sympathetic lad who works as a forest ranger in Yellowstone Park in Wyoming, Montana. Meanwhile, twin sister Jessica (Nicola Perring) is working as a fashion model in Milan. Gorgeous Jessica, is on the brink of making it big in the industry, and she sports a short cropped, bleached blonde hairdo à la Annie Belle in LAURE (1976) – only with typical 80s eye make-up and clothes of course. Cue some glossy photo shoot sessions with Jessica and some other model girls. 

Like with many twins, there is a special bond between Tom and Jessica but theirs is a bit stronger than usual. They share a special psychic link between them so that every time one of them is in trouble, the other feels and experiences the same sensation. This is demonstrated early on in a scene where Jessica gets accosted by a sleazy scumbag in a discotheque bathroom in Milan. As the slimy guy twists Jessica’s arm behind her back, Tom experiences the exact same feeling back in America – his arm being inexplicably twisted around his back while images of what’s happening to Jessica flashes before his eyes - effectively illustrated through a series of stylishly intercut images of the two siblings. 

Things quickly become more dramatic, though, as Tom later that day experiences a vision of Jessica being attacked and possibly killed by a black-gloved scissor-wielding maniac in her hotel room. Unable to reach Jessica on the phone, a deeply upset Tom gets on the first flight to Milan to find out what has happened to his sister. However, Jessica is not in her hotel room. In fact, she is nowhere to be found at all. 

Reporting his concerns to the police, Tom is – understandably – met with skepticism from the soon to be retired Commissioner Danesi (Donald Pleasence). With no corpse or any evidence of a crime, there is little that can be done. Not long after, though, another model is murdered and Danesi starts to believe in Tom’s story. Tom, meanwhile, has befriended and fallen for Jessica’s model friend Barbara (Renée Simonsen). Together they must try and stop the killer and figure out what has happened to Jessica… 

Director Carlo Vanzina has a background mostly in comedies, and made his thriller debut with the off-beat espionage giallo MYSTERE (1983), which is really a so-so effort. As such, it’s easy to approach Vanzina’s follow-up thriller with a bit of caution but fortunately, NOTHING UNDERNEATH, unlike its predecessor, turns out to be a genuinely enjoyable experience from beginning to end. 

The central mystery is compelling and its gradual unfolding works quite nicely. Not unexpectedly, the film is filled with unusually beautiful girls but seeing as it’s set in the fashion industry, this doesn’t really hurt the film’s credibility. Most of the models are in fact played by real-life models and actually acquit themselves very nicely in their admittedly undemanding roles. 

The leading role of Tom is played by American actor Tom Schanley. The casting of Americans in leading roles to attract an international audience is of course nothing new for Italian cinema but Schanley was virtually unknown at the time – his only notable prior work being a regular role on the short-lived “Dallas”-inspired nighttime soap “The Yellow Rose” (1983-84), which starred Sam Elliott and Cybill Shephard. Schanley does an all-together nice job here. It’s not the kind of performance that would warrant any awards but he comes across as both sympathetic and likable. Playing the female lead is Danish beauty Renée Toft Simonsen. She only made one more film – VIA MONTENAPOLEONE (1986), also directed by Vanzina – but had an incredibly successful career as a top model. She does a perfectly serviceable job here in a role that doesn’t really require too much of her. 

The best performance undoubtedly comes from the film’s only name star, Donald Pleasence. A marvelous actor who has played a great number of memorable roles throughout his illustrious career, Pleasence nevertheless found himself in a bunch of second-rate films in the 1980s, such as various cheap action films for the Cannon group but also several trips to Italy. In these films he often delivered some rather hammy over-acting but was nonetheless always worth watching. His characteristic, wonderful voice and his quirky appearance made him a truly loveable character. It didn’t really matter that he sometimes had to play badly-written or clichéd roles that offered him very little to do. It didn’t matter because Pleasence himself was such an interesting man. His great personality and demeanor always managed to transcend the sometimes meager characters he had to play. 

Here, Pleasence’s portrayal of the Italian commissioner facing a final puzzling case before his retirement is actually one of his best performances in an Italian film. There’s no hamming it up here! It’s also worth noting that while most police inspectors in gialli come across as clueless fools that make a sort of extra adversary for the protagonist, Pleasence’s commissioner is instead a clever and sympathetic cop, who trusts the protagonist and collaborates with him. Pleasence’s best moment is a humorous scene where he and Schanley dine in a fast-food restaurant. “I’m gonna need about ten napkins! I never get used to eating this way”, he explains – his expression as his plastic fork breaks shortly afterwards is priceless. The Italian accent he speaks in may not be entirely convincing but Mr. Pleasence has rarely been more charming than he is with a big napkin in his collar as he struggles to eat his spaghetti. Great guy! 

All the staple giallo elements are in place too of course. The black-gloved killer, the pivotal flashbacks (which appropriately enough feature a yellow-ish tint), the pretty girls, the visual style and the well executed murders. But even though the killer’s modus apparandi of choice is a pair of viciously sharp scissors, the film is surprisingly restrained in its bloodletting for most of the time. Those seeking the savage butchery present in TENEBRAE or A BLADE IN THE DARK will not find it here. 

The lack of excessive bloodshed isn’t really a problem, though, as the film still flows very nicely with a good pacing and well-handled suspense sequences. A somewhat bigger flaw is how it fails to really explore its intriguing psychic connection theme to any great extent. It works well as a plot instigator to set up the story and makes for a few effective scenes but could have been further elaborated on. 

It’s not the first time an extra-sensorial link between twins is used as a major plot point in an Italian thriller, though, as this was also a major theme in Alberto De Martino’s BLOOD LINK (1982). However, a more likely inspiration for this film would appear to be Brian De Palma and particularly his underrated THE FURY (1978), in which two psychics with telepathic powers share a link. Indeed, De Palma’s – rather than Argento’s – influence can be felt throughout the rest of the film as well; in everything from the effective musical score by De Palma’s frequent collaborator Pino Donaggio, to the glossy visual style. De Palma’s most recent thriller at that time, the voyeuristic BODY DOUBLE (1984), is also a source of inspiration: there is for example a scene where Schanley’s character spots a naked, masturbating woman through the window in the building across the street. The same woman is also seen hiding behind the shutters as she observes Schanley and Simonsen undress together. But again, this plot point is never explored any further, and seems to have been thrown in for no apparent reason other than to add some extra nudity. It’s interesting to note, however, that the dark-haired masturbating woman is played – uncredited – by the obscure, enigmatic actress Zaira Zoccheddu, who was Miss Italy in 1974. Zoccheddu had a rather limited but highly interesting film career which includes work for Renato Polselli, nazisploitation, W.I.P. films with Ajita Wilson and even some hardcore porn and a sex education film. In addition she played a number of small, uncredited roles in all kinds of weird stuff – including Tinto Brass’ notorious CALIGULA, and of course this film, where she basically just shows up for a quick t&a cameo. 

Finally, the well-mounted and suspenseful climax where Schanley comes face to face with the power drill-wielding killer is also obviously inspired by a similar scene from BODY DOUBLE – only this time around it’s a male being menaced by the dreaded tool! 

Shades of other films can be seen too. The theme of the American brother who travels across the globe in search of a missing sister had previously been explored by Dario Argento in his seminal horror film INFERNO (1980), and the final slow-motion image recalls the end of Sergio Pastore’s enjoyable giallo THE CRIMES OF THE BLACK CAT (1972). This is in no way negative, though. The recycling of themes and ideas is something that occurs in numerous gialli, and this way of acknowledging each other’s films enables the various directors to work with, elaborate on and sometimes even improve on themes originally envisioned by others. 

Technical credits are also solid. Giuseppe Maccari’s cinematography is impressive; capturing some stylish murders, as well as effective location shooting in scenes like where a pretty model is stalked through the dark Milanese streets, as well as some beautiful scenery in Yellowstone Park at the start of the film. Pino Donaggio’s suspenseful score is another plus, and fits the action very well. 

NOTHING UNDERNEATH is a thoroughly enjoyable and engaging giallo that is far better than one might expect. It is admittedly a product of its time, and this is evident in the wardrobe department as well as on the soundtrack, which includes typical 1980s hits like Gloria Gaynor’s “I Am What I Am” and Murray Head’s “One Night in Bangkok” but these songs actually fits very nicely into the fashion theme and the tone in which the film is made. 

This fine giallo was released on VHS in both the US and the UK but although it isn’t too hard to find, this gem is worthy of a real quality DVD release! Let’s hope we get one soon! The original Italian title is SOTTO IL VESTITO NIENTE, which translates to ‘Nothing Underneath the Dress’. There was also a SOTTO IL VESTITO NIENTE 2, made in 1988 and given the English export title TOO BEAUTIFUL TO DIE, but this is a sequel in name only. 

4/5 BITCH SLAPS

2008 @ Cinema Nocturna