3. Your Vice Is A Locked Room And Only I Have the Key (1972)
Oliviero lives in a derelict mansion with his wife Irina. He is a failed writer and alcoholic. Irina is afraid of Satan - Oliviero's black cat. Oliviero holds wild parties for students in which he humiliates Irina in front of them. His mistress is found dead and Oliviero is the prime suspect. Upon finding his maid dead, Oliviero hides the murder and his paranoia grows and grows, as does his inhumane treatment of Irina. Floriana, Oliviero's niece, comes to visit and finds a lesbian bed friend in Irina. They plot to kill Oliviero and Irina murders him with scissors. Floriana tells Irina she was only in it for some valuable jewellery - which Irina gives to her. Floriana subsequently leaves. In a shocking turn of events, Irina goes to the original murderer - Walter. He kills Floriana and her boyfriend - making it look like an accident. Irina then pushes him off a cliff. She takes the jewellery for herself and returns home. And there is the police waiting for her after a neighbour complained of Irina killing a cat. The director of the movie goes all Edgar Allen Poe by having the cat wail inside the wall thus leading to the discovery of Oliviero's body. Another triumph from Sergio Martino but a film that rarely receives much affection from the Giallo watching community. Edwige Fenech and Anita Strindberg show their usual aversion to being clothed - and thank heavens for that! Bruno Nicolai's soundtrack is amazing - he must be only second to Riz Ortolani in the Italian cult movie soundtrack producing stakes. The story as I mentioned above - is a clever fusion of Giallo and Poe's tale The Black Cat - only this time there is a gender twist and it is the woman whom the cat drives crazy. Ivan Rassimov is fantastic in his role as Walter - you can always count on Ivan. The whole film has a style and class thanks to Martino's amazing direction. There is a fantastic creepy atmosphere and also some explicit gore scenes to engage the viewer's attention. Extremely hard to get hold of, going Region 1 is the best way to see this beauty.