1. Thrilling in Venice (Giallo a Venezia) (1979)
Widely regarded as the sleaziest and most vicious Giallo to come out of Italy, Thrilling in Venice caters to virtually every perversion imaginable. The bodies of a young married couple called Fabio and Flavia wash up on a Venice pier. It is clear that they have been murdered and detectives look to their sordid love life for answers. It seems our pair had a weird SM relationship with Fabio beating Flavia and forcing her to have sex with different men. Marzia - a friend of the couple - is interviewed but volunteers no information. The police investigations set off a terrible trail of perverted murders. The extent of the violence in Thrilling in Venice is quite shocking - especially as there is a nasty sleazy tone to the murders. A woman is stabbed in the crotch, a man is stabbed in the crotch. Marzia's husband is shot in the knee and then set alight. Marzia is systematically dismembered while she is alive by the killer. Venice looks like a really stinking and decaying place under the direction of Mario Landi. I have been to Venice and found it delightful but then I wasn't starring in the sleaziest Giallo ever made in which everything just looks ugly and wrong. The film suffers poor direction and terrible acting and Landi is obviously just shoving as much prurience at the screen as he can in an attempt to create the ultimate Giallo sleazefest. Even more egregious than The New York Ripper - a film it is very similar to.