When it comes to most popular Italian genres - from spaghetti westerns to poliziotteschi - you can tell that they are on the downward slide when they start becoming comedies and parodying their genres. With the giallo by direct comparison, this never seemed to happen and instead the decline of the genre - which started in the late 70's - was heralded when they started making entries which were sexploitation films with giallo elements, as opposed to gialli with erotic flavour. The Sister of Ursula, similar to other examples from the period like Giallo a Venezia, was a clear example of this. Consequently, what defines it more than anything is its very explicit softcore sex scenes, which punctuate the runtime on a regular basis, with the more traditional giallo suspense aspect, a clear secondary consideration. The murder set-pieces don't dwell on the act of murder itself (given the method of murder, I can honestly say that this is a blessing) and instead rely almost exclusively on build-up (which always incorporates extended sex scenes). The story, such as it is, is needless to say a bit half-hearted. It revolves around two sisters who check into a hotel by the seaside in a pretty town after their father's death. At the same time young women in the vicinity start being murdered by a maniac with dildo weaponry.
The aesthetics of this one are dangerously close to being in Jess Franco bargain budget territory. Its far more lo-fi and lower budget than these films tend to be. The griminess of the narrative is somewhat offset by all this depravity playing out in such an attractive location (I guess you could categorise this as almost a given for the giallo genre right enough). There's a selection of odd characters populating the story, such as a drug addict, a cabaret star and a sleazy hotel owner. The mystery is very much by-the-by, albeit it does get the job done. I've seen this one a couple of times now and I can safely say that the second viewing was preferrable to the first. Once you know what this film isn't (i.e. Stylish and well crafted) it becomes a more enjoyable watch. Its not going to ascend the heights of anyone's favourites movies in the genre but as an example of a sexploitation-heavy gialli, its pretty serviceable.
The aesthetics of this one are dangerously close to being in Jess Franco bargain budget territory. Its far more lo-fi and lower budget than these films tend to be. The griminess of the narrative is somewhat offset by all this depravity playing out in such an attractive location (I guess you could categorise this as almost a given for the giallo genre right enough). There's a selection of odd characters populating the story, such as a drug addict, a cabaret star and a sleazy hotel owner. The mystery is very much by-the-by, albeit it does get the job done. I've seen this one a couple of times now and I can safely say that the second viewing was preferrable to the first. Once you know what this film isn't (i.e. Stylish and well crafted) it becomes a more enjoyable watch. Its not going to ascend the heights of anyone's favourites movies in the genre but as an example of a sexploitation-heavy gialli, its pretty serviceable.
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