Naked You Die (1968) User Reviews

A giallo with a lighter tone than usual

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 6 August 2010]

This 60's giallo is from the days before the genre truly took form. With the notable exception of Mario Bava's Blood and Black Lace, gialli produced before Dario Argento's groundbreaking debut The Bird with the Crystal Plumage were relatively restrained affairs with very little violence. Despite its exploitative-sounding title, Naked You Die is firmly in this bracket. It has a somewhat playful tone much of the time and the murders are very tame indeed and contrary to what you might reasonably expect from the title, there is no actual nudity either. Instead it's a bloodless but reasonably stylish mystery-thriller that displays some key hallmarks of the genre.

The film starts out typically enough with a woman being murdered by a black-gloved assassin while taking a bath. Although the actual violence here - and throughout the movie - is extremely tame; the killer merely squeezes the victim's necks quite lightly and briefly and they then fall over dead. It's very soft stuff but is indicative of the tone of the film as a whole, as despite the girl-school setting and the topic of a maniac on the loose, the movie adopts an almost comic approach a lot of the time, with quite a lot of playful humour and a lightness of touch that certainly would not go on to be a recognisable feature of the giallo genre in subsequent years. Still the film does have other more typical elements of this sub-genre such as a great Euro soundtrack, some nice photography, a host of eccentric characters, a barrel-load of red herrings and a convoluted conclusion – this said ending is both predictable and senseless, while somehow still being quite effective.

Naked You Die is not a prime example of giallo cinema. It's a minor entry which showcases the type of films from the early days of the genre. It might disappoint those after something sleazy or violent. However, if you are at all a fan of this sub-genre then there is certainly enough here to enjoy. Just be aware that the thrills on offer are of a more breezy kind.

Unoriginal, but entertaining Giallo from Margheriti!

[The_Void · 7/10 · 14 September 2006]

Unlike many Giallo films, Antonio Marghetiti's Schoolgirl Killer hardly features any of the blood, sex and general sleaze that have made the genre famous, and instead puts its focus on the murder mystery and central set of characters. In fact, it's amazing just how restrained this film is, considering that it is set in an all-girls school and how almost every Giallo film with a similar setting takes full of advantage of this. The director does an exquisite job of presenting his story and his setting, and the film features some stunning camera work, which beautifully captures the well designed sets, and the fashion sense of the girls at the college. The film begins with a murder in which the killer strangles a woman and has the body put into a trunk which is then delivered to an all-girls school. Shortly thereafter; Betty-Ann, a student at the school is murdered in the basement, and when another young girl is killed in the shower, the police, led by Inspector Durant, are called in. And they're not the only ones on the case, as amateur detective Jill is also investigating.

It's true that there is hardly any originality at all in the film, and influences range from the obvious films such as Blood and Black Lace, to a certain American classic. This has lead many to call the film tired and unexciting, but I disagree as the relaxed way that the story is told allows the audience to get involved with the mystery, and the comedy elements of the film bode well with all giggling girls school environment. The main problem with this film is that's barely any blood whatsoever, which leaves the murder scenes feeling rather. There are other subplots going on, however - things such as the tentative romance between a teacher and one of the pupils, and Margheriti does well at presenting a whole range of characters, any of which could be guessed at as the killer before the twist ending is revealed. The ending of the film has been used so many times now that it's a cliché, but that aside; it does come as something of a surprise. The problem with the ending, however, is that it basically admits that most of the film has been rather pointless, as there were only two people that needed to be murdered - but Giallo isn't well known for logic, and while this might be derivative, it's still well worth seeing!

Clothed, They Die, Actually. - Beautifully Shot Giallo From Margheriti

[Witchfinder-General-666 · 7/10 · 19 June 2008]

Titles can be misleading. Antonio Margheriti's "Nude... Si Muore" (aka. "Naked You Die"/"Schoolgirl Killer") is NOT the exploitative and blood-soaked Giallo full of sleaze and nudity one might expect from its title. Sure, the film was made in 1968, at which time the Italian Giallo had not reached the sleaze and violence level it obtained in the early 70s, but the title "Naked You Die" still promises nastiness, especially in the wonderful Giallo-genre. What "Nude... Si Muore" is, however, is a superbly set, beautifully shot and atmospheric Giallo that sets its focus on the mystery, more than on the Horror elements. Yet I cannot deny that the film did just not quite reach my (very high) expectations. For two reasons, that is. First off, I am a great fan of the late genius director Antonio Margheriti. His brilliant Gothic masterpiece "Danza Macabra" (aka. "Castle Of Blood", 1964, with the wonderful Barbara Steele, my favorite actress, in the lead) is a personal favorite of mine, and many of his other films, such as "La Vergine Di Norimberga" ("Terror Castle", 1963) are also excellent films that every Horror fan must see. Secondly, this film was recommended to me by a fellow Giallo-buff as being particularly great and atmospheric. And atmospheric it is, and doubtlessly a very good thriller, but, as far as I am considered it is not a particularly impressive film within my beloved Giallo-sub-genre.

A posh boarding school for girls from rich families is being stalked by a killer. Several new teachers have arrived, and, naturally, everybody is a suspect... The performances are quite good, the cast includes well known faces for fans of Italian genre-cinema, such as Mark Damon ("I Tre Volti Della Paura") and regular cult-cinema actor Luciano Pigozzi, who, among many other films, often had supporting roles in Mario Bava's films. Beautiful Elonora Brown stars in the lead, sadly it is the last role the then 20-year-old actress has played up to date. The girls are entirety pretty, and I also found the actresses' performances quite good. The film's most memorable qualities are the superb and beautiful setting and ingenious camera work, intensified by a funky and great score by Carlo Savina. What (slightly) annoyed me at times was the constant attempt of bringing in (very cheesy) humor. Also, the mystery part could have been a little more complex. Overall, "Nude... Si Muore" has some flaws, but it is supremely shot, highly atmospheric and very entertaining, and a film that my fellow Giallo-buffs should enjoy. Recommended.

Seminal Italian horror/thriller

[lazarillo · 27 March 2004]

This is interesting giallo-style Italian thriller similar to the later horror masterpiece Suspiria but without the supernatural elements, and the schoolgirl giallo What Have You Done to Solange? but with less sleaze (in fact, it seemed like the edited version shown in the US didn't even have any nudity in it). It's very hard to find these days, but worth finding. It's a very seminal film if nothing else. The first bathtub murder was borrowed verbatim for the murder of the Cristine Galbo character in Solange. I'm pretty sure the morbid joke of the killer keeping the first body around right under the nose of the later victims inspired Black Christmas, which in turn inspired Halloween, and after that the deluge. (In fact, much of the later US slasher subgenre could easily be traced to two Italian films--this one and Mario Bava's Twitch of the Death Nerve). And certainly no one can deny the influence on Suspiria. While it probably wasn't the first horror movie/thriller to be set in a girl's school or girl's dormitory, it might have been the first to fully the exploit the psycho-killer and "Ten Little Indians" possibilities of this creepy setting. If you like this movie(and you speak Spanish), also check out the contemporary Spanish horror/thriller, La Residencia which is very similar.

Creepy

[irishcoffee630 · 7/10 · 13 July 2003]

Creepy Italian horror mystery very much like an early Dario Argento film with mad killer stalking a girls posh school. Well photographed and very atmospheric. Killer is a surprise (but follow the clues!) Never released on VHS or DVD. I saw this as a kid in 1968, never saw it again but it vividly stuck in my mind.

One for Margheriti completists only

[DanielKing · 6/10 · 12 October 2004]

There are artists (like Argento)and there are hacks (like Bruno Mattei) and inbetween there are pros like Antonio Margheriti. He could turn out quite competent movies which, although lacking in originality, have a certain verve. This one develops more along the lines of an Agatha Christie effort than anything else, eschewing as it does the supernatural elements of the ostensibly similar SUSPIRIA.

I wouldn't bother with the cut version as it has been trimmed of almost all the nudity and violence, which are pretty much what one watches these things for. What remains are the performances: Michael Rennie fans should beware as he is barely in it, but there is a great (dubbed) turn from Lorenza Guerrieri as Jill, a hyper-imaginative pupil.

For Margheriti fans, I would place this among his dreary late-60s efforts - nowhere near the Gothic elegance of DANSE MACABRE or VIRGIN OF NUREMBERG, and neither coming close to the simple joie de vivre of his 80s movies with David Warbeck.

NAKED YOU DIE! (Antonio Margheriti, 1968) **

[Bunuel1976 · 4/10 · 28 February 2009]

While this is quite a popular giallo – thanks largely to its sensationalistic title and the fact that the film was originally conceived, as CRY NIGHTMARE, by Mario Bava – its reputation is rather mixed and, having watched the thing for myself, with good reason! Not only is there barely any nudity (with the violence being similarly tame!) but the plot itself – despite the much-used girl-college setting (among the picture's myriad alternate titles are SCHOOLGIRL KILLER and THE MINISKIRT MURDERS!) – is fairly weak…references to Alfred Hithcock's PSYCHO [1960] and Bava's own THE GIRL WHO KNEW TOO MUCH [1963] notwithstanding or, for that matter, its own affinity with another far superior effort from Margheriti himself, SEVEN DEATHS IN THE CAT'S EYE [1973], and Dario Argento's PHENOMENA [1984])! Besides, the whole giallo atmosphere is further nipped in the bud with an overwhelming light touch courtesy of a vivacious girl student who fancies herself a sleuth! Of course, the script supplies plenty of red herrings – with at least three characters made out to be the possible killer – but the revelation at the climax brings little surprise (while admittedly effectively handled); the attempted murder at the pool, however, is simply ludicrous. The film is nevertheless good-looking, features a kitschy score by Carlo Savina (shamelessly borrowing the instantly-recognizable riff from Neal Hefti's "Batman" theme!) and a reasonable cast – including ex-Hollywood leading-men Mark Damon and a rapidly-aged Michael Rennie (as the Police Inspector on the case), Luciano Pigozzi (the Italian Peter Lorre as the school's peeping-tom caretaker i.e. the type of role he could play in his sleep) and, it goes without saying, a bevy of attractive females, on both the student and teacher fronts – a lesbian undertone is even implied in the relationship between the middle-aged headmistress and her young assistant and a newly-arrived teacher sports androgynous features! – but especially put-upon heroine Eleonora Brown (who had actually been Sophia Loren's victimized daughter in Vittorio De Sica's award-winning TWO WOMEN [1960]!).

much murderous action from the very start

[christopher-underwood · 7/10 · 27 September 2016]

One of the earlier gialli and originally helmed by Mario Bava. Some signs of this remain with the interior colours and particularly a couple of brief fantasy light exteriors but on the whole this does not have the mark of the great man. His tendency for humour is here but does not work well because of the way it has been handled. So, we have a select school for girls and because most girls are away with their parents, we only get about six of them and a similar number of teachers and ground staff. There is much murderous action from the very start but although this is kept up well throughout, it is rather sexless and bloodless. Not entirely though and there is enough varied and colourful action to amuse and entertain. Much and many are the twists and red herrings and gladly the eventual revealing is well done and relevant, probably providing one of the film's best sequences.

Suspenseful Giallo revolving around a boarding house plot with a lot of grisly killings

[ma-cortes · 5/10 · 26 November 2022]

A thrilling and bizarre film dealing with a prestigious youthful boarding house in which the corpses are piling up , there a serial killer is targeting the students and teachers , leaving top police inspector Michael Rennie with more than the usual suspects . Meanwhile an amateur sleuth attending girls' boarding school called ¨St. Hilda's School for girls¨helps the police . There are various suspicious people , as a teacher , a governess , a handman ...is the killer Mark Damon? Peeping Tom Luciano Pigozzi ? Who's the killer ? Soon he finds out that not everything is what he thought it was . Walk with her if you dare...for every step will bring you closer, closer, closer to the meaning of fear! Enter at your own risk ... for there is no such thing as a truly empty room I Or someone else?.Slaves to their own Strange Desires! ...prey to the nameless terror that stalks an 'exclusive' girls' school. Prisoners of their own strange desires...Each a plaything of the other's unholy passions ...Each a prey to the nameless horror that stalks the shadows!. Each a prisoner of her own strange desires each a plaything of the other's unholy passions each aprey to the nameless horror that stalks the shadows. The suspense is unbearable , be sure to see the electrifying shock, the climax is terrific!!!Behind the spiked gates of this "exclusive" girls' school, live... "The young , the evil and the savage"

Italian proto-Giallo movie with acceptable production design and fine cast , it contains intriguing events , tension , suspense , vicious killers and unexpected denouement . It is a so-so thriller with some moving scenes , a straightforward story with lots of murders , several suspicious people , twists and turns . Displaying a great number of red herrings , thrills , plot twists , and suspenseful events . In spite of some flaws and gaps , suspense keeps breathless , thanks to tension and intrigue . Italian version runs 98 mins , including some nude scenes , as the film was hacked by 15 minutes and retitled ¨Naked You Die¨ by American International Pictures to show mainly at drive-ins. The original script titled "Cry Nightmare" was written by Mario Bava , but is was entrusted to director Antonio Margheriti . This plot about murders at a Girls' Boarding House was subsequently remade in 1976 by Alberto de Martino as ¨Strange Shadows in an Empty Room¨. This Seven Virgins for the Devil (Italy) or Sette vergini per il diavolo (Italy) or Le sadique de la treizième heure (France) Naked You Die (United States) or The Young, the Evil and the Savage (World-wide, English title) benefits itself from appearances by gorgeous young starlettes to be followed long careers in the Eurotrash genres , such as : Silvia Dionisio, Eleanora Brown , Lorenza Guerrieri , Paola Natale and Malisa Longo's debut.

It contains an evocative and colorful cinematography by Fausto Zuccoli. Displaying a thrilling and frightening musical score by Bruno Nicolai , Ennio Morricone's usual collaborator. The motion picture was professional but regularly directed by terror expert Antonio Margheritti, though it displays some failures and shortcomings . Antonio Margheritti was a good craftsman , expert on terror and exploitation films. A prestigious filmmaker of Spaghetti Westerns, terror , adventures Peplum and anything else . Notorious Antonio directed with skill and aplomb from 1956 to his death in 2002 . Antonio was a former university engineering student who began shooting in 1956. He made all kinds of genres , some of them splendidly directed and others mediocre or flops . As he realized wartime movies , such as : ¨The Last Hunter¨, ¨Tornado¨, ¨Codename Wild Geese¨, ¨Der Commander¨ , ¨Command Leopard¨ . Sci-Fi : ¨War of Planets¨, Planet of the Prowl¨ , ¨Criminal of the Galaxy¨ , ¨Yor the Hunter from the future¨ , ¨Treasure Planet¨ . Spaghetti Western : ¨Joko¨, ¨Dynamite Joe¨, ¨The Stranger and the Gunfighter¨, ¨Take a Hard Ride¨ , ¨Ghosts go West¨ , ¨Joe implacable¨, ¨God Said to Cain¨. And Terror : Virgin of Nuremberg , Cannibal Apocalypse , Alien From Deep , ¨Flesh for Dracula¨ , ¨Flesh for Frankenstein¨, among others. Rating 5/10. Mediocre but passable for the enjoyable cast. The picture will appeal to Italian Gothic aficionados.

It won't be quite what one expects.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 25 January 2015]

This solid and enjoyable if unremarkable Giallo from director Antonio Margheriti has quite the titillating title, but it's a bit of a misnomer. People hungry for something really sleazy will be sorely disappointed. Only one person dies while naked, and that's right at the beginning. Also, some viewers won't appreciate the lack of explicit gore and nudity.

At least "Naked You Die" has a decent story. It's fairly uncomplicated, and easy to follow, although it is also, in the end, pretty predictable. It benefits from a typically lovely and engaging cast of ladies. Another bonus is the presence of familiar faces Mark Damon ("House of Usher" 1960) and Michael Rennie ("The Day the Earth Stood Still" 1951). And fans of Italian cinema will be pleased to have Luciano Pigozzi, a.k.a. Alan Collins, a.k.a. "The Italian Peter Lorre", on hand as a creepy gardener.

A mysterious psycho kills a woman, and has her body sent to the distant St. Hilda's School for Girls. Soon, they'll be running amok at this place, and the girls will live in terror until the police (led by Mr. Rennie) turn up.

All things considered, this is an entertaining thriller, with very nice widescreen photography by Fausto Zuccoli. The music by Carlo Savina is sometimes good, but at other times it's hilariously inappropriate, sounding more like something you'd hear in a James Bond adventure. The dialogue can be very silly on occasion. Performances are good, with Sally Smith a standout as Jill. Jill is an aspiring novelist with an overactive imagination, a perfect character for such a story. Some viewers may find her annoying, but this viewer thought that she was charming. Eleonora Brown is a fine heroine, Damon is likable, and Rennie has a very calming presence that adds a great deal to this film.

As long as people are aware ahead of time not to let the title get their hopes up, they can have a good time with this one.

Seven out of 10.

Humdrum giallo without the giallo flavorings

[LARSONRD · 5/10 · 7 June 2007]

Hum-drum and fairly routine murder mystery set in an all-girls school, with a mysterious killer eradicating them one by one. It is fairly stylish and keeps the gore to a minimum; as a result it works as an interesting mystery, nicely resolved, but with a few exceptions the characters are poorly and dully acted and it's not a very provocative story, and there's a bizarre coda at the end involving a sudden James Bondian character who shows up as one of the girls' dads, which obtrusive and unnecessary). Much of the film's storyline and many of its set-pieces are things we've seen before many times. It's a straightforwardly depicted murder mystery but devoid of almost any elements of the usual giallo trappings (graphic gore and unabashed nudity), as such it's kind of a "giallo light" – enjoyable but without the visceral punch that the cinematic ilk has come to be known for. Perhaps the biggest drawback of the film, like many thrillers, is that the characters constantly perform completely unnaturally, speaking and acting and behaving in a manner which is completely unrealistic, unnatural, and often illogical; what they do moves the plot forward but they never really make the story, its setting, or its characters fully realistic and convincing.Michael Rennie guest stars (dubbed into Italian by somebody else) as the police investigator. English actress Sally Smith is delightful as one of the spunkier students with a knack at investigating herself; she is very energetic and expressive and lots of fun to watch; unfortunately she didn't do much after this. Eleanora Brown is also very memorable as the redhead student who becomes the primary target for the killer; she was in a couple giallos prior to this but appeared in no more films afterward. The rest of the cast, including the vastly overrated Italostar Mark Damon, are pretty much uninteresting. Antonio Margheriti's direction is solid and effective, though, and the film is well shot and nicely edited. A moderately pleasing Carlo Savina score provides an enjoyable musical backdrop, as does the rousing 007-ish main title song, "Nightmare."

Girls just wanna have fun... And so do maniacal black-gloved killers!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 4 August 2008]

Co-written, albeit unaccredited, by Mario Bava (who's the greatest Italian horror genius of all times) and directed by Antonio Margheriti (who's the most underrated Italian horror genius of all time); this simply had to be a terrific Giallo-outing and a downright must-see for all fans of the Italian horror industry. It's a bit unfortunate that the majority of reviews I encountered thus far aren't as enthusiast as they ought to be. Several people seem to complain about the predictability of the plot and the overall lack of rudimentary Giallo trademarks like gory murders and naked chicks. Well, they do make a valid point but also appear to be forgetting that "Naked You Die" is actually one of the earliest entries in this wondrous sub genre of horror, predating Dario Argento's most famous Gialli ("Deep Red", "Bird with the Crystal Plumage") and carefully elaborating on the trend started by the aforementioned deity Mario Bava ("The Girl Who Knew Too Much", "Blood and Black Lace"). "Naked You Die" was made in an era when clichéd plot twists were still considered original and the image of black gloved hands around the neck of a young defenseless co-ed were still found ultimately shocking and disturbing. On the contrary, I bet in 1968 "Naked You Die" was quite controversial and provocative with its themes about lewd boarding schoolgirls secretly meeting up with their hunky teachers at night and pervert janitors peeping at young girls showering. And, if anything, this was undeniably an influential piece of horror film-making being one of the first to use a remote all-girl school as the playground setting for a psychopathic killer. Several films followed this example, including "The House that Screamed", "What Have you done to Solange" and – not in the least – Dario Argento's "Suspira" and more recent Lucky McKee's "The Woods".

The movie opens with the atmospheric and reasonably creepy murder of a young woman in her bathtub. For whatever motivation, the killer literally parcels up the victim in a suitcase and sends her to a secluded boarding school. Here, we meet a handful of playful and very sexy girls and an assembly of staff members (teachers, headmasters and garden personnel) that all appear suspicious in some way. As to be expected, not everything is kosher in this boarding school. The riding teacher meets up with his favorite pupil in the birdhouse, the overly talkative girl aspires to date the new gym teacher and the gardener is a peeping tom. When girls mysteriously start to disappear and turn up brutally murdered, the experienced police detective Durant has a difficult time getting everyone to fully cooperate with the investigation and tell the truth. The first half hour to forty-five minutes (after the promising intro) admittedly pass very tediously and there isn't much excitement to behold, but at the same time you could also claim director Margheriti takes the time and effort to extendedly introduce all his main characters and make them look extra suspicious. The pacing increases quite a bit around the hour, but sadly from then on the film also becomes very predictable and the climax is even downright transparent. Still, avid Giallo buffs will unquestionably find "Naked You Die" a highly pleasing effort, partly also thanks to the stylish photography, adequate acting performances and the stupendously catchy and rhythmic credit song "Nightmare".

If nothing else, it's interesting from a historical perspective

[bensonmum2 · 6/10 · 8 May 2006]

Mario Bava is generally credited with creating the Giallo with his 1963 movies The Girl Who Knew Too Much and Blood and Black Lace. While a few more examples were made in the 1960s, the Giallo really took-off after Dario Argento released The Bird with the Crystal Plumage in 1970. I mention these two dates because I think they're important when discussing 1968's The Young, the Evil & the Savage because they point how early in the Giallo cycle it falls. Yet, strangely enough, the movie feels rater tired. It's difficult for me to explain why, but I'll give it a try.

Part of the problem is that even though The Young, the Evil & the Savage is an early Giallo, it's actually rather unoriginal. There's very little new ground broken in the movie. It plays like a cross between the previously mentioned Blood and Black Lace and the 1962 film Werewolf in a Girls' Dormitory. Replace the werewolf with a mad killer and copy some of Bava's murder scenes and you've got The Young, the Evil & the Savage.

Another factor that makes The Young, the Evil & the Savage feel tired is its rather staid, conservative look especially when compared with other films of the same period. There's really no comparison between this film and Lucio Fulci's One on Top of the Other made just a year later. Fulci's film has that hip, colorful, groovy feel to it that is definitely a product of the swinging 60s. To this day, it maintains its fresh and interesting look. The Young, the Evil & the Savage, on the other hand, has a feel and look to it of something much older. Visually, it has more in common with the previously mentioned 1962 film Werewolf in a Girl's Dormitory than it does something from 1968.

There are, however, a couple of reasons to see this movie. First, if you're a Giallo fan, the novelty of seeing such an early example should not be bypassed. From a historical perspective, it's an interesting film. Second, the final twist where the killer is revealed is quite well done and is easily the highlight of the movie. I'm seen a number of Gialli with underwhelming finales, so it was nice to see one where the ending was not only a winner, but the best thing about the movie.

* Edit: I just watched Dark Sky's new transfer of The Young, the Evil, and the Savage (or Naked You Die). Gotta say it was like watching a different movie. There's nothing like have a nice looking transfer with good sound and cuts restored to make you change your mind about a movie. It's still not the best Giallo I've ever seen, but my opinion has improved. Dark Sky's transfer gave the movie some of that funkiness I thought it so desperately needed. Things like the mod/matching clothes to the groovy title song really stood out. I'm definitely glad I gave it another chance.

Margheriti on the rocks

[rstef1 · 4/10 · 9 July 2007]

Lame and bloodless giallo from director/writer Antonio Margheriti a/k/a Anthony Dawson. Though based on a story by the great Mario Bava, the film plays out more like a Nancy Drew mystery than a proper giallo. It's competently filmed and directed, but lacks any of the sense of foreboding and danger present in other, better movies of the genre.

A bunch of girls at a boarding school are stalked by a mysterious killer. This actually makes it sound way better than it is. I've seen the uncut 98 minute version and there is no blood, nudity, sex or violence. What is giallo for??? The closest we come to a good murder is when the sweaty, perv of a handyman gets a sickle in the stomach. We don't get to see the actual kill, only the sickle protruding from his middle a bit later.

The movie teases us with shots of women in the bathtub and the shower, but conceals their nudity, which is quite the cheat as some of the women are quite lovely. Unfortunately, the characters they play are stupid and obnoxious. I was hoping the killer would get them all, but he only strangles two of them and tries to drown a third. The stranglings are especially laughable, he barely gets his hands around their necks when they fall down dead.

In typical giallo style, the ending makes little sense. Michael Rennie is on hand to little effect, he looks confused most of his screen time. The killer's explanation as to how he intends to fool the police and get away with his crimes is absurd beyond words. You'll be able to see the failed logic behind it even if this is your first murder mystery. Better to stick with Argento.

Oh no - it's THAT kind of ending...again!

[Bezenby · 6/10 · 28 July 2017]

Margherriti directs a pedestrian giallo in a highly styli-zed way that results in a watchable film that's entirely predictable. Plus, despite the title, there's no nudity and a lot of the murders are stranglings! That's almost as bad as that slasher I watched once where someone was killed by carbon monoxide poisoning!

Following a murder at the start of the film, with the corpse getting dumped into a fancy suitcase, we find ourselves at the Gary Glitter Boarding School for Horny Teenagers, where our group of teenage girls are all into Mark Damon (and he's into them! Ah, young love), or into the new swimming teacher (that's a plot point), or avoiding the attentions of the headmistress, who is into them. Hmm.

Basically, this is about as average as you can get, plot wise, for a giallo. You've got your black gloved killer, the red herrings (especially Luciano Pigozzi as a peeping tom), the sexism, but also great colour schemes, set design, and costume design. I even managed to guess the killer and their motives, which is unusual for me as I'm a dumbass.

Despite all the odds, it's still worth a watch, because Margherriti's no fool when it comes to making film, or you could just wait and watch Seven Death's In The Cats Eye, which has a gorilla as a suspect! You heard me.

Not bad, not great...okay diversion if you're bored enough

[joekohlertrenton · 6/10 · 9 November 2012]

When I heard Mario Bava wrote the screenplay and that this was something of a body count giallo, I bought the DVD expecting a typically atmospheric '60s Italian film with great thrills, suspense and early gore. Maybe I expected too much.

A terrific opening title theme, "Nightmare," gets things off to an exciting start. Unfortunately, the film then bogs itself down in endless footage of squirrelly, bland females acting silly and flaky (behavior that is endearing to women but annoying to men). At long last, a few of them then endure some of the mildest, least violent and tidiest "deaths" ever seen.

This is not a brutal shocker like the earlier, "Blood and Black Lace." If anything, an irritating, bouncy humor persists throughout, leading me to suspect this was intended for the Sunday matinée crowd.

Some of the older cast members are quite good, including the aforementioned Damon. Michael Rennie shines in a later role and the school administrators are all suitably mysterious.

Not great, not bad, just so-so. While away a couple of hours with it, if you're in the right mood.

Bland Italian nightmare.

[michaelRokeefe · 3/10 · 14 September 2007]

Italian horror flick. Feels and looks like 60s American drive-in fare. Maybe racy in 1968, but viewing now...the thrill is gone. This macabre tail of murder is set at St. Hilda's School for Girls; and it seems being very good looking was ranked high on the entrance exam. Inspector Durand(Michael Rennie)has his suspects: a peeping tom(Luciano Pigozzi), a handsome playboy riding instructor(Mark Damon); and a swim teacher(Giovanni Di Benedetto). Is Durand on the right track; or will the school girl killer be the least expected? Photography is vivid and crisp. Other players include: Eleonora Brown, Sally Smith, Patrizia Valturri and Vivian Stapleton.

Well made, but that's about it...

[markovd111 · 6/10 · 1 September 2022]

Making itself stand out among it's many giallo brethren who look as movies made by a group of monkeys operating a camera, "The Young, the Evil and the Savage" or "Naked You Die" doesn't have a lot more going for it. Contrary to the title, nudity is minimal and so is the violence and even the scare factor. Some novelty is brought in form of character called Jill, girl writing a spy novel interested in crime and mystery who helps solve the case, but she isn't developed enough. In the end, you are left with a movie that looks and feels by miles better than most of sloppy giallo escapades, but lacks substance and style to be something worth watching. I recommend it only to genre fans. The rest should avoid it. 6.5/10!

Nowhere near as sleazy as it sounds.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 29 October 2009]

Next to 'Strip Nude For Your Killer', 'Naked You Die' is my favourite title for a giallo: none of that baffling 'Seven Eyeballs for a Lizard's Belly' nonsense, just the promise of some good old fashioned gratuitous nudity and murder. Unfortunately, unlike 'Strip Nude...', this one doesn't manage to live up to its lurid title, offering only fleeting glimpses of bare female skin and mostly bloodless kills; in addition to the disappointing lack of sleaze and gore, it also manages to fall flat in the narrative department, with a humdrum plot and a twist ending that can be seen a mile off.

Pretty redhead Eleonora Brown stars as Lucille, one of a group of sexy young students stalked by a leather-gloved killer at an exclusive girl's school. As the bodies pile up, and the list of possible murderers grows longer, Lucille decides to leave the school in the company of her lover, riding teacher Richard Barrett (Mark Damon)—but even he, it seems, is not above suspicion. However, quite how anyone fails to work out who the killer is from the outset is beyond me: Ms. Clay (Ludmila Lvova), with her weird, androgynous features and masculine voice is so freaky that she might as well wear a T-shirt with 'Murderous Psycho' emblazoned on it, and it comes as no surprise when it is finally revealed that 'she' is actually a 'he', and 'he' is the one who has been bumping off the girls.

On a more positive note, director Antonio Margheriti does his best to please the eyes and ears with his beautiful and stylish photography, a bevy of lovely young ladies, and a wonderfully kitschy 60s soundtrack (which includes a rather cool Bond-style theme song), but in the end, the eye candy and jazzy score are simply not enough to compensate for the uninspired storytelling, absence of intrigue, and of course, the woeful lack of nudity.

Usual story of a crime

[stefanozucchelli · 6/10 · 19 March 2022]

Decent movie with a satisfying detective story. Nothing exceptional but it does its duty. Some moments are also exciting but I don't get too out of balance.

"My name is Little Red Riding Hood." "Little Red Riding Hood-so you've met the Big Bad Wolf?"

[morrison-dylan-fan · 8/10 · 7 December 2019]

For the Italian Viewing Challenge on ICM,I started digging into the piles on unwatched DVD's for films from the country. Having gotten this title so long ago I can't remember how many years it has been (!) it felt like the best moment to at last visit the school.

View on the film:

Opening the school gates to a groovy title track, co-writer/ director Antonio Margheriti & cinematographer Fausto Zuccoli teach in the first, more psychological-driven, wave of Giallo with the glamour of a Musical, as Margeriti takes the audience on a tour of this murder school, (the first Gialli to have this setting?) in long panning shots taking in the ultra-stylised lush colours of the matching pristine school outfits being colour coded with the pristine shaded walls, building a enticing, peculiar atmosphere.

Offering a few teasing side shots of skin, Margheriti keeps everything discreet for the killer Giallo set-pieces, with blood being left off the field in exchange for swift first person tracking shots,and running victims jump-cuts on the school grounds.

Originally planned by producer Lawrence Woolner as a project for Mario Bava after Woolner was submitted a script by Tudor Gates and Brian Degas, until a falling out led to Bava leaving the project, and the new team of Margheriti, Giovanni Simonelli and Franco Bottari getting the job.

Picking up what was called Cry Nightmare in the Bava stages, the writers wisely retain what is likely the original, odd quirky side of the Bava stage in the hushed secretive way all at the school act, which is neatly sown in to Margheriti's showing his early interest Agatha Christie in this Giallo times table sending all down to the school grounds as suspects whilst the naked die.

Naked You Die

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 20 May 2022]

Naked...You Die (AKA The Young, the Evil and the Savage) is a pretty fun early giallo with good direction by Antonio Margheriti.

Yet it was very nearly was a Mario Bava movie.

According to Tim Lucas' Mario Bava: All the Colors of the Dark, Bava was hired by Lawrence Woolner - the distributor of Hercules in the Haunted World and Blood and Black Lace in America - to direct a movie about a killer stalking a school. Cry Nightmare was going to be the title and Bava wrote the script with Brian Degas and Tudor Gates (Barbarella, Danger: Diabolik).

Lamberto Bava told Lucas that "Just a short time before the filming was to begin, Mario Bava had an argument with the producers and he abandoned the film." As for Margheriti, who met Woolner when he distributed Castle of Blood, he said "I think Mario was busy at that time, working on Diabolik or something."

Either way, locations were already secured, cast and crew had been hired and a theme song had already been recorded.

The drowned body of a woman is placed in a truck going to St. Hilda College. There, only seven students, two teachers - Mrs. Clay (Ludmilla Lvova) and Mr. Barrett (Mark Damon - Headmistress Transfield (Vivian Stapleton) and gardener La Foret (Luciano Pigozzi) are present.

Soon, the killing begins with Betty Ann being strangled and found by Lucille (Eleonora Brown in her last film until coming out of retirement in 2018), who is having an affair with Barrett. When she tells him to come see the body, it's already gone, so they decide to leave the school.

The killings kick into gear with Cynthia (Malisa Longo, Ricco the Mean Machine) being killed in front of the gardener, who is soon killed as well and Denise (Patrizia Valturri) too. There's also amateur detective Gillie (Sally Smith) on the case and Inspector Durand (Michael Renne from The Day the Earth Stood Still) trying to stop the killings.

All the girls wear similar uniforms - and outfits that change scene by scene - and nobody wonders why an older teacher can play Big Bad Wolf with Little Red Riding Hood and get away with it.

The aforementioned theme song "Nightmare" by Powell and Savina (Don Powell, who played Emanuelle's father in Black Emanuelle 2 and did that film's soundtrack, along with Carlo Savina, who composed the music for The Killer Reserved Nine Seats, Lisa and the Devil, Fangs of the Living Dead and so many more) and performed by Rose Brennan owes royalties to Neal Hefti.

Perhaps even wilder is the fact that the movie informs us that Gillie may be the daughter of James Bond.

Giallo would change in a few years to be bloody, sleazier and stranger. That said, this is a great example of an early version of this style of movie.