Some might know that icon Mario Bava is often considered to be the first filmmaker to make a giallo with 1963’s The Girl Who Knew Too Much. . . though unless you’re a big fan of the genre, many will probably not know that his son, Lamberto Bava, continued on with the gialli tradition well past its heyday in the early 1970s – releasing a number of horror tinged mystery thrillers, including today’s Delirium (1987). . . sometimes also known as The Photo of Gioia.
Welcome to what very well could be the Italian rival of Hugh Hefner’s Playboy, fluffily called Pussycat – a high end nudie magazine that brings some class (and a bit of kitsch) to artistic nude photography. Run by former supermodel Gloria (Serena Grandi), she inherited the business when her husband tragically died.
After a year long leave, she is back to try and pick up the pieces, all while having to fend off her overbearing rival magazine manager Flora (Capucine) – who used to employ her as a model. With a lack of creative new ideas, she plans on recreating the photo shoot that made her famous with the help of model friend Kim (Trine Michelsen).
Though it might all sound simple enough, Gloria must deal with a gun loving, wheelchair bound peeping Tom neighbour, Mark (Karl Zinny), who claims he witnessed a blonde haired woman murder Kim as she left Gloria’s house after the shoot. When photos turn up of the body in front of Gloria’s famed semi-nude photos, she believes that it must have some significance, though Inspector Corsi (Lino Salemme) confidently sees no correlation – the guy’s posh look covers for his lack of brains.
With greedy Flora and pervy Mark both being possible culprits, as Gloria looks around her entourage, there seems to be a staggering number of others. There is her suspiciously blonde haired assistant who always seems to find the murder photos first, Evelyn (Daria Nicolodi) – who has also moved in to live with her; her shifty-eyed manager brother Tony (Vanni Corbellini) – who likes to mess around with the models, despite having a bit of an impotence problem; and then there’s her closeted photographer Roberto (David Brandon) – who suspiciously claims the negatives of her famed shoot that are being used as the backdrop of the dead body photos were recently stolen.
As her other models also start turning up dead, the killer is hard to read. Might the person be a farmer, as one death is by way of pitchfork, or perhaps an apiarist, as the second is by way of bees. Arguably the most suspenseful scene makes us consider an unseen superstore manager, as bodies pile up at a multi-level location being scouted for a future photo shoot – the clothing, mannequins, narrow escalators, and freight elevator used to great effect to build the atmosphere.
The only thing for certain is that the killer must be a real sicko, as he or she envisions the victims as pesky women with very inhuman insect heads – quite impressive effects for the time. Will Gloria decide to sell to her competitor out of fear for her life? If so, will that even solve the problem? Could this be a rare situation where a peeping Tom actually comes in handy, or does that bode equally as bad? Might the cops actually be of help in this giallo. . . no, there’s definitely no chance in that.
Visually striking, Delirium never truly captures enough tension to rachet up the thrills, but its almost neon-tinged cinematography (with red often flashing onscreen around murders), buggy effects, and faux rich mansion setting still makes for an appeasing palette. Pulling from the likes of gialli from the past, the works of Brian De Palma, and beating the creature visages of John Carpenter’s They Live by a year, there is still much to like in this sultry little caper. So, bug out on this late era giallo, it might not be the shoot of the year, but it still captures a stirring image.