Dirty Pictures Review

	Dirty Pictures (1971) (aka Un posto ideale per uccidere) Starring Irene Papas, Ray Lovelock, Ornella Muti Directed by Umberto Lenzi Dick (Lovelock) and Ingrid (Muti) are two British youths paying for their European summer road trip, with Italy as their final destination, by selling porn pictures and records, which they buy in a Copenhagen sex shop or pose for themselves. In Pisa, however, they get arrested after Ingrid tries to sell some photos to a man who reports them to the police. The police order them out of the country in 24 hours but, after meeting a biker gang, they get persuaded to stay a little longer. The bikers, however, rob them of all their money during the night they spend with them at their campsite. When later on their car runs out of gas near a beautiful secluded mansion, they decide to get some from the garage of the house, which they assume is empty since nobody answers the door. However, someone is there, the lady of the house, Barbara Slater (Papas), who is about to drive away to meet her lawyer. When she sees the two in her garage siphoning petrol from her car she initially freaks out and threatens to call the cops but suddenly changes her mind, lets them take some gas and eventually invites them for dinner.

Dirty Pictures (1971) (aka Un posto ideale per uccidere)

Starring Irene Papas, Ray Lovelock, Ornella Muti

Directed by Umberto Lenzi

Dick (Lovelock) and Ingrid (Muti) are two British youths paying for their European summer road trip, with Italy as their final destination, by selling porn pictures and records, which they buy in a Copenhagen sex shop or pose for themselves. In Pisa, however, they get arrested after Ingrid tries to sell some photos to a man who reports them to the police. The police order them out of the country in 24 hours but, after meeting a biker gang, they get persuaded to stay a little longer. The bikers, however, rob them of all their money during the night they spend with them at their campsite. When later on their car runs out of gas near a beautiful secluded mansion, they decide to get some from the garage of the house, which they assume is empty since nobody answers the door. However, someone is there, the lady of the house, Barbara Slater (Papas), who is about to drive away to meet her lawyer. When she sees the two in her garage siphoning petrol from her car she initially freaks out and threatens to call the cops but suddenly changes her mind, lets them take some gas and eventually invites them for dinner.

She says she's expecting her husband any minute but when he doesn't show up she asks them to spend the night as she doesn't like being alone. The two wayward hippies agree to stay over and they have themselves a little party with their new friend. After getting drunk and stoned to some groovy early 70s music Barbara ends up having sex with Dick while Ingrid sleeps unaware in the other room. But in the morning the two young hippies start realising something is wrong after Barbara locks them in their bedroom, throws away the car keys, and removes every reminder of the previous night's party.

	And so the game of cat and mouse begins as Barbara attempt to frame them for the murder of her husband, whom she has shot, hiding the body in the boot of her car. When Dick and Ingrid find the body and realise that Barbara has tried to pin the murder on them, they bury the body, fill her up with sleeping pills and eventually make their escape. But when Barbara comes to, she tells the police Dick raped her and killed her husband while trying to rob the house. The Police believe her and take chase after the alleged rapist/murderer and his accomplice resulting in a far from happy ending for the young couple as their car crashes off a high cliff exploding on the rocks below, while Barbara the bitch gets away scotfree!

And so the game of cat and mouse begins as Barbara attempt to frame them for the murder of her husband, whom she has shot, hiding the body in the boot of her car. When Dick and Ingrid find the body and realise that Barbara has tried to pin the murder on them, they bury the body, fill her up with sleeping pills and eventually make their escape. But when Barbara comes to, she tells the police Dick raped her and killed her husband while trying to rob the house. The Police believe her and take chase after the alleged rapist/murderer and his accomplice resulting in a far from happy ending for the young couple as their car crashes off a high cliff exploding on the rocks below, while Barbara the bitch gets away scotfree!

This enjoyable, Carlo Ponti-produced little thriller by future cannibal movie specialist Lenzi was obviously targeted at the teenage market, featuring two young good-looking leads and only minor violence and nudity – curiously, Muti and Papas have the same body double, although there was a 30-year age difference between them. As was de rigueur with European low-budget films of the early 1970s, this one features a fair amount of zooms, a catchy title tune (How Can You Live Your Life), hippies, lesbianism, a great catfight (Ingrid: "You bitch, let go of me before I beat the daylights out of you") and, obviously, loose morals – Dick says he and Ingrid, two "...dedicated missionaries spreading the gospel of sexual freedom" are "revolting against sexual repression", but everything is pretty tame. It's curious to see in the cast the great Greek actress Irene Papas (Don't Torture A Duckling). Lovelock is alright but Muti is rather inexperienced. However, all is forgiven since this was only her second or third movie and she was only 16 but already looked absolutely stunning.

Hari Alfeo

Many thanks to Marc Morris and the Mondo Erotico archive for the original VHS cover artwork.

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