The Film (5/5)

    Minou (Dagmar Lassander) is a married woman whose husband is often gone on work related expenditures leaving her alone to hang out with her friend Dominique (Susan Scott) or else just wander. One night she is wandering close to the beach when a man threatens her with a blade embedded in a stick, telling her things about her husband, and demanding her body in return for the information, and his silence on the matter. The next day Minou is to find out that one of her husband's colleagues has died under mysterious circumstances. She also finds out that he might be involved due to a tape recording, the assailant plays for her over the phone. The attacks on her keep coming, but no one from the police, to her husband, to her friends believe anything is actually happening, and that this is all part of Minou's overactive imagination.

    Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion would be one of the 3 gialli directed by Luciano Ercoli. It is also the first of the three. The other 2 are the famed Death Walks sequence featuring the titles Death Walks on High Heels and Death Walks at Midnight. All 3 films feature his spouse Susan Scott in a formidable role.

    Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is not the most violent giallo, instead it works on plot twist, performance, and lurid pulpy direction from Ercoli.  The film is grounded by the lead performance by Dagmar Lassander who plays a woman both in fear for her life and sanity, and does so quite well. Because of the lack of discernible exploitation elements throughout (lite nudity, almost non-existent violence). The film uses her performance to keep the audience compelled. 

    The film has an erotic tone to it, due to the nature of the assailant's desires. He does not want money, he wants Minou, and uses blackmail and threats of violence to have her.   The film has a lush gorgeous style that shows Ercoli at his stylistic finest, with gorgeously stylized sets, camera work, and lighting. The film is also home to massively memorable score by the recently retired Ennio Morricone, which is among his finest work of the 70's (though to be fair there is a lot of competition).

Audio/Video (5/5)

    Forbidden Photos... comes to Blu-ray via Arrow Video in a stunning 2:35:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer preserving the OAR of the film. I have only seen the Blue Underground DVD release of this film, but the Blu-ray is an improvement in every single way. Colors are more vivid and lush, detail is vastly improved, and everything looks film like and natural. Black levels are inky, and deep. This is most noticeable during the opening attack on the beach, where the water and night sky look insanely deep.

    Audio is handled by 2 LPCM mono tracks in English and Italian. Both tracks sound quite excellent, with dialogue and score coming through clearly. 

Extras (4/5)

    Arrow Video has put together a stunning package for Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion. Taken as a whole the extras give a huge insight to the film and those who made it. It kicks off with a predictably wonderful commentary by Diabolique's Kat Ellinger who explores the themes of the film, and how it works as giallo twist on the melodrama.  We also get a 45 minute interview block with Susan Scott, Ercoli, and writer Ernesto Gastaldi. That goes in depth on the film and it's creation. We also get a 47 minute long piece featuring soundtrack enthusiast Lovely Jon who explores the famed Ennio Morricone soundtrack.  Finally, we get a 44 minute Q&A from 2016 with Dagmar Lassander during which she goes deep not just into Forbidden Photos, but the whole of her career.

Overall

    Though Forbidden Photos of a Lady Above Suspicion is a more mild entry into the giallo genre, it is also an excellent one with stylish direction, a memorable soundtrack, and a fantastic lead performance. The Arrow Video Blu-ray looks and sounds amazing, and has a nice extras slate. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.