During an amazing opening sequence, we are introduced to the fabulous models of Countress Cristina's fashion house. Suddenly one of the models (Isabella) is brutally attacked by a faceless assailant wearing a trench and fedora - looking much like the DC Comics' The Question. Through some of the worst dubbed dialogue ever, we soon learn that there are all sorts of secrets floating around the fashion house - including the fact that some models use cocaine!!! This is 1965 people - in Italy. How progressive - I don't think American models snorted coke til the mid-70s.
But the fashion show must go on! It is revealed that Isabella had kept a diary, and suddenly almost the entire House of Cristina becomes distressed, especially when another model finds the diary and declares that she is bringing it to the cops. I think this happen on CHARLIE'S ANGELS once too.
The book is stolen from her purse, she suddenly finds herself stalked by The Question, and is also brutally killed!!!
Another model has stolen the diary, and has decided to burn it in her fireplace - The Question soon attacks her, and is then tied to a chair and tortured. She is able to unmask The Question, who then kills her by burning her face off. Not pretty!
All the men of the fashion house are then placed under arrest. But then The Question strikes again! Is the killer a woman??? Or are there two Questions??? (In DC Comics the original Question died and was replaced by a woman...hmmm).
Well, after the men are release from jail, it turns out that there ARE two killers - and it all involves blackmail and the dreaded diary! Later that night, a the voluptuous Siouxsie Sioux lookalike model is drowned in her bathtub by The Question -who then removes the mask and is revealed to be _______! The killer then slashes the corpse’s wrists in order to make the death seem like a suicide. What follows is a final confrontation between the two killers.
With plenty of opportunities to ask "Huh?," this one is a classic - if not only for the amazingly kitschy production design. The hairstyles, fashions and office decor in the fashion house scenes make THE DEVIL WEARS PRADA look like GREY GARDENS. Score: 9 outa 10.
This Mario Bava film is an example of Italian "giallo" (yellow) films - named for pulp paperback novels with yellow covers.. The title of this film translates as SIX WOMEN FOR THE ASSASSIN, though I like to call it ITALY'S NEXT TOP DEAD MODEL. This film is also credited for inspiring the modern-day stalker/slasher flick.
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