Nothing Underneath — Nothing Underneath(Blu Ray)
With a title like Nothing Underneath, you may be expecting a highly sleazy/ possibly violently nasty giallo similar to the likes of either 1975’s Strip Nude For Your Killer, or 1979’s Giallo in Venice. But instead, the mid-1980s Italian film is a blend of murder mystery, lightly erotic thriller, and largely bloodless Giallo/ slasher. Think a more Euro cult focused, at points fairly vapid take on Brian De Palma, and you get an idea of what we have here. From Rustblade, here's a forty-anniversary Blu-ray release of the film.
Nothing Underneath ( aka Sotto Il Vestito Niente) is an Italian production from the year 1985. It was filmed between Yellowstone National Park in the US, and Milan/ Rome. The picture was helmed by Rome-born Carlo Vanzina. Between the mid 70’s and later 2010’s he has sixty-one features to his name- these include the likes of musical comedy Figlio Delle Stelle (1979), spy thriller Giallo blend Dagger Eyes (1983), ambition lead drama featuring Billy Zane Millions (1991), and comedy Miami Beach (2016).
Nothing Underneath opens in/ around Yellowstone National Park- as we watch bold-haired/ twentysomething ranger Bob (Tom Schanley)- first driving, then going to the local post office- he’s going to collect a package from his short blond-haired sister/ twin Jess (Nicola Perring), who is presently in Italy.
The packaging contains a fashion magazine with his sister's face on the front, and a scribbled message from her. He’s most excited to see the magazine, but this fair soon turns to fear, as he feels dizzy, then has a premonition that a black gloved killer with long scissors is moving towards his sister's hotel door. He rings up her hotel, and all seems fine in her room, but she’s not there- he’s not accepting it, so he flies out to the States.
Once he’s landed, he rushes to the hotel- but there is still no sign of her, so he heads to see the initially rather bemused Commissioner Danesi- played by a neatly moustached Donald Pleasence. But in time, he starts to take the rather highly strung ranger seriously, as more models who are staying in the same hotel are being killed by someone using long scissors.
We, of course, have a list of possible suspects- there is the tubby guest panties sniffing hotel receptionist, a rather shifty white glove wearing & pony-tailed photographer, a sleek and sleazy businessman who likes sleeping with models, one of the remaining models, or of course Bob himself.
The murders themselves are at first shown off screen, and we only start getting to see the quite effective back stabbings a hour into hour and thirty minutes film. As for the fleshy/ sleazy side of things, this is kept fairly light, softcore, with just a female focus.
Aside from the brief moments of nudity, Nothing Underneath- the first hour or so of the film plays rather like a made-for-TV murder mystery. After this point, things do improve, with some effective gore, a surprising reveal of who's behind it, and a nice dramatic resolve.
The cast, as you’d expect with an 80s giallo/ euro slasher, is decidedly mixed- our lead Tom Schanley is fine, moving between slightly haunted/troubled vagueness, pestering up tightness, and all out panic and fear. Pleasance is, as always, good, with a particularly memorable scene coming when he’s trying to carefully eat pasta. Otherwise, Renée Simonsen plays Jess‘s friend/ possible love interest for Bob, well enough. With each of the suspects playing the are they/ or aren’t roles just fine.
I’d say, Nothing Underneath , is a passable late 80s euro mystery, with light touches of erotic thriller and Giallo/ slasher weaved in. It’s certainly not a stylish or well-released as the Brian De Palma films it’s trying to mimic, like Body Double or Dressed to Kill.
The region-free Blu-ray release features a nicely bright and bold scan, which looks good & well defined throughout. The film automatically plays in Italian with no subtitles, so you have to switch these on in the menu before playing. The English subs oddly also include audio descriptions, which is somewhat odd/frustrating in moments. There is also an English audio track- this isn’t too bad.
On the extras side of things, we get three interviews- these are all in Italian, and once again, you have to do it manually. There’s one with screenwriter Enrico Vanzina(21.12), one with soundtrack composer Pino Donaggio( 4.11), and one with genre expert Francesco Lomuscio( 7.24). We also get three trailers- two Italian and one from the US. And a photo gallery.
There are several different versions of this forty-anniversary release- there’s the standard Blu-ray version( which I reviewed), A Limited Deluxe Bag version- featuring a book, vinyl and CD soundtrack, postcards, a poloid, a poster, and some underwear. And a stand-alone DVD.
If you approach Nothing Underneath as a run-of-the-mill mystery/ light erotic thriller, with light/ largely bloodless Giallo/ slasher, then you'll enjoy well enough what is offered here. This Rustblade release offers a nicely bright scan, and a fair selection of extras.