Un Posto Ideale Per Uccidere (aka An Ideal Place To Kill) (1971)

Two teenage drifters (Raymond Lovelock, Ornella Muti) are traveling through Europe and selling pornography to pay for their vacation. When they run out of gas in Italy, the nearest house is a secluded mansion inhabited by a wealthy woman (Irene Papas). At first she is hostile but then she invites them into her home. It soon evolves into a cat and mouse came of who is the victim and who is the predator. Directed by Umberto Lenzi, this giallo is heavier on the sex than the violence and quite graphic sex at that. However, it's clear that body doubles were used for the sex scenes. Ornella Muti was underage (16 or 17) so the producers would have been arrested if she did her own nudity and Irene Papas flatly refused to do any nude scenes so she got a body double too. In 1971, Lovelock and Muti must have seemed like free spirited "hippies" but in 2020, they're annoying leeches. So my sympathies went to Papas' scheming murderess though I don't think that's what Lenzi intended. It was a pleasure to see the usually dour and put upon Papas in a rare glamour role. I was worried they'd botch the ending but they didn't and it elevated the film a few notches for me. If you're into these Italian sex and murder gialli, this should please you and Irene Papas gives a wonderful performance, never tipping her hand. In a genre where the acting is usually negligible, it's an impressive accomplishment.