Smile Before Death

Flashy photographer/slapper Rosalba Neri (The Devil’s Wedding Night—73) is shagging the husband of her recently deceased best friend. Wrapped in a vomit coloured towel, she’s having a whale of a time flouncing about the rich estate without a care until spunky Luciana Della Robbia shows up and say’s she’s the step daughter of the widower/husband (Silviano Tranquilli).

Having never seen the ‘daughter’ before, poor, boozy Neri is unsure if Robbia is telling the truth, but accepts her anyhow thru’ a haze of long stemmed smokes and glasses of icey J&B whiskey. But, pretty soon, claws come out and Neri begins to fall foul of the younger gals lolita-esque house lounging which builds tension between all three.

Eventually—after listening to 17 different versions of Bob Derament’s plinky-plonky aural torture ice-cream van theme tune—murder Italian giallo style breaks out, the plot starts to spin, bad deeds are revealed, jealousy spits and nothing is really what it seems—which will be of no surprise to fans of the genre.

Although hardly bloody, fast paced or sprightly and memorable, it’s a tidy, enjoyable slice of thrills licked with sordid intent and worth watching for the double crosses alone. AKA: The Smile Of The Hyena.