... aka: Mannekiinimurhaaja (Mannequin Murderer)
... aka: Modelmordene (Model Murders)
... aka: Nothing Underneath
... aka: Où est passée Jessica (Where is Jessica?)
... aka: Pele nua (Bare Skin)
Directed by:
Carlo Vanzina
Small town Wyoming girl Jessica Crane (Nicola Perring) makes it as a model in Europe after landing a gig as cover girl for Moda Italia Magazine. To celebrate, she goes to a disco and ends up getting assaulted in the bathroom by a coke-snorting playboy who attempts to rape her. Jessica manages to claw his face and escape, returns to her hotel room late at night and disappears shortly afterward. Meanwhile in the U.S., Yellowstone park ranger Bob (Tom Schanley), Jessica's twin brother, suspects something is up. He and his sister share some kind of telepathic link where they can sense when the other is being harmed or in danger. Since Bob had visions of a scissor-wielding psycho approaching Jessica's room at the same time it actually was happening, he immediately hops on a plane and flies to Milan to try to locate her. He goes to her hotel and discovers what it's lacking in security (the desk clerk is more interesting in sneaking into the laundry facility to sniff panties), it sure makes up for with beautiful women. The place is filled with gorgeous models but, alas, Jessica is not one of them.
Bob goes to the cops to report his sister's disappearance and is initially met with skepticism by Commissioner Danesi (Donald Pleasence) when he reveals the "telepathic phenomena" he shares with his sibling. Still, Danesi is a little more open minded about the idea than usual and begins researching it. Bob goes to talk to Jessica's modeling agency boss (Anna Galiena), who tells him she's missed her last four jobs and has been fired, and a Japanese photographer who worked with her frequently, who claims to know nothing about her. Another model - Carrie (Catherine Noyes) - is murdered in her hotel room with a pair of scissors. Carrie's lover Giorgio (Paolo Tomei) is a filthy rich jeweler who's well-known for screwing every model in town. He's also the same guy who'd tried to rape Jessica in the bathroom before she went missing. Still, he appears to have a foolproof alibi for at least one of the murders. Another model named Margaux (Maria McDonald), who has ties with Jessica, Carrie and Giorgio, is murdered at a fashion show with the same weapon and there are sepia-toned flashbacks to a deadly game of Russian roulette. Just who's doing all this and why?
International supermodel Renée Simonsen makes her film debut as Barbara; another of the models staying at the hotel who gets friendly with our hero (though perhaps not as friendly as many viewers would like). The Danish Simonsen - who launched her career in 1982 after winning "Supermodel of the Year" honors - isn't much of an actress, but damn if she's not a complete fox. Actually, the entire cast - from our leading man to all of the ladies filling out the supporting roles - is extremely good-looking. And that is sadly about the best thing going on in this one. Some have called it a giallo, and I suppose it technically is with its black-glove-wearing, scissor-slashing mystery psycho, but this comes off mostly like a sub-Hitchcockian thriller more than anything else, with copycat camerawork, a Bernard Herrmann-like score and (failed) attempts at quirky supporting characters. It is competently photographed, presented and edited, and features a decent amount of nudity, but the plot is too ordinary and predictable for it to command much interest.
Mr. Pleasance made this during a time when he was doing a lot of genre films in
Italy. He'd already made the wonderful Phenomena (1985) with Dario Argento prior to
this one, and would go on to also play supporting roles in Specters
(1987), Nosferatu in Venice (1987), Ruggero Deodato's Phantom of Death
(1988), Paganini Horror (1989) and others. He's not given much to
work with here. It's a pretty boring part. Still, he at least has one odd scene where he eats a plate full
of plain spaghetti noodles at Wendy's (!?) and discusses his aversion to ketchup
and other "red sauces."
Pino Donaggio contributed the score and it sounds nearly identical to
his score for Brian De Palma's Body Double (1984); another film fashioned
in the Hitchcock mold. The director was also clearly influenced by Double,
as this too features panty-stealing, several scenes of voyeurism (not at all
tied in to the plot) and use of a large power drill during the finale. Gloria Gaynor's "I Am What I Am" and Chess / Murray Head's "One Night in Bangkok" are
heard at a runway show where one poor model is forced to stomp out onto the
catwalk clad in a red cape with cows on it. The screenplay was written by
the director, his brother, Enrico Vanzina and Franco Ferrini, and
is based on the novel of the same name by Marco Parma.
Sony released this on VHS here in America and there was a DVD release in Sweden.
Surprisingly, there were actually two sequels to this. The first was Dario
Piani's Sotto il vestito niente 2 (1988), which was released under the
English titles They Only Come Out at Night (in the U.S.) and Too
Beautiful to Die (in the UK). The second sequel was Sotto il vestito
niente - L'ultima sfilata ("Nothing Underneath: The Last Parade;" 2011),
from the same director and writers, which was a box office flop in Italy and has
never been released here.
★★
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