In The Folds Of The Flesh

Nelle Piegle Della Carne

Folds of the Flesh

Italian-Spanish 1970

D: Sergio Bergonzelli

P: Sergio Bergonzelli for M.B.G (Rome) & Talia Films (Spain//St & Sc: Fabio De Agostini, Sergio Bergonzelli & Mario Caiano//DP: Mario Pacheco//E: Donatella Baslivo//M: Jesus Villa Rojo//Makeup: Fernando de Rossi//Color

Cast: Ana Maria Pier Angeli, Eleonora Rossi-Drago, Fernando Sancho, Alfredo Mayo, Maria Rosa Schlauza.

The film opens with the quote " And then a sudden violent shock that left a deep impression on the mind and damagen (sic) it permanently," followed by a severed head bouncing onto the floor. Lucille has killed her second husband Andre, an underworld figure. Their daughter Falesse, witnessed the crime and has been mentally unbalanced ever since. A criminal on the run appears and takes over the household in a most violent manner. Before the film ends, we discover that none of the characters (including the returning Andre) are who they say they are and many more murders occur (or do they?). For a film like this, no plot synopsis could do it justice!!

I have a certain fondness for Grade Z films and Folds of the Flesh certainly covers all the exploitable items the thriller genre has to offer. There are large dollops of nudity and gore, along with the usual howlers heard during the dubbing process. Actress Pier Angeli unfortunately went from appearing in mainstream Hollywood films to low budget affairs such as this (and Octaman) which no doubt precipatated her tragic suicide. The plot to this film could almost be referred to as The Big Sleep of Gialli as the damn thing refuses to make sense the first time through. Character actor Fernando Sancho snarls his way through one of his all-time great roles. He gets to rape a few women, beat up Lucille's wimpy son Colin (who, before the film's end we discover was involved in an incestuous relationship with his sister) and reveal his great flabby butt in a bathtub scene (perhaps this is where the film's title originated from?). Based on this film, it's no surprise to learn that Bergonzelli made his name in the sexploitation market place. The man has no shame as he even includes a Nazi flashback death camp scene just as an excuse to fill the screen with more naked women! The musical score by Villa Rojo is strident in the extreme, using piercing horns and strings to signal each and every plot twist, but no real themes emerge (which in this film's case, is not a negative). Makeup effects by Di Rossi are fake looking, especially in the recreation of decapitated heads and severed body parts. Flesh-eating vultures and Etruscan burial grounds are all smokescreen subplots that have no validity in an already overcrowded scenario. Folds won't replace the films of Dario Argento on anyone's list of greats, but compared to most of the crap appearing nowadays, you could do a lot worse.