Carroll Baker reteamed with her Orgasmo director Umberto Lenzi for this psychosexual thriller. Jean-Louis Trintignant stars as a philandering husband who becomes obsessed with a battered woman (Baker) who just moved into his apartment building. After some well-intentioned stalking, they soon become lovers, much to the chagrin of his bitter, jealous wife (Erika Blanc). The couple’s future happiness is quickly put in jeopardy when Baker’s loose cannon ex (Horst Frank) begins lurking about.
I’ve read several reviews that describe So Sweet… So Perverse as a loose remake of Diabolique, but it’s very much its own thing for a good chunk of the running time. In fact, it doesn’t reveal any Diabolique touches until about the third act. Curiously enough, it’s this stretch of the movie that’s the weakest, mostly because the big twist is kind of clunky.
Fortunately, there’s plenty of good stuff in the first hour or so of the flick to make So Sweet… So Perverse a treat for fans of Italian sleaze. Lenzi does an especially good job on the unsettling flashbacks of Baker’s sordid past. The rape scene on the beach is particularly memorable as the rushing tide symbolically colliding with a large conch shell on the shore is a rather fantastic (if a bit twisted) image. Heck, Lenzi even gives the romantic scenes are a hint of danger and makes to make them kind of suspenseful. (I’m thinking particularly of the swinging dinner party where Baker and Trintignant play a variation on “Seven Minutes in Heaven” in front of Blanc.)
Baker and Blanc’s performances further help keep the viewer involved in the twisty plot, even when it begins spinning its wheels in the late going. They have a lot of chemistry together and participate in a handful of tastefully done nude scenes too. The film also has the benefit of a great theme song, “Why” by Riz Ortolani, which is reminiscent in some ways of his classic, “More” from Mondo Cane.
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