IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE has more than its share of faults. The film is often clunky and derivative, with little regard for telling a gripping or even coherent story. I don't think Riccardo Freda's heart was in the movie, a reflection - perhaps - that his career was on the wane. Freda's direction is often perfunctory, his frequent use of the zoom lens showing little of the imagination found in the work of friend and colleague Mario Bava. The pacing is uncertain, with little tension built between the extremely gory set-pieces. Freda does conjure some striking visuals, aided by cameraman Silvano Ippoliti, who also worked with Sergio Corbucci and Tinto Brass. The Irish locations are quite well used and certainly add novelty value.
The performances are competent but little more. Only Anton Diffring, Arthur O'Sullivan and Luigi Pistilli make much impression. Diffring and O'Sullivan dubbed their own dialogue, unlike Pistilli and several others in the cast (the film was shot without synchronised sound). The English dialogue varies from offbeat to functional to pretty awful. While the film avoids the blatant misogyny found in many 'giallo' thrillers, the vicious attack on Pistilli's teenage daughter is a cynical piece of sado-voyeurism. I found it more unpleasant than anything in Dario Argento's work. We don't even discover how badly hurt she was or if she recovered.
The recent German DVD release of IGUANA has an English language track. The transfer isn't great - it seems that the original film elements are lost - and several scenes are too murky. I think the distributor did the best possible job with the materials available and a restored, remastered version is highly unlikely.
The performances are competent but little more. Only Anton Diffring, Arthur O'Sullivan and Luigi Pistilli make much impression. Diffring and O'Sullivan dubbed their own dialogue, unlike Pistilli and several others in the cast (the film was shot without synchronised sound). The English dialogue varies from offbeat to functional to pretty awful. While the film avoids the blatant misogyny found in many 'giallo' thrillers, the vicious attack on Pistilli's teenage daughter is a cynical piece of sado-voyeurism. I found it more unpleasant than anything in Dario Argento's work. We don't even discover how badly hurt she was or if she recovered.
The recent German DVD release of IGUANA has an English language track. The transfer isn't great - it seems that the original film elements are lost - and several scenes are too murky. I think the distributor did the best possible job with the materials available and a restored, remastered version is highly unlikely.