Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key (1972) Review
Spoiler-free so you can read before you watch
Horrorific content by TE Simmons on January 13th, 2022 | Movie Review | Slow Burn, Cult Classic, Killer, Mystery, Dysfunctional Family, Maniac, Giallo
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It’s about an insufferable failed writer, his proclivity for violence, and some feminine opposition to his nastiness.
Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key was directed by Sergio Martino (Slave of the Cannibal God and Torso) and stars Edwige Feneche (Dr. Jekyll and the Kind Woman and Strip Nude for Your Killer), Anita Strindberg (Murder Obsession and Who Saw Her Die?), and Luigi Pistilli (Enter the Devil and The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire).
If vice is a locked room, what is in Olivero’s head?
The American-style slasher – at its roots – is a wholesome affair. The protagonist is Laurie Strode-type, an honest, innocent individual undeserving of what fate has in store. The antagonist is a half-known and often unnamed hurricane of chaos; a Michael or a Jason. Or a Freddy.
European films take a different approach. With this film, we begin with an examination of the evil fellow. His name is also European. It’s Olivero Rouvigny, a sophisticated and still-handsome writer who resides in a rambling villa with his gorgeous spouse, Irina. Olivero is a pig. He’s a drunk. He throws parties for hippies in order to humiliate his wife in public. He’s detestable. And he’s the character we follow. He’s no Laurie Strode.
Given his detestable personality, he’s the obvious suspect when a girl is stabbed. Olivero is always engaging in extra-marital affairs and although Irina provides him with an alibi, he’s probably the culprit. Even the police are less than convinced of his innocence. But the film withholds confirmation of this suspicion.
Then – a second murder. This one occurs inside the villa. The immigrant maid, Brenda, with whom Olivero has also been dallying – is killed. Olivero (in typical fashion) convinces his wife to cover for him a second time. They jointly bury the maid’s corpse in the wine cellar and concoct a cover story for her sudden departure.
Things get upended when there’s a third murder in a nearby house of ill repute. The assailant is caught and killed – and it’s not Olivero after all. He has an alibi. (The film is loosely, loosely based on Edgar Allen Poe’s short story, The Black Cat.)
In the meantime, a third main character has entered the narrative. Olivero’s vibrant niece, Floriana, arrives, flirting with Olivero while initiating a physical intimacy with Irina. It’s a love triangle (or is it a quadrangle?) We also have an unsolved murder to contend with. If Olivero didn’t killer Brenda, who did? Was it Irina? Or …
Worth Watching?
European cinema takes some growing accustomed to. But if you’re new to giallo, you could do worse than to start with Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key.
