Wheatpenny After a brutal and attention-grabbing opening murder, this movie settles into a predictable rut. Riccardo Freda seems content to borrow the conventions of the giallo genre--such as giving the killer a recognizable trait like a limp, and then having half the characters in the film limp in various scenes--but manages to suck the life out of them, leaving a rather slow-moving film. Freda is considered a top-notch Italian director but it's hard to see why, especially since his protege had outclassed him and positively defined the genre the year before. Still, it's done with enough care to have (apparently) taught Brian DePalma a thing or two when it came to "Dressed to Kill," and the finale has a jaw-dropping viciousness to it that has to be seen to be believed, involving a nude 16 year-old, an old woman and a completely berserk black-gloved killer. It's just a shame that the scenes between the violent ones aren't more involving and interesting.

jangu I was rather disappointed by this effort from Freda, who's visual style I have always admired. "Iguana" is by comparison to many of his other movies rather clumsily assembled and Freda is not very sure in his timing of the shock-effects. There are compensations: a thrilling chase on a bridge, above-average performances, nice Dublin locations and a surprisingly nasty conclusion that involves a crazed killer beating up an old woman and torturing a semi-nude 16 year old!However, these compensations are not enough to make it a worthwhile movie, even for fans of the giallo genre.The plot is uninteresting and rather muddled, the score and cinematography sub-standard (for a film directed by super-stylist Riccardo Freda, I mean) and what is this hilarious obsession with sun-glasses!!!According to rumor Riccard Freda wasn't too happy with "Iguana" himself and used the pseudonym "Willy Pareto" in the credits. It's not that it's a bad movie, it's just that it should have been so much better considering everyone involved.

alanurso I agree with my swiss friends. I say that this film isn't surely a masterpiece neither one of the best Freda's films. Characters are not very expressive, storyboard is week and not very plausible. However I must highly recommend this film mostly for gory scenes. Murders are savage and extremely violent; above all three scenes deserve to be remembered: the Luigi Pistilli flashback; the cat killed and close into the fridge; and the final scene. These are three motives for watching, watching again and adoring.

rundbauchdodo Riccardo Freda's rude giallo is not quite a masterpiece, but it still delivers good entertainment and some stuff quite unusual for the "typical" Italian thriller of the Sixties and Seventies. First of all, the movie plays in Dublin, which I already assume unique in the history of giallo. Second, the family involved in the crimes is the one of the Dutch ambassador in the Republic of Ireland, which makes the case even more complicated for the policemen involved.Also very remarkable is the fact that this giallo delivers no nude scenes, which is quite rare for this genre. And last but not least, it's one of the goriest gialli before Dario Argento made "Profondo Rosso" (Deep Red). E.g.: Some hapless victims get their faces mutilated by acid before the killer slits their throats.By the way Freda delivers some thrilling and uncanny moments, and the climax is extremely nasty for various reasons: It has to be seen to be believed. The cast - including Anton Diffring, Luigi Pistilli, Dagmar Lassander and Werner Pochath - is above average and always convincing.All in all, "L'Iguana dalla Lingua di Fuoco" is not a masterly but still very cool giallo. Its only fault (possibly) is that it's too nasty for the easily offended - but easily offended people don't watch gialli anyway, I guess.