SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

ChanBot i must have seen a different film!!

Contentar Best movie of this year hands down!

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Leofwine_draca An entertainingly trashy giallo movie from Riccardo Freda, hiding under a pseudonym here for some reason or other. I knew of Freda's involvement before I watched this and as such was left feeling slightly disappointed, because it displays none of the trademark style he brought to the likes of such Italian gothics as THE TERRIBLE SECRET OF DR HICHCOCK. Instead the direction is passable, only springing into life in a couple of places and being run-of-the-mill for the rest of the time. THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE has very much a typical plot for the genre, packed with clues (the sunglasses crop up repeatedly), tons of red herrings, shifty characters, and an undercurrent of sex.The unorthodox cop Norton, as played by Luigi Pistilli, is a brooding and haunted middle-aged man who keeps repeating his wife's suicide over and over in his mind. This makes for an unconventional leading man, usually a role played by a young handsome bloke in the Jean Sorel mode, but Pistilli shines in the part and gives a multi-layered performance (at least as far as the poor dubbed-in Irish accent will let him). Dagmar Lassander provides plenty of Italian glamour as the love interest Helen, and of course is required to shed her clothing as is the norm for the genre. Anton Diffring is always welcome and gives a typically icy turn as the Swiss ambassador whilst there's an early appearance from Werner Pochath, sadly underused here as Diffring's son.The brief action sequences are top-notch and include a three-man fight in a drawing room which leaves the place wrecked, and an atmospheric chase through the dark streets of Dublin as a woman finds herself menaced by the mystery killer. The Dublin location makes a nice change from the norm although the silly over-the-top accents do become a bit grating and unconvincing after a while. This is definitely one of the gorier gialli that I've watched, in which the killer's modus operandi is to throw acid in his (usually beautiful) victim's face and then slash their throat with a straight razor, allowing for Fulci-style torrents of pumping blood. There's also a good shock sequence involving the body of a decapitated cat found in a fridge! THE IGUANA WITH THE TONGUE OF FIRE also has a really nasty conclusion, which I won't go into except to say it's incredibly violent. A fitting end, really, to what is very much a fun evening's entertainment for the giallo fan.

BA_Harrison Pay no heed to the somewhat disparaging reviews here on IMDb: although The Iguana With The Tongue of Fire fails to live up to its wonderfully evocative title thanks to a rather mediocre storyline and a lacklustre finale, there is still much to entertain fans of the genre. Director Riccardo Freda's film features a decent cast, atmospheric location work in Ireland and Switzerland, some gnarly violence, silly red herrings aplenty, a little action, and a touch of sleaze, making this one fun despite the drawbacks of the plot.The film stars Luigi Pistilli as Detective John Norton, whose investigation into the murder of a young woman (who has her face ruined by sulphuric acid and her neck sliced with a cut-throat razor in the gory opener) sees him becoming personally involved in the case after he develops a relationship with Helen (Dagmar Lassander), sexy daughter of the prime suspect, Swiss diplomat Ambassador Sobiesky (Anton Diffring). As the bodies continue to pile up, Norton's own mother and teenage daughter find themselves at risk...From its gruesome opening, to the spectacular demise of the film's killer, The Iguana With The Tongue of Fire is trashy fun and should appeal to those who love their giallos bloody and sleazy; if the likes of The New York Ripper and Strip Nude for The Killer float your boat, you'll most likely get a kick out of this one too. In addition to the juicy razor attacks, we also get a 'decapitated cat in a fridge' gag, and Norton's mother having her head bashed in, while the nudity includes Lassender getting her top off for a brief sex scene, and Norton's daughter being attacked while just in her knickers (her childish dubbed voice making this scene a tad uncomfortable to watch).The film also offers some great unintentional laughs: the woeful 'Oirish' dubbing will no doubt illicit some chuckles, as will the numerous red-herrings (everyone seems to own a pair of sunglasses, a cut-throat razor, or leather gloves) which, as if they're not blatant enough, are accompanied by a crashingly loud sound effect that really drives the point home—this is a possible clue and the owner of the item in question could be the killer!!!! The final reveal of the murderer's identity and his convoluted motive for killing are suitably daft—the icing on the whole silly giallo cake.

HumanoidOfFlesh So I decided to re-watch "The Iguana and the Tongue of Fire" by Riccardo Freda after many years of not seeing the movie.In the prologue beautiful woman has her face melted with acid and her throat slashed by unknown black gloved killer.Her body is found in the trunk of a car belonging to the Swiss ambassador.Former police Inspector John Norton(Luigi Pistill)tries to solve this grisly case of mutilation and murder.But the elusive killer soon will kill more victims.""The Iguana and the Tongue of Fire" is a watchable albeit quite unsatisfying giallo with several nasty and gory murder scenes and very sadistic finale.The acting is fairly good and there is a bit of nudity.Still it seems that Riccardo Freda himself was dissatisfied with the film and effectively disowned it.That's why he directed it under the pseudonym of Willy Pareto.7 fiery iguanas out of 10.

Red-Barracuda If you are a fan of the sub-genre known as giallo then its surely an impossibility to not be a bit excited by a film entitled The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire? It's a truly mind-melting title that promises so many potential psychotronic thrills. Sadly the movie itself just cannot live up to this terrific moniker. Its overall a somewhat clumsy effort really, although its still definitely entertaining in a trashy way.The main thing that sets this one apart from all others is its Irish setting. Even though these films were set in various locations throughout Europe it remains a somewhat unusual location for a giallo, especially when it means that we have Luigi Pistilli dubbed with an Irish accent. And we also have a funny scene where a couple of characters take a bike ride through 'Dublin' – it looks hopelessly unlike the city though and appears more like Las Vegas. Location aside however, visually this is a relatively drab looking film with uninspired camera-work. Seeing as this is one of the chief strengths of the genre, this is a little unfortunate.What The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire does have going for it is a mean-spirited exploitative element. There aren't that many on-screen murders – annoyingly several are lazily committed off-screen – but the ones that we do see involve gory throat slashings replete with the sound of gushing blood and acid attacks where peoples faces are burned nastily. These effects aren't very convincing but good value all the same. But probably best of all is the final act where the killer attacks a half-naked school-girl and then batters her granny's head repeatedly off a bed post! It's a scene that is wrong on several different levels but it's so out-of-order you just have to marvel at its audacity. The killer himself looks really freaky too, so a further plus point on that score. To be honest, the movie is really saved by the ending, as after a very promising start it does get bogged down with too much tedious detective work.The cast is really good to be fair. Pistilli, Anton Diffring and Dagmar Lassander are all well worth seeing in any film. So the movie has decent personnel in front of the camera. There are also occasionally effective suspense scenes such as the chase through the foggy night street. But like I say, this one's probably got too much emphasis on the detective side for it's own good. But, all-in-all it still manages to pull enough tricks out of the bag to keep us happy.Oh and who in their right mind would use a laundry service called the 'Swastika Laundry'? Sounds like a business Martin Bormann would have set up after the war while in hiding