The Daily Dig: Nothing Underneath (1985)

“Nothing Underneath” is a solid crime thriller with beautiful people, great camera work, and a score by Pino Donaggio.

An American park ranger travels to Milan to investigate the disappearance of his twin sister after he had a vision of her being murdered. Let’s dig into 1985’s NOTHING UNDERNEATH, directed by Carlo Vanzina!

As I See It

Playing on the old wives’ tale that twins can communicate telepathically, Bob, a forest ranger in Wyoming, feels when his sister, a model in Italy, is in danger. She escapes an attempted rape, which Bob can feel, and then eventually disappears. So Bob drops the Smokey the Bear badge and takes a trip to Milan to investigate the disappearance of his model sister.

The plot reminds me of a geographically reversed version of Dario Argento’s Inferno, minus the Witches, which happens to be my favorite Argento horror.

The comparisons stop there as this film is closer to an Argento crime thriller like The Bird with the Crystal Plumage than one of the installments of the Three Mothers Trilogy.

I laughed out loud at the inclusion of the Murray Head’s“One Night in Bangkok” — a song originally composed for a musical called Chess in 1984, and made famous in a more recent film thanks to Mike Tyson rapping it at the end of Todd Phillips’ The Hangover Part II.

The twist ending confirms this as a Giallo for me, even though I don’t see it labeled as such anywhere.

I liked it. The poetically tragic ending, even with the ridiculous final battle using a corded drill as a weapon (how can you not just step outside the range of the cord?), looked great in slow motion.

Famous Faces

Donald Pleasence (Commissioner Danesi) pops up in way more B-horror films than I ever expected. This is the first time I’ve seen him with an Italian accent. You, of course, know who he is, the immortal Doctor Sam Loomis from Halloween 78. If you didn’t know that, you can close this tab.

Of Gratuitous Nature

An ample amount of nudity comes with the territory. Italians seem to be way less uptight about it than Americans, but I see little excuse beyond a horny cameraman to film up the skirt of a woman caught in a sewer grate.

Heartthrob

In a film filled with beautiful people with blessed bone structures and a dislike of clothes, Renée Simonsen (Barbara) sticks out. She didn’t do much acting but was a very successful supermodel who also dated the bass player from Duran Duran. She’s almost sixty and still a beautiful human.

Ripe for a Remake

It’s obscure enough to feel fresh and strong enough to warrant a contemporary re-imagining, a la Suspiria.

Spawns

There is a sequel of sorts called Too Beautiful to Die, which uses models and murder again, but there is no other connection.

Where to Watch

A double feature, which also includes the sequel Too Beautiful to Die, was released by the good folks at Vinegar Syndrome. You can stream Nothing Underneath on Tubi or Screambox.