One on Top of the Other

In San Francisco, Dr George Dumurrier's clinic is going under and his wife Susan dies of an asthma attack. The insurance money goes to him. Then he sees a cabaret dancer: Monica, who is identical to his wife. Different under the wig, the same on stage. As George starts looking into who she is, the police start thinking he killed his wife. The film adds a Hitchcock shape to Italian mystery and puts at its centre a woman played twice over. What works is that the audience cannot be any more certain than George; the clues support both murder and coincidence. Lucio Fulci directed. He would later be known for horror; here he is still on the giallo line, and the emphasis is on construction rather than violence. Shooting in San Francisco gives the film an unusual texture: the hills, the fog and real streets separate it from the studio look of Italian mystery. Who it is for: anyone who likes giallo and Italian thrillers of the late sixties. Who it is not for: anyone looking for logic. The plot leans on coincidence, the woman is built entirely through a male gaze, and the explanation at the end is long and flat.