{ "id": "epqfy4mx2h", "slug": "a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin", "title": "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": 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"https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery", "label": "Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1970s-films", "label": "1970s films", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1970s-films" } ] } ], "excerpt": "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) is a 1971 Italian giallo directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Florinda Bolkan, with an Ennio Morricone score and a famous animal-cruelty trial over Carlo Rambaldi's fake vivisected dogs.", "snippet": "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) is a 1971 Italian giallo directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Florinda Bolkan, with an Ennio Morricone score and a famous animal-cruelty trial over Carlo Rambaldi's fake vivisected dogs.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.crime-thriller-mystery.1970s-films", "markdown": "# A Lizard in a Woman's Skin\n\n**A Lizard in a Woman's Skin** (Italian: *Una lucertola con la pelle di donna*) is a 1971 Italian giallo (Italian genre of stylish murder-mystery thrillers) film directed by [Lucio Fulci](https://www.edgepedia.org/lucio-fulci), in which Carol Hammond, the daughter of a British politician, tells her psychiatrist she dreamed of murdering her neighbor, who is then found dead in exactly the circumstances of the dream.[1](https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/A_Lizard_in_a_Woman%27s_Skin) • [2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) It is an Italo-Franco-Spanish co-production set in London, starring Florinda Bolkan, Stanley Baker, and Jean Sorel, with a score by [Ennio Morricone](https://www.edgepedia.org/ennio-morricone).[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Original title | *Una lucertola con la pelle di donna* (Italy), released 17 February 1971[3](https://publicatt.unicatt.it/retrieve/668b2bff-3de4-4e1c-b77e-e5ac0147c4e5/tesiphd_completa_Colletti.pdf) |\n| Director and writers | Directed by Lucio Fulci; screenplay by Fulci, Roberto Gianviti, José Luis Martínez Mollá, and André Tranché[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) |\n| Principal cast | Florinda Bolkan (Carol Hammond), Stanley Baker (Inspector Corvin), Jean Sorel (Frank Hammond), Anita Strindberg (Julia Durer), Leo Genn (Edmond Brighton)[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) |\n| Key crew | Music Ennio Morricone; cinematography Luigi Kuveiller; special effects Carlo Rambaldi[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) |\n| Production | Co-production of Apollo Films (Rome), Les Films Corona (Paris), and Atlántida Films (Madrid); produced by Edmondo Amati; US release by American International Pictures[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) • [4](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin) |\n| Running times | Italy 98 min, Spain 89 min, France 101 min, USA 95 min (103 min on DVD)[4](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin) |\n| Reception | IMDb 6.8/10 from about 6,700 votes; Rotten Tomatoes 100% Tomatometer (5 reviews) and 70% audience score[5](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067361/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lizard_in_a_womans_skin) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Plot\n\nCarol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan) is the daughter of Edmond Brighton (Leo Genn), a respected lawyer with political ambitions, and the wife of Frank (Jean Sorel).[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lizard_in_a_womans_skin) Her neighbor Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg) leads a dissolute life of parties and drug use, and Carol recounts to her psychoanalyst a vivid dream in which she makes love to Julia and kills her with a letter opener.[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) • [6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lizard_in_a_womans_skin) Julia is then found dead in circumstances matching the dream, and Carol, unsure whether she committed the murder, becomes the police's focus while Inspector Corvin ([Stanley Baker](https://www.edgepedia.org/stanley-baker)) investigates.[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) • [7](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin/cast/2030112332/) The story is framed by psychedelic dream sequences involving orgies and LSD, and by hippie characters who serve as suspects and red herrings.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lizard_in_a_womans_skin) • [8](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/26704/lizard-in-a-womans-skin/)\n\n## Production\n\nThe film was shot on 35 mm in [Technicolor](https://www.edgepedia.org/technicolor), with locations in London and at [Woburn Abbey](https://www.edgepedia.org/woburn-abbey) in England.[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) Luigi Kuveiller was the director of photography, Maurizio Chiari designed the sets and costumes, and the special effects were by Carlo Rambaldi's company with Eugenio Ascani.[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) The score by Ennio Morricone combines Edda Dell'Orso's wordless vocals with harp, harpsichord, electric guitar, and brass in what the [Museum of Modern Art](https://www.edgepedia.org/museum-of-modern-art) describes as one of his most appropriately schizoid scores.[9](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9205)\n\nIt opened in Italy on 17 February 1971, in direct competition with [Dario Argento](https://www.edgepedia.org/dario-argento)'s *Il gatto a nove code* (1971) and Sergio Martino's *Lo strano vizio della signora Wardh* (1970), which were in theaters in the same period.[3](https://publicatt.unicatt.it/retrieve/668b2bff-3de4-4e1c-b77e-e5ac0147c4e5/tesiphd_completa_Colletti.pdf) Italian marketing billed it as \"Il più agghiacciante film di tutti i tempi\" (\"The most chilling film of all time\"), while the American campaign used the tagline \"An erotic nightmare that keeps you on the edge of an abyss of terror!\".[10](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33055/1/Fisher%20final%20file.pdf) • [4](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin)\n\n## Censorship and the animal-cruelty trial\n\nThe film's most notorious sequence shows Carol fleeing into a clinic room where dogs appear to have been cut open and kept alive for experiments, connected to tubes.[11](https://thedigitalbits.com/reviews/item/lizard-womans-skin-ce-umb-2024-bd) The effects were realistic enough that Fulci and his producer Edmondo Amati were taken to Italian court on animal-cruelty charges.[9](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9205) • [2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) The charges were dismissed after Rambaldi appeared before the judges with his fake, mechanically vivisected dog props and demonstrated that the scene was done with special effects.[9](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9205) • [8](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/26704/lizard-in-a-womans-skin/)\n\nCensorship cuts followed the film through its release history. The uncut Italian version runs 98 minutes, while versions released in Spain, France, the United States, and the United Kingdom ran from 89 to 101 minutes, and a shorter US cut carried the title *Schizoid*.[4](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin) The excised material included nudity between Bolkan and Strindberg, a phone conversation, and the eviscerated-dogs scene; later home-video releases such as Media Blasters' 2007 DVD restored roughly a reel's worth of this footage, some of it sourced from prints and presented in Italian with subtitles because it had never been dubbed into English.[4](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin) • [8](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/26704/lizard-in-a-womans-skin/) For decades, cult audiences seeking the uncut version had to rely on bootleg copies.[9](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9205)\n\n## Style and critical standing\n\nCommentators place the film close to the giallo model of Dario Argento, combining a detective story with proto-slasher elements, rather than the nightmare logic of Fulci's later horror films such as *Zombi 2* and *The Beyond*.[12](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/lizard-womans-skin) Reviewers single out the dream sequences and the disorienting camerawork that echoes Carol's inner turmoil; Screen Slate calls the visuals Fulci's most impressive, and a [Bloody Disgusting](https://www.edgepedia.org/bloody-disgusting) review ranks Kuveiller's cinematography among his best work.[12](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/lizard-womans-skin) • [13](https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3363139/blu-ray-review-lizard-womans-skin-showcases-early-fulci/) Fulci's visual techniques include split screen, slow motion, snap zooms, and deep focus.[14](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin/Review)\n\nThe film also carries themes of sexual repression and class conflict: Carol's respectable bourgeois family is set against Julia's hippie lifestyle, and scholarly accounts read Carol's professed heterosexual repression as masking a destructive lesbian relationship with Julia.[15](https://morbidlybeautiful.com/sapphic-sunday-a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin-1971/) • [16](https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/9811/1/Bodies%20of%20Desire%20and%20Bodies%20in%20Distress%20PDF%20for%20REF%20output.pdf) A Variety review in April 1971 called it \"an unusually well-mounted suspense thriller\" while noting that Fulci was most imaginative in staging the surrealist fantasy of dreams and mental derangement.[2](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/) On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 100% Tomatometer from five critics and a 70% audience score, and the Museum of Modern Art screened a restored DCP in December 2023.[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lizard_in_a_womans_skin) • [9](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9205)\n\n## References\n\n1. [A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Internet Movie Firearms Database](https://www.imfdb.org/wiki/A_Lizard_in_a_Woman%27s_Skin)\n2. [Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (1971), EOFFTV](https://eofftv.com/una-lucertola-con-la-pelle-di-donna-1971/)\n3. [Colletti, Tesi di dottorato, sezione 6.1: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna, Università Cattolica](https://publicatt.unicatt.it/retrieve/668b2bff-3de4-4e1c-b77e-e5ac0147c4e5/tesiphd_completa_Colletti.pdf)\n4. [A Lizard In A Woman's Skin, Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin)\n5. [A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0067361/)\n6. [Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/lizard_in_a_womans_skin)\n7. [A Lizard in a Woman's Skin – Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin/cast/2030112332/)\n8. [Lizard in a Woman's Skin DVD review by Glenn Erickson, DVD Talk](https://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/26704/lizard-in-a-womans-skin/)\n9. [Una lucertola con la pelle di donna (A Lizard in a Woman's Skin), MoMA](https://www.moma.org/calendar/events/9205)\n10. [Fisher, Cross-Cultural Reception, Bournemouth University](https://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/33055/1/Fisher%20final%20file.pdf)\n11. [A Lizard in a Woman's Skin: Collector's Edition Blu-ray Review, The Digital Bits](https://thedigitalbits.com/reviews/item/lizard-womans-skin-ce-umb-2024-bd)\n12. [A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Screen Slate](https://www.screenslate.com/articles/lizard-womans-skin)\n13. [Blu-ray Review: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin, Bloody Disgusting](https://bloody-disgusting.com/reviews/3363139/blu-ray-review-lizard-womans-skin-showcases-early-fulci/)\n14. [A Lizard In A Woman's Skin/Review, Grindhouse Cinema Database](https://www.grindhousedatabase.com/index.php/A_Lizard_In_A_Woman%27s_Skin/Review)\n15. [Sapphic Sunday: A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (1971), Morbidly Beautiful](https://morbidlybeautiful.com/sapphic-sunday-a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin-1971/)\n16. [Bodies of Desire and Bodies in Distress, Birmingham City University](https://www.open-access.bcu.ac.uk/9811/1/Bodies%20of%20Desire%20and%20Bodies%20in%20Distress%20PDF%20for%20REF%20output.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Crime, thriller, and mystery films (individual works) › 1970s films*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"A Lizard in a Woman's Skin\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[A Lizard in a Woman's Skin](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin](https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"A Lizard in a Woman's Skin\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/a-lizard-in-a-womans-skin. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "A Lizard in a Woman's Skin is a 1971 Italian giallo directed by Lucio Fulci, starring Florinda Bolkan, with an Ennio Morricone score and a famous animal-cruelty trial over Carlo Rambaldi's fake vivisected dogs." }