Nothing Underneath (1985) is a 1980s-era late-period giallo thriller that fully knocks off the Brian De Palma style. Even composer Pino Donaggio reuses a variation of the ‘Telescope’ theme from Body Double a few times. An American model, Jessica Crane (Nicola Perring), in Milan is in danger (also she has the same blonde punkish cut that Melanie Griffith had in Body Double), and she shares a psychic link with her brother Bob Crane (Tom Shanley) who is a park ranger in Wyoming. This is also an amazing part of the film, the amount of location footage shot in Wyoming while the brother does his rounds; it’s completely clear that this doesn’t really serve the story much and it’s really there for the production value of these American vistas. Most of the film is spent in Italy, as the brother travels to investigate the disappearance of his sister after receiving a traumatic vision of an assailant wearing black gloves and wielding a pair of scissors stalking through her hotel room.

A pleasing assembling of elements, from the himbo hero who had a Kip Pardue vibe, a hotel filled with sexy models (which is of course run by an overweight perv), Donald Pleasance turning up with an Italian accent as the detective on the case, a fashion photographer with a philosophical monologue that references the title, and so on. Nothing Underneath is a sleazy film with gratuitous nudity and gratuitous fashion shoots (they even throw in ‘One Night In Bangkok’ to soundtrack a runaway show), and then has great suspense scenes with POV tracking shots. While a little bit timid on the violence until the second half, I enjoyed this glossy yet trashy thriller. This is what I come to Italian genre cinema for, exploitation knock-offs. And if I’m chasing that Brian De Palma feeling and more specifically a Body Double type feeling, it’s great that there are these rip-offs to approximate that feeling. Beautifully delivered final scene. Pino Donaggio once again delivers the goods.

Remastered version available on Tubi.