The Fourth Victim (1971)

The Fourth Victim is a giallo which stars Carroll Baker, and that in itself is surely enough reason to give it a watch.

It is not however quite so simple. This is one of those movies you can bring up whenever you get enticed into one of those “is it a genuine giallo or not” discussions. There are those who are happy to describe any stylish European murder mystery thriller made between around 1968 and 1978 as a giallo. In that sense The Fourth Victim certainly qualifies. Purists on the other hand expect a true giallo to include a number of key ingredients which this movie lacks.

The Fourth Victim is also not an Italian film. It’s a Spanish-Italian co-production and it was directed by a Spaniard, Eugenio Martín. Giallo purists tend to consider the giallo to be a distinctively Italian genre (although there certainly are non-Italian films which satisfy all the necessary giallo criteria).

The Fourth Victim boasts a fine opening sequence which is guaranteed to get the audience intrigued. A beautiful blonde girl is lazing in the pool, reclining in one of those transparent inflatable floating chair things which you tend to see a lot of movies of this era. She is smoking a cigarette. All very innocent, until you notice that the cigarette has burnt all the way down to her fingers and she hasn’t reacted. Maybe she’s asleep? But of course she isn’t asleep.

We discover that the woman is a Mrs Anderson and by the time her husband Arthur Anderson (Michael Craig) arrives home she is floating face down in the pool, very dead. Then things get a bit strange. Before calling the police Anderson and the housekeeper dry off the body, dry off her hair, remove her bathing suit and dress her. The doctor arrives and is quite happy to sign the death certificate.

The insurance company which insured the life of the late Mrs Anderson is not at all happy. This is the third wife that Arthur Henderson has lost. All three died in accidents. All three were heavily insured. Superintendent Dunphy of Scotland Yard is not happy either (the movie is set in England). Henderson is charged with murder, but acquitted. This all happens within the first few minutes so I’m not giving away any vital spoilers.

The twist is that we, the audience, have absolutely no idea if Arthur Anderson is guilty or not. The circumstances of his wife’s death were a bit suspicious but there is no real evidence of his guilt.

Then Julie Spencer (Carroll Baker) enters the picture. While looking at slides of his late wife diving into the pool he hears a splash which sounds exactly like a woman diving into a swimming pool. It is a woman diving into a swimming pool. His swimming pool. It turns out to be a neighbour, the aforementioned Julie Spencer. While Arthur has been away she has been sneaking into his property to use the pool.

Julie seems keen to get to know Anderson better. Anderson isn’t a complete fool. It crosses his mind that she could be a cop or an insurance investigator or a journalist. But she is a beautiful fascinating woman. Is she going to be wife number four?

And who is the mysterious blonde woman hanging around Julie’s house? In fact there are several mysterious blondes in this movie.

Michael Craig is a fine actor. He was nominated for an Oscar, but oddly enough as a writer rather than as an actor. He gives a nicely understated performance. He keeps us off balance - we can’t decide what to make of Arthur Anderson.

Carroll Baker did her best work as an actress in European movies in the late 60s and the 70s. She was perfect for these kinds of movies. Like Michael Craig she is able to keep us off balance.

So we have two protagonists, both likeable and sympathetic, but either one could be hiding a dark secret.

The screenplay by Vicente Coello, Santiago Moncada and Sabatino Ciuffini is equally effective at keeping us guessing. We get a whole succession of plot twists and they’re managed very skilfully with some nice misdirection.

There are dangerous games being played but we don’t know what the games are or how many players there are. The one thing we’re sure of is that we can’t be sure of anything.

Eugenio Martí­n wasn’t a director who specialised in a particular genre which possibly explains why he hasn’t gained major cult status. I’ve seen three of his movies now and they’re all excellent so you can class me as an admirer of his work. He made a number of interesting and excellent movies in the early 70s. Horror Express is his best-known work but A Candle for the Devil (1973) is every bit as good.

The Fourth Victim doesn’t have the extreme stylistic flourishes that you would expect to see in a giallo but Eugenio Martín isn’t interested in wowing us with visual extravagances. It’s a handsome movie and by no means entirely lacking in style but the director is mostly concerned with creating an atmosphere of doubt and suspicion and in keeping us interested in the two enigmatic protagonists.

This film was made at a time when Spanish censorship was pretty strict so there’s no sex and no nudity. There’s also no gore. On the other hand it’s fast-paced and has a nicely devious plot.

Severin’s release (it’s on DVD and Blu-Ray) offers a pretty nice transfer. The main extra is an interview with Eugenio Martí­n’s biographer Carlos Aguilar.

The Fourth Victim is only mildly giallo-esque but it’s a well-crafted twisty psychological thriller and it’s thoroughly enjoyable. Add the fine performances by Michael Craig and Carroll Baker and this one gets a highly recommended rating. It would make a nice double bill with the slightly earlier Carroll Baker giallo-esque thriller, The Sweet Body of Deborah (1968).