''L'iguana dalla lingua di fuoco'' () is a 1971 '' giallo'' film. It is directed by Riccardo Freda, who was unhappy with the film and had his name replaced with the pseudonym "Willy Pareto".

Cast

* Luigi Pistilli as Detective John Norton * Dagmar Lassander as Helen Sobiesky *

Anton Diffring Anton Diffring (born Alfred Pollack, 20 October 1916 – 19 May 1989) was a German-born character actor who had an extensive career in the United Kingdom from the 1940s to the 1980s, latterly appearing in international films. He appeared in ove ...

as Ambassador Sobieski *

Arthur O'Sullivan Arthur O'Sullivan (1912 – 17 February 1981), also known as Archie O'Sullivan, was an Irish actor who appeared on stage, screen and radio. Radio career The Radio Éireann Players were a repertory company for radio formed in 1947 which performed ...

as Insp. Lawrence * Werner Pochath as Marc Sobiesky * Dominique Boschero as Ambassador's mistress * Valentina Cortese as Mrs. Sobiesky

Production

Prior to the release of

Dario Argento Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film critic, critic. His influential work in the horror film, horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ...

's film '' The Bird with the Crystal Plumage'', '' giallo'' films were not popular among Italian film audiences. Following the release of ''Bird'', a wave of ''giallo''s were released with animal's names in their title. This led Riccardo Freda to follow suit and attempt a film in the genre. The film's opening credits state it is based on the novel ''A Room Without a Door'', by Richard Mann. Italian film historian Roberto Curti said that the novel was an invention of the filmmakers. The screenplay of the film was written by

Sandro Continenza Sandro Continenza (13 July 1920 – 21 November 1996) was an Italian screenwriter. He wrote for 142 films between 1949 and 1982. He was born in Rome, Italy. Selected filmography * ''Toto Looks for a Wife'' (1950) * '' Appointment for Murd ...

and Freda, while other credited writers André Tranché and Gunther Ebert were credited solely for co-production reasons. Riccardo Freda was not proud of the film and was unhappy with the cast. He later said that he had initially wanted "

Roger Moore Sir Roger George Moore (14 October 192723 May 2017) was an English actor. He was the third actor to portray fictional British secret agent James Bond in the Eon Productions film series, playing the character in seven feature films between 19 ...

in the lead, but at the last minute I got Luigi Pistilli." ''L'iguana dalla lingua di fuoco'' was filmed in Ireland.

Release

''L'iguana dalla lingua di fuoco'' was distributed theatrically in Italy by Euro International Films on 24 August 1971. It grossed a total of 169,405,000 Italian lire domestically. Curti described this box office performance as "rather poor", noting that other films in the genre from that year such as '' The Cat o' Nine Tails'' grossed 2.4 billion while '' The Night Evelyn Came Out of the Grave'' grossed 450 million. A photonovel version of the film was released in the adults-only magazine ''Cinesex'' in January 1972. The film was released on Blu-Ray in 2019, as ''The Iguana With the Tongue of Fire'', in both an Italian and English dubbed version.

Critical reception

From retrospective reviews,

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wrote, "Stylish director Riccardo Freda gave Italy some of its greatest horror films. This gory but preposterous giallo thriller is not one of them", calling it "one of a great director's most blatant misfires." Louis Paul, author of ''Italian Horror Film Directors'' described the film as a "nasty and vicious entry in the ''giallo'' thriller genre, complete with the hindrance of an unlikable cast of villains and suspects."

References

Footnotes

Sources

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External links

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''The Iguana with the Tongue of Fire''
at Variety Distribution 1971 films Giallo films Films directed by Riccardo Freda Films scored by Stelvio Cipriani Iguana dalla lingua di fuoco French serial killer films West German films Films shot in Ireland 1970s crime thriller films Crime horror films 1971 horror films 1970s slasher films Italian serial killer films 1970s Italian films {{crime-thriller-film-stub