A Lizard in a Woman's Skin

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin
Original Italian film poster
Directed by	Lucio Fulci
Produced by	Edmondo Amati Renato Jaboni
Written by	Lucio Fulci Roberto Gianviti José Luis Martínez Mollá André Tranché
Starring	Florinda Bolkan Stanley Baker Jean Sorel
Music by	Ennio Morricone
Cinematography	Luigi Kuveiller
Edited by	Giorgio Serrallonga (as Jorge Serralonga)
Distributed by	American International Pictures
Release date	17 February 1971 (Italy)
Running time	103 min.
Country	Italy
Language	Italian
Box office	ITL 935,206,000

A Lizard in a Woman's Skin (Italian: Una lucertola con la pelle di donna) is a 1971 Italian giallo film directed by Lucio Fulci. The film was released in France as Carole, and was later re-released in the USA as Schizoid. Set in London, the film follows Carol Hammond (Florinda Bolkan), the daughter of a respected politician, who experiences a series of vivid, psychedelic nightmares consisting of depraved sex orgies and LSD use. In the dream she commits a graphic murder and awakes to a real life criminal investigation into the murder of her neighbour.

Carol Hammond (Bolkan) is the daughter of a wealthy lawyer and politician named Edmund Brighton (Leo Genn). Her husband Frank (Jean Sorel) is a lawyer working for Brighton's practice. They all live together in a large apartment with Joan (Edy Gall), Frank's teenage daughter from a previous marriage. Carol has been visiting a psychoanalyst (George Rigaud) because of a string of disturbing dreams she's been having featuring her decadent neighbor, Julia Durer (Anita Strindberg). Julia's frequent, late-night parties infuriate and yet excite Carol, evoking images of wild sex-and-drug orgies.

During a meeting between Edmund and Frank, they talk about their recent court cases in which Edmund asks Frank if he has been unfaithful to Carol, which Frank denies. Then a phone call is made by an anonymous woman who claims to Edmund that she has damaging information about his family. But unknown to everyone, Frank is indeed having an affair with his personal secretary Deborah whom he meets after work at her country house for some romantic tryst.

Carol's dreams continue which become more complicated during scenes that appear to be dreams or hallucinations. Describing her latest one to her psychoanalyst, they depict a lesbian encounter between the two women, culminating in Carol grisly stabbing the seductive Julia to death. In an enigmatic coda to the dream sequence, Carol sees two kaftan-clad hippies (Mike Kennedy and Penny Brown) who have apparently witnessed the whole thing without intervening.

The following day, it's revealed that Julia Durer has indeed been murdered. Inspector Corvin (Stanley Baker) from Scotland Yard arrives to take charge of the investigation. The room and condition of the dead body are identical to their depiction in the dream sequence. To make matters even more incriminating, there is a discarded fur coat near the body. Learning of the murder, Carol insists that she see the scene of the crime and when she enters Julia's apartment and sees the body, she faints.