After one of the models vanishes from the fashion house La Femme Kate Hillman starts her investigation along with Captain John Hillman.The chain of ghastly murders begins..."Mannequin in Red" is often cited as the main influence on Mario Bava's legendary giallo "Blood and Black Lace".It's a murder mystery that takes place in a fashion house.The film is gorgeously photographed by Hilding Bladh and offers some suspenseful moments.The killings are tame and completely bloodless and there are some irritating scenes that are supposed to be funny,but I wasn't amused.However if you want to see stylish giallo from Sweden check out "Mannequin in Red" before or after watching Bava's masterful "Blood and Black Lace".7 out of 10.

A private detective is called in to investigate the murder of a blackmailing model ("The Red Mannequin") at a haute couture salon called "Le Femme" where his wife is working undercover on another case. Behind the chic veneer of the fashion house facade lies a hotbed of illicit intrigue and a clever killer uses the establishment as a human hunting ground despite the investigators' presence...

Between 1958 and 1963, director Arne Matteson (dubbed "The Swedish Hitchcock") whipped up five mystery-thrillers featuring PI John Hilman, using a different color in both title and motif and the rarely-seen (until its recent restoration, anyway) and ahead-of-its-time MANNEQUIN IN RED was the second of his "colour series" (the others are THE LADY IN BLACK, RIDER IN BLUE, LADY IN WHITE, and THE YELLOW CAR). Not only is the movie an exercise in striking visual style, it's also a granddad to the giallo and undoubtedly a major influence on Mario Bava's similarly-set BLOOD & BLACK LACE (1964),generally considered a reel pioneer of the Italian horror sub-genre. Quite a few genre conventions get their start in Matteson's movie ***spoiler*** (the crippled and the dead aren't what they seem, an inheritance scheme, more than one murderer, bizarre kills, quirky characters, erotic hints of lesbianism, a stalking sequence) ***end spoiler*** and the atmosphere has a pop-cultural modernity that would predominate in later gialli rife with garish 70s psycho-chic. The color red is present in every scene and the overall effect is impressive even if the lack of gore (as well as a memorable score) plant it firmly in "proto-giallo" terrain. In maestro Mario's copycat ode to atmospheric style (minus the comedy bits),the murders are more graphic but the tale's not as well-plotted as its Scandinavian inspiration and instead of a predominant color, certain scenes are bathed in an eerie blue and green light. Bava's version of "the model murder" doesn't seem as novel now that the Matteson's come to light but it's still ground-breaking and the two films compliment each other nicely when paired as a double feature.

There are a few things that really impress me in this movie. First of all, this should be seen on a large screen where one can be impressed with the beautiful Eastmancolor. Arne Mattsson is known for using complicated camera movements There are two actresses that stand out. Anita Björk can portray subtle feelings with just a twitch of her mouth. And Lillebil Ibsen does the role of aunt Thyra wonderfully. It is positively impossible to hear a Norwegian accent, although she apparently was one of Norway's biggest stars. The plot itself can be a bit tricky to follow and one has to see the movie more than once to really comprehend all the innuendos and hints from the characters, to understand what role they play and why they act like they do.Of course, the director could have streamlined the movie much more, e.g. by removing the funny sidekick, Freddy, altogether. The movie is a bit too long with its 110 minutes and it could have been paced much quicker.