Moonlighting Mistress (1970)

 

(Original Title: Ich schlafe mit meinem Mörder, AKA Dead Sexy) It's the well-worn story of the boy toy wanting to kill off his sugar mama and collect her fortune - but random events screw up what would have been the perfect plan.

Married man Jan (Harald Leipnitz) is having a fling with young hottie Gina (Véronique Vendell)

Jan is stuck with his alcoholic bitch wife Angela (Ruth-Maria Kubitschek).  She owns the company, so Jan knows who butters his bread and doesn't dare leave her.

Jan lives a rich playboy lifestyle, but has to put up with Angela.

But that doesn't mean he doesn't find time for some fun with Gina on the side.

Holding a pistol, Gina "jokes" about killing Angela, and taking all her money.

But Angela is too smart.  She hands Jan a document which spells out in no uncertain terms that he's stuck with her.  He's got to continue to put out for this bitch or lose all her fortune.

Jan can't take it anymore, and discusses killing Angela with Gina.

Unfortunately, this doesn't appear in this version; we just have publicity shots from adult magazines.

Okay, so here's the murder plan: Jan will bring home two whores.  Gina will dress like Angela and act like she's outraged at Jan's adultery and appear suicidal in front of the prostitutes. Then they shoot Angela and make it look like a suicide - which will be corroborated by the hookers. Got it?

But everything gets fucked up when two burglars hit Angela over the head and presumably kill her.

According to plan, Jan brings home two hookers: Jackie Lombard and...

Waltraud Schaeffler

According to plan, Gina dresses up like Angela and pretends to be outraged and suicidal. 

But things get further convoluted when the police arrive (responding to the call Angela made before she was whacked).

To make matters worse, one of the whores returns and sees Jan and Gina together - which blows the whole suicide enactment.

With Angela presumed dead, Gina has to pretend to be her indefinitely.  She must pretend to be deteriorating in mental health so they can again provide suicide as an explanation for Angela's death.  But Gina becomes more and more paranoid in the ensuing days, having to pretend to be his ailing wife.

Things become increasingly more dire for them as their lies require more lies and so on.

The Inspector (Friedrich Joloff) interviews the burglars who insist they didn't kill Angela.

Going through Angela's documents, Gina begins to see that all is not as it seems.

She's also getting mysterious calls from a blackmailer.

Gina tries to make a run for it, but Jan pulls her by the arm.

Gina watches from the window as the inspector pays them a visit.

Gina has to hurriedly duck under the sheets and pretend to be Angela, infirm in the bedroom for the inspectors.

For a moment it feels like they may have pulled it off.

But not so fast.  Both of them are trying to kill each other now.  Gina has poisoned Jan's drink... but Jan has done something even more lethal to Gina.

Gina dies horrifically in a car bomb!

What's this?  Angela isn't dead after all.

Jan is once again forced to have sex with this cantankerous bitch.

He's in the midst of strangling her to death when there's someone at the door.

It's the inspector who finds Angela very much alive. THE END

Way sleazier than I expected, with Véronique Vendell providing gobs of nudity.  I did like how the lies become compounded, and you can feel the stress climb as their alibis and deceit fall apart in a spiralling shitstorm.  However, it's a story that may have felt relatively fresh in 1970, but has been repeated on TV and film so many times that predictability is around every turn.

 ★★★★★★☆☆☆☆6/10