Rausch der Begierde

It's basically a 90 minute music video. There are a number of striking visuals. The original score is quite good at times.

However, the acting is mostly bad. Gérard Darmon comes across as the best of the bunch and comparatively acts circles around most of these clowns. Virginia Hey's scenes are hit or miss. She has some good moments.

The film itself is a strange mix of erotica and murder mystery set in a futuristic setting. The futuristic setting was the most interesting aspect of the film and also was the least explored in the film. For example, there is a laser gun, but it is only shot once, and it misses and hits a wall. That's it.

The weakest component was the murder mystery. I figured out the killer within the first half of the film before the big clue is revealed. There is very little in terms of gore or special effects here.

It's hard to say who this movie was actually made for.

This film is packaged as a run of-the-mill sex thriller, however theres a lot more to it than meets the eye. The video box neglects to mention that this is a sci-fi adventure. The photography is absolutely magnificent, gorgeous, and well thought out. Sureal and surprising. It's everybit a 'Barberella' for the eighties

My review was written in March 1989 after watching the film on Imperial Entertainment video cassette.

This thriller is an excellent example of a recent Italian genre little-known Stateside: the glamorous horror/fashion pic. Direct-to-video release should generate interest in other pasta couture shriekers.

Pic aroused interest in Europe last year (and was featured in photo spreads in "Lui" and other magazines) under the title "Pathos". Helmer Piccio Raffanini has adapted the style of Jean-Jacques Beineix' "Diva" (and cast Beineix' regular thesp Gerard Darmon) to this tale of decadent photographers using high-tech equipment to stylize erotic fashion photos.

Virginia Hey is the antiheroine, whose sexy models are being murdered. Identity of the assailant is possible to figure out, and getting to the bottom of the mystery is made exciting by an excellent musical score, vivid pastel-lit photography by Romano Albani and a very attractive cast (frequently nude).

Hey, an Aussie thesp in tv series "Dolphin Cove", is solid s the shutterbug with a sadistic streak, while Teagan Clive and Carin McDonald offer diverting beauty as muscular femme models. August Darnell, Kid Creole of the vocal group, pops up in a small role.

Gabriele Ducros' hypnotic background score is augmented by well-chosen songs, including Chrissie Hyde's "Private Life", sung by Grace Jones. Tech credits, including English postysynch, are way above average.

'A Taste For Fear' translated from the Italian is a decent title and presumably derives from the rather surprising but brief bondage set-ups in this mish mash of a movie. As soon as this got under way, after the astonishingly daring opening, I wasn't sure I was going to last the course. If you love the 80s, you will be fine but for me the blasts of dance music coupled with music video style photography had me worried. Actually, this is so uneven that there is something for everyone and in the end I quite enjoyed it and its gialloesque features will permit me to add a very late title to my giallo list! So, there is SM, Kid Creole acting, Grace Jones singing, naked girls frolicking, risqué photo sessions, big men in dark glasses bending forward and back as they torture a saxophone, plus gory killings. You cannot say you were not warned.

Yes, it takes place in the future, but I think that's just because the producers had access to a futuristic car and wanted to work it into the plot. In reality, it is a conventional erotic thriller, but it's a fairly worthy one. Alone worth the price of admission is an absolutely stunning brunette in one of the supporting roles. She and Virginia Hey get into a little romantic tryst that absolutely revolutionized my adolescent fantasy life when I saw this picture back in the 80's.