Olivia

My review was written in March 1983 after a screening in the Bronx.

Filmed half in London and half in Arizona in 1981 with the shooting title "Faces of Fear", "A Taste of Sin" is an effective psychological horror thriller from prolific Germany-to-U;S. Filmmaker Uli Lommel. Biggest treat her for film buffs and horror fans is Lommel's equal-time raiding of not merely the works of Alfred Hitchcock, but also the Hitchcock-derived thrillers of Brian DePalma.

Prior to its present (tacked-on to suit a sex-themed ad campaign) moniker, picture bore a series of better titles: "Beyond the Bridge", "Double Jeopardy" and "Olivia".

Opening (culled from Hitchcock's "Marnie") has 6-year-old Olivia (Amy Robinson) watching (through a keyhole) her British prostitute mother servicing a G. I. who's into bondage. She helplessly sees her mom killed by the G. I. Fifteen years later, Olivia (played as an adult by Suzanna Love, star of all even of Lommel's U. S.-made pics) has a British husband Richard (Jeff Winchester), and dresses up at night to relive her mom's experience as a streetwalker near London Bridge. Controlled by her (imagined) mom's voice from beyond the grave, she starts killing her customers while being wracked with guilt for not coming to mom's aid versus the G. I. Olivia falls in love with Michael Grant (Robert Walker), an American working on a project to restore the bridge. In a fight with Richard over her that takes place on the bridge, Grant is victorious, and Richard ends up hurtling into the water below.

With the film half over, scene shifts to Arizona four years later where London Bridge has been transplanted (along with its fatalistic associations for the lead characters). Grant finds Olivia working as a condominium saleslady using a new name (Jenny) and with a new mousy appearance and American accent. Suspenseful plot twists (and red herrings) involve lifts from "Vertigo", "Obsession", "Sisters","Psycho" -you name it.

Though this type of derivative filmmaking is hotgly criticized these dys (with DePalma perhaps the number one whipping boy), Lommel plays it straight and comes up with an entertaining B picture. He obviously enjoys the Hitchcock association, even casting Vera Miles from "Psycho" in his next film "Brainwave" (opposite Tony Curtis instead of Janet Leigh) and recalling Walker (son of "Strangers on a Train" namesake and near lookalike) for the lead in "Devonsville Terror".

Suzanna Love is quite impressive in the chameleon lead role, calling for at least three distinct personalities. Walker, still looking boyish at age 40, is an empathetic hero, though one keeps expecting him to become sinister, given Hitchcok's switcheroo casting of his dad 30 years earlier. Joel Goldsmith's synthesizer music score is effective, but the film is hampered by drab would-be film noir visuals, for which five cinematographers are credited.

Somehow one is reminded of Brian de Palmas film "Obsession" when watching this rarely seen German-American production from the early eighties. Ulli Lommel, once member of Rainer Werner Fassbinders highly intellectual actors group, turned to directing when he still under Fassbinders influence, but after his mentors untimely death he finally turned to more commercial topics. "Olivia" – or "A Taste of Sin", as it is apparently also known – at first sight looks like pure (S)Exploitation, but there's more to it. As Lommel says in the short interview that accompanies the films' German DVD release, the idea of the story came to his mind when he, while on a trip with his then-wife Suzanna Love (playing the main part), found out that the London Bridge was rebuild in Arizona. He used this as the outline for a sort of identity-switch trouble-personality killer-love story – combining two places with two personalities, both of which essentially having been one from the very beginning. True, the way the story unfolds is far from cinematic brilliance, but nonetheless it is quite entertaining; and in no one way is this modern fairytale the brutal splatter film that others would probably want it to be. There are some harsh effects, and a few violent scenes are included in the aforementioned DVD as bonus (yet only the material that was originally cut out is seen, which makes some of this bonus shorter than even a second!). But sex, murder and blood, while still important for the outline, are not the main attractions. Lommel intensely tries to give his film a psychological touch. Because of his limited skills in storytelling, he does not succeed. But still: Olivias rite of passage makes for entertaining viewing, especially is you like that particular touch of weirdness, absurdity and "otherness" that so many great underground pictures from the 70s carry.

You all can read the plot summary from IMDb, so I won't write about it.

I got my hands on the DVD of "Olivia" yesterday. DVD cover didn't look great, more like erotic b-film, but WOW! The film runs only 1 h 20 minutes but many things happens during the film, and you won't be bored. There is something for everybody; romance, thrill, erotic and murders. Does that sound awesome combination? Maybe not, but in this film it is.

It looks like a big Hollywood studio film from the end of 1970's, but it was actually made with budget of $500,000. I have to admit that there are few moments when you can see that it was made with small budget, but it doesn't bother watching.

A must see for people who likes to see erotic thriller, but also for the IMDb users here who says that Lommel hasn't done any good film.

This is incredible.

I like Ulli Lommel's film The Bogey Man so much that I have 3 different copies of it; I even have 2 of it's poor sequel. I also collect many of the 88 Films releases, so when this came out I just had to buy it. The British blu ray comes with an enticing cover (film is entitled Prozzie) and is part of 88's Slasher Classics Collection. This, however, is NOT a slasher movie, much more a psychological thriller with a bit of sex and horror thrown in. I prefer the first half of the film, which is set in London. It's pretty dark and has a few Lommel touches reminiscent of The Bogey Man. But when the action moves to Arizona the plot becomes pretty silly & unbelievable. This film grew on me after a second viewing, so I'm glad I hung on to my Blu Ray copy as I had contemplated selling it.

Variously known as, Olivia, A Taste of Sin, Prozzie and Double Jeopardy, this has as many twists and turns as it does titles. Eccentric ex art house director Ulli Lommel, writes, directs and even looks after camerawork here in a very strange film. Seemingly considered by the makers as 'Hitchcockian' there is only one decent scene of suspense and lots more that appear to have crept in from many and varied a genre. As so often with low budget fare the bonus is that you never quite know where things might go, but who expects the evil child, slasher, sexploitation movie to tell the story of the moving of London Bridge to Arizona?! Likeable, varied, ludicrous but involving with Suzanna Love helping enormously in a most convincing central role. Crazy, but cool.