Paroxismus

Anyone claiming that cult filmmaker Jess (Jesus) Franco was a hack, obviously has never seen his masterpiece, "Venus In Furs" aka "Paroxismus." Mind-bending, visually stunning tale of a jazz musician obsessed with the beautiful blonde woman, murdered as he watched, during an S&M session that went too far. Already haunted by her memory, he becomes lost in a hallucinatory World when her nude body washes up on shore. and the world in which he finds himself might..or might not be Hell. Very original concept at the time, an idea that has been imitated countless times since, in such films as David Lynch's "Lost Highway." The dreamlike jazz score is as sensual as the images on screen. The scenes in Istanbul, where the adventure begins and ends, are beautiful and chilling, and sexually charged images played against the backdrop of Mosques and Islamic chanting make for a bizarre and unsettling experience. Actor James Darren is perfectly cast in the main role of the trumpet player. Darren, who was an acquaintance of jazz legend Chet Baker, based his character on the horn player, imitating his mannerisms and way of speaking. Barbara McNair is wonderful as the lounge singer, who tries to save Jimmy Logan from his inescapable fate, and of course Maria Rohm inhabits her role as the 'Venus in furs,' back from hell to avenge her death. And who can forget the piercing blue eyes of Klaus Kinski, as Ahmed..the Turk with a taste for sadomasochistic sex. What a cast! "Paroxismus," with it's unique editing, camera work, framing, lighting etc is something that should be studied in film classes; it is that good. This is what cinema is all about.

Venus in Furs, by Jesus (Jess) Franco, is pretty good. It's about a jazz trumpeter, played by James Darren, who finds a naked, dead woman washed up on the beach, and then things get weird.

It seems that Jimmy Logan recognizes the dead girl as Wanda Reed (Maria Rohm). In fact, he dimly recalls her murder - or did he dream it? Or is he dead himself? Welcome to 1969, where apparently this kind of hazy reality was, like, a reality.

Sometime after finding Wanda's body, Jimmy runs into...Wanda. Wait, isn't she dead? Who knows, man, but next thing anyone knows, the gang she was hanging with is joining her in the thereafter. Guys like art dealer Kapp (Dennis Price) and fashion photog Olga (Margaret Lee) and Klaus Kinski. Well, someone played by Klaus Kinski, but either way, weird.

Meanwhile, Jimmy's falling hard for Wanda, who - again - is probably dead. He likely isn't, because he has a girl named Rita (Barbara McNair), a singer in the combo wherein he jazz trumpets. And Rita can see Wanda, so it's not like Wanda appears only to Jimmy. So maybe Rita's dead too. It's not really important.

Visually speaking, this isn't a bad effort. And the score, particularly the jazz, is really cooking. James Darren isn't a bad actor. Also helping? The multiple naked women. I mean, they're in almost every scene.

Super-prolific Spanish exploitation director Jess Franco is often bashed as being merely a creator of cheap trash - which is a preconception that only people who are not familiar with all of his work can take. Sure, the man's impressive repertoire of more than 180 films includes more than a few stinkers, but Franco also made several films that are downright brilliant, especially in his earlier years. "The Awful Dr. Orloff" (1962) and "The Diabolical Dr. Z" (1966) are two of these films, and "Paroxismus" aka. "Venus In Furs" of 1969 definitely also belongs in this category. "Venus In Furs" is a bizarre, sleazy and amazingly artistic Exploitation gem that mixes Horror, Mystery, sexual perversion and great music in an obscure and highly memorable manner. The casting of Klaus Kinski in a typically demented role and sexy Maria Rohm as the eponymous Venus are by far not the only aspects that make "Venus In Furs" a must for cult-cinema lovers.

When walking along the beach in Isanbul, a Jazz trumpeter (James Darren) stumbles across the body of a young woman. He recognizes her as a girl who was assaulted by a rich playboy (Klaus Kinski) and two others. He travels to Rio, where he meets Rita (Barbara McNair) a foxy black bar singer who becomes his girlfriend. In Rio, he also runs into a young woman (beautiful Maria Rohm) who is the spitting image of the dead girl from the Istanbul beach.... I do not want to give away too much of the, sometimes confusing, plot, but I can assure that it is highly obscure and very interesting throughout. The English title, "Venus In Furs", is also the title of a novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch. The film has nothing to do with the novel, however, the title refers to the character played by Maria Rohm. Rohm is incredibly sexy and mysterious at the same time. Barbara McNair, who is also responsible for the best parts of the great score, makes another great female character. The female cast members are all beautiful, and, as in is the case with most of Franco's later films, the film provides sleaze, female nudity, lesbianism and perversions, though not as explicitly as many of his later films. It also provides ingenious surrealism, obscure mystery, psychedelic imagery and delightful weirdness of all sorts. The great Klaus Kinski (one of my all-time favorite actors) is once again brilliantly demented in his role, and James Darren fits well in the lead. One of the greatest aspects of the film is the great score, especially memorable is the 'Venus in Furs' sung by Barbara McNair herself. "Venus In Furs" is an obscure and bizarre gem that is ingenious in many aspects and should disabuse all the Jess Franco-haters out there. To some people, this is Franco's best film. I would still give that title to either "The Awful Dr. Orloff" or "The Diabolical Dr. Z", but this film is doubtlessly also a must-see for everyone interested in cult cinema, and an absolute proof for what a great filmmaker Franco is. 8.5/10

Paroxismus (AKA Venus In Furs) is an absolute treat from beginning to end. The film looks beautiful and the surrealist vibe that runs throughout the film suits the subject matter perfectly. The hepcat jazz trumpeter central character played by James Darren and the truly luminous and beguiling Maria Rohm add much to the proceedings, but the soundtrack, you cats, the soundtrack! Paroxismus is a Euro horror film in which the visuals and sound match beautifully, but the musical score is fantastic. Therefore, even if the dreamy images and plot baffles and befuddles, just close your eyes and listen a truly superb and innovative score.

Thus, Paroxismus is a Jess Franco gem.

then I'll never watch another franco movie. I was excited to see this by the reputation and the American title (shades of Leopold von Sacher Masoch)and all I saw was fifteen minutes of good film (the first 15) and then a bunch of stock footage,nonsensical dialogue, and BS plot development. I needed more dungeon scenes or more masochism, and less stock-footage/VO mental masturbation. I was sorely disappointed. Some might say "You should see it stoned", well, I did, and that didn't improve things. Someone compared this to "Lost Highway", and to them I can only spit derisively. I'd rather watch a Dolph Lundgren movie. How that guy still has a career is more honestly surreal than this stuff.