Orgasmo

This movie is not for everybody. Fans of the director Umberto Lenzi's cannibal films might be disappointed that no one is eaten alive, no women are hung up by their breasts via ridiculous-looking special effects, and no innocent animals were slaughtered in real life for their amusement. Instead you have a clever suspense movie that is well-photographed, well-acted, directed with panache, and, dare I say, even a little bit classy. Others may find actress Carroll Baker a bit on the voluptuous side compared to the poster children for anorexia and bulimia that pass for actresses today (and you may very well be blinded by her tan lines). But this is THE Carroll Baker, for christsake! The sex and nude scenes are pretty are tame by today's standards, but were very risqué for the time. This was a groundbreaking film that helped usher in both the Italian gialli and the free-spirited European sex films of the 70's.

The plot of this movie is somewhat similar to the recent film "Swimming Pool". A somewhat older, recently-widowed woman (Baker) is staying alone in an isolated Italian villa owned by her sleazy lawyer when she is seduced by a local gigolo and his "sister". At first, the diabolical pair just get her to loosen up and enjoy life again, but then they start to blackmail her and torture her (and possibly the viewer) by playing the same song over and over again until she starts to go crazy.

I liked almost everything about the movie (even the strangely catchy song), but the America version has this ridiculous deus ex machina ending-- because, of course, the evil-doers MUST be punished. Maybe if this is ever released on legitimate DVD, someone will dig up the European version (maybe put both on the same DVD like they did with "Delerium"). Oh well, whatever, check it out.

Once again we have some disparaging IMDB user comments for a euro-or-otherwise-foreign-source film that does not conform to the user's safe, comforting criteria for narrative structure, sound (in this case the dubbing -- which is actually not bad), or subject matter.

This film is an extremely entertaining psychological thriller with Carrol Baker excellent as a rich American widow getting away from it all at a secluded Italian villa. Enter smart aleck down on his luck playboy, Lou Castel, who has some golddigging motives behind his slick hipster seduction techniques and has no qualms about how he gets what he wants. He encourages Baker's character's incipient alcoholism and dubious self-esteem, brings in his supposed 'sister' to help drag Baker even further into a maze of sick mind games, drug addiction and group sex, all culminating in a descent into near-madness and self-destructive depravity.

I won't give away anymore, suffice to say that the film delivers on its swinging sixties, Euro sleaze ambience and psychological suspense thriller credentials in spades. Director Umberto Lenzi's work has been, at best, uneven and he's churned out his share of crap. However, he made some quite good giallos and crime pictures in the sixties and seventies and this is one of them (other good films by Lenzi -- SPASMO, SEVEN BLOODSTAINED ORCHIDS, ASSAULT WITH A DEADLY WEAPON, to name only a few).

Unfortunately this film is ofen confused with another okay but not-quite-as-good Lenzi film that was also released briefly here in America under the same PARANOIA title (but is more commonly known, especially on video, as A QUIET PLACE TO KILL).

For his third film of 1969, Umberto Lenzi goes for the full groovy sixties vibe with the trippy visuals, free living people who you just want to slap, laid back music and all that crap. It's quite good though, kind of! Caroll Baker is a young widow who is rich beyond her wildest dreams, but has ended up in one of the gigantic mansions that occur in about 95% of Italian films of this era. She's hitting the hooch, but things look up a bit when hunky young Peter Sorel turns up, offering Caroll some free loving and free thinking - just like everyone else of his age and generation. The twats.

Caroll falls in love with Peter, who manages to get himself invited to the mansion and moves in proper, as does his sister, who likes to give Caroll pills and looks like David Bowie (what's with these actresses looking like David Bowie?). Caroll feels young again, but is it all too good to be true? When Caroll catches Peter in bed with the sister, the answer is 'probably'.

Yep, it's another low-violence, high suspense giallo with all the trimmings - annoying free love, pills, booze, crap like 'jealousy is all in the mind' - all that stuff. I don't want to reveal what happens mind you but for a film where not much happen it's still quite watchable. Lenzi cranks up the 'trippy' visuals too, some of which don't make sense, but it's probably the best of the three films he made in 1969.

Except the ending is the EXACT ending of Oasis of Fear! You can't fool me Lenzi!

This is another prime example of why alternate titles, especially for late 60's and 70's European thrillers, create a lot of confusion and – to some people – even aversion. Not only did Umberto Lenzi direct two films called "Paranoia" in the short span of just two years (moreover starring the same lead actress), but also how do these two titles possibly relate to each other? Paranoia and Orgasm? What the hell is the connection? I can easily imagine that certain types of audiences will pass simply because they fear that the film will just be as incoherent & random as both the titles. And in that case they miss out on another excellent and amazingly stylish euro-crime thriller/giallo by the most versatile filmmaker of Italy! Don't pay any attention to what Roger Ebert wrote in his review (what the hell does he know, right?), as "Paranoia" is a great film with a solid plot, complex characters and a really huge portion of genuine suspense. The adorable cult siren Carroll Baker is very convincing as the timid woman moving into a large & isolated country mansion following her millionaire husband's sudden death in a car accident. Whilst her befriended attorney arranges the further formalities regarding the will, lonely Kathryn falls in love with the handsome and free-spirited Peter. She takes him into the house and his equally free-spirited sister Eva soon joins the couple as well. The cheerful times of parties and unconditional sex rapidly end, as Peter & Eva start to blackmail, torture (physically & emotionally) and drug her. The depiction of Kathryn's agony is truly harsh and uncomfortable to observe, especially because you honestly care for her persona. You're hoping that the tables will soon turn, yet whenever you think Kathryn's rescue is near, her suffering actually grows more intense. Lenzi succeeds in making his film amazingly compelling and even manages to save up some excellent (albeit abrupt) twists for the big finale. They're not particularly plausible but at least they're original and rather dared. "Orgasmo" contains very little violence and explicit sex, especially compared to Umberto Lenzi's later repertoire, but the film relies a great deal on its atmospheric settings and music. The cameras elegantly swift through the wonderful filming locations, guided by suitably sultry songs and instrumental tunes. Our director sometimes does exaggerate a little with his "hallucinating" camera trick and close-up angles, but that's easily forgiven. Carroll Baker is simply terrific and Lou Castel makes a very impressive villain. It's a great movie and I can clearly understand why Lenzi himself counts it among his personal favorites. Highly recommended.

This Italian/French co-production was the first of four collaborations between Hollywood star Carroll Baker (Baby Doll) and director Umberto Lenzi (Cannibal Ferox), and gave Baker a second chance at stardom after work had begun to dry up stateside. Here she plays Catherine, an American widow whose oil tycoon husband has recently died in a road accident (leaving her $200 million richer). She decides to relocate to Italy, where she meets a younger man named Peter (Lou Castel), also an American. The two soon become lovers. Their relationship is volatile but passionate and Peter moves into Catherine's luxurious villa. A short while later Catherine is surprised by the arrival of Peter's attractive sister, Eva (Colette Descombes). However, she likes having the youngsters around and Eva moves into the villa as well. But the initial fun turns into a physically and sexually abusive three-way relationship, one that sees Catherine's existing drink problem compounded by a forced addiction to drugs. Realising she is now a prisoner in her own home she tries to retake control of her life and escape.

This is often referred to as a giallo, although it doesn't really fit the term as we use it today (there's no mysterious, faceless stalker, no bloody injury, no string of people being bumped-off - in fact there are no deaths at all until well into the third act). It's better watched as a psychological thriller. The performances of the three leads (plus Tino Carraro as Catherine's lawyer) are all good, but the story is pretty unoriginal. It also paints Catherine as pretty annoying, even unpleasant at times, leaving it hard to care what happens to her. Credit though for an double-whammy ending that I never saw coming. Some topless and rear nudity and very softcore sex. 6/10.