Os Profissionais do Sadismo

If you need that instant buzz that only late 60s/early 70s Euro sex movies can give off, then look no further for you have just stumbled across the mother lode ! Subsequent TV director Schivazappa's exercise in psychedelic porn (of the soft core variety) may not generally be considered as a classic of its kind but it knocks many better known titles from the likes of Tinto Brass, Jess Franco and Joe D'Amato for a loop. Radley Metzger sure was hip to this way before anyone else when he picked up this marvelously twisted little number for US distribution through his company Audubon. Gorgeous cinematography (favouring symmetrical compositions) may elicit cries of 'pretentiousness' from those who swear by shoddy skin flicks shot in someone's backyard. Hey, as far as I'm concerned, it's their loss for this is one thrill ride of a movie with twists so, well, twisted that you may not even believe them after you have actually witnessed them on screen ! Dagmar Lassander (immortalized as the gone to seed landlady from Lucio Fulci's HOUSE BY THE CEMETERY) has never looked more exquisite than she does here, subtly portraying the innocent (?) researcher held hostage by mad medic Philippe Leroy (with all the art-house favorites to his name, you wonder whether he has the good humor to mention this one on his c.v.) as their initially violent 'relationship' turns to S&M-tinged love story. Nothing is what it seems however in this sick and imaginative gem of a movie with several truly erotic moments achieved with surprisingly minimal nudity. I for one was completely baffled and enchanted by the way Schivazappa chose to suggest oral sex during one scene (I'll let you find that one out for yourselves...) and Lassander's gauze-clad boogie to an impossibly groovy 60s tune should have become iconic in a way similar to the image of Sylvia Kristel reclining in that wicker chair in her EMMANUELLE days. You may not know this film just yet, but trust me, once seen you'll never forget it !!!

'The Frightened Woman' is a wonderful slice of 60s sexploitation - stylish, erotic and camp to the nth degree! Fans of Jess Franco's non-horror movies like 'Succubus' and 'Sadisterotica', or Dallamano's underrated 'Venus In Furs' (aka 'The Devil In The Flesh') will eat this baby up! Philippe Leroy is well cast as Sayer, the rich, jaded sadist who likes to degrade women for kicks, and Dagmar Lassander (who some may remember from Fulci's so-so 'House By The Cemetery') is equally good as the inquisitive journalist who unexpectedly finds herself trapped in his vicious games. She surprises Sayer (and us) by subverting his tricks and tortures, and takes him on a journey that he could never have foreseen, and the ending may be slightly predictable, but is still worth waiting for. Like much of Franco's output from the same period, this movie is equals parts art and trash, with many psychedelic touches, some very effective, and others unintentionally hilarious. You either dig this era and these kinds of movies, or you don't. I do, and I loved it. An underrated movie that deserves a much larger audience.

If you're a fan of Radley Metzger style eurotrash psychedelia this is for you. "Femina Ridens" is chock full elaborate sets, wild music and depravity. The misogyny of Leroy's character can be wince-inducing (He makes Rush Limbaugh seem like Phil Donohue.) but hang in there as the plot twists around

From today's point of view it is quite ridiculous to rate this film 18 (or X in the US). The film has a sexual, yet sublime erotic story to tell, but the pictures are rather innocent. Throughout the movie you feel and see the spirit of the late 60s and early 70s in the fashion, the dialogues and the typical experimental cinematography and lighting. And this is exactly the part that makes it worth seeing.

The Frightened Woman is a curious piece of Eurocult, much along the same lines as the films that Jess Franco was churning out around the same time. The film very much captures the feel of late sixties to early seventies European cinema and the atmosphere is definitely the film's best asset. It's lucky that the film will to appeal to fans of this sort of film too, as the idea behind the central plot line is pretty damn ridiculous! I'm not sure if there was some sort of paranoid science related thing happening in Italy in the late sixties, but films like this and the bizarre Giallo Death Laid an Egg suggest to me that something was going on... Anyway, our lead character, Dr. Sayer, has somehow got it into his head that women are taking steps to eliminate the need for men, and so he kidnaps a young lady named Maria. It turns out that he actually does this sort of thing all the time, and has got into the habit of killing his partner every time he has sex. However, things take a turn for the unexpected when Maria convinces him to change his ways.

Naturally, the entire film is really rather pointless; and while The Frightened Woman isn't exactly a thrill ride, there's still some interest. The speeches from the lead man are interesting in a completely nonsensical sort of way. The acting is typically trashy, although the leads; Philippe Leroy and Dagmar Lassander give decent leading performances considering the type of film. The majority of the film centres around the forced relationship between the two central characters, and this is somewhat the film's downfall. The problem is that what they're doing isn't always all that interesting; and the relaxed flow of the film means that it can become a bit dreary at times. The locations are good, however, and the bachelor pad in which most of the action takes place is a good representative of the period in which the film was made. As a 'battle of the sexes', it has to be said that The Frightened Woman veers more towards femininity, which is odd considering the way that women are usually treated in Eurocult cinema. Overall, I wouldn't recommend anyone going out of their way to find this film; but if you're a fan of trashy Jess Franco stuff, you might just like this too.