Orgasmo (1969)

User Rating:

5.4/10   

Director:

Umberto Lenzi

Writers:

Umberto Lenzi (writer)
Ugo Moretti (writer)

Release Date:

7 February 1969 (Italy)

Genre:

Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

Love is the tool that strips a jet-set widow bare of her morals and her millions!

Plot:

A rich and lonely American widow befriends two young people whose motives become suspect.

Plot Keywords:

Widow | Love | Caress | Voyeurist | Voyeurism

Cast

Carroll Baker	...	Kathryn West
Lou Castel	...	Peter Donovan
Colette Descombes	...	Eva
Tino Carraro	...	Brion Sanders
Lilla Brignone	...	Teresa
Franco Pesce	...	Martino
Tina Lattanzi	...	Kathryn's Aunt
Jacques Stany	...	Police Inspector
Sara Simoni
Gaetano Imbró
Calisto Calisti
Alberto Cocchi
Maria Rosiello
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Joseph Guilty	...	Arnold Cleever

Also Known As:

Orgasm (International: English title) (literal title)
Paranoia (USA)
Une folle envie d'aimer (France)

Runtime:

USA:91 min

Country:

Italy | France

Language:

Italian

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Norway:18 | Sweden:15 | USA:X

Company:

Société Nouvelle de Cinématographie (SNC)

Trivia:

First part of a trilogy also including Così dolce... così perversa (1969) and Paranoia (1970).

Movie Connections:

Featured in Super 8½ (1995)

Soundtrack:

Fate Had Planned It So

Great premise, but somehow disappointing Giallo

Umberto Lenzi was undoubtedly responsible for many of the best films that the Giallo sub-genre has to offer. Seven Blood-Stained Orchids and Oasis of Fear are my pick of his filmography, and while Orgasmo is generally well regarded by Giallo fans, I have to say that I didn't find it all that interesting. The film has some notoriety due its title, as Lenzi made another film also called Paranoia and starring Carol Baker in 1969, which has lead to masses of confusion. It is for that reason that I prefer to use the title 'Orgasmo', although 'Paranoia' actually suits the plot and it's themes far better. The film focuses on the upper class, and in particular Catherine West; a woman who has inherited a fortune from the death of her husband. She decides to take refuge at a clandestine mansion in the country. It's not long before a young man named Peter arrives and seduces Catherine, but this leads her to the bottle, which she indulges in often. Peter's sister Eva later arrives at the mansion, and it's not long before the three of them engage in a manage trios, and Catherine soon feels the brunt of the pair's ulterior motives...

The central plot undoubtedly has the potential to give way to a great thriller, but it's never totally capitalised on and the tension isn't revved up to a satisfying degree. The film came out before the Giallo boom in the early seventies, and it's not your usual Giallo picture in the sense that sex and blood don't feature often. There are a few sex scenes, however, and the film gained some notoriety upon release for Carol Baker's nude scenes. However, it's clear that atmosphere is more important to the director and the torture sequences in the film are unique in that they focus more on sound and mental torture than the physical kind. Umberto Lenzi's regular heroine Carol Baker gives a satisfying performance and manages to draw the audience into her plight at every opportunity, and her acting certainly one of the film's main highlights. The ending gives way to a rather off-the-cuff twist, which doesn't completely make sense; but does succeed in giving the film some extra shock factor. Overall, Orgasmo is certainly worth checking out for the Giallo fan as it's one of the more highly revered films; and I wish I could have given it a higher rating.