''Orgasmo'' is a 1969
giallo
In Italian cinema, ''Giallo'' (; plural ''gialli'', from ''giallo'', Italian for yellow) is a genre of mystery fiction and thrillers that often contains slasher, crime fiction, psychological thriller, psychological horror, sexploitation, and, ...
film directed by
Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist.
A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...
and starring
Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...
,
Lou Castel
Lou Castel (born Ulv Quarzell; 28 May 1943) is a Swedish actor who became known through his work in Italian films.
Life and career
The son of a Swedish father and an Irish mother, Castel was born Ulv Quarzell in Bogotá, Colombia, where his fa ...
, and
Colette Descombes
Colette Descombes is a French film actress, active between 1961 and 1978. She was born on January 26, 1943, in Romans sur Isère, department of Drôme (France).
Colette Descombes made her film debut in ''Les nymphettes'', a French drama directed ...
. It follows a wealthy American socialite who finds herself preyed upon by two nefarious young siblings who indulge her in sex, drugs, and alcohol while she vacations at an Italian villa. This film helped launch the second phase of Baker's career, during which she became a regular star in Italian productions.
After its Italian premiere in February 1969, ''Orgasmo'' was released in the United States under the
alternative title
An alternative title is a media sales device most prominently used in film distribution. Books and films are commonly released under a different title when they are screened or sold in a different country. This can vary from small change to the t ...
''Paranoia'' later that same year. It was one of the first films to carry an
X rating
An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.
Aust ...
in the United States under the newly-established
Motion Picture Association film rating system
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
, and this fact was sensationalized for its American promotional materials.
The film marked the second of four collaborations between Lenzi and actress Carroll Baker, who had previously starred in ''
So Sweet... So Perverse'' (1969), and subsequently starred in ''
A Quiet Place to Kill
''A Quiet Place to Kill'' ( it, Paranoia) is a 1970 ''giallo'' film directed by Umberto Lenzi.
Plot
Helen, a racecar driver whose personal and professional life is rapidly declining, is invited by her ex-husband Maurice's new wife Constance to ...
'' (1970) and ''
Il coltello di ghiaccio'' (1972).
Plot
American
socialite
A socialite is a person from a wealthy and (possibly) aristocratic background, who is prominent in high society. A socialite generally spends a significant amount of time attending various fashionable social gatherings, instead of having traditio ...
Catherine West arrives in Italy from New York to a flurry of journalists following the car accident death of her husband Robert, a
Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
oil baron who left her his $200 million estate. She retreats to an Italian villa rented by her austere lawyer, Brian Sanders. Catherine soon meets Peter Donovan, a young American man from
Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
whose car has broken down nearby. Peter manages to manipulate his way into staying with Catherine, who is initially icy toward his romantic advances. However, Peter swiftly manages to seduce her, and the two engage in a passionate affair.
Catherine travels to London to visit with her late husband's relatives to discuss property she is bequeathing to them, but finds them to be abrasive and angry with her, believing she married Robert solely for his money. Late one night, Catherine senses someone has broken into the house, but the housekeeper Teresa attributes Catherine's paranoia to her abuse of alcohol and
prescription drug
A prescription drug (also prescription medication or prescription medicine) is a pharmaceutical drug that legally requires a medical prescription to be dispensed. In contrast, over-the-counter drugs can be obtained without a prescription. The rea ...
s. When Catherine invites Peter to stay with her for a week, his sister Eva arrives at the villa unexpectedly. Catherine enjoys the siblings' companionship and youthful vivaciousness.
During a dinner meeting with Brian, Catherine admits she is suffering from
liver failure due to her alcoholism. Upon returning to the villa, Catherine finds Peter and Eva in bed together nude. She presumes the two have engaged in
incest
Incest ( ) is human sexual activity between family members or close relatives. This typically includes sexual activity between people in consanguinity (blood relations), and sometimes those related by affinity (marriage or stepfamily), adoption ...
, but Peter informs Catherine that he and Eva are not blood-related, and are in fact only stepsiblings. Eva confesses that she is sexually attracted to Catherine, and the three soon engage in a series of nightly debaucherous
threesome
In human sexuality, a threesome is commonly understood as "a sexual interaction between three people whereby at least one engages in physical sexual behaviour with both the other individuals". Though ''threesome'' most commonly refers to sexua ...
s fueled by Peter and Eva's indulging of Catherine in liquor and
stimulant
Stimulants (also often referred to as psychostimulants or colloquially as uppers) is an overarching term that covers many drugs including those that increase activity of the central nervous system and the body, drugs that are pleasurable and inv ...
drugs.
One night, Catherine, disgusted with herself and in a drunken rage, orders Peter and Eva to leave the villa. They oblige, but soon return, and begin physically abusing Catherine and taking control of the house, subduing Catherine by forcing her to drink. Finding herself held
hostage
A hostage is a person seized by an abductor in order to compel another party, one which places a high value on the liberty, well-being and safety of the person seized, such as a relative, employer, law enforcement or government to act, or ref ...
by the siblings, Catherine becomes increasingly desperate to escape Peter and Eva. She manages to produce a gun, with which she shoots Peter. Catherine loses consciousness due to a sedative fed to her by Eva, and awakens to find that the gun was loaded with blanks by the siblings, and that Peter was unharmed. The two bind and gag Catherine, tying her to a bed. When Brian visits the villa, Peter tells him that Catherine has descended into a depression, and has threatened to commit suicide.
Locked in her upstairs bedroom, Catherine is further tormented by the siblings, who on one occasion serve her a live
toad
Toad is a common name for certain frogs, especially of the family Bufonidae, that are characterized by dry, leathery skin, short legs, and large bumps covering the parotoid glands.
A distinction between frogs and toads is not made in scientif ...
for dinner. The two later bring her whiskey and a large number of
barbiturate
Barbiturates are a class of depressant drugs that are chemically derived from barbituric acid. They are effective when used medically as anxiolytics, hypnotics, and anticonvulsants, but have physical and psychological addiction potential as we ...
s, along with a falsified letter stating Brian has died in a plane crash, with the hope that Catherine will voluntarily kill herself by overdosing. Catherine manages to escape her bedroom and flees to the attic, accessing the roof of the villa. Brian arrives, and witnesses Catherine collapse over the edge of the roof, falling to the veranda below and fracturing her skull. Brian picks the injured Catherine up in his arms. The two briefly make eye contact before he ruthlessly throws her over the veranda onto the driveway below, killing her. Brian, who has conspired with the siblings to steal Catherine's fortune, produces two forged suicide notes, and orders Peter to alert authorities to Catherine's staged suicide. It is revealed that Brian is in fact Peter and Eva's uncle, and had Catherine unknowingly sign documents that bequeathed her estate to the trio.
After the reading of Catherine's last will and testament, Brian is met by a detective who notifies him that New York police discovered that the brakes in Robert's car were tampered with, causing his fatal road accident. Brian momentarily fears their plot has been discovered, until the detective states that police believe Catherine caused the accident, as Robert had planned to divorce her. Based on this conclusion, Catherine is not legally entitled to her husband's estate, which Brian is informed will instead go to his aunt. Meanwhile, as Peter and Eva gleefully drive through the city in their convertible, they are killed in a head-on collision with a truck.
Cast
Analysis
Film scholar Robert Curti considers ''Orgasmo'' a variation on
Pier Paolo Pasolini
Pier Paolo Pasolini (; 5 March 1922 – 2 November 1975) was an Italian poet, filmmaker, writer and intellectual who also distinguished himself as a journalist, novelist, translator, playwright, visual artist and actor. He is considered one of ...
's ''
Teorema
''Teorema'', also known as ''Theorem'' ( UK), is a 1968 Italian allegorical film written and directed by Pier Paolo Pasolini and starring Terence Stamp, Laura Betti, Silvana Mangano, Massimo Girotti and Anne Wiazemsky. Pasolini's sixth film, it ...
'' (1968), another film in which "seductive strangers
isruptthe bourgeois status quo and its morals." Curti also compares the film to the novella ''
Carmilla
''Carmilla'' is an 1872 Gothic fiction, Gothic novella by Irish author Sheridan Le Fanu and one of the early works of vampire fiction, predating Bram Stoker's ''Dracula'' (1897) by 26 years. First published as a Serial (literature), serial in ' ...
'' (1872), about a young woman seduced by a lesbian
vampire
A vampire is a mythical creature that subsists by feeding on the Vitalism, vital essence (generally in the form of blood) of the living. In European folklore, vampires are undead, undead creatures that often visited loved ones and caused mi ...
.
Release
''Orgasmo'' premiered in Italy on 7 February 1969. The Italian version of ''Orgasmo'' has a different ending than the American version. In the United States, ''Orgasmo'' opened under the ''Paranoia'' title in New York City on 22 August 1969.
The film was among the first to receive an
X rating
An X rating is a rating used in various countries to classify films that have content deemed suitable only for adults. It is used when the violent or sexual content of a film is considered to be potentially disturbing to general audiences.
Aust ...
in the United States under the newly-established
Motion Picture Association film rating system
The Motion Picture Association film rating system is used in the United States and its territories to rate a motion picture's suitability for certain audiences based on its content. The system and the ratings applied to individual motion pictures ...
, and its X rating was sensationalized in advertising materials.
[
The film's title has led to confusion due to its re-titling in the United States as ''Paranoia''. ]Umberto Lenzi
Umberto Lenzi (6 August 1931 – 19 October 2017) was an Italian film director, screenwriter, and novelist.
A fan of film since young age, Lenzi studied at the Centro Sperimentale di Cinematografia and made his first film in 1958 which went unr ...
's next film (which also starred Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...
) was released as ''Paranoia'' in Italy in 1970, but was retitled ''A Quiet Place to Kill
''A Quiet Place to Kill'' ( it, Paranoia) is a 1970 ''giallo'' film directed by Umberto Lenzi.
Plot
Helen, a racecar driver whose personal and professional life is rapidly declining, is invited by her ex-husband Maurice's new wife Constance to ...
'' for its American release.
Like other early giallo films, ''Orgasmo'' was not popular among Italian film audiences upon its initial theatrical release, as the genre never gained popularity in its home country until the release of Dario Argento
Dario Argento (; born 7 September 1940) is an Italian film director, producer, screenwriter, actor and film critic, critic. His influential work in the horror film, horror genre during the 1970s and 1980s, particularly in the subgenre known as ...
's ''The Bird with the Crystal Plumage
''The Bird with the Crystal Plumage'' () is a 1970 giallo film directed by Dario Argento, in his directorial debut. The film has been credited with popularizing giallo, an Italian genre of thriller developed in the 1960s. It is the first in what ...
'' (1970) and ''The Cat o' Nine Tails
''The Cat o' Nine Tails'' ( it, Il gatto a nove code) is a 1971 ''giallo'' film written and directed by Dario Argento, adapted from a story by Dardano Sacchetti, Luigi Cozzi, and an uncredited Bryan Edgar Wallace. It stars Karl Malden, Jame ...
'' (1971), but it was a major hit outside of Italy. ''Orgasmo'' was released in France as ''Une folle envie d'aimer'' ().
Critical reception
From contemporary reviews, the ''Monthly Film Bulletin
''The Monthly Film Bulletin'' was a periodical of the British Film Institute published monthly from February 1934 to April 1991, when it merged with ''Sight & Sound''. It reviewed all films on release in the United Kingdom, including those with a ...
'' stated that "this high gloss melodrama rings enough changes on an old theme to keep one watching right up to the grisly retribution of the finale, even if the denouement is a trifle rushed". The review concluded that "it might have been even more enjoyable - on its own low camp level - if Umberto Lenzi had not been so determined to match style to subject, with the camera deliriously sliding in and out of focus as the tormented lady totters down the stairs and every scene shot from behind a bit of the furniture." Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
gave the film a negative review, stating that "Only the haunting memory of ''Succubus
A succubus is a demon or supernatural entity in folklore, in female form, that appears in dreams to seduce men, usually through sexual activity. According to religious tradition, a succubus needs male semen to survive; repeated sexual activity ...
'' prevents me from naming 'Orgasmo''as the worst movie of the year."
From retrospective reviews, the online film database AllMovie
AllMovie (previously All Movie Guide) is an online database with information about films, television programs, and screen actors. , AllMovie.com and the AllMovie consumer brand are owned by RhythmOne.
History
AllMovie was founded by popular-cult ...
gave ''Orgasmo'' one star, referring to it as less interesting than ''A Quiet Place to Kill'' and stating that "there are some interesting moments, but this is clearly the lesser of the two films." Troy Howarth reviewed ''Orgasmo'' more favorably in ''So Deadly, So Perverse: 50 Years of Italian Giallo Films'', writing that "the film is a classic example of the so-called sexy ''giallo'', with plenty of cool eroticism and a pleasantly 'mod' aesthetic." Howarth added that director Lenzi "displays a sure and steady hand in gradually unveiling the various plot twists".
File:Orgasmo (1969).jpg, ''Orgasmo'' (1969) features a female protagonist (played by Carroll Baker
Carroll Baker (born May 28, 1931) is an American former actress. After studying under Lee Strasberg at the Actors Studio, Baker began performing on Broadway in 1954. From there, she was recruited by director Elia Kazan to play the lead in t ...
) who becomes embroiled in a psychological, sexual conflict.
File:Colette Descombes 1.jpg, Colette Descombes
Colette Descombes is a French film actress, active between 1961 and 1978. She was born on January 26, 1943, in Romans sur Isère, department of Drôme (France).
Colette Descombes made her film debut in ''Les nymphettes'', a French drama directed ...
in a psychedelic scene from ''Orgasmo'' (1969).
Home media
The film was released on Blu-ray
The Blu-ray Disc (BD), often known simply as Blu-ray, is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 2005 and released on June 20, 2006 worldwide. It is designed to supersede the DVD format, and capable of sto ...
in a box set by Severin Films
Severin Films is an American film production and distribution company known for restoring and releasing cult films on DVD and Blu-ray.
History
The label was created in 2006 in Los Angeles, and other offices were founded in New York City and Londo ...
on 30 June 2020, featuring all four of Lenzi's film collaborations with actress Carroll Baker (including '' So Sweet... So Perverse'', ''A Quiet Place to Kill
''A Quiet Place to Kill'' ( it, Paranoia) is a 1970 ''giallo'' film directed by Umberto Lenzi.
Plot
Helen, a racecar driver whose personal and professional life is rapidly declining, is invited by her ex-husband Maurice's new wife Constance to ...
'', and '' Il coltello di ghiaccio'').
See also
*List of thriller films of the 1960s
A list of thriller film
Thriller film, also known as suspense film or suspense thriller, is a broad film genre that evokes excitement and suspense in the audience. The suspense element found in most films' plots is particularly exploited by ...
*List of French films of 1969
berb
A list of films produced in France in 1969.
See also
* 1969 in France
* 1969 in French television
References
External links
French films of 1969at the Internet Movie DatabaseFrench films of 1969at Cinema-francais.fr
{{DEFAU ...
*List of Italian films of 1969
A list of films produced in Italy in 1969 (see 1969 in film):
References
Footnotes
Sources
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*
External linksItalian films of 1969at the Internet Movie Database
IMDb (an abbreviation of Internet Movie ...
Notes
References
Sources
*
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External links
*
*
{{Umberto Lenzi
1969 films
1960s thriller films
French erotic thriller films
French LGBT-related films
French thriller films
Italian LGBT-related films
Italian erotic thriller films
Italian thriller films
Casual sex in films
Films about alcoholism
Films about inheritances
Films set in country houses
Films set in Italy
Films shot in Italy
Films scored by Piero Umiliani
Films directed by Umberto Lenzi
Giallo films
Incest in film
Titanus films
1960s Italian films
1960s French films