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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Venus In Furs (1970)

Softcore Euro-trash courtesy of schlockmeister Jesus Franco is all done up in artsy colored filters, dreamy soft focus and trippy editing but no amount of ominous portent can disguise the unfocused illogical intent of the film. A musician (James Darren) discovers the mutilated nude body of a murdered girl (Maria Rohm) on an Istanbul beach. A few years later in Rio De Janeiro, an exact replica (also rohm) of the murdered girl walks into the nightclub where he's playing and he becomes obsessed with her. But when those responsible for the murder victim's death start dropping like flies, it begs the question ... is she real or a ghost bent on revenge? Well, eventually we get the answer but it doesn't make any narrative sense! The dialogue walks a fine tightrope between groans and unintentional smirking. Rohm is beautiful but nothing suggests that she could be the object of an obsession. In fact, Barbara McNair as Darren's chanteuse girlfriend is far more interesting than Rohm's cipher gliding nude under her furs. Manfred Mann did the pop score. With Klaus Kinski, Dennis Price and Margaret Lee.

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