Obscene Desire / L'osceno desiderio (1978)

I recently had the pleasure of discovering the hidden gem Obscene Desire for myself, and it could not have been timelier. Just as I was gearing up to review it, after taking several blurry looking screen grabs, I happened to find out that Vinegar Syndrome was releasing it on Blu-ray as part of their Bloodstained Italy three-movie set, which also included The Bloodstained Lawn (1973) and Death Falls Lightly (1972), so I decided to hold off until my pre-order came in. 

For me, the wait for a restoration of Obscene Desire was really short (only a few months after first watching it), in comparison to the whole decade I waited to finally see a restored The Witches Mountain (1973). It is, of course, a much appreciated big improvement over what was available before, and it’s an even greater delight to watch Marisa Mell as the lead, Amanda, in this pretty eclectic Spanish-Italian horror film. Here, she is not playing her typical swindling seductive murderess type (as seen in movies like Marta (1971) and Diary of an Erotic Murderess (1975)) but rather a vulnerable and pregnant newlywed, full of anxiety, who also gets to act the hell out of certain parts. 

Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of her swindlers, but I always thought Marisa Mell was underused in horror and fantasy. She played a seductive ghost in Parapsycho – Spektrum der Angst (1975) and had an attractive side role in Ring of Darkness (1979), but I’m still grateful for this consolidation of a murder mystery, psychological thriller, and Exorcist horror film with Marisa Mell at the helm. I also have to point out that during the climax, she does an awesome Gene Simmons impression that makes my night every time I see it.

 

The film was directed and co-written by Giulio Petroni, who, during the interview included on the Blu-ray, said he pretty much thought it was rubbish and claimed he only really directed a couple scenes while his unnamed Spanish assistant directed most of it. (Alas, it seems his heart was not in it.) 

One of the film’s co-writers, Piero Regnoli, wrote and directed The Playgirls and the Vampire (1960). Regnoli was also quite the prolific screenwriter, with writing credits to Italian horror favorites like I vampiri (1957), Nightmare City (1980), and Burial Ground (1981) to name a few.

 

Obscene Desire feels a little like a latecomer in the line of ‘70s films inspired by (or capitalizing on) the success of Rosemary’s Baby (1968) and The Exorcist (1973), but perhaps The Omen (1976) (and its Italian companion Holocaust 2000 (1977)) also made way for the coming of the antichrist. That fine trilogy of satanic films does have an influence on Obscene Desire, but the pregnant possession angle is a bit more ambiguous and feels more like a climactic afterthought, as the bulk of the film is more of a slow burn mystery that bares more resemblance to an elegant gothic horror than a typical Exorcist-ploitation film. What possession/exorcism angle there is does have some key similarities to its Italian brethren Alberto De Martino’s The Antichrist (1974). I’m happy to point out that it did also remind me (just a little) of the story to one of King Diamond’s horror concept albums Abigail as well (with a different outcome of course).

 

While traveling along a dark highway, a voiceover from Amanda, an American from Oregon, explains that she met her new husband Andrea (Chris Avram) while vacationing in Italy. Rather than pursue the American dream, Andrea has instead taken his bride to settle in his stuffy and oppressive ancestral mansion in rural Italy. The newlyweds are greeted with an unexpected ill omen on arrival, as the deceased body of a longtime family servant, Michele, has been formally laid out on a bed, presumably for Andrea to pay his last respects.

 

Things continue down a gloomy path for Amanda, with her husband being emotionally unavailable. The creepy, sus as hell, groundskeeper Giovanni (Victor Israel) is on hand to give Amanda anxiety anytime she spots him slinking around. She does find some comfort in an apparent anthropologist and fellow American, Peter (Lou Castel), who regularly hangs around the café/grocery store. For unclear reasons, Giovanni ends up warning Amanda against Peter anytime he calls or comes around the mansion. I like the parts where she rightfully contradicts Giovanni a couple times after she catches him lying to Peter about her not being home.

 

It does become hard to tell where the direction of the movie is going, mostly because none of the characters turn out to be upfront with Amanda. Her husband Andrea comes off as a finely aged gentleman on the surface but is obviously hiding some dark shit. Something’s on his mind because he sometimes falls impotent from a mental distraction. Amanda tends to wake up in the middle of the night to notice he’s usually missing from his side of the bed. A couple of Andrea’s friends, Rachel (Laura Trotter) and Fabio (Javier Escrivá), take an interest in Amanda after she becomes pregnant. They turn out to be shady occultists who meet with Giovanni in secret for a couple of obligatory dreary looking table-ritual scenes, meditatively swaying with joined hands over candles.  

 

Lou Castel kind of transforms characters from a shady but friendly researcher with knowledge of Andrea’s lineage to a full-blown exorcist. It’s hard to tell if he is friend or foe to Amanda even after he reveals himself to be a priest. 

Since we have so many untrustworthy characters, it seems fitting to also shoehorn in a couple Jack-the-Ripper style slasher segments to run alongside the main story, where a couple ladies of the night are picked up and murdered by an unseen killer. Amanda stumbles across one of the victim’s leg garters in the nearby church ruins.

 

It should be noted that Marisa Mell does shine in an extended passionate sex scene with Chris Avram and also in a kind of haunting solo erotic scene. She’s a marvelous attraction to the creepy and dismal setting in the film, making Obscene Desire worth pursuing for fans of Marisa Mell and the Eurocult mystery thriller alone. 

The story is a mixed bag of different genres and ideas, such as psychological occult horror, pregnancy possession, supernatural eroticism, ritualistic orgies that may or may not be hallucinations, a slasher murder mystery, generational witch curses, and exorcisms, but it’s all packaged together with a consistent tone and Marisa Mell front and center giving it her all, especially during the showdown with the exorcist, and without a doubt she delivers.

 

I consider Obscene Desire’s mixed bag of ideas and concepts to be more of an enjoyable feature rather than a liability. Despite it being a slow burn to another Italian answer to The Exorcist, I find that there is a lot to look forward to every time I watch this gloomy and beautiful looking (and surprisingly erotic) film. I realized I had stumbled across another gem after I first saw it. I don’t know how I went so long without knowing about it until recently since it really is the kind of movie I enjoy covering on this site. It does fit in with the best of them. 

© At the Mansion of Madness 

Deep Shock (2019)

Deep Shock is another highly awarded short film written and directed by Italian filmmaker Davide Melini that is a return and a celebration of the classic giallo film but with a modern look and feel. It has the added bonus of also being a horror film, with both a giallo and demonic ghost story that seem to run side-by-side but also meet up and interconnect nicely, so if you like a little bit of The Changeling and The Exorcist to go with your Deep Red, there’s a good chance this horror/giallo hybrid might be your cup of tea. At thirty minutes, it far from overstays its welcome. In fact, I felt like watching it again shortly after my first viewing. 

The film was produced in the UK and was shot together with Melini’s other short Lion using the same crew, with Deep Shock taking eight and a half days to shoot. This one has a more expanded cast than the other three short films from Melini I’ve covered, as the story is bigger with themes of grief, trauma, nightmares, mystery, murder, family curses, and religion among others, while also including the beloved black gloved killer whose identity will be revealed when the time is right. 

Just in the opening scene alone, I felt like I noticed homages to three different Argento films, which feels appropriate, before it launches into its own story, starting with a string of nightmare sequences with the film’s lead heroine Sarah (Muireann Bird).

Lion (2017)

Some of you who have been with me long enough might remember me covering two short horror films, The Puzzle (2008) and The Sweet Hand of the White Rose (2010), from Italian filmmaker Davide Melini (assistant director for Dario Argento’s Mother of Tears (2008), Penny Dreadful and Into the Badlands). These were pretty good and provided me with a new experience in reviewing movies much shorter than I was used to. I also briefly spotlighted Melini’s supernatural horror/giallo hybrid Deep Shock (2019) back when it was still in pre-production. The film was delayed for quite some time but was eventually released in 2019. It has a cool classic and modern feel to it with a brutal bathroom murder scene that is worthy of the giallo style film it is celebrating.  

Davide Melini’s horror short from the UK titled Lion is boasted as being the most awarded horror short film in history. It feels like a runaway award effect is taking place with the film, as it is now up to a staggering 902 awards – which are individually posted on the film’s socials.

Arcana (1972)

“That’s twentieth-century progress for you; we can put a man on the moon, but we can’t find a few simple ingredients to do a magic trick.” – Captain Manzini  

If magic is real, then it isn’t obvious. It will probably never lend itself to definitive proof but rather reserve itself more for personal interpretation that depends on the hopes, beliefs, and dreams of the individual. Be it paranormal or psychological, magic spells can provide a lot of symbolic meaning, clarity, and guidance for the caster. 

Giulio Questi’s inventive, esoteric, enchanted sorcery of a film, Arcana, is an unforgettable experience that I like to think is a magic spell itself. The effects of that spell really start to hit at about the one hour and fourteen-minute mark (when that hypnotic violin theme kicks in) and we get a peculiar standout segment in the film that is unlike anything else. The film also does a good job at capturing the appeal and mystique of tarot in both the divination reading scenes and in the unfolding of its mystifying plot. 

Diary of an Erotic Murderess / La encadenada (1975)

Let’s keep the femme fatale thrillers rolling with the penultimate movie as director for Spanish filmmaker Manuel Mur Oti, Diary of an Erotic Murderess, starring Marisa Mell in the lead role as a seductive killer con woman. Despite being a true villain in the story, there’s something really likeable about her in this. She’s not a sympathetic villain, although she might try to incite sympathy, and she really isn’t redeemable in any way, but she’s still appealing. Perhaps that’s just a testament to the power of the outward charm and beauty of the femme fatale.

How many of you like to think you can change her? or that she might make a special exception in your case? and maybe you just might survive your romantic but likely deadly sojourn with her, with your fortune and life still intact? It’s a fun idea that I usually have when watching this movie, but it’s not very realistic considering it doesn’t go well for her partners in crime. Joking aside, this one also does get pretty dark. 

It shouldn’t be surprising that Diary of an Erotic Murderess is a treat for fans of Marisa Mell and her Italian and Spanish swindler thrillers like Perversion Story (1969), Marta (1971), The Great Swindle (1971), and Death Will Have Your Eyes (1974). She’s great in it, and it’s just as good as another of my favorites Marta, which has a similar concept but is told quite differently.

Diabolicamente... Letizia / Sex, Demons and Death (1975)

“The oppressed have assimilated their fate so well that they become indignant if we offer them a less repressed sexual future.” – Emmanuelle Arsan – Mon Emmanuelle, leur pape et mon Eros  

The name Letizia means “joy,” and one can’t help but feel joy when a name like Letizia rolls off the tongue. So, there’s a bitter irony to the title character of Salvatore Bugnatelli’s Diabolicamente… Letizia baring the sweetness of joyful pleasure only to turn out to be quite the devilish killjoy.

Diabolicamente… Letizia (also known as Sex, Demons and Death) is another peculiar erotic Italian horror that kind of stuck with me after only seeing it once about six years ago. There is something off-kilter and ominous about it, with a repressive, isolated autumnal villa setting involving a capricious young woman, Letizia (Franca Gonella- Zelda 1974), moving in and sexually perturbing the idle and seemingly peaceful lifestyles of her Aunt Micaela (Magda Konopka) and Uncle Marcello (Gabriele Tinti). The resulting erotic situations are intentionally built up only to push back and break the spell with some sort of unease, be it emotional confliction, humiliation, mockery, or even a jump scare, brought about by the sexually manipulative Letizia. Is she really some kind of sexual she-wolf demoness or do these characters have some serious hangups?

La lunga notte di Veronique / But You Were Dead (1966)

“There are two kinds of taste, the taste for emotions of surprise and the taste for emotions of recognition.” – Henry James 

Even with its familiar look (that darkly romantic title and poster art baiting me in), I could still sense La lunga notte de Veronique was going to be a little bit different than the ‘60s/’70s Italian gothic horrors I’m accustomed to (and still a big fan of). No obvious Poe, Le Fanu, Stoker, Lovecraft, Shelley, or Sade influences. No witches, black masses, zombies, blood countesses, demons, masked killers, sadistic crimson executioners, or satanic love interests, just an effective, tragic ghost romance, without much in the way of ambiguity. 

Currently, it doesn’t seem to have much of a fanbase, but the film is lowkey intriguing. I only just came across it recently, and it is somewhat of a pleasant surprise and a nice addition to the ever-growing collection of underseen Eurocult that will hopefully see a restored release someday. 

Shadow of Illusion / Ombre roventi (1970)

“I understand those who want to live against this century, but I fear those who believe they can live outside of it.” – Emmanuelle Arsan – Mon Emmanuelle, leur pape et mon Eros  

Cults erect out of myth. Myth gives rise to cults. Their members become so enamored in myth that they become grossly detached from reality. Yet, they’ll maintain a strong conviction and belief that they are the ones who are really in tune with reality, above all others. And when this happens, people get hurt.

For fans of ‘60s/70s Italian thrillers, it’s the prospect of a deadly hippie cult that gives a film like Shadow of Illusion its primary appeal to genre explorers, and while that promising aspect might bring us here, we end up finding even more to like about it. One of the film’s strong points is that it does integrate Egyptian mythology, particularly The Osiris Myth, into its plot rather nicely, even to the point of provoking further viewer interest.  

Shadow of Illusion is directed by Mario Caiano (Nightmare Castle (1965) and Eye in the Labyrinth (1972)) and is quite the excavation for the Eurocult archeologist. It is indeed an enjoyable but unusual watch that kind of feels at home alongside other paranoid Italian occult thrillers like All the Colors of the Dark (1972), The Cat in Heat (1972), or even The Perfume of the Lady in Black (1974).