Orgasmo

1969 Directed by Umberto Lenzi

Horror Marathon 2024 Day 17 Film 34

A widow (Carroll Baker) with Texas oil money finds herself on her Italian vacation. She takes in the sights and parties all night with a younger man. As the title suggests, these interludes seem to amount to classy smut- delivering a very softcore X-rating for the film in the US. It's Italian style excess with JB bottles scattered throughout the production and groovy music zooming in and out during the party scenes. She seems to want to feel young again- to live forever by surrounding herself with a young sensibility she's out of touch with.

Eventually the thematic instrumentals show signs of discordant tones- the man invites his "sister" over and soon it becomes obvious there may be some weird incestuous triangle coming on. The sister is quite taken with the widow, and eventually succumbing to the threesome filled with booze and drugs.

It's all a party until it's not though, and the couple insinuates themselves into her life and isolates her- gaslighting and pushing others away. I was especially taken with Baker's performance letting out screams during the descent. Pops of color in red roses and elegance draw on aesthetic pleasures- even without the mystery factor of other giallo films I enjoyed how oddly unsettling and lightly campy the tone is.

Music played for joy changes into something that hits a raw nerve- and the fun of a night of partying turns into an endless nightmare. It also plays with the psychedelic horrors of the time as the older socialite widow succumbs to hippie hedonism. I enjoyed the change of formula from other giallo films, and if you edit out the final epilogue I feel like the film would end perfectly. I'll be looking out for more films from this period of Baker's career.