Venus in Furs

Venus in Furs, by Jesus (Jess) Franco, is pretty good. It's about a jazz trumpeter, played by James Darren, who finds a naked, dead woman washed up on the beach, and then things get weird.

It seems that Jimmy Logan recognizes the dead girl as Wanda Reed (Maria Rohm). In fact, he dimly recalls her murder - or did he dream it? Or is he dead himself? Welcome to 1969, where apparently this kind of hazy reality was, like, a reality.

Sometime after finding Wanda's body, Jimmy runs into...Wanda. Wait, isn't she dead? Who knows, man, but next thing anyone knows, the gang she was hanging with is joining her in the thereafter. Guys like art dealer Kapp (Dennis Price) and fashion photog Olga (Margaret Lee) and Klaus Kinski. Well, someone played by Klaus Kinski, but either way, weird.

Meanwhile, Jimmy's falling hard for Wanda, who - again - is probably dead. He likely isn't, because he has a girl named Rita (Barbara McNair), a singer in the combo wherein he jazz trumpets. And Rita can see Wanda, so it's not like Wanda appears only to Jimmy. So maybe Rita's dead too. It's not really important.

Visually speaking, this isn't a bad effort. And the score, particularly the jazz, is really cooking. James Darren isn't a bad actor. Also helping? The multiple naked women. I mean, they're in almost every scene.

Paroxismus (AKA Venus In Furs) is an absolute treat from beginning to end. The film looks beautiful and the surrealist vibe that runs throughout the film suits the subject matter perfectly. The hepcat jazz trumpeter central character played by James Darren and the truly luminous and beguiling Maria Rohm add much to the proceedings, but the soundtrack, you cats, the soundtrack! Paroxismus is a Euro horror film in which the visuals and sound match beautifully, but the musical score is fantastic. Therefore, even if the dreamy images and plot baffles and befuddles, just close your eyes and listen a truly superb and innovative score.

Thus, Paroxismus is a Jess Franco gem.

Super-prolific Spanish exploitation director Jess Franco is often bashed as being merely a creator of cheap trash - which is a preconception that only people who are not familiar with all of his work can take. Sure, the man's impressive repertoire of more than 180 films includes more than a few stinkers, but Franco also made several films that are downright brilliant, especially in his earlier years. "The Awful Dr. Orloff" (1962) and "The Diabolical Dr. Z" (1966) are two of these films, and "Paroxismus" aka. "Venus In Furs" of 1969 definitely also belongs in this category. "Venus In Furs" is a bizarre, sleazy and amazingly artistic Exploitation gem that mixes Horror, Mystery, sexual perversion and great music in an obscure and highly memorable manner. The casting of Klaus Kinski in a typically demented role and sexy Maria Rohm as the eponymous Venus are by far not the only aspects that make "Venus In Furs" a must for cult-cinema lovers.

When walking along the beach in Isanbul, a Jazz trumpeter (James Darren) stumbles across the body of a young woman. He recognizes her as a girl who was assaulted by a rich playboy (Klaus Kinski) and two others. He travels to Rio, where he meets Rita (Barbara McNair) a foxy black bar singer who becomes his girlfriend. In Rio, he also runs into a young woman (beautiful Maria Rohm) who is the spitting image of the dead girl from the Istanbul beach.... I do not want to give away too much of the, sometimes confusing, plot, but I can assure that it is highly obscure and very interesting throughout. The English title, "Venus In Furs", is also the title of a novel by Leopold Sacher-Masoch. The film has nothing to do with the novel, however, the title refers to the character played by Maria Rohm. Rohm is incredibly sexy and mysterious at the same time. Barbara McNair, who is also responsible for the best parts of the great score, makes another great female character. The female cast members are all beautiful, and, as in is the case with most of Franco's later films, the film provides sleaze, female nudity, lesbianism and perversions, though not as explicitly as many of his later films. It also provides ingenious surrealism, obscure mystery, psychedelic imagery and delightful weirdness of all sorts. The great Klaus Kinski (one of my all-time favorite actors) is once again brilliantly demented in his role, and James Darren fits well in the lead. One of the greatest aspects of the film is the great score, especially memorable is the 'Venus in Furs' sung by Barbara McNair herself. "Venus In Furs" is an obscure and bizarre gem that is ingenious in many aspects and should disabuse all the Jess Franco-haters out there. To some people, this is Franco's best film. I would still give that title to either "The Awful Dr. Orloff" or "The Diabolical Dr. Z", but this film is doubtlessly also a must-see for everyone interested in cult cinema, and an absolute proof for what a great filmmaker Franco is. 8.5/10

Jazz musician Jimmy Logan finds the dead body of a beautiful girl Wanda Reed on the beach outside his home in Istanbul, a girl he recognizes from a party he was at the previous night. Jimmy is haunted by her vision and memories of how she was raped and tortured at the party and how he didn't step in to help. Two years later he is now living in Rio and finally has his musical career back on track, but he is stopped in his tracks when a woman who appears to be Wanda walks in to the club where he is playing, is it really her, can she still be alive or is it all a dream. Bizarre, trippy, love story with some Noir overtones, it has a fantastic jazzy score that creates a hypnotic mood, its beautifully filmed with a striking use of colour, touches of sadomasochism and lesbianism add even more to the mix, there's even time for a great twist or two at the end.

In Istanbul, the trumpet player Jimmy Logan (James Darren) is dazed and confused on the beach and finds his musical instrument buried in the sand. Then he sees a woman in the sea and he pulls her body from the surf. He recognizes her as Wanda Reed (Maria Rohm), a gorgeous woman that he saw in the party of the playboy Ahmed Kortobawi (Klaus Kinski). Then he saw her being whipped and raped by Ahmed and his friends Percival Kapp (Dennis Price) and Olga (Margaret Lee).

Jimmy travels to Rio de Janeiro and spends the Carnival playing with a jazz band and his girlfriend Rita (Barbara McNair) in the nightclub of Herman. One night, Wanda Reed comes to the club and Jimmy becomes obsessed on her. Sooner he leaves Rita and stays with Wanda. Meanwhile, she kills Percival, Olga and Ahmed dressed in furs. When the police seek out the woman, Jimmy discovers a secret about Wanda Reed and him.

"Venus in Furs" is a surrealistic film by Jess Franco with James Darren (from The Time Tunnel) and his muse Maria Rohm in the lead roles and Klaus Kinski in a minor role. James Darren's narrative is boring and the annoying music may please jazz fans only. A jazz band playing in a club in the Carnival of Rio is a joke from someone that does not even know the Carnival in Rio. The resolution of the plot is actually a senseless mess but the atmosphere is intriguing. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): "Venus in Furs"