The Lickerish Quartet

This was one of the films that brought Radley Metzger to the forefront of mainstream erotic films. The narrative is interesting and full of tricks. It uses flashbacks, pseudoflashbacks and multiple perspectives. Yes, it's a bit pretentious, but the plot keeps you watching. And how about that library scene? I laughed aloud when I saw it, being comfortably ensconsed in an apartment full of many books I haven't read either. Maybe what I need is a mistress to sweep everything away like that!!

'The Lickerish Quartet' is very much a product of the early 70s when the idea of mixing the art movie and soft core genres was in vogue. Radley Metzger created a fascinating albeit very pretentious pseudo-psychedelic mindbender which is quite unlike any other similar movie of this era. At times I was reminded a little of Jess Franco's 'Succubus', but 'The Lickerish Quartet' is truly a one-off. Metzger plays with time, with frequent cuts, flashbacks, flashforwards, and dream sequences, so by the end fantasy and reality are blurred, and everybody, including the audience, is no longer exactly sure what actually happened, and what didn't. Silvana Venturelli is beautiful and well cast as the mysterious "visitor", and Frank Wolff ('Cold Eyes Of Fear') stands out from the supporting cast, as the wealthy sophisticate who gets a lot more than he bargains for. This movie is a real treat for lovers of 60s and 70s "head" movies, and will appeal to fans of Jodorowsky and Bunuel as much as Franco or Jean Rollin. Highly recommended.

Metzger's porno-existentialist film (or something like that)deals with a family of three, living in a spacious castle, whose comfortable lifestyle is upset by the arrival of a mysterious woman who may or may not be an actress in one of the stag films the husband likes to watch. A woman who may or may not even be real.... But what IS real, anyway...?

Sounds fun, right? Not really. I had the opportunity to see this in a theatre last year (1998). There was nothing but dead silence from the audience all the way through.

Yes, the film is interesting, as all really weird flicks tend to be, but it's also almost unbearably irritating. The acting is clumsy, and the director's painfully obvious desire to make Art (instead of just plain "art") weighs down the whole production. And, good golly, that dialogue: "Your virility is just as illusory as her virginity!"

There's some cool visuals, though. Especially the weird scene in the library wherein the male and female leads make out on the floor, which for some reason is covered with dictionary entries of sexual terms set in large bold type.

Don't you miss the '70s?

I didn't enjoy this quite as much as I did a few years back and this may be because I found the pacing a little difficult this time. Nevertheless it is still a fabulous looking, brave, intriguing and beguiling movie. I don't know where the title comes from and I don't know why the daredevil motorcycle sequence, early on, was so long but the central idea with the supposed projection of an old stag movie that is not all it seems is a great notion. The castle setting (Balsorano, Italy) is amazing and the Stelvio Cipriani score one of his very best, so lush and stirring, particularly effective in the 'very sixties' running jumping and having sex outdoors sequence and the superb pop art library sex sequence. I must mention the solid Frank Wolff, who would drown himself in a Hilton bath tub shortly after this film and the amazing, Silvana Venturelli, who would do little else after this than some playboy layouts. Not for everyone but if the names Vadim, Robbe- Grillet and Warhol don't scare you off, you'll probably get something out of this unique film.

This movie left me confused at times. This is one of those movies with confusing endings. If you watch this film, watch very closely, because if you're going to forward throughout the whole thing, then you miss out. There is some nudity in the film and brief frontal nudity. I wouldn't say there is real "sex" in the film, so don't get confused by what you read about the film. I hope this helps you understand a little about this film. I'll give it 7/10 for the little things in the movie(you'll see what I mean by watching it).