Olivia

I saw this for the first time recently n I still cannot fathom why I got pulled into seeing this. It's not a bad film but erotic dramas n thrillers ain't my cup of tea. Nevertheless, the lead actress' beautiful face kept me going. Suzanna Love was truly attractive n her brief nudity was an icing on the cake. Plot wise it is a bit far fetched but some scenes r pretty atmospheric. I really wanted to know how the husband survived n how he tracked her down. Also did she purposely migrate to Arizona so that she can bump into her lover.

My review was written in March 1983 after a screening in the Bronx.

Filmed half in London and half in Arizona in 1981 with the shooting title "Faces of Fear", "A Taste of Sin" is an effective psychological horror thriller from prolific Germany-to-U;S. Filmmaker Uli Lommel. Biggest treat her for film buffs and horror fans is Lommel's equal-time raiding of not merely the works of Alfred Hitchcock, but also the Hitchcock-derived thrillers of Brian DePalma.

Prior to its present (tacked-on to suit a sex-themed ad campaign) moniker, picture bore a series of better titles: "Beyond the Bridge", "Double Jeopardy" and "Olivia".

Opening (culled from Hitchcock's "Marnie") has 6-year-old Olivia (Amy Robinson) watching (through a keyhole) her British prostitute mother servicing a G. I. who's into bondage. She helplessly sees her mom killed by the G. I. Fifteen years later, Olivia (played as an adult by Suzanna Love, star of all even of Lommel's U. S.-made pics) has a British husband Richard (Jeff Winchester), and dresses up at night to relive her mom's experience as a streetwalker near London Bridge. Controlled by her (imagined) mom's voice from beyond the grave, she starts killing her customers while being wracked with guilt for not coming to mom's aid versus the G. I. Olivia falls in love with Michael Grant (Robert Walker), an American working on a project to restore the bridge. In a fight with Richard over her that takes place on the bridge, Grant is victorious, and Richard ends up hurtling into the water below.

With the film half over, scene shifts to Arizona four years later where London Bridge has been transplanted (along with its fatalistic associations for the lead characters). Grant finds Olivia working as a condominium saleslady using a new name (Jenny) and with a new mousy appearance and American accent. Suspenseful plot twists (and red herrings) involve lifts from "Vertigo", "Obsession", "Sisters","Psycho" -you name it.

Though this type of derivative filmmaking is hotgly criticized these dys (with DePalma perhaps the number one whipping boy), Lommel plays it straight and comes up with an entertaining B picture. He obviously enjoys the Hitchcock association, even casting Vera Miles from "Psycho" in his next film "Brainwave" (opposite Tony Curtis instead of Janet Leigh) and recalling Walker (son of "Strangers on a Train" namesake and near lookalike) for the lead in "Devonsville Terror".

Suzanna Love is quite impressive in the chameleon lead role, calling for at least three distinct personalities. Walker, still looking boyish at age 40, is an empathetic hero, though one keeps expecting him to become sinister, given Hitchcok's switcheroo casting of his dad 30 years earlier. Joel Goldsmith's synthesizer music score is effective, but the film is hampered by drab would-be film noir visuals, for which five cinematographers are credited.

If you go into this movie believing it to be a horror - as I did - you will be disappointed. It might pass as a thriller, but this is mostly drama, and character study.

15 Years ago, Olivia's mother - a hooker - was killed by one of her customers. Now 20 and married to Richard, Olivia is still haunted by her mother's death. Richard is a bit of a brute, and when he refuses Olivia getting a job, she decides to follow in her mother's footsteps - not to make money, but to avenge her mothers death by killing men who picks her up.

One night she is spotted by Michael Grant, an engineer, while taking pictures of a bridge he is working on. Getting acquainted, Olivia enjoys his sensitivity and they start seeing each other while Richard is at work. Olivia is totally nuts, and I found her annoying at times. The film just gets worse towards the end and without spoilers I guarantee you're not going to like how this plays out.

I found the film slow and uninteresting, so chances are I'm going to forget this in an instant. Not that it would matter...

"Olivia," also known under a variety of other salacious titles, such as "Prozzie" and "A Taste of Sin," follows Michael Grant, an American engineer in London who is helping dismantle the London Bridge. He meets and falls in love with Olivia, a woman haunted by her prostitute mother's murder, and who herself is in an abusive relationship. When Michael attempts to fight off Olivia's husband one night, it ends in tragedy. Four years later, in Lake Havasu, Arizona, where the London Bridge has been relocated, Michael encounters Olivia's apparent doppelgänger, a local tourism ambassador named Jenny, who claims she has never met him.

This offbeat entry in Ulli Lommel's early filmography is certainly an anomaly--it is not so much a horror film as it is a psychological thriller, though it is, as is the case with most of Lommel's work, preoccupied with themes of childhood trauma, particularly children's exposure to their parents' sex lives. The titular character, Olivia, is haunted by her mother's death, and begins slipping between identities, at times living out a secret life as a prostitute--just like her mom. The film toys with Olivia's psychological state, suggesting early on that she may be a Norman Bates-like character prone to dispatching men, but she remains no less sympathetically portrayed by Suzanna Love.

The second half of the film marks a major tonal shift, moving the setting from dreary London to the sunny Arizona desert, where Olivia--or at least someone who resembles her--resurfaces to haunt Michael. In a way, the extreme contrast between the two locales makes the film feel like two different movies, though this is perhaps part of the point. In any case, both sections of the film have their own stark atmospheres, and there are a number of haunting visuals throughout.

While the plot is at times rather ridiculous, there is still something oddly charming and entertaining about "Olivia." The film teeters between character study and full-blown psychological thriller, only occasionally dipping its toe into the horror pool. It is really more a meditation on childhood trauma than anything else, and it ultimately unravels into a perverse but engrossing love story-turned-tragedy. It is worthwhile for its visuals and at times otherworldly atmosphere, as well as its astute representation of a broken woman. 7/10.

Greetings And Salutations, and welcome to my review of Olivia; here's the breakdown of my ratings:

Story: 1.00 Direction: 1.50 Pace: 1.00 Acting: 0.50 Enjoyment: 1.00

TOTAL: 5.00 out of 10.00

This Ulli Lommel movie takes a step forward in cinematography but takes two backwards in the acting and story departments. And that is both a shame and a mystery as The Demonsville Terror (1983) was a much better affair.

Lommel, John Marsh, and Ron Norman give the audience a wishy-washy tale of a woman who is either haunted by her dead mother or is suffering grave psychological issues. For one thing, the writers could have structured this doubt better. How good would the narrative be with the possibility that Olivia's mother had returned from the dead(?) It would keep the viewers guessing and involve them greater in her tale. Sadly, they don't handle this or her mental problems too skilfully. But the worst element is the characters. They are too dispassionate, and their dialogue is atrocious, and in the worst way - There's no accidental humour in their chatter; it merely makes your skin crawl and soul cringe. This obstacle is regrettable because the synopsis isn't lousy. After witnessing the murder of her prostitute mother, Olivia grows up to be a repressed doormat of a human being. But then. One night, her dearly departed mother starts talking to her and out steps a new Olivia; down her mother's prostitution road. During one of her nightly outings, she meets the love of her life, and things start to look up for Olivia - until mommy rants her wicked words in her skull. Then her world falls apart when her curious hubby spots her with the new infatuation. Will life work out for Olivia and the men in her life and the mother in her noggin, or will she fall into the rabbit hole? There are plenty of opportunities to add intrigue, romance, and eerie suspicions, but the writers fail to add the slightest smidgen of interest.

Luckily for the viewer, Ulli Lommel's skill behind the camera has increased a hundred-fold from Boogeyman. He proffers many superb compositions and alluring and stimulating camera pans. It's a shame that he's yet to master the pacing, as this is where the direction lets the film down. It's all too slow. Combine that with the poorly structured story and stale characterisations, and you teeter on the edge of boredom. Somehow, Lommel keeps the movie's head above the tedium line, and I put this down to his cinematography.

As I view these Lommel flicks, it becomes evident that one of his principal players, Suzanne Love (who's been the lead in all of them so far), is a hit-and-miss performer. In Olivia, she misses massively: She's too flat and dull. I can understand the dullness of Olivia's married persona, but when she becomes the prostitute and later the lover, she should be more vivacious and alive, but she still comes across as bland. At least she's not as wooden as Jeff Winchester, who portrays her overbearing hubby, Richard. He demands some respect, however, because he depicts the best corpse I've ever seen in a movie. The scene where Olivia dumps him into a travel trunk is brilliant. Winchester doesn't make it easy for Love, but it looks more realistic than most.

I cannot recommend Olivia to any movie viewer. I believe it's Ulli Lommel's version of watching paint dry. Though he does a fantastic job of making a namby-pamby tale performed by spiritless performers strangely appealing, it's just not enough to warrant you guys and gals wasting your time. Go check out The Demonsville Terror; it's infinitely better than this picture.

Tell your mother to Shut Up and come here to look at my IMDb list - Killer Thriller Chillers to see where I ranked Olivia - or to find a better movie to watch.

Take Care & Stay Well.