You won't be disappointed!

Wonderful Movie

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

This is a gorgeous movie made by a gorgeous spirit.

"Amuck" (Alla Ricerca del Piacere) tells the story of a young girl Greta (Barbara Bouchet) who goes to work as a secretary for an American writer, Richard Stewart (Farley Granger). Richard Stewart lives with his wife Eleanora (Rosalba Neri) in a palazzo in Venice. Greta wants to investigate what happened to her friend Sally, that disappeared leaving no traces, while working for Stewart. The police in Venice have no clues about what happened. The couple involve Greta in psychological and sexual games, but if Greta's suspicions are right she may be playing a very dangerous game."Alla Ricerca del Piacere" is thrilling and sensuous at the same time. The lesbian scenes played by Rosalba Neri and Barbara Bouchet are fantastic. Throughout the whole film an atmosphere of ambiguity prevails. Relations grow and seem to fade, threats hover around and nothing is sure. There are other characters in the film: A silent butler, always present when one least expects and who seems to have a thousand eyes; and a gigantic and menacing fisherman who is their neighbor and is always walking around.Sally, Greta's missing friend, (Patrizia Viotti) appears is some flashbacks. In one scene she is bathing under a waterfall with Greta. Both are naked (of course!), embracing themselves, kissing and laughing a lot. They seem very happy! In another flashback, Sally is dancing and seducing - a scene that reminded me of an old song that said; "don't play with me cause you're playing with fire". The scene is fabulous. Patrizia Viotti should have had her place among the giallo female stars, but some years later she disappeared from the screen.This film is a small gem, but it's hard to find it in DVD. My DVD is from "Eurovista - Digital Entertainment". The DVD seems to have been copied from a VHS tape - it is not what one would call a good quality DVD, but still it is watchable (if you care about the film and not about technicalities).A good, weird and suspenseful story plus very sexy actresses. And there's Venice too. Everything is allowed under the venetian skies. What more do you want? So don't look back and go for it.

Basically, you only require two main reasons to make this "Amuck!" priority viewing, namely the starring of both female leads Bouchet and Neri, so all the cool story lines, nifty camera-work and bizarre sense of humor are just welcome bonuses. But let's focus on the sexuality aspects some more, first! The very first lesbian sequence involving both aforementioned beauties is so HOT that it nearly burnt holes in the screen of the TV. It's redundant eroticism, but extremely elegant and pictured quite tastefully. Bizarre sexual tendencies and decadence are the most prominent themes in this early 70's giallo (at least, I assume it qualifies as a giallo) and fans that like to see explicit sleaze combined with gory murders will be sorely disappointed since there isn't any of that. Young Greta travels to Venice to work as a secretary for the famous novelist Richard Stuart but her main mission is to personally investigate what happened to her vanished lesbian lover Sally. She was previously employed by Richard and Greta suspects that she had become too much of a burden in the sex-parties that involve all of the writer's acquaintances. Richard knows what Greta is looking for and messes with her mind by making the story of his new book suspiciously sound like Sally's presumable fate. The story is compelling enough to keep you interested, but some sequences, like the swamp-hunting, feel a bit overlong and tedious. A bit of gore would have been nice too, though. Still, this is a very enchanting film, professionally directed by Silvio Amadio and benefiting a great deal from the charisma of its two lead lead actresses.

I'm a big fan of the Italian thriller, commonly known as 'Giallo', but I've found that truly great ones aren't that common, which makes it all the more sweet when you do find that illusive masterpiece - and that is a term that can definitely be attributed to this film! Amuck isn't about a ruthless, black-gloved murderer or a police investigation; it's a film about mystery and the sexual tension between its protagonists. The film is a lot like the brilliant Sergio Martino film, 'Your Vice is a Locked Door...' so anyone who's seen that will almost know what to expect. While Martino's film is the most polished of the pair; Amadio's is far sexier. The film features the typical labyrinth plot, although it's all kept together nicely and despite lots of interfering emotions; Amuck always flows well. The film follow Greta, a young woman who takes a job as a secretary for a successful writer as his house is the last place her former lover; the beautiful Sally (oh yes) was last seen. While there, she is introduced to the stunning Eleanora and it soon becomes evident that all is not as it seems...This film features a number of standout scenes; from the marshland shooting, to the enacting of the writer's book, all the way down to the superb ending - but the scene that this film will be best remembered for is without doubt the seduction scene between the two female leads. Lesbian sex is only good in films if it's done right, otherwise it looks like a silly attempt to sell the movie; so I'm pleased to say that Silvio Amadio's scene is definitely done right. The two leads are stunning in different ways; we've got Barbara Bouchet, the wide-eyed, innocent blonde girl - and Rosalba Neri, the cerebral seductress, and the sequence that sees them pair up is directed with just the right amount of eroticism to ensure that it's electric on screen. The way that the plot plays out otherwise is very relaxed and nicely fits the beautiful Venetian settings in which the film takes place. The score by Teo Usuelli is haunting and sexy in the right places, and what the film lacks in suspense is made up for by intrigue emanating from the sexual tension of the lead characters. Overall, this might not do much for those who like their Giallo's tense and ultra-violent, but if you want a seductive, tightly-wound little flick; Amuck is one the best!

A tacky low-budget (un)dress rehearsal for Paul Schrader's sublime The Comfort of Strangers. A couple of jaded swingers live in a crumbling Venetian palazzo. Having little else to do, they lure unwary strangers into their web of kinky games. Alas, any comparison with Schrader's masterwork ends with the plot. Amuck! is one of those sad films that constantly threaten to intrigue us, but never quite do.The heroine of this mess is a pert but stupefyingly dull blonde secretary played by Barbara Bouchet. (She looks like a cross between Jerry Hall and Elaine from Ally McBeal.) Hot on the trail of her vanished best friend, she gets a job with that girl's one-time employers. A voyeuristic American writer (Farley Granger) and his bisexual nympho wife (Rosalba Neri).The key to the mystery is gratingly obvious from the start. The direction is flat and the acting is abysmal, apart from Granger. Incredibly, the camerawork in this film makes even Venice look and drab and stale. No mean feat.Amuck! does offer some surprisingly full-on lesbian lovemaking between Neri and Bouchet. Also a porno home-movie version of Little Red Riding Hood - good for a giggle in the right circles. Unless either of these sets your pulse a-racing, this is one Venice movie you should cross a thousand canals...to avoid.David Melville