The film may be flawed, but its message is not.

If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

Obscure and underrated Rosemary's Baby style thriller from Italian director, Giulio Petroni. He was better known for spaghetti westerns, made this when he was sixty and had his name taken off the credits. I don't know why but with such a fierce and satanic theme with the added sexuality of Marisa Mell, this was bound to upset someone. Not me, however, I was surprised how enjoyable it all was and if the director doesn't seem to have a clear grip on things there are enough excellent sequences to make up for the odd rough edge. Chris Avram, for instance, seems particularly lost in his ill defined role as husband, serial killer and defender. Marisa Mell, on the other hand, is magnificent, well remembered for her role in Fulci's, One On Top Of The Other, ten years before, she was raped by Helmut Berger in 1977's, The Mad Dog Killer (Beast With A Gun) and here puts in a very fine performance and her submission to the powers of evil as she lays in bed is remarkable.

With still having good memories of being introduced to actress Marisa Mell by the overlooked Giallo Diary of an Erotic Murderess,I was pleasantly caught by surprise,when a very kind IMDb'er recently sent me a non-Giallo Mell title,which led to me excitingly getting ready to discover how obscene a desire could really be.The plot:Swept up in her holiday romance,Amanda decides that instead of travelling back to the US,she will instead live in Italy and get married to her boyfriend,Andrea.Taking Amanda to the mansion which his family have owned for 7 generations,Andrea is horrified to discover that his families most loyal butler has unexpectedly died.Attempting to help her new husband deal to deal with his grief,Andera soon makes Amanda pregnant.Initially thrilled about the pregnancy,Amanda soon begins to fear that Andera and the surviving staff of the mansion may be planning something that is far from being in the best interest of her,or her unborn child.View on the film:Despite disowning the movie later on,co-writer/ (along with Joaquin Dominguez and Piero Regnoli) director Giulio Petroni closely works with cinematography Leopoldo Villasenor to give the film an elegant Gothic Romance appearance,with Petroni using wide angles to show the Gothic mansion that is towering above Amanda and Andera,and also giving the movie a crisp,stylish sheen.Emphasising Petroni's style,film director Jess Franco, (not the dictator!) gives the movie an unexpectedly superb score,with Franco showing a real skill in knowing when to use a deep bass for the movie's Gothic Horror moments,and also knowing when to unleash the strings for the romantic moments in the film.Sadly,whilst Petoni,Villasenor and Franco give the movie a strong atmosphere,the screenplay fails to build any feelings of Gothic chills or psychological terror due to not allowing any details about the foundation of Amanda and Andera's relationship to be revealed,which leads to the Gothic Romance scenes in the movie to be rather dry,whilst the psychological Horror elements of the movie feel lack any sense of being connected to the roots of Amanda and Andera's relationship.Appearing in the opening of the movie by hanging around the corners of the mansion,Victor Israel gives a wonderfully deranged performance as the mansion's last remaining servant,with Israel giving the film a great shot of Gothic Horror by delivering his lines with a sharp twisted cackle,and also creating a strong sense that the servant may know more then he appears to.Contrasting Israel's high shrieks,the beautiful Marisa Mell gives an excellent performance as Amanda,with Mell showing Amanda gradually change from having a head filled with romance,to psychotically crumbling over fears of discovering the obscene desire which lurks within herself and the mansion.

"Obscene Desire" aka "La Profezia" is an erotic and genuinely eerie Italian "The Exorcist" clone which predates and is quite similar in tone to Andrea Bianchi's "Malabimba".Amanda,a beautiful American girl is soon to be married to Andrea Orsomandi,a wealthy nobleman who lives in an extravagant Gothic mansion.However there exists something dark,sinister and supernatural within the walls of the mansion.It seems that Andrea has been driven to madness and is a victim of the evil contained within the house.It soon transpires that he is involved in black magic,perverse rituals and serial killings with the aid of his sadistic henchman and gardener Giovanni.Killing prostitutes in order to exorcise this Evil.Now the demonic forces set out to possess Amanda,take her soul and turn her into another victim of the mansion."Obscene Desire" is full of graphic nudity provided by Marisa Mell,Laura Trotter and Paola Maiolini.It has solid acting and moody score by exploitation veteran Jesus Franco.8 out of 10.

This is yet another ROSEMARY'S BABY (1968)/THE EXORCIST (1973)/THE OMEN (1976) clone – which I was unfamiliar with until a few months ago – and, again, one in which the possession is really by an ancestor (shades of BLACK Sunday [1960]) rather than the Devil himself. We still get the obligatory 'demonic' scenes, but these here are perhaps the tamest I have ever seen: the would-be exorcist (a disheveled Lou Castel) gives up immediately after the 'victim' (Marisa Mell, past her prime but still looking good in the nude) spits out a host he had just fed her – retreating in a room to pray, where a gust of wind turns a hanging cross upside down, he runs hysterically out into the streets soon after only to be run over by a truck! Similarly, the climax sees the trio of devil-worshippers sent to protect the unborn Devil's spawn (including an unhinged elderly gardener) struggle with and eventually set fire(!) to Mell's husband (whom she had earlier spied in an orgy with two of them – or was it just her imagination? – and is even revealed to be a serial killer on a 'mission' to cleanse the world of sin)!! Following this, in a typically cynical conclusion, Mell boards a plane bound to spread evil in the U.S. The film, then, is muddled in plot development (as if Spaghetti Western exponent Petroni was wary of the material, or presumably lost interest when the producers insisted on adding softcore scenes – in fact, he subsequently disowned the film!) and typically listless in pace…but it nevertheless remains engrossing throughout, aided immeasurably by Carlo Savina's moodily romantic score. By the way, this was originally released as LA PROFEZIA i.e. THE PROPHECY.