I gave it a 7.5 out of 10

Excellent, a Must See

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.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Traumatized trumpet player Jimmy Logan (a solid and likable performance by James Darren) discovers the beautiful dead body of mysterious femme fatale Wanda Reed (smoldering and mesmerizing blonde Maria Rohm) on the beach in Istanbul. Things take a turn for the strange after Wanda shows up still alive in Rio. Logan and his singer girlfriend Rita (a delightful portrayal by the delicious Barbara McNair) soon find themselves caught up in a dangerous whirlpool world of deception and debauchery that also involves predatory lesbian Olga (luscious brunette Margaret Lee), depraved rich playboy Ahmed Kortobawi (Klaus Kinski in peak suavely slimy form), and art dealer Percival Kapp (a brief appearance by Dennis Price).Director Jess Franco, who also co-wrote the abstract, yet intriguing script by Malvin Wald, relates the engrossingly outer story at a hypnotically deliberate pace, does an ace job of crafting an arrestingly far-out, oblique, and enigmatic dreamy atmosphere, pulls off a neat supernatural twist ending, makes nice use of the exotic locations, and delivers a satisfying serving of tasty female nudity along with a sizzling smidgen of sizzling S&M-flavored soft-core sex. Angelo Lotti's stylish cinematography provides a sumptuous bright look and boasts lots of funky visual flourishes. The supremely groovy jazz score by Manfred Mann and Mike Hugg hits the swanky'n'swinging spot. Both Frnco fans and aficionados of oddball 60's psychedelic cinema should totally dig this one.

If the above summary doesn't make any sense (which it won't unless you've seen "A Fish Called Wanda"), then it's perfectly appropriate for "Venus In Furs". This film confirms Jess Franco's chronic inability (or maybe unwillingness, but I'm betting more on inability) to tell a logical story, and to tie his weird ideas (some of which might have been effective under different circumstances) into a coherent whole. Of course he also has an unerring eye for female beauty, and "Venus In Furs" scores high in that department with Barbara McNair, Maria Rohn and Margaret Lee; however, the long-awaited lesbian scene between the latter two is brief and disappointingly shot in blurry soft-focus. The acting is better than usual for a Franco film, and at times he does get the dreamlike atmosphere he wants right, but at other times the film can get quite boring. As the lead himself admits, "the pieces don't add up". ** out of 4.

Paroxismus is set in the late 60's & starts in Istanbul where jazz trumpeter Jimmy Logan (James Darren) is walking on a beach when he finds the washed up body of a young blonde woman on the sand. Jimmy becomes confused, he recognises the woman as a Wanda Reed (Maria Rohm) whom he briefly met the previous night at a party held by playboy millionaire Ahmed Kortobawi (Klaus Kinski), Jimmy also remembers that he witnessed Ahmed & two of his friends attack & murder Wanda. Confused & scared Jimmy leaves Istanbul & heads for the carnivals of Rio where he meets jazz singer Rita (Barbara McNair) & surprisingly meets Wanda again despite her seemingly being dead. It seems that Wanda may have come back from the dead to avenge herself & punish those responsible for her own murder...This English, German & Italian co-production is known under various titles with the US retitling Venus in Furs the most common although hack Spanish director Jesus Franco originally wanted to call it Black Angel, despite bearing the Venus in Furs title this has absolutely nothing to do with the infamous novel by Leopold von Sacher-Masoch of the same name. Franco was apparently inspired to make Paroximus after a conversation with jazz musician Chet Baker, whoever he is. I will be honest straight away & say that I think Jesus Franco is possibly the worst filmmaker in cinematic history so maybe I am a little bit biased, generally speaking I hate his films & his dull cheap looking amateurish style but having said that I realise he does have fans & they consider Paroximus as one of his better efforts for some reason. Basically I thought it was complete crap from start to finish, it makes absolutely no sense & the sense of surrealism & symbolism that Franco was obviously aiming for ends up making the film incomprehensible & a chore to sit through. Nothing here makes any sense, sure maybe that's what Franco set out to achieve but I just couldn't get into it & felt it was a total mess of badly shot arty surrealism & supernatural ghost story with a hint of musical & soft core porn thrown in to muddy the waters even further. There's also a really strange twists ending that makes no sense & just left me frustrated & annoyed that I had bothered to watch the thing. Paroximus really is a terrible film, Franco does it again with yet another worthless 90 odd minutes.Franco is a such a limited & talentless filmmaker that when he tries to shoot scenes in an interesting & artistic way that symbolize something they just look cheap, lots of random shots of beaches, the sea crashing against rocks, random stock footage of carnivals, various buildings in Istanbul & an apparent liking of the colour red amount to absolutely nothing. There are various uses of slow motion for no reason & the final few minutes are tinted various colours which just looks awful & will have you questioning whether your telly is broken. Even Franco's usual sleaze is absent, apart from a little bit of nudity & a few drops of blood there really isn't anything here of note. Paroximus also features possibly the worst car chase in cinematic history. When over half the film are close-ups of people or random buildings then you know your in trouble, quite simply Franco is not creating atmosphere or drama or a sense of surrealism he is merely trying to waste time with (dull) padding, this film really has nothing to say or has any sort of coherent meaning.Probably shot on the sort of budget that wouldn't buy a round in your local pub these days the colour photography is alright & it's slightly better made than most of Franco's output, apparently shot in Istanbul. The acting isn't the best although to be fair I am sure English dubbing doesn't help matters. Klaus Kinski turns up in a small role while Franco regular Dennis Price is also here & gets an unintentionally funny death scene.Paroximus or Venus in Furs or under whatever title is yet another crap Franco film shot on a shoestring, I just don't understand the guy or why he has any fans at all. His films are just universally terrible & Paroximus is a case in point, surreal & meaningless tripe.

Venus in Furs (1969) *** 1/2 (out of 4) Terrific, trippy and haunting love story/mystery about a jazz musician (James Darren) who finds a body washed up on the shore of his house. He recognizes the woman (Maria Rohm) from a party he attended a few nights before but she is now dead. Two years later she reappears to him but is she alive or just a part of his obsession with her? This is an incredibly well made film from Jess Franco. It just goes to show he certainly had the talent to come up with something great but he often wasted it on cheaper pictures. Rohm does an incredibly job and Franco's use of a wonderful jazz score really helps the dreamlike nature of the film. There are plenty of twists and turns throughout the film and a ending that comes out of nowhere. A wonderful mystery set behind a very good love story. Klaus Kinski and Dennis Price co-star.