Monday, October 11, 2010

IN THE FOLDS OF THE FLESH

(Sergio Bergonzelli, 1970)
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Jailbird Pascal (Fernando Sancho) returns to the villa where, 13 years prior, he witnessed the lady of the house, Lucille (Eleonora Rossi Drago), hastily burying a corpse. His scheme to blackmail the family, however, goes awry as he discovers that none of them are quite right in the head!
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Lucille has flashbacks of Nazi death camps and keeps cyanide on hand. Her woefully fashionable son Colin is far too close to his stepsister Falesse (Anna Maria Pierangeli), a black widow type who kills any man she sleeps with. They also keep pet vultures, and have Etruscan skeletons and vats of acid in the basement!
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ITFOTF was an Italian-Spanish co production, and very much a product of its era. It looks and feels much like an episode of Batman, but heavier on the LSD. The effects are cheap and waxy, the blood obviously paint (powdered red tempera, if I'm not mistaken!), and the plot has more twists than a Mormon has wives, but ITFOTF is entertaining nonetheless.
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On the plus side, this film features far-out photography, psychedelic paint swirls, a groovy organ soundtrack, and shamelessly exploitative scenes of incest and rape (only a plus for the deranged, I guess!). Also on display are a plethora of bad early 70's fashion and interior designs and artwork. It's a bit of a train wreck, but the viewer can't help but be interested! Recommended, though not highly, and can still be obtained on DVD here.
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