Paranoia

Paranoia (1969)

Runtime: 91 minutes

Directed by: Umberto Lenzi

Starring: Carroll Baker, Lou Castel, Colette Descombes, Tino Carraro, Lilla Brignone

From: Several Italian and French companies

Recently I heard praise for a release from Severin last year: The Complete Lenzi/Baker Giallo Collection, which is the four movies that director Umberto Lenzi-an admitted guilty pleasure-did with Carroll Baker. Spotting that all four are on Prime, it seemed like a swell idea to try out their first collaboration. Note that not only is this a giallo in the basic sense that it is a sleazy Italian crime thriller, but that in some places it is known as... ORGASMO. Personally, I am glad it is listed as Paranoia here; among other things, its other title would be awkward to post on Twitter! What I mean is that my reviews are always linked in a Twitter post; my followers there may look at me funny after discovering I saw something called Orgasmo.

The plot: Baker plays Kathryn, the rich widow of an older husband who just died. She now lives in an Italian villa; soon she meets up with a young man who has an equally mod sister. Things seem groovy at first with them partying, listening to period rock tunes where you expect to hear the Strawberry Alarm Clock next, and there's even a scene at a club where I half-expected Austin Powers to show up. However, those siblings are actually awful human beings, so Kathryn has many terrible things happen to her, including good old fashioned gaslighting. Between that and this being the most sleazy of the film's various cuts out there-meaning this has copious amounts of nudity and what I call “lesbian moments”-this was quite the wild hour and a half.

While this was trash, at least I was entertained by those loathsome villains and all the twists & turns this had, especially in the final act. There is no shortage of zoom-ins and zoom-outs, either; Baker was the true highlight with her performance. Kathryn is put through the wringer and she did deliver. This is not a must-see in the genre by any means yet if you enjoy the sleazy Euro movies of this vintage, this will probably delight you... just don't tell me how it personally delights you! Judging by this, Severin did a swell job in restoring some movies I understood were impossible to find in even decent quality beforehand.