 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. So this is for the 1969 Italian giallo film paranoia Right here. I know this says orgasmo That's because this is how it was released in Italy initially and when it was released internationally It was paranoia. So for the sake of YouTube and the title of it I was gonna go with paranoia Plus if anyone saw it in the United States Back when in that original release then they would notice paranoia So this is Italian only basically, but this is from Severin films and this was in their Lindsey Baker Box set one of four films and this is actually the first in the trilogy of Films that are in that box. There's orgasmo aka paranoia And then there's so sweet so perverse and a quiet place to kill And I will be doing reviews for those as well. So that said let's get into the information on this Also, if you're just finding this review, this is your first video of mine Just know that if you're into giallo, I have an entire playlist of giallo film reviews on my channel also Starting one for Umberto Lindsey films. So you can find them there Like I said directed by Umberto Lindsey who did other films such as seven bloodstained orchids Which I have a review for already so sweet so perverse a quiet place to kill knife of ice That's the other film in that box set Do do do do spasmo eyeball eaten alive cannibal furrow Ghost house and hitcher in the dark. That's just some of his films Written by Lindsey and also Ugo Moretti who wrote scripts for the black hand holiday hookers which sounds interesting and Double murder at just a name a few and Marie Claire Solville who wrote scripts for a quiet place to kill and even angels eat beans Such a weird title. It's such a weird title Like I said, this is the first in the trilogy And it was titled orgasmo now In Italy now apparently Lindsey hated the title of orgasmo in Italy because he felt like it It kept the film from going to tv You know, obviously they'd have to cut the nudity and the sex scenes out But yeah, it could have it could have gone to tv with those Pieces cut out. So I guess the title was a big problem But I don't understand why you wouldn't just give it another title Like they did when they released it internationally and then just put it on tv. So that's what I read. I mean You know, believe it if you want to believe it or don't Another thing to say is the the dubbed version of this the dubbed in english version has a little disclaimer in the beginning from Severin apparently when the international release was done They cut six minutes of film out of it And Severin restored those six minutes of film, but there's no dubbing for them. So it in those little portions It's just subtitled in english. So it's mainly english dubbed and then just little portions here and there of Subtitles in english. So just know that about it The film didn't do well in italy, mainly because the uh, it it didn't really like this sub genre Didn't really get super Popular in italy until the 1970s or until 1970 when Dario Argento's the bird with the crystal plumage came out That's when it really picked up So it kind of got missed a little bit as being like a gem as far as giallo goes and I would consider that I think this is a good one. It ranks up there for me with giallo films I've seen and I've seen 30 some now at this point when I'm doing this review. So yeah Um Enjoy it So getting to the actual film part the man with the binoculars very early on at the airport Who's watching catherine de plane who we find out at the very end is actually an investigator from the united states because Catherine killed her husband, but talk about that much later. I like that twist by the way But showing him with the binoculars at the airport watching her obviously Is a cool way to kind of start and give you the idea that someone's lurking There's something going on. There's some sort of intrigue with the film. So I thought that was a smart way to start it They do a good job of quickly quickly establishing catherine as someone who's a used to being rich Be bad at interacting with other people because she has a terrible attitude And and not having nice manners and see having something to hide because you immediately see her go And hide the suitcase which you find out much later has to do with Uh evidence of her offing her husband, which you once again I'll talk I'll talk about later and how I like that twist and everything and how it fit into everything else At the end of the film the writing for this was actually pretty good some of the execution of the film itself makes it a little bit rough and seem kind of like a Initially, I felt like it was going to be like a so bad. It's good type film But then it really got going and I was like no this is a legitimate fun good film And um, I kind of just want to like rewatch it again like now I'm when I'm doing this. I literally just finished watching it and I kind of already want to watch it. It's fun um catherine's unbelievably rude initially so you get this kind of feeling that she's She's used to being rich. She's used to like lording over people She's used to thinking that she's hot stuff and everyone else's trash But then she warms up to peter and then she eventually warms up to his step sister ava Um, and we know where that goes, but I'll talk about that in a little bit I like how peter says he sleeps naked and then seconds later He just straight up jumps into the shower with catherine starts getting it on with her It's it's this like Aspect of these types of films where it's just like you know, the nudity is coming You know, the sex is coming and it's probably just going to come in a weird Nonsensical way and that's just how this is like catherine doesn't know pier really but he she's like stay at my house Go ahead and he's like, oh, I sleep in the nude and she's like, okay. I'm about to jump in the shower Then he just gets in and then she's just like, okay. Let's have sex. Let's just do this Like no hesitation for catherine But that's one of the things with films like this like that's the quirky nature of watching it now And just being like it's absurd. It's ridiculous. This film is that way. It's ridiculous It's nuts, but it's a lot of fun for that reason Really, I love it The excessive steam during the shower romance scene is actually really funny to me You could tell that a lot of the steam was just coming from the top Instead of rising from the bottom. So it looks funny. I like I like that now because made me laugh Um, and then it occurred to me I was like when they're getting it on all the time because there were many scenes of them getting it on I guess peter's supposed to be good looking because he looks like a doofus to me Like for anyone else out there put it in the comments. Like is he a good-looking dude? He didn't look good looking to me. Or is that like good looking for guys in the in the 60s in italy? I don't know Asking for a friend. There you go Uh, peter just shows up everywhere Like he just keeps like before he's actually like moved in and especially before ava's introduced He's just like shows up randomly prime example being the scene where she goes outside at night into the yard Catherine and then he just like comes out of the woods And then I didn't see this coming but it made me laugh the part where he just like rips her shirt off He like says something about getting dirty and then just like rips her shirt off and I was like Okay, right here and then they just get it on Right in the yard at night and I was like, okay And then that's when you see um the feet of the investigator and you notice I do like how they made it very distinguishable with him because you see that he has One foot that's shorter or one leg that's shorter because they have like the the big platform on the bottom of one of his shoes So I thought that was interesting And it doesn't give you the idea that he's gonna end up being some sort of killer or something and he's not So I like that that twist of it um I assume the hot water that was creating all the steam all around the house when Catherine was up at night with the gun Like freaking out, uh, I assume that was supposed to meant supposed to be like the ghost of her husband And him just kind of letting her know Like haunting her a little bit and letting her know that hey, I know that you had sex in the shower with this young dude And I'm letting you know this and I'm coming for you basically which That kind of gets mirrored in a way at the very end of the film, but I'll talk about that at the end Uh, notice that the sewing mannequin in Peter's place when Catherine goes there has nipples and a bush I thought that was a an interesting touch. I don't know if anyone else out there caught that but um I saw it and I started laughing. I was just like it has nipples and it has a big bush Uh, those don't come like that. I'm just telling you. I'm pretty sure they didn't come like that then And I don't think they come like that now, although maybe you could get a custom one. I don't know It's hilarious when the guy Peter's renting from bursts in on him and Catherine getting intimate and yells no no more whores Just like and that's the english dub version. Like I think it's so funny. He's like no no more whores Like first of all if this guy knows there's something going on in there wouldn't you just be like I'll talk to him later because he was coming to confront him about the rent Basically, and then that's you know, that becomes the impetus For Catherine to be like, oh, you know word boning. So why don't you just move in with me? And then eventually we meet Ava and then he's like, oh, this is my sister. Why didn't she move in with us too? And we'll all just do drugs drink and bone because that's what this film is about It's actually about more, but it seems to be only about that for a while When Ava endears herself to Catherine and then moves in with her and Peter It feels like a scam It really really does because of the like the the kind of like weird scummy slick way that they do it That they uh introduce it is Yeah, um, it makes it seem suspicious, especially because they just keep like You can tell they're just like feeding her booze feeding her pills giving her drugs and she's just like she's down man Like she's just in it and she's just like, okay. I want to feel young again And that's one of the big aspects of this film is her Like she's talked about like how she's older and everything and she just wants to connect with being younger So when she has Peter and Ava who are younger like she wants to live like they're living basically so The cutting between Catherine starting to not feel well and the spinning crystals in the nightclub that they go to Works really well in my opinion because I think it gives a really good visualization and feeling For the audience of that kind of dizzying experience that Catherine is having at that time So that's kind of cool visualization and good filmmaking in my opinion And in general, I think the the camera work in this is pretty interesting at times It's a little much at times. It's just it's just writing good Something I noticed about umberto lens. He is he likes pretty much constant Camera movement, which I like to a degree But he also has a lot of moments of like super aggressive Zooms that he does and that kind of bothers me, especially when it's when they're kind of like clumped together It's not like you do a super aggressive zoom here. Then you wait like 15 minutes and then do another one He has a stint in this film in particular where he does a series of super aggressive zooms That's just like, okay. I'm like getting visual whiplash here. Let's let's calm this one down. So yeah Notice at the pool that when just ava is there. She starts playing the guitar She's playing a few chords and the final chord that she plays Is sounds off. It doesn't sound like it matches where the song is going I think that was a cool kind of auditory cue That things are about to change that the plan of avan peter is about to go into effect And that things are going to start getting bad for kathryn and that is what ends up happening because that's when I think the you get the first little inkling of her like pulling the gun on her and that's like another a little bit of foreshadowing I like how kathryn thinks everything with peter and ava is perfectly normal Especially like the fact that they're both sexually interested in her and then later on when she walks in on them When I guess they didn't think she was around and she walks in on them in bed And at that point she like freaks out because she thought that they were legitimate brother and sister and then that's when they're like Oh, no, no, no, we're brother and step sister. So or step brother step sister. So Um, and then she's like, oh, you know, like she still is like kind of mad about it But then she like just really gives into it pretty easily. It was just like, oh, well, okay I guess we can like all have sex now. Let's just all bone. Let's let's I'm back into the drugs and alcohol. I'm not mad anymore. Let's go. Let's party That's what it is. She's she's a very simple character like that Uh kathryn's fall down the stairs after she does catch peter and ava in bed together. I thought was really funny It's not well acted at all. But you know, it's 1969 whatever Uh, but I think that was funny Um, and I said wow, I did not see it coming when kathryn Got the the crap slapped out of her by peter at the like pool side When she was getting upset about them playing that song too loud, which I like the fact that that song just keeps occurring occurring occurring, especially with its role at the end of the film But um, just heard like getting so crazy about it and then peter gets out of the pool. He's just like Wham wham wham. Let's go with nuts on her. I was like, oh my gosh And then it gets ratcheted up even further later like the abuse gets more Because the part in the hallway where she's like on her knees and he just like pulls out his belt And she starts whipping her with the belt. It just like escalates continually with them. They're not good people, obviously Uh, and that's when that moment where he gets where peter really slaps her a lot That's the moment where she really starts to think of them as not good people But at that point they're so ingrained in her life That she can't get rid of them basically and then that's also when you know, she kind of tries to but then they're like Check out these photos of you getting it on with both of us And she's like, oh, what do you want blackmail? And they say no, we want you And in a sense, that's exactly what they do because they you find out their plan is To make her kill herself. So literally they did want her they wanted her life Like that's what they did and then that's how they would get the money Although that didn't work out obviously Um, the moment that catherine gets on the phone with brian about the letter that she tried to slip him Uh, because he was curious about it. Uh, that is a moment. It's like her opportunity to try and get out of it But then avas starts like kissing her and peter's offering her booze and she just gives in and goes down that road. So Because of that scene in particular, I do think there's a large component to this film about addiction And the role of addiction in the down at the downfall of people in general, especially people In her situation who you know, they're not feeling good about the fact that they're getting much older They wish they were still younger and just you know being rich and curmudgeonly people and having addiction issues The garage scene is a perfect showing of how peter and ava are driving catherine crazy And then making her look crazy to other people like they continually rile her up And then if other people come around they're just like, oh my god, look at her. She's she's so erratic She's so nuts. And then they also have that other scene where they um She they say that or I think peter's saying that she's not around even though she is there And he's just kind of like laying the seed of like, you know, she was she's been drinking a lot And then she takes these pills and passes out all day And then she said some things about not liking her life Like basically saying that she's getting to be suicidal Just laying the tracks for when she when they dose her up on barbiturates and then have her Jump off the roof So I ended up getting wrapped up so much in the craziness of this film that I forgot about that guy with like the one platform shoe Until he popped up again. And then I was just like, oh, yeah How's he gonna fit into this? Because it had been a while since they'd shown shown him and I was just like, oh my gosh Like this film does such a good job of just sucking you in with the crazy and the nuts that you're just like You can't focus on anything other than what's right in front of you So you're not like thinking ahead like what's really going to be going on at the end of this and what did I just see back here? It really sucks you in Notice that Catherine's makeup keeps making her look worse and worse as the film goes on Now I see this as a few things one It's the toll obviously that peter and avar having on her especially with all the drugs and alcohol But two it basically is a showing of how all the drugs and alcohol alcohol are catching up with her health-wise So I viewed it in in those two ways Um, but it looks good The final move of the letter of brian's death was to make Catherine feel completely hopeless and drive her to drinking the booze that they left for that they spiked with all those barbiturates Um, so that was a smart move on their part, but obviously it's also just scripted So obviously it was gonna work out I love how you think brian cares about Catherine after her suicide attempt And is like holding her and looks kind of concerned for a moment And then turns around and just like throws her down the outside balcony To finish the job. Um, I love that twist. I love that moment because you're like, oh my god What's he gonna do? Did he figure out peter and ava? Is he gonna confront them now? And then he's just like meh I'm gonna finish the job and then you find out that he's in league with them And he you know gives them all these instructions of okay, here are our next moves. This is what we're doing You clean this up you clean this up and then it just expands the conspiracy. Basically. I just It's so cool. And I thought it was gonna be done there Basically where they make it off, you know, they go off into the sunset with the money And it's like all right the bad guys win, but it wasn't um Now I did think it was I did have a funny feeling A little but I ended up forgetting about it because I got sucked into the crazy The moment when brian was having kathryn on the plane Just like rapidly signing all these documents because he was telling her what they were He was just like, okay, and now this one is this just sign it now This one is this just sign it and because they had that scene I remember being at the moment being like this is gonna be important I feel like he's Doing something not good here. He's a bit unscrupulous But then I forgot about it because I got sucked into the craziness But then it popped back into my mind when you find out that brian was actually involved with everything. It's like And then the big big twist I that I did not see coming of You know brian finding out that in fact kathryn had murdered her husband by I guess cutting his brakes And then he had the car accident He died in and then because of that and because they could prove that and she had hid the evidence that they found In the house in that suitcase The money couldn't go to her it then goes to the aunts And therefore the money was then not hers to will to brian and peter and ava And so they have nothing they have nothing and all the bad people in this film get what they deserved in a way And um, yeah, I I'd love that twist. It's it's a great way to end the film I do think though that peter and ava dying in the car crash was kind of stupid I didn't like that aspect of it. I think they could have ended them in a better way But what I did like is the incorporation of that song that kathryn hated so much that peter and ava kept playing Now that's that moment just like the one that I was talking about that kathryn had In the house at night with all the steam because the the hot water was going on everywhere of like her husband's ghost being like I know and i'm coming for you the song coming on the radio when ava and peter in the car is Basically kathryn's ghost being like i'm about to end you and so that's the insinuation is that she makes the Accident happen which is funny because She made the accident happen with her husband too So she kind of in life kills her husband that way and in death kills these two that way So pretty interesting Um Talked about the zooms. Uh, I do feel like it especially earlier in the film But it does settle down as it goes further on probably about like the midway point and on It settles down But up until that point the film feels a little bit chopped up Like real choppy and kind of aimless and part of that has to do with the camera work Like I was talking about those aggressive zooms and stuff But also the actual story like the story seems disjointed and not really there early on so it feels Not so great, but then it really settles down and it it gets really good The music gets really aggressive and over the top at times it Once again like the the filmmaking it settles down a little bit as it goes on but yeah, it's it's a little over the top Music wise, but it does get more restrained As you go on or maybe I was just getting really used to it. I don't know It seems that kathryn's interest in peter and ava has to do with wanting to have youth again She's not able to actually be young again So what she does is she has youth in a different way, which is sexually and having them around and partying with them So that's her best way of capturing youth once again Now that ends up being her undoing obviously because you can't Keep acting like that keep living like that as you get older And I think that's one of the underlying themes here is that you kind of have to give that stuff up You can't keep looking back and and thinking that you Want to stay young and act young because it'll kill you and the drugs and alcohol will kill you. So yeah And that leads me to my last point Which is you could view peter and ava as the embodiment of drugs and alcohol Alluring but increasingly abusive and pushing everyone around you away because that is what happens She becomes isolated because she's so focused on being with peter and ava Just like if you're so focused on just drinking and doing drugs It pushes everyone around you away and you end up being alone and it can kill you in the end Just like peter and ava end up basically driving Catherine to kill herself intentionally. So Just uh, just my thoughts on the analysis of this film had a great time with it real fun Really enjoyed this film. So out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm going to give it a very solid four star rating I quite enjoy it. It's up there on my list of giallo films Want to watch it again? But I'd be interested to hear your thoughts on this film and also just on any giallo film Let's put it in the comments. Let's talk and um, what am I in store for with the other three lindsay Films that i'm going to be doing uh from that lindsay baker box set from severin Uh, I have a feeling that it's going to be fun If there anything like this one is going to be a lot of fun and i'm pretty pumped right now So anyway, uh real quick do me a favor hit that subscribe button That is your best way to repay me if you like this video or any video i've ever done Please just take that quick second totally painless hit that subscribe means a lot to me It really does and then also hit the notification bell button because then that way you'll know whenever i'm putting up another review Like this or an unboxing or a haul video or any of the other stuff I do But regardless, I really do thank you for taking your time to watch this Especially if you made it all the way to the end and until next time keep it brutal