Returning to view this film again after a gap of a few years I find I like it much more the second time around. It begins quietly as Barbara Bouchet is introduced to the Venetian villa of Rosalba Neri and Farley Granger. The rather washed out pan and scan print derived from video sources is not good but seems to be all there is and can soon be forgiven as the tense and vivid action develops. Granger is excellent, far better than I've seen him in other films of this period and of course he is ably supported by the lovely and sexy Bouchet and the beautiful Neri. The twisted story always makes sense, remarkably enough, and there is no shying away from the fact that this is steeped in an aura of sex and drugs and.....well maybe not rock 'n' roll, but an occasionally most effective score. Nudity is rampant throughout and whilst some of the sex scenes are gentle and consensual, some are most certainly not. There are also some marvellous sequences relating to past events, that take us out onto a very atmospheric lagoon and to a druggy party gone wrong. There is violence but not much in the way of gore, just more nudity instead. I don't recall a film when so many gorgeous costumes were worn and that came off so easily. Very effective and sleazy giallo.
Review of Amuck!
