Murder Obsession [DVD] [1981] [Region 1] [US Import] [NTSC]

"For centuries, theologians, philosophers, and poets have delved into the universe in search of proof of the existence of the devil. It would have sufficed to look into the depths of their own souls." This is some fascinating statement, don't you think? But, I suspect it is not taken from the classic "Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde." Rather, these are the words of Hieronimus A. Steinback, during the XVII Century, and they are precisely the ones used to open the enormously engrossing "Murder Obsession," an erotic, murder thriller that will keep you glued to your seat until the final credits.

Once we read the aforementioned quote, the film goes to a dramatic scene, in which a killer proceeds to strangle his lady victim. The scene is intense, as the assassin tries really hard to kill the woman. For our surprise, we suddenly hear, "Cut!", and realize that is was only a movie. However, Michael's (the actor, played by Stefano Patrizi) behavior worries his coworkers. Michael then decides to take a break from filming, and plans a trip to visit Glenda, his mother (Anita Strindberg), who lives at the countryside. He takes Deborah, his girlfriend (Silvia Dionisio); Hans Schwartz (Henri Garcin), the director; Shirley (Martine Brochard), the director's assistant; and Beryl (Laura Gemser - yes, "Black Emmanuelle's" Laura Gemser). Once there, they not only meet Michael's mother, but also Oliver (John Richardson), the scary butler. Right from the start, too, we discover that Michael's relationship with his mother is quite strange, yet strong - with an incestuous feel to it --, and that Michael killed his father when he was a child. And, you guessed right, the killings begin again, and it is your job to figure out who is doing it.

"Murder Obsession" (also called "Murder Syndrome), which Italian name is "Follia Omicida," was director Riccardo Freda's last film. It is said that is was Freda who made the first horror Italian thriller ("I Vampiri" - The Devil's Commandment, 1956), so "Murder Obsession" was quite the movie to close his long career. The film is colorful, with many twists and turns, and with plenty nudity, especially from, yes, your guessed again, Miss Gemser. Good stuff, believe me. I wonder what she is doing these days. By the way, while researching Hieronimus A. Steinback, I found out that his quote has also been used in other films. The Blu-ray edition includes a documented booklet about the film and the director, deleted scenes, interviews with some Italian composers and directors, and more. (Italy, 1981, color, 97 min plus additional materials)

Reviewed on June 3, 2012 by Eric Gonzales for RaroVideo.

This is not one of the best Giallos of the period. The production is low budget and the effects are crude, but if you are an Italian completest like I am, it is a must for your collection.
it is beautifully shot and the transfer is crisp and clean. The lead actor is also a hottie for the 70s-80s So thats a plus.... Its a good movie for a rainy dark night.

"Murder Obsession" (AKA: "Follia Omicida," "Murder Syndrone", etc.) was directed by Riccardo Freda and is attributed as his last directorial effort, although he lived nearly another twenty years and gave his ideas to further films (He died in 1999). He was born in 1909 making him about seventy when he directed "Murder Obsession" (1980) and previously he directed some well known horror films in the sixties starring Barbara Steele like "The Terrible Dr. Hitchcock" and "The Spectre" (AKA: "The Ghost") and numerous sword and sandal epics, etc. and in 1957 is credited with directing Italy's first horror film, "I Vampiri." "Murder Obsession" (especially the Blu-ray edition) is very beautiful at times with exquisite cinematography by Cristiano Pogany and equally extraordinary music by Franco Mannino which beautifully complements the images Freda envisions with the help of screenwriter Antonio Cesare Corti. There are times when one wonders if Freda really is the maestro who can pull off making a success of the picture as elements of the picture like dream sequences feature many props, set pieces and familiar but off-putting gothic touches like the devoted but suspicious and eerie butler (played by John Richardson, who not even twenty years before had the leading roles in such pictures like Hammer's "She" opposite Ursula Andress (1965), or the setting of an eerie mansion and the giant rubber spiders and fake webs just out of a Roger Corman Poe quickie from the early sixties. Also in the very able cast are Anita Strindberg (so good in Sergio Martino's giallo "Your Vice is a Locked Room and Only I Have the Key"), Stefano Patrizi, Silvia Dionisio and Laura Gemser among others. Riccardo Freda also brought a lot of style to his pictures and beauty of the live flowers in many scenes, the playing of the classical music and the composition of images to depict great art and the fact that Freda and his co-workers bring all of these elements into near mastery. The very fine Blu-ray from Raro Video has the Italian version with removable subtitles and also a shorter English language version, cut scene footage, interviews including with S. Stivaletti and Claudio Simonetti and a booklet containing critical analysis. Having directed a number of video productions, I know how hard it is to keep a film from sinking with a low budget, this film ends up brilliantly on the final page, eliciting true terror in the viewer.

The two stars are rather a rating of the DVD than the film itself. I bought this DVD because "Italian audio" and "New and improved English subtitles" are mentioned as DVD features on the backcover. But the DVD only contains the english dubbed version with no subtitles. The english subtitles are only in some italian inserted scenes.

Stefano Patrizi plays an actor of little merit who almost loses himself while filming a scene where he is called upon to pretend to strangle an actress/character (but doesn't have the sense to know when to stop). That no one on that set thought anything about this is a great indication of the prevailing cynicism seen throughout this sordid tale of deception, betrayal, madness, and murder. After said incident, the actor gets the bright idea to visit his obnoxious mother with his girlfriend in tow. He introduces her as his secretary and proceeds to treat her in an indifferent manner befitting a creep. Later, the actress he almost strangled to death shows up with their director and another woman. Nothing happens........nothing happens..........nothing happens...........wait for it.......finally, the creep actor has sex with the actress he almost killed. He wakes up to find her dead. The director took photos of the incident so he had to be killed, and so on until the final BIG reveal, which wasn't a shock or a surprise (a bit of a letdown actually). The main problem with this lackluster effort is that every member of the cast plays a character with no quotient of sympathy, they are all uniformly unlikable. It doesn't really matter what happens to any of them because they're either unsavory, crazy, snotty, or snooty. And because it was already a senseless plot as is, they also thought to throw in a bit of the occult while they were at it. Heavy on style, lax on substance, this film ends up an exercise in futility. There's a perfectly good reason why this film was lost to obscurity, it deserves to be forgotten.

Filled with nudity and killings that are the stock of the trade, there's really nothing unique about this movie. It's loud, garish, melodramatic, bombastic, and slightly overdone. I can't think of one reason to keep it.