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The trial of Alexander Jablonski (Herbert Fux), a bar pianist who got
nervous in the presence of women, and every time one stimulates him
sexually and he has drunk a bit, he feels the urge to strangle her to
death - which he frequently does. And of course, playing the piano in
strip clubs and the like hasn't helped his condition any. After various
of Jablonski's killings are recounted in court, we learn about his
capture, when Marianne (Edith Leyrer), an undercover policewoman, took a
job as a waitress at an illegal underground brothel and tried to work her
charms on him. This way, the police figured Jablonski could be caught
red-handed, with the whole place surrounded by cops, but somehow Jablonski
got wind of it and escaped through the sewers while the police raided the
place. Marianne though was not one to easily give up, so she broke into
his car and tried to use her seductive charms on him once more once he
found her - which almost killed her, because at this time she no longer
had police backup, and it's sheer luck her colleagues ultimately caught up
with her just in time. A sexploitation thriller from a time
when on-screen nudity was still a bit of a sensation and overtly sexual
content in a movie was almost unheard of, and from a country (Austria) not
exactly known for its trailblazing film industry. Still, Geissel des
Fleisches is actually a pretty decently made thriller with an emphasis
on atmosphere (especially in the finale) and ambitious enough to liken
itself to the French nouvelle vague (especially in the beginning) and
employing cross cutting during some of the film's murder scenes, to quite
interesting effect. Also, Herbert Fux really comes into his own as
Alexander Jablonski, even if he has very little dialogue, given the size
of his role. That all said, Geissel des Fleisches is no
masterpiece, it might be very well-made, but it's very run-of-the-mill in
terms of plot, the dialogue, especially in the courtroom scenes, is a bit
jarring, and the psychological background of the story is simplistic to
say the least. Still, well worth a look, and probably director Eddy
Saller's best film, whose career soon drifted off into more openly sleazy
territory ...
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