Delirio caldo

This is nasty stuff. Surprisingly strong for a 1972 movie, Polselli's over-complex and contrived giallo happily depicts what other people would only dare hint to in a number of jaw-droppingly misogynistic scenes of sexual violence. In one remarkably unpleasant scene, a black gloved killer masturbates a female victim as he strangles her. I find it surprising that movies like NEW YORK RIPPER are so infamous when extreme stuff like this and GIALLO A VENEZIA exist. It's quite amazing that these films were made at all, let alone had a cinema release!

Focusing away from the violence, this is actually a pretty well made and tight giallo. Whilst a lot more sleazy than some of the classy entries into the genre, Polselli hits the viewer with some relatively innovative scenes and camera-work. The plot is hilariously winding- I won't give too much away, but fans of the more ridiculous giallos will not be disappointed. There is also a definite undercurrent of black humour, particularly in some of the scenes of violence. I think it is safe to say that the misogynistic humour will be left misunderstood by most.

Unfortunately, DELIRIUM fell victim to distributor re-cutting in a big way. The American version is hugely different to the original Italian release, losing a lot of violence, gaining some new footage, and asa result suffering quite marked changes to the plot itself! The different versions are really quite different, and I'd advise any giallo collector to check out both. By all accounts, the French print of the movie is the most complete "uncut" form. Definitely worth a look for fans of giallos and of good, honest cinematic scum.

In Renato Polselli's bonkers giallo Delrium, Mickey Hargitay plays Dr. Herbert Lyutak, an impotent deranged lunatic who cannot stop himself from murdering pretty young women. When his devoted wife, still a virgin due to her husband's 'problem', discovers his secret, she decides to help rather than inform the police.

Delirium certainly showed promise at the beginning, with a vicious murder scene that delivered both the requisite nudity and violence one expects from a 70s giallo. Unfortunately, what begins as a sleazy little thriller quickly descends into a mess of histrionics and incomprehensible craziness that ultimately leads to disappointment.

Polselli packs his film with tasty young totty, with nearly every woman either wearing a mini skirt or a pair of hot pants, and all willing to get their kit off at the drop of a hat, but even these pleasing visual distractions couldn't make me overlook the dreadful acting, poor plot and just plain silly ending. The usual red-herrings abound, and there's even more than one killer just to make things more confusing, but as giallos go this one is definitely second rate.

4.5 out of 10 (very generously rounded up to 5 for IMDb).

The English-language print of this movie is incoherent. It adds stupid Vietnam footage throughout and cuts out all references to the fact that it takes place in England, as well as all the sexual violence, the lesbian relationship between the killer's wife and her maid, and the killer's "masturbation" scene. In the European version there are three killers but here there are only two, and the ending is completely different. The American version adds two murders that were left on the cutting room floor of the European version, but they're unimportant to the story. The final third of this movie has sequences that are basically incomprehensible and the film ends with a tacked-on series of stills from different sex scenes from the film! This may have satisfied the grind house audience of the Seventies but nearly thirty years later it just seems tame and silly. Anchor Bay needs to find the full version of this one and get it out on dvd. As it stands now it's a disappointment.

This is a somewhat crazed and depraved giallo. The Anchor Bay DVD contains both the international and the American versions of the film. Both are very different. The U.S. version has a Vietnam War framing device similar to that used in Jacob's Ladder almost 20 years later. It also contains two more murders and is slightly more coherent than the international version, despite being about 20 minutes shorter. But both versions of Delirium are, well, delirious.

The film concerns a homicidal doctor who is a serial murderer of young women. Just when he starts to be questioned by police for his involvement in the killings another maniac starts a murdering spree that confuses the issue.

The whodunit aspect of this movie is a little obvious. So the mystery element is less important. Instead, the film works best as a demented series of shock scenes, all strung together by a loose plot. The editing is not very good but it adds a bit to the haphazard nature of the film as we are jerked around from scene to scene. The music score by Gianfranco Reverberi is very effective in sustaining the delirious atmosphere.

This is a very sexually explicit giallo. There is a multitude of female full-frontal nudity on display. The murder scenes are often pretty misogynistic, not something uncommon to the genre, but a little more extreme here than normal. There are also some well shot S&M dream sequences that feature writhing naked women! The plot is a little over-convoluted. Once again, this is a common giallo feature but, again, more-so here than normal. It can be quite difficult to follow the narrative as the story is all over the place. This fact is made even more apparent when watching both versions of the movie, you will see that scenes are ordered quite differently.

Overall, this giallo movie is weak on narrative but compensates for that with, well, excess. The effect is a film that is true to it's title. It really is delirious.

Whenever I take a look at today's big multiplex cinemasm playing nothing but dreck, I'm really happy, that, in better times, films like this one have been made: "Delirio Caldo" is a sick, a-logical and hilariously funny thriller, the nightmare of any "cineaste". There's lots of violence, psychedelic colours, stylish cinematography and enough of that naive "misogyny" prevalent in 70ies cinema to make any PC-feminists break out in tears. What else could one ask for? Be sure not to miss this treat. And, by the way, watch the continental cut, as the english-dubbed version has been shorn of nearly 20 minutes of fun!