Sometimes film is messy. Sometimes suspense and drama are messy. However, there are some who believe that a film can be suspenseful and dramatic solely on the virtue of it being messy and confusing. "Hot Blooded Woman" is one such film, and, although it's certainly messy and confusing, has nothing but that and its score to its credit.
"Hot Blooded Woman" has a rather meager plot, at best. It appears to be a simple "wife gets revenge on cheating/unappreciative husband" story, yet it hints at so much more. Unfortunately, those hints are never developed or realized, and it all comes off as terribly disjointed. The audience is supposed to feel sorry for main character Myrtle, when her demeanor and actions vary wildly from scene to scene (e.g. one minute she is being raped, only to begin willingly making out with her rapist). In the same manner, her husband George is made out to be the bad guy, but, even though it clearly shows him "cheating on Myrtle", before they were married, during the marriage he seems totally loyal to her and concerned with her well-being afterward and the most competent person in the whole movie.
The producers and editors certainly did nothing to rectify that situation. There are no smooth transitions between scenes; every single one is forced, noticeably cutting off many scenes. It seems like a lot is missing, but at the same time because of the lack of plot none of it seems terribly important or worthwhile. What scenes are shown unabridged are so pointless that the lack of a solid plot is further aggravated. Watch as Myrtle dances for five minutes straight, or Myrtle's husband Greg fights for ten minutes with a man she was randomly making out with (after he tried to rape her), only for the other man to run off with no reason or rhyme. What gives these scenes even more of a serene, dream-like quality is the score, which is surprisingly good, and, given that there is little dialogue, holds up well amongst all its repetitions throughout the picture. It's still far from a timeless movie score, but the jazz/big band tunes are certainly the most enjoyable aspect of the film. Watching these scenes are a strange experience indeed, as the film becomes less and less of a film to the point that it seems more like someone's extended takes of drunken escapades on home-movies.
"Hot Blooded Woman" is a movie that's very difficult to make any sense of. Though that might be expected of some of its audience because of its genre (exploitation), even those viewers will be disappointed and confused because there isn't even any nudity or real violence in the picture.
