Red Roses of Passion (1966)
** 1/2 (out of 4)
Carla (Laurene Clair) is a sexually unsatisfied woman and a lot of it is due to the fact that she lives with an uptight aunt who sees everything as a sin. Carla's luck changes when she has a tarot card reader (Helena Clayton) introduce her to a group of Pan worshipers.
Joe Sarno's RED ROSES OF PASSION is a fairly interesting movie that fans of his will certainly want to check out. I must admit that I find Sarno's work to be extremely hit and miss and I've probably had more misses at this point of my time viewing his films. With that said, there's no doubt in my mind that the man had talent and I often tip my hat to the fact that he was trying to do something more artful than the typical sexploitation movies out there during this period.
Sarno's work mixes arts with sex and nudity and this film is certainly a beautiful one to look at. The B&W cinematography by Anthony Lover was exception terrific and I was shocked to see that this here was actually his first of a very few number of films. The cinematography perfectly captures the mood and spirit of the film and there's no question that it helps with the strange and surreal atmosphere. It's also worth noting to fans of cult cinema that the editor here was David Durston, the same man who would later direct films like I DRINK YOUR BLOOD and THE BLUE SEXTET.
As far as the performances go, for the most part I enjoyed all of them. There's no question that the one thing lacking in Sarno's corner were that he didn't have "A" list talents like the filmmaker he apparently most wanted to be and that was Ingmar Bergman. With that said, I thought the cast was good here and especially Clair in the role of the sexually held back woman. The film certainly drags in a few spots and it doesn't hold your attention as one would have wished but RED ROSES OF PASSION is still worth watching.
