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Oasis of Fear (1971)
By lngway2go | April 9, 2009
(aka Dirty Pictures)
Director: Umberto Lenzi
Starring: Ornella Muti, Ray Lovelock, Irene Papas
Umberto Lenzi is mostly widely known for starting one of the most vial and controversial genre’s of them all, the cannibal epic. The genre started with Lenzi’s rather tame Man From Deep River (1972), although it wasn’t until Ruggero Deodato’s Cannibal Holocaust (1980) that things really started to heat up in a seriously controversial way. Even though Deodato perhaps pushed the genre over the edge shortly before Lenzi, Umberto wasn’t far behind, and managed to cement his place in the celluloid hall of fame with a film banned the world over, Cannibal Ferox (1981). Still, before all the cannibal madness Lenzi had been making a name for himself by directing some very intriguing thrillers. Oasis of Fear is a rare example of one of these early thrillers. British label Shameless has manage to get this rare film into the hands of fans, securing some footage that hasn’t been seen before, according to Shameless.
A couple, Dick (Ray Lovelock) and Ingrid (Ornella Muti), make plans to take a vacation in Italy and stop off to do what any couple would do, buy a boat load of porn before they leave! It seems that the Italian’s are in a desperate need of some porn, because the couple plan to sell it while there to raise funds to keep them vacationing and having fun. When they make it to Italy it is not long before they sell the lot and are rolling in dole - don’t get any ideas at home! Unfortunately, these two hippies like nothing better than a good time and the money is soon gone; they waste a lot of it by sticking money to a kite that they give away to some kid, and on doves to release at a fancy restaurant much to the annoyance of the other customers.
So, they find themselves in Italy without any money so there is only one resort… Yep, you guessed it, make their own porn. They begin to take some very risque pictures of themselves and sell them to the local salivatory men about town, but unfortunately it isn’t long before they are busted by a cop when Ingrid is soliciting the sale of pictures with her womanly charms. The police give them 24 hours to leave the country and confiscate their camera, and the pictures.
When out of the cop shop they don’t rush to leave, but meet up with a bunch of bikers. They give the couple some food, and seem nice enough, but the next morning Ingrid and Dick are penniless once more, the bickers having stolen their remaining money. They are once again forced to do what they seem to do best… They find a photo booth, Ingrid sheds her clothes and takes some ‘Dirty Pictures’ while Nuns the other side of the curtain hit Dick up for some change for their religious coffers. There seems to be some relation to the religious tradition of the confessional here, but is it a stab at the church or these risque hippies? It’s hard to imagine it being the latter, they seem rather harmless after all!
The police don’t seem to find this all that amusing, there go to the papers and a story in published to help locate these wild kids. When Ingrid and Dick stop at a petrol station about out of petrol, they try to flog some pictures to the attendant for some gas. The attendant promptly calls the police and they drive off until they run out of gas, winding up at a deserted villa, or so they think…
While stealing some petrol from a car in the villa, Barbara (Irene Papas) comes out and catches them, but ends up inviting them in for food and shelter. The problem is they seem to have come at a bad time, something is going down and no one can figure out just what the secret is that this woman is hiding. She lets them stay the night, and they have a night of fun; drinking, dancing, kissing and stripping - it’s a liberated age after all.
Barbara is waiting for her husband to come home, although it can’t be a very happy marriage because she seems desperate to get her some Dick. There is a tension between the two woman, as they try for the affections of Dick. After they retire for the evening, Dick emerges from the room he is sharing with Ingrid, Barbara is in the hallway and tempts him into her room while Ingrid sleeps. She’s gives him head and they end up in bed together. Ingrid soon discovers them in the act after she wakes to discover Dick out of his bed.
The next morning, Dick finds himself locked in the bedroom. His pants pocket is full of money that wasn’t there the night before, and Barbara is nowhere in sight. He manages to escape by climbing out window and jumping onto the roof, but what he discovers when he gets down and finds Barbara is truly disturbing. What once was harmless adventure, suddenly becomes laden with deadly consequences.
Oasis of Fear is a very powerful little thriller. It has most of the elements that those of us who love this genre are looking for; sin with a sinister edge. The whole premise and ultimate delivery makes Oasis of Fear a very political film, and it’s hard to say too much more without giving away the finale. It’s safe to put Oasis in the giallo genre, even though the actual murder count is very low; there’s more thrill than there is blood spill. There is, however, more than enough to keep things entertaining; whether it be in the form of Ingrid disrobing or the complexity of Barbara and the mystery that sounds her. When the mystery is revealed, the tension only really just begins, and it continues to escalate as we watch the story unfold. The film might drag a little in places, but it’s more a reflection of the times than anything else. If you are okay with a swinging sixties vibe, you’ll be okay with this.
It’s hard to imagine that Lenzi would go on to direct such works, or as some would say “trash”, as Cannibal Ferox and Nightmare City. The world of Zombies and Cannibals seem a world away from the Italian thriller. But it’s a step Lucio Fulci would make, and it paid off for him as well. Still, Lenzi handles Oasis of Fear very well, creating a tense and well thought out giallo that deserves a place in most collections.
Shameless Films release is culled from a couple different sources to restore some previously missing material. This footage was only available in Italian so there are some sequences that are subtitled, some fairly long sequences too. The quality between the different sources obviously varies, the restored material being of lesser quality. Overall, the anamorphic print is nice, if lacking a little crispness. The colors are fairly rich, even if they do seem a little too rich at times. The disc contains a trailer, the usual self-promoting trailers for other Shameless releases and another of Shameless’ trivia subtitled-track. Great stuff, and another worthwhile Shameless release to buy via import!
Topics: Erotic, Giallo, Italian Horror, Umberto Lenzi |