The Frightened Woman

To describe this Italian cult thriller from 1969 as controversial would be an understatement. Merging 60’s pop kitsch with s/m erotica, high camp and a riveting score by Stelvio Cipriani, THE FRIGHTENED WOMAN (aka FEMINA RIDENS) has just been released in a glorious 4K restoration on Blu-ray.

To put it upfront, the actual title is ‘The Laughing Woman’, which is more to the point, though you wouldn’t know it until the unexpected twist at the end of the film arrives…
The movie, with the exception of the opening and closing scenes, is essentially a two-hander set in a gloriously pop-art decorated villa on the outskirts of Rome.

The action begins at a gorgeous and ancient academy building in Rome, where Dr. Sayer (Philippe Leroy) is the rather odd director of a philanthropic foundation. Just how odd Sayer really is becomes crystal clear when we get an inkling of how he spends his weekends in his luxury villa outside Rome – a huge mansion which not only consists of god knows how many bed- and living rooms but an array of ‘play rooms’ in which he indulges in his sado-masochistically inclined power games – all with the help of specially hired prostitutes. When one of them, Gida (Lorenza Guerrieri), sporting a ghastly poodle-perm, calls Sayer and lies to him that she can’t make the usual appointment for whatever reason (in reality, she is busy trying on some new fashion outfits), the oddball academic appears to be spending the weekend by himself.

Not for long though, thanks to Maria (Dagmar Lassander), a young and attractive journalist who happens to be one of his staff members. A few days earlier, Sayer and Maria had a disagreement in his office when Maria, conducting a research on male sterilisation, implied that all men should be sterilised because why should it always be women who are burdened with birth control, to which Dr. Sayer gave his rather macho opinion – which stands in complete contrast to her ideas. In order to continue with her research for an article on deadline, Maria insisted on visiting him in his villa over the weekend and although initially not keen on the idea, he eventually accepted.

Now she is in his villa and at first, everything appears to be normal what with Dr. Sayer playing the usual host and offering her a drink. Soon though, his real colours begin to shine through and these colours range from dark to darker… and then some! You see, our weird Dr. Sayer fancies himself as a Marquis De Sade-type scoundrel who likes nothing more than to humiliate and degrade women, both psychologically and physically. This he achieves via the use of handcuffs and various other bondage equipment, not to mention psychological torment which leads Maria to believe that she is in the clutches of a serial killer who captures and dispatches his unfortunate victims on a regular basis.

As the cat- and mouse game goes on, Sayer’s façade eventually begins to crumble and Maria senses that in reality, he is a deeply insecure person afraid of women and thus not able to enjoy love as we know it. Her suspicions prove right when Sayer, who begins to admire and like Maria, confesses that the chip on his shoulder stems from a childhood trauma when he witnessed two scorpions mating and the female one devouring the male one afterwards. Somehow, he translated this as something all women do after they make love to a man (and he is supposed to be an educated academic?). Heaven help us all! Now that she knows the root cause of Sayer’s problem, clever Maria turns the tables and soon, the two can be seen frolicking happily together in the countryside and spending weekends at a castle with bizarre chambers and even more bizarre servants. Just when Sayer thinks he is finally cured the twist arrives and rest assured, it’s a massive sting in the tail…!

Both Philippe Leroy and Dagmar Lassander (both seasoned actors in their own right) are compelling as the mismatched duo in a film that no doubt must have been difficult to act, especially as Lassander’s character is concerned. It’s never explained why Leroy had his hair dyed in a peculiar shade of blonde for his part, though perhaps it added to the overall strangeness and kinky vibe. No expense was spared with regards to the set designs and in one scene, there’s even a replica of Niki de Saint Phalle’s gigantic ‘vagina dentata’ sculpture.

Bonus Features include an insightful world-exclusive new interview with Dagmar Lassander plus an interview with director/screenwriter Schivazappa. The release also comes with different audio options.