This is the slickest Jess Franco film I have seen. In fact, the difference in production values between this and something like 'Dracula Contra Frankenstein' is so staggering, they seem like the work of two different directors. The actors, including a wild-eyed Klaus Kinski and a shifty-looking Dennis Price, look immaculate. Only the over-used footage of the Rio carnival betrays the less shiny quality of its spliced-in origins.James Darren plays Jimmy Logan, a jazz musician who becomes obsessed with beautiful Wanda (Maria Rohm), whom he finds dead on a beach in Istanbul (this scene opens the film, with swathes of backstory told in flashback, narrated in film noir-ish style by Darren). We are then treated to a swirling, delirious cocktail of sex and horror intrigue, often threaded through with the image of a girl in furs who looks like a mannequin – there is one lengthy scene where she appears to seduce, torture and kill Price's Percival Kapp whilst alternating between dream and reality. It is very weird, intoxicating and even more impressive because the fantasy is played without any dialogue.One of my favourite characters here is the least complex. Rita (Barbara McNair) makes no secret of the fact that she adores Jimmy in spite of his infatuation with Wanda. McNair's expressions of forlorn longing and subsequent dejection when she realises she has lost her love, are powerful, and we are relieved for her when she finally musters up the sense to make a dignified exit. However, she literally has the last laugh, as it is Rita who sings out the title song over the end credits, full of life ad gusto, which is more than can be said for her ex.For such a delirious, jazzy cocktail of a film, it is Franco's restraint that makes it work so well. His trademark zoom-ins are here, but used sparingly, and only to enhance a mood. Filtered camera effects also abound, but only in tone with what is revealed to be going on. I enjoyed 'Venus in Furs' very much for its consistent storyline (the twist at the end doesn't make much sense, alas) and atmosphere. I also very much enjoy Franco's tatty, less acclaimed works for opposite reasons.

Venus in Furs is arguably the best film prolific Spanish cult director Jess Franco ever made. It was one he released in his late 1960's period when he had noticeably more budget at his disposal and he was able to hire actors of the calibre of Klaus Kinski. The reason this film is so high up quality-wise in Franco's filmography though is that it combines this higher budget with many of the personal facets that would go on to make some of his later work so interesting. Essentially he became something of an auteur of erotica and in this flick he shows he knew how to do it well. Sexploitation was a genre that Franco would contribute dozens of films to but this is one of the ones where he took a lot more care.The story-line is about a jazz musician who finds the body of a beautiful dead woman washed up on the shore of a beach; she subsequently appears to him from beyond the grave and carries out a series of deadly revenges on the three individuals who killed her. To be honest though, the story-line isn't terribly important; it's more a means of taking us from A to B. What it serves to do is allow for Franco to indulge in arty cinematic devices such as colour filters, slow-motion, strange camera angles and of course copious zooms; while at the same time delivering the requisite erotic content. The latter is of a pretty classy calibre though, helped massively by the presence of the rather gorgeous Maria Rohm as the title character. Franco really photographs all scenes with her very well and her revenge scenes in particular are strikingly effective.Despite the title, this film only has a passing relevance to the famous 1870 Leopold Von Sacher-Masoch novel. The only connections seem to be that the title character is called Wanda and she is fond of wearing furs. The Italian director Massimo Dallamano made a direct adaption of the book – also called Venus in Furs and also released in 1969 - and it too is well worth seeking out. Franco's film was basically re-titled to surf the popularity that novel had at the time. Amusingly, the film blares out the vocal line 'Venus in Furs will be smiling' every time Wanda deals with another of her tormentors. The music in general is a jazz score composed by Manfred Mann which adds a significant amount of atmosphere and mood and compliments things ideally. I have read in more than one review here that the sound in general is completely unsynchronised and that it's basically all voice-over – strangely, even though I have seen this film twice, I didn't even notice this. I can only account for that by the film being so successfully trippy that it didn't even register with me. At the end of the day, like all Franco, this is not a film for all tastes although it's definitely one of his more plot-oriented and user-friendly. Whatever the case, for Euro-cult enthusiasts it ticks a lot of boxes.

Anyone claiming that cult filmmaker Jess (Jesus) Franco was a hack, obviously has never seen his masterpiece, "Venus In Furs" aka "Paroxismus." Mind-bending, visually stunning tale of a jazz musician obsessed with the beautiful blonde woman, murdered as he watched, during an S&M session that went too far. Already haunted by her memory, he becomes lost in a hallucinatory World when her nude body washes up on shore. and the world in which he finds himself might..or might not be Hell. Very original concept at the time, an idea that has been imitated countless times since, in such films as David Lynch's "Lost Highway." The dreamlike jazz score is as sensual as the images on screen. The scenes in Istanbul, where the adventure begins and ends, are beautiful and chilling, and sexually charged images played against the backdrop of Mosques and Islamic chanting make for a bizarre and unsettling experience. Actor James Darren is perfectly cast in the main role of the trumpet player. Darren, who was an acquaintance of jazz legend Chet Baker, based his character on the horn player, imitating his mannerisms and way of speaking. Barbara McNair is wonderful as the lounge singer, who tries to save Jimmy Logan from his inescapable fate, and of course Maria Rohm inhabits her role as the 'Venus in furs,' back from hell to avenge her death. And who can forget the piercing blue eyes of Klaus Kinski, as Ahmed..the Turk with a taste for sadomasochistic sex. What a cast! "Paroxismus," with it's unique editing, camera work, framing, lighting etc is something that should be studied in film classes; it is that good. This is what cinema is all about.

Having been previously disappointed by both "Succubus" and "The Virgin Among the Living Dead", "Venus in Furs" came as a pleasant surprise, and establishes the director, at least in my book, as a truly visionary auteur. As seen in "Succubs", Franco relies mostly on imagery, symbolism and music to it's seemingly plot less story. These elements are, however, essential for a film such as this, where "style" becomes "substance", which consists basically on creating a visual representation of a musician's nightmarish fantasies, much like in Dario Argento's "Deep Red". That being said, the film's style doesn't really owe a lot to Argento, but rather to another important Italian director - Federico Fellini. Franco's attempt to enter an artist's subconscious during a personal crisis, is hardly any different to that of Marcello Mastroianni in "8 1/2", only with a considerable amount of horrific elements and sleaze added into the mix. As I've said before, music is one of the key element to "Venus in Furs", as it enhances it symbolizes the world the protagonist has submerged into. Accompained by a unique visual style which recalls both the works of German expressionism and 60's psychedelia, music replaces it's few but surprisingly poorly written dialog (which is almost entirely a voice-over monologue by lead actor James Darren), in symbolizing character's emotions and situations they find themselves in. Though the 'written words' are secondary in Franco's world, and this one in particular, the characters are very well written and surprisingly likable. James Darren is as confused as the audience in his Chet Baker-inspired role, and perfectly conveys the feeling of being a strange in his own universe. Klaus Kinski is a memorable villain as always, and almost reminiscent to his performance as Count Dracula in Werner Herzog's "Nosferatu, the Vampyr". Maria Rohm is a fine replacement to Soledad Miranda, and her performance of a speechless, gorgeous but vengeful 'evil spirit' is as unforgettable as her Spanish counterpart. Yet it is Margaret Lee who really outdoes Rohm as the other important female figure in the picture, as a very pitiable, lonely and equally beautiful antagonist. Last but not least, Barbara McNair is lovingly charismatic as the a-little-too-friendly Rita, whose small role might be important than it seems. Nevertheless, the performances have been criticized for being a bit dull, but I think it makes the film's bizarre, trippy universe even weirder, as well as giving some interesting hints as to understanding it's purposely ambiguous finale. For all it's cons, that are easily forgiven by it's pros, the film is a 8/10 near-masterpiece.