I've mainly watched this movie for the participation of Klaus Kinski, Maurice Ronet and Ed Bishop, expecting not really much of it. It seemed to be one of those tax-saving efforts in which actors participate for (nice) money only and no redeeming value whatsoever.
I was wrong. It is mostly a thriller, and the thriller part works very nicely. I've been told that Ed Bishop could be utterly chilling on stage, but here he definitely put this on screen. Never to utter a word aloud his quiet, slender and completely unassuming killer Smith is quite frightening. Bishop's performance is absolutely on par with that of Alain Delon in Le Samourai, given that he manages to bring this over with much less screen time. Klaus Kinski delivers a toned down performance one would not readily believe him capable of, yet he too comes over ruthless, brutal and at the same time refined during those scenes when David stumbles past the orgy near the end. Maurice Ronet is as brilliant as Bishop in this. His initiation scene with the novice call-girl Elizabeth certainly belongs to the most erotic scenes in this movie and holds its own with quite some of what was filmed around the same time (e.g. La Piscine).
I enjoyed the movie. Yes, there's loads of nudity and sex in it, but no more than what was common in many similar and much better known movies of the time. The actors deliver solid to brilliant performances, kudos to Jaekin for coaxing that from them, and the thriller works and ends in a very dark scene.
I was wrong. It is mostly a thriller, and the thriller part works very nicely. I've been told that Ed Bishop could be utterly chilling on stage, but here he definitely put this on screen. Never to utter a word aloud his quiet, slender and completely unassuming killer Smith is quite frightening. Bishop's performance is absolutely on par with that of Alain Delon in Le Samourai, given that he manages to bring this over with much less screen time. Klaus Kinski delivers a toned down performance one would not readily believe him capable of, yet he too comes over ruthless, brutal and at the same time refined during those scenes when David stumbles past the orgy near the end. Maurice Ronet is as brilliant as Bishop in this. His initiation scene with the novice call-girl Elizabeth certainly belongs to the most erotic scenes in this movie and holds its own with quite some of what was filmed around the same time (e.g. La Piscine).
I enjoyed the movie. Yes, there's loads of nudity and sex in it, but no more than what was common in many similar and much better known movies of the time. The actors deliver solid to brilliant performances, kudos to Jaekin for coaxing that from them, and the thriller works and ends in a very dark scene.