Les tentations de Sylvia

This movie is considered by some to be latter-day Italian giallo, it was marketed in America as an "erotic thriller", and it obviously borrows liberally from American film noir like "The Postman Always Rings Twice" and "Double Indemnity". Nevertheless, it is sure to disappoint fans of all three genres. A woman's husband is blinded in an auto accident, so she hires the other driver as a chauffeur.(If he'd been mugged would she hire the mugger as a security guard?) Then she catches her blind husband with his mistress so she seduces her new chauffeur into murdering him a la "The Postman Always Rings Twice". This movie is just too stupid and nonsensically European to make it as an American film noir. On the other hand, it's too pedestrian to qualify it as a giallo (which usually feature much more bizarre and imaginative plots). It also lacks the stylistic flair of either genre--it looks more like a crappy "Penthouse" video. It's certainly not any worse than your average "erotic thriller", but it likely has a little too much plot and not enough sex to please the fans of that deservedly maligned genre (although I doubt anyone will complain about lead Loridawn Romito's numerous nude scenes).

The only really entertaining part of the movie is the hilarious English dubbing. Somebody dubbed all these dark, sensuous-looking Italian actors with twangy Texas accents! It's like Woody Allen's "What's Up Tiger Lilly" but without the (intentional) humor.

For about its first hour, half of this movie consists of people having sex in inappropriate places, at inappropriate times and with inappropriate partners, which makes them easy to spot for the exact person that should NOT be able to spot them, and the other half has them walking, looking into the distance, or talking about nothing that really matters. Then a crime plot begins to form, but it's a bit too late to work up much suspense (where are the police, by the way?), and the film remains generally uninteresting. It doesn't help that 3 out of the 4 main characters (the young girl who works at the hotel is the exception) are unsympathetic. Loredana Romito has a great face and body and certainly fits the genre, but this film is just too boring to recommend to anyone. *1/2 out of 4.