In 1971 the legendary sex film maker Torgny Wickman made "Fear Has a 1000 Eyes",which is often regarded as the first Swedish erotic horror ever made.There are rumours that the movie was heavily censored,but a longer version is nowhere to be found."Fear Has a 1000 Eyes" is an honest attempt to make erotic horror,unfortunately the overall result is bizarre and confusing.The vicar Sven and his pregnant wife Anna live in a vicarage in the country.Anna's friend Hedvig comes to visit.But Hedvig has evil plans and causes spooky happenings and mystical deaths.This Devil's priestess starts an orgy with Anna and Sven before the vicarage burns down with herself inside.Swedish actress Anita Sanders worked mainly in Italian cinema,where she acted for both Pasolini and Fellini.The movie's working title "Henbane in My Ear" is a Shakespeare quote from 'Twelfth Night'.It alludes to the drugs that were supposed to induce sexual hallucinations with women who were said to be witches in old times.7 out of 10.
3 Reviews
Swedish erotic horror (with emphasis on the former)
lazarillo26 April 2011
This is one of those Swedish films that is only currently available in its native dialogue, so I had to rely on the bizarre visuals (and written plot synopses from bilingual Swedes) to try to fathom exactly what the hell is going on. A woman (Anita Sanders),who apparently was in some kind of institution, returns home with her husband to her friend/maid (Solveig Anderson). The younger woman, however, is now practicing witchcraft. She wreaks all kinds of strange havoc with voodoo dolls and then uses her powers to seduce BOTH the religious husband and the neurotic wife. It all ends--as these things inevitably do--in a long satanic orgy.
This movie is interesting mainly for the two lead actresses and the director, Torgny Wickman. Solveig Anderson would probably be a lot more well known in Swedish erotica of that era if only she had not appeared in all her English-friendly films (i.e. "Swedish Wildcats", "Thriller", "Wide Open") with Christina Lindberg, who made even this Swedish beauty seem pretty ordinary-looking by comparison. Anita Sanders, on the other hand, was mainly active in Italian exploitation flicks. She appeared in the early Tinto Brass interracial-sex film "Nerosubianco (Attraction)" and she played former Miss Teen Italy Gloria Guida's ridiculously young-looking mother in "Quella Eta Malizia". Free from the erotic shadows of Christine Lindbeg and Gloria Guida respectively, these two do manage to generate quite a bit of heat together (which might explain why they're wandering around out in the snow wearing short miniskirts in one scene).
Torgny Wickman is most famous for his "Language of Love" sex documentaries, which broke a lot of barriers in their day, but seem pretty quaint today. His fictional film "Anita" with Christina Lindberg as a crazed nymphomaniac has gotten a legitimate English-language release and quite a bit of attention recently, but his earlier study of teenage nymphomania, "Eva, the Half Virgin" (with Anderson in the title role) has so far been neglected. As a Swedish horror film, this certainly won't make anybody forget about "Let the Right One", but as an EROTIC horror film it certainly works alright.
This movie is interesting mainly for the two lead actresses and the director, Torgny Wickman. Solveig Anderson would probably be a lot more well known in Swedish erotica of that era if only she had not appeared in all her English-friendly films (i.e. "Swedish Wildcats", "Thriller", "Wide Open") with Christina Lindberg, who made even this Swedish beauty seem pretty ordinary-looking by comparison. Anita Sanders, on the other hand, was mainly active in Italian exploitation flicks. She appeared in the early Tinto Brass interracial-sex film "Nerosubianco (Attraction)" and she played former Miss Teen Italy Gloria Guida's ridiculously young-looking mother in "Quella Eta Malizia". Free from the erotic shadows of Christine Lindbeg and Gloria Guida respectively, these two do manage to generate quite a bit of heat together (which might explain why they're wandering around out in the snow wearing short miniskirts in one scene).
Torgny Wickman is most famous for his "Language of Love" sex documentaries, which broke a lot of barriers in their day, but seem pretty quaint today. His fictional film "Anita" with Christina Lindberg as a crazed nymphomaniac has gotten a legitimate English-language release and quite a bit of attention recently, but his earlier study of teenage nymphomania, "Eva, the Half Virgin" (with Anderson in the title role) has so far been neglected. As a Swedish horror film, this certainly won't make anybody forget about "Let the Right One", but as an EROTIC horror film it certainly works alright.
The Big Doll House.
morrison-dylan-fan27 April 2020
Warning: Spoilers
Digging into my unwatched DVD piles for ICM's Nordic cinema viewing challenge,I found a flick which I had picked up years ago after reading HumanoidOfFlesh and lazarillo's reviews,but had completely forgotten about since! This felt like the perfect time to eye a viewing.
View on the film:
Whilst sadly having visible signs of cuts made with hard edits, (the only version around is 76 minutes,not the 99 minutes this site lists.) co-writer/(with Inge Ivarson) director Torgny Wickman is still thankfully able to sow a erotic-charged Horror atmosphere from Hedvig's hypnotic naked dance moves,and bedside wide-shots of Sven taking his partner to a possessed climax.
Breaking a cross and chucking it on a fire (press those buttons Torgny!) Wickman flexes the erotic with delightfully kitsch horror shocks, from Hedvig openly sowing her next voodoo doll in front of everyone (!) to slam-dunk zoom-ins on the latest killed victim, all firmly held together with a disembodied arm crawling across the house.
Entering the house looking all prim and proper, fittie Anita Sanders gives a great vibrant turn as Anna, whose increasing fear over if what she sees in the house is real, is worn by Sanders with a growing ease of Anna letting her hair down round Hedvig.
Keeping Anna and Sven (and the viewer) in her grasp the moment they enter the home, raunchy Solveig Andersson gives a wickedly hot-wire turn as Hedvig, cackling with glee when stabbing her latest voodoo doll, and seductively swaying round the house to get all under her trance,as Hedvig is gazed on by 1000 eyes.
View on the film:
Whilst sadly having visible signs of cuts made with hard edits, (the only version around is 76 minutes,not the 99 minutes this site lists.) co-writer/(with Inge Ivarson) director Torgny Wickman is still thankfully able to sow a erotic-charged Horror atmosphere from Hedvig's hypnotic naked dance moves,and bedside wide-shots of Sven taking his partner to a possessed climax.
Breaking a cross and chucking it on a fire (press those buttons Torgny!) Wickman flexes the erotic with delightfully kitsch horror shocks, from Hedvig openly sowing her next voodoo doll in front of everyone (!) to slam-dunk zoom-ins on the latest killed victim, all firmly held together with a disembodied arm crawling across the house.
Entering the house looking all prim and proper, fittie Anita Sanders gives a great vibrant turn as Anna, whose increasing fear over if what she sees in the house is real, is worn by Sanders with a growing ease of Anna letting her hair down round Hedvig.
Keeping Anna and Sven (and the viewer) in her grasp the moment they enter the home, raunchy Solveig Andersson gives a wickedly hot-wire turn as Hedvig, cackling with glee when stabbing her latest voodoo doll, and seductively swaying round the house to get all under her trance,as Hedvig is gazed on by 1000 eyes.
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