Delirium (1972) User Reviews

Requires a rewatch.

[bensonmum2 · 5/10 · 25 April 2006]

As I've written any number of times, one of the things I enjoy most about Italian films is their convoluted plots. I've rarely run across a Giallo that I have difficulty making sense out of after it's over. But I've met my match with Delirium. It's a movie that I'm definitely going to have to watch again to fully comprehend what's going on.

From what I did get out of the movie, Delirium is the story of a police psychologist investigating a string of murder that he himself may be responsible for. A number of young girls are killed in a variety of explicit and shocking ways. The doctor's wife appears to understand her husband's madness, but is so in love with him that she actively protects him. But can she also protect herself either from her husband or from going mad? (At least this is what I think the film is about.)

Those interested in a variety of explicit and imaginative kills should find something to enjoy in Delirium. My "favorite" may be the first when the girl is stripped and killed in the river. As he proved in Bloody Pit of Horror, Mickey Hargitay could play a completely insane, over-the-top killer with the best of them. He may not have been the greatest actor in the world, but I certainly appreciate the passion and energy he brought to his films. If you're more into the sex aspects of Gialli, there's plenty of that found in Delirium. The most obvious example is the dream sequence where Hargitay is chained by his neck and forced to watch his wife, his niece, and his maid engage in a sexual romp. But, if you watch Gialli for the mystery aspects and to try to figure out "who done it", as I've indicated, Delirium may not be the best Giallo for you.

MELROSE PLACE on acid

[mazec666 · 4/10 · 3 May 2012]

The late bodybuilder/actor Mickey Hargitay stars as a criminal psychologist moonlighting as an unstable sex maniac who murders mini-skirted young women because of his impotency. The luscious and full-figured Rita Calderoni plays his beautiful wife who starts suffering from nightmares of medieval torture and lesbian orgies. The two leads are unwittingly pawns in this muddled, if hypnotic oddity of Italia sleaze that won't please the fainthearted but will delight grind house hounds.

After viewing this film a second time, there are some flaws that I would like to point out. Renato Polselli (under the pseudonym Ralph Brown) directs with such competent gusto in a blatant attempt to explore the deeper psychosis of Hargitay and Calderoni. The dialog is so painfully uninspired and over-dramatic that it felt like a demented version of Mexican soap operas. On the positive side, Ugo Brunelli's psychedelic cinematography perfectly captures what it's like for the audience to be trapped in hell. And if you thought the murder scenes were bad, take a gander at the lesbian fantasy sequence if you dare.

The Blue Underground release, obliviously a reprint from the Anchor Bay DVD, contains two different versions of DELIRUIM. The crappy, dubbed American version makes it worse with tacked on beginning and end sequences of Hargitay's psychological trauma as a soldier serving in Vietnam. The coherent, Italian language version contains more explicit material and different subplots which is a slight improvement to the latter cut. As a recommendation, the longer 102-minute cut is probably the best version to go for.

I loved it

[BandSAboutMovies · 5/10 · 11 September 2021]

Translating as Hot Delusion or Hot Frenzy, this film was also released as Delirium and has nothing to do with the 1987 giallo Delirium AKA Photos of Gioia. Instead, it stars one-time Mr. Universe and the former husband of Jayne Mansfield Mickey Hargitay as Dr. Herbert Lyutak, a man who is a psychological consultant to the police and the serial killer they've been chasing.

Just when he decides to let his wife Marcia (Rita Calderoni, who was in Nude for Satan and The Amazons) in on the secret, someone starts providing him with alibis and covering up for him, which is good, because Herbert can only perform in the bedroom when he's beating his wife or murdering other women.

I mean, not good. Good for the story.

There's also a dream sequence where Marcia and the maid engage in a sapphic encounter while Mickey remains in chains, flipping out and chewing chunks out of scenery that may nearly choke the entire cast. It's awesome.

The American cut adds in a Vietnam subplot, where Herbert is now a PTSD-damaged 'Nam vet and Calderoni the field nurse who fell in love with him. It also has two more murders, so there's that.

Director Renato Polselli has the type of scuzzy credits that mark him as a talent to look into further, like The Vampire and the Ballerina, The Reincarnation of Isabel AKA Black Magic Rites (also starring Hargitay and Calderoni), Revelations of a Psychiatrist on the World of Sexual Perversion and Mania.

Not exactly a movie for the kiddies...

[Rastacat1 · 22 October 2002]

Not exactly a movie for the kiddies, I would consider 1972's Delirium to be some what of a grade B Giallo. The production is okay, the acting not bad, the dialogue average, but the violence is over the top with several grisley murder scenes. There is also way more nudity than your average Giallo.

There are two versions, the American (85 minutes) and the European (102 minutes). The American version starts out with the main character, Herbert Lyutak, getting wounded in Vietnam. The movie mixes stock footage from the war with newly filmed scenes in a pretty ungraceful job of editing. But we

do learn that Herbert was born in Hungary and immigrated to the US in 1961 and joined the army in 1962. He has done three tours of duty in Vietnam and is a decorated, model soldier. He has been wounded and is being taken away in a helicopter. He is looking at a nurse and she changes into another woman who we soon find out is his wife, Marcia, played by the lovely Rita Calderoni (The Reincarnation of Isabel, Nude for Satan). Right after the credits we get to see Herbert pick up a girl in a bar and drive her out to a remote spot, chase her into a stream and then strip her and beat her to death. It's a pretty violent scene and not for the squeamish. Of course that could apply to almost every murder in this movie.

The European version really is quite different than the American release and I thought it had a more coherent story. Both versions are a bit confusing but the European version is more consistant. It also skips the whole Vietnam segment which wasn't very well done anyway. The endings are both quite different as well and a couple murders are filmed differently also.

I don't want to give away too much but we do know that Herbert murders a girl at the beginning of both versions and after that it is a bit of a cat and mouse with the cops who are trying to solve the murders along with Herbert who is a criminal psychologists and suposed to be helping them in the investigation. His wife starts having weird S&M dreams invloving her husband as the sadist and their maid and another woman who we later find out is her niece. Ther three women fondle and kiss each other while Herebert watches. The editing from the dreams to reality is a bit confusing and at one point early in the film Herbert does beat and cut Marcia as a substitution for sex which he can't perform with his wife. He does seem troubled about his violent tendencies and does not want to unleash his murderous ways on his wife. But he does like looking at her throat which is a very enticing part of female anatomy for him.

The picture on the European version looks fine and is presented in 1.85:1 widescreen. The American version however is missing a couple sections of the original so Anchor Bay had to take some Dutch footage from a VHS copy and splice it in. So you are watching and all of a sudden the picture gets worse and there are Dutch subtitles! But we are talking only a couple minutes worth so it is pretty minor actually. There is also a recently filmed 14 minute interview with director and writer Renato Polselli and Actor Mickey Hargitay which is pretty good really. I watched the US version, then the interview, and then the European version of the film. I did have more of an appreciation for the film after the watching the interview and as I said earlier, the European version is overall a better and more coherent storyline. The US version is dubbed in English and the European version is in Italian with English subtitles. Overall not too bad if you like extreme Giallo. Not nearly as good as say, What Have You Done With Solange, or most Bava's or Argento's, but certainly worthy of $15 or so.

If only they had viagra back in the 1970s

[Maciste_Brother · 2/10 · 21 February 2003]

Major Spoilers!!!

DELIRIUM is more like a trashy, super sleazy twisted soap opera than a giallo. The overwrought direction/script/acting/sleaze sends DELIRIUM in the irremediably silly and worthless category. If you thought BASIC INSTINCT was misogynistic in its view of women and lesbians, you have seen nothing yet compared to what DELIRIUM has to offer. Every woman is a "helpless" killer or a helpless victim. They're all lesbian, unfaithful, and insane. And more importantly, naked. This might sound shocking to some and some scenes do shock a little but it's because the film/scenes are more annoying than anything else. DELIRIUM is very typical 1970s Italian provincial style of film-making. The overacting and over everything is something more akin to the style of acting seen in cheap Italian soaps than movies, which is why DELIRIUM ends up looking like a twisted version of DAYS OF OUR LIVES.

The story and direction are remarkably convoluted and confusing, and deliberately so. This in order to hide the obvious potboiler storyline: An important and rich doctor is married to a beautiful young woman. The problem is, the doctor is IMPOTENT and the wife is still a VIRGIN. The two have never consumed their marriage (gasp!). The frustration of being an impotent man married to a virginal wife is shown as the main reason for the doctor's dementia and why he goes around killing young women, as seen during the opening sequence when he brutally kills a young girl in river. After this murder, the doctor becomes a suspect and is interrogated by the police. The wife, who knows her husband is the killer, is madly in love with him, and will stand by him no matter what. As the police are interrogating him, another woman is strangled at a phone booth. Because of this one murder (and subsequent murders), the doctor is not seen as the main suspect anymore. Who is behind these new murders? Who doesn't want the doctor to be found guilty by the police? Who wants to protect him? Yes, you've guessed it. The wife, of course. The story is so melodramatic and stupid that the film actually tries to make the sick doctor look like the hero by the end of the movie by portraying every woman (the wife, her friend and the maid) as total nut cases and whores. The doctor's massive serial killing streak (at the beginning of the film, we are told that there had already been 17 murders) is suddenly trumped by the protective wife's recent serial killings. Needless to say, the end result makes it look like that it's okay if a man kills tons of whorish women because he's impotent, but it's wrong for whorish, insane women who kill for love. But the really funny thing about all of this is that even though the wife is shown to be totally devoted to her husband, to the point of wanting to kill in order to save him, she is having an affair with the maid AND her best friend. This begs the question: how much in love is she really with her husband if she's having sex with two women? I guess the virginal wife needed to get her kicks somewhere.

So, the husband kills because he's impotent (what's with Italian movies and impotence anyway?). And the virginal but whorishly bisexual wife kills because she loves & wants to save her impotent, serial killer husband. Does that make any sense to anyone?!?! The storyline is so divorced from logic that it's pointless trying to make any sense of it. Throughout the movie, we see the wife crying because their marriage is less than perfect. Boo-hoo! Who freaking cares. I don't know what kind of message the movie tries to send (if any) but it seems to say that having a fulfilled marriage is the ultimate raison d'etre in life. Yeah, sure!

And to think, all of this mayhem could have been prevented if viagra had existed back then.

Anyway, to make things even worse, not only is the direction convoluted but, technically speaking, it's really terrible too. Some scenes are totally disjointed. In one scene, the husband is fully clothed. In the next scene, he's bare-chested and seemingly naked. The sloppy editing and direction reminds me of the style of direction seen in old Bollywood movies, where people would be seen entering an elevator with one type of clothes and leave the elevator with a totally different wardrobe. Those looking for sleaze might get a kick out of DELIRIUM but the trashy romance style of film-making might hinder any fun to be had from the shameless exhibitionism on display from time to time. Watching DELIRIUM is a more frustrating experience than an entertaining one, even in the "it's so bad it's good" way. I know, you can't take a film like this too seriously but that doesn't change the fact that it's almost totally worthless. The only good thing about this crappy, twisted soap-opera-disguised-as-a-giallo is the beautiful Rita Calderoni. She's one of the most beautiful women I've ever seen. She even comes out looking pretty good from this stinking pile of crap, which is hard to believe!

Delirious

[Red-Barracuda · 7/10 · 4 June 2006]

This is a somewhat crazed and depraved giallo. The Anchor Bay DVD contains both the international and the American versions of the film. Both are very different. The U.S. version has a Vietnam War framing device similar to that used in Jacob's Ladder almost 20 years later. It also contains two more murders and is slightly more coherent than the international version, despite being about 20 minutes shorter. But both versions of Delirium are, well, delirious.

The film concerns a homicidal doctor who is a serial murderer of young women. Just when he starts to be questioned by police for his involvement in the killings another maniac starts a murdering spree that confuses the issue.

The whodunit aspect of this movie is a little obvious. So the mystery element is less important. Instead, the film works best as a demented series of shock scenes, all strung together by a loose plot. The editing is not very good but it adds a bit to the haphazard nature of the film as we are jerked around from scene to scene. The music score by Gianfranco Reverberi is very effective in sustaining the delirious atmosphere.

This is a very sexually explicit giallo. There is a multitude of female full-frontal nudity on display. The murder scenes are often pretty misogynistic, not something uncommon to the genre, but a little more extreme here than normal. There are also some well shot S&M dream sequences that feature writhing naked women! The plot is a little over-convoluted. Once again, this is a common giallo feature but, again, more-so here than normal. It can be quite difficult to follow the narrative as the story is all over the place. This fact is made even more apparent when watching both versions of the movie, you will see that scenes are ordered quite differently.

Overall, this giallo movie is weak on narrative but compensates for that with, well, excess. The effect is a film that is true to it's title. It really is delirious.

huh?

[movieman_kev · 1/10 · 11 December 2004]

OK, what the hell was that? This story of a killer who kills out of impotence is way too disjointed to be comprehensible, way too tedious to be enjoyable, and way too asinine to be watchable. When a film has tons of nudity and perverseness AND you still find yourself drifting to sleep!! Well that my friends is a huge telling sign to do something better with your time. May I suggest watching paint dry? Avoid the American version that's shorter & turns it into a story about an insane Vietnam vet. Avoid the international version and i have no clue about the French version as I haven't seen it, but that probably sucks as well.

Anchor Bay DVD Extras: Both American & Iternational versions; and a short documentary

My Grade: F

Okay giallo.

[HumanoidOfFlesh · 7/10 · 30 September 2003]

Renato Polselli's "Delirio Caldo"/"Delirium" is a sleazy giallo made in 1972.Of course the film isn't as good as Dario Argento's masterpieces but if offers plenty of sleaze to satisfy fans of Italian smut.The acting is pretty bad(really,this time it's horribly over-the-top,not even amusing!),but some killings are pretty nasty.According to my reliable friend the original edit of the film(the true "director's cut")is the Italian version that is on Anchor Bay's DVD release.The French video version under the title "Au Dela Du Desir" is the most explicit version available.This version,which is not the director's intended original cut has extra footage shot for a European market that demanded more X-factor in content.There are at times extra seconds to the violence and some much stronger sexual content(such as the bath murder where the victim enjoys the assault,even allowing herself to be masturbated with the end of a whip and sucking it before being lashed savagely to her death!).The re-arranging of the order of some sequences as well as the usage of alternate edits and new footage does create a different tale to an extent...Anyway,give this one a look.Oh,and Rita Calderoni is very cute.

A sleazy but lacklustre giallo.

[BA_Harrison · 5/10 · 14 April 2007]

In Renato Polselli's bonkers giallo Delrium, Mickey Hargitay plays Dr. Herbert Lyutak, an impotent deranged lunatic who cannot stop himself from murdering pretty young women. When his devoted wife, still a virgin due to her husband's 'problem', discovers his secret, she decides to help rather than inform the police.

Delirium certainly showed promise at the beginning, with a vicious murder scene that delivered both the requisite nudity and violence one expects from a 70s giallo. Unfortunately, what begins as a sleazy little thriller quickly descends into a mess of histrionics and incomprehensible craziness that ultimately leads to disappointment.

Polselli packs his film with tasty young totty, with nearly every woman either wearing a mini skirt or a pair of hot pants, and all willing to get their kit off at the drop of a hat, but even these pleasing visual distractions couldn't make me overlook the dreadful acting, poor plot and just plain silly ending. The usual red-herrings abound, and there's even more than one killer just to make things more confusing, but as giallos go this one is definitely second rate.

4.5 out of 10 (very generously rounded up to 5 for IMDb).

Bonkers giallo that focuses highly on the sexual

[tomgillespie2002 · 6/10 · 29 November 2011]

Respected doctor Herbert Lyutak (Mickey Hargitay - former Mr. Universe!), who regularly works with the police in helping solve murders, picks up a girl at a bar and brutally murders her. He is identified by an eye witness when in police custody, but then another murder takes place in the same fashion. The police are forced to release Lyutak, who we begin to learn is a very disturbed man. His wife knows of him murdering the girl, but is so in love with him that she is prepared to satisfy his violent desires. As the murders build up, a bizarre cat- and-mouse game starts between the police and Lyutak, where apparently no-one knows what is really going on.

First of all, I watched this believing it was the Delirium from the Video Nasty list, made in 1979, only later to find out I had watched the wrong film. But it was a welcome mistake, as the 1972 Delirium is actually quite good. This is one of the more extreme giallos I've seen. Usually the style eclipses the gore, and if the gore is heavy, then it usually comes with paint-red blood and an extra slice of cheddar. Here, although most of the violence is far from convincing, it is certainly unpleasant. One scene sees a girl being masturbated as she lies doped up and being strangled. It is the sexual edge that gives the film its unpleasantness, and the film is carried by a pretty good performance by Hargitay.

Even for a giallo, the focus on the sexual is heavy. These type of films are always filled with beautiful 70's Italian women who are not afraid to show a bit of flesh, but here it dominates practically every scene. More disturbingly, it features highly during the murder scenes. Shirts and gowns open to reveal breasts, and legs twist and bend to reveal panties, all as they lie dying or dead. As well as being heavily exploitative, it also adds to the sleazy tone of the film, and makes the film just that bit more unnerving. This is one of the most bonkers giallos I've seen - there were moments when I just didn't know what was going on - but stick with it and it's lots of fun.

www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com

Jayne Mansfield's husband in an Italian horror flick

[lee_eisenberg · 5/10 · 10 August 2007]

There are some murder and orgy scenes in "Delirio caldo" (simply called "Delirium" in English), but it seems like large portions of the movie pass with no action. It focuses on a series of murders and a certain man's possible involvement, but there's far less going on than I like to see in Euro-horror. Probably the most eye-opening aspect is the casting of Mickey Hargitay, better known as Jayne Mansfield's husband (and Mariska Hargitay's father); in a movie about Mansfield, Arnold Schwarzenegger played him.

I watched the international version and bypassed the American version, so I can't comment on the differences between the two. But seriously, this is far from the best Euro-horror flick that I've ever seen. It's barely more than a way to pass time.

I bet that they never imagined that the star would get played by a man who would later be in control of the world's sixth largest economy (if I remember right, California has that rank).

One of the best...

[ulgol · 10/10 · 3 October 2000]

Whenever I take a look at today's big multiplex cinemasm playing nothing but dreck, I'm really happy, that, in better times, films like this one have been made: "Delirio Caldo" is a sick, a-logical and hilariously funny thriller, the nightmare of any "cineaste". There's lots of violence, psychedelic colours, stylish cinematography and enough of that naive "misogyny" prevalent in 70ies cinema to make any PC-feminists break out in tears. What else could one ask for? Be sure not to miss this treat. And, by the way, watch the continental cut, as the english-dubbed version has been shorn of nearly 20 minutes of fun!

DELIRIUM {International Version} (Renato Polselli, 1972) **1/2

[Bunuel1976 · 6/10 · 20 August 2008]

Though I had long toyed with the idea of acquiring this one on DVD (the recent Blue Underground re-issue being particularly cheap) - not least because it contained two different versions of the film - I was always dissuaded by the extremely mixed reaction it seemed to elicit from viewers. Now that I've watched it too, I can better understand this reasoning - indeed, I feel much the same myself. If anything, one has to admit the fact that rarely was a giallo better served by its lurid title: the last half-hour of this one is truly demented, folks! Besides, it has the guts to give away the identity of the serial killer from the outset: as played by Mickey Hargitay, actually, he's not that much of a stretch from his trademark role of The Crimson Executioner in BLOODY PIT OF HORROR (1965) - which I also only recently watched for the first time.

So far, so good: for the first 75 minutes or so, we get a number of more or less traditional slayings and their ensuing police investigation (the latter are aided by psychiatrist Hargitay himself - playing a character hilariously named Lyutack!). However, at least, one eye-witness is able to connect the star to the first murderand, here, comes the catch: Hargitay's wife (luscious Rita Calderoni) is so blindly devoted to her hubby - despite his being a self-confessed "mad impotent"! - that, to draw the cops' suspicion away from him, she notches up a trio of victims for herself while he's in their company!! Having said that, the director throws in a lame red herring by placing a slick little car-park attendant (played by Tano Cimarosa and who has a tendency to break into English slang - his role actually grows in stature as the film goes along) at the time and place of at least one of these additional murders. Here, then, lies the film's major fault: while it's certainly unusual, thus interesting, Polselli's treatment can perhaps best be described as hypnotically inept - anyone familiar with Jess Franco's more idiosyncratic output from the 1970s will know what I mean!

However, nothing that had occurred until now (not even Calderoni's occasional nightmares of lesbian orgies in a dungeon, witnessed by an aroused but chained-up Hargitay!) could have prepared me for the denouementwhich is so thoroughly off-the-wall that it's rather hard doing it justice by way of mere description - it's truly a climax that has to be seen to be believed! Much of this has to do with the utterly unhinged ravings of both Calderoni and Christa Barrymore (her character only really comes into play during this latter section: she's Hargitay's niece who, however, harbors an unhealthy affection for Auntie!). Calderoni goes off her rocker first, because she had earlier tortured and attempted to gas the maid who got wise to her murderous habits (of which even Hargitay is unaware)but the scene was witnessed by Cimarosa (having suspected Hargitay all along, he breaks into the doctor's home to search for possible clues), who saved her at the last minute and the maid has now confessed everything to the Police. Incidentally, the latter are a mostly ineffectual bunch: at one point, they even cause a female collaborator of theirs (she's actually used as bait to lure the supposed killer into the open, Hargitay claiming to have arrived at the exact place and time of 'his' next strike by way of extensive metereopsychic[?!] research) - who, having found evidence that could incriminate Hargitay, unwisely decides to confide in Calderoni first - to drop from the eight floor of a building!!

Anyway, Calderoni is terrorized of being caught (somewhat sadistically, Barrymore plays a recording of an angry mob which Calderoni believes are at their front door - this is another element which is thrown in without any rhyme or reason, just like the subplot involving Hargitay's trysts with a female student that prolong the film for no discernible reason). When Hargitay and then the Police appear on the scene, the doctor is willing to give himself up (he's clearly lost his marbles, too, screaming repeatedly at his own reflection in a mirror and at the top of his lungs, "You're a hyena!") but it's Barrymore's turn to go nuts and summarily beats Hargitay to a pulp with a ball and chain for having turned her beloved aunt into a murderess! Eventually, the Police are shown the way in by Cimarosa - where they're greeted by a ghastly sight, as all three persons inside are dead: Barrymore having also strangled Calderoni but who, before perishing, had managed to drive a rake into the former's neck!

Interestingly, composer Gianfranco Reverberi is given a prominent place in the credits - soon after the two leads i.e. Before even the supporting cast!; that said, his contribution is significant and versatile (alternating between sleazy lounge and percussion-heavy rock). Equally odd is the fact that the picture concludes with a montage of some of its highlights - with the emphasis, unsurprisingly, on those bits involving sex and violence! For the record, I'd be interested in checking out the alternate and much shorter U. S. version (which inserts new characters and even makes Hargitay a shell-shocked Vietnam vet - a plot point which, apparently, the star came up with himself!) but not enough perhaps to buy a copy of the DVD. In the meantime, I'll be following this with Polselli's even more outrageous and nonsensical THE REINCARNATION OF ISABEL (1973) - in which virtually the entire cast and crew of DELIRIUM return for a second helping.

A Badly Acted And Directed Italian Gallo Sexual Mystery Thriller

[P3n-E-W1s3 · 4/10 · 22 June 2017]

This is another dire film that could have been much better as the story has a good premise.

Dr Herbert Lyutak is a doctor of psychology and he is suffering from shell-shock after he returns from the war. While suffering from this psychological ailment he kills a woman he's given a lift too as she's rejected his sexual advances, though his mind blanks out the incident. As time passes he gets glimpses of the murder and informs the police of his visions. They, in turn, start to suspect that something isn't quite right with the good doctor. As we progress through the movie we get an insight into his newly formed sexual deviations and his wife's' ability to conform to them because of her love for him. There are a few twists and turns though it's the last twist which really makes this a "Throw- away" movie.

Unfortunately, it's the unbelievably appalling acting, especially from the lead actors, and the abysmally bad writing along with awful direction and cutting that really kills this film.

Mickey Hargitay (Dr Herbert Lyutak) acting skills come straight out of the redwood forests. There are actually times you think a makeup artist will come on with a sander as a puppeteer appears to move him into his next position. His wife, Marcia Lyutak, played by Rita Calderoni, is so over-the-top that it passes from amusing into dreadful.

The pace is all over the place and there are some scenes that appear to have been thrown in just to titillate, especially the light S&M and lesbian scene as there's no sense or reason for them being in that section of the film. The lesbian scene is also one of the longest segments in the film. This is a shame as the opening sequence, the pickup and murder of the girls is done really well - nicely shot and thought out. I thought I was going to be watching a respectable movie... boy was I wrong.

I wouldn't recommend this to anyone, not even fans of Italian Gallo as there are much better examples of it out there to watch.

Avoid the American version

[lazarillo · 23 November 2004]

Thanks to a certain gray market outfit in south Florida that searches for obscure videos, I got stuck with the shorn American print of this movie, but it does have some very ridiculous added "Vietnam" footage which might make it the first movie ever to deal with the fallout from that war. A deranged Vietnam vet and forensic psychologist is driven by his traumatic war experiences (and implied impotence) to murder mini-skirted Italian co-eds (just like he did in 'Nam I'm sure). His loyal wife tries to cover up for him the only way she knows how. Mickey Hargitay is the name star. After seeing "Bloody Pit of Horror" I had no trouble buying him as a deranged killer, but a police psychologist?--c'mon. Mickey had apparently been making bad movies in Italy for so long by this point that he'd started speaking with an Italian accent. (Seriously, why did they cast third-rate American actors in these movies and then dub them when they're speaking English?). Rita Calderoni plays the wife. She wasn't a bad actress, but the enjoyment of her performance varies inversely with the amount of clothes she is wearing, and she's a little overdressed here (if you want to see a lot more of her check out the appropriately named "Nude for Satan"). There are also a lot of anonymous Italian girls in impossibly short minis (unfortunately, this is exactly the kind of sleazy movie that looks up their skirts while they're being strangled or shows them topless after they're dead). There's also a strange, recurring dream sequence where a shirtless Mickey strangles himself with a chain while his naked wife, maid(!),and college-age niece(!!) all writhe around on the floor at his feet.

Anchor Bay apparently has included both this version and the longer European version on their legitimate DVD and it costs half as much used as what the more unscrupulous bootleggers are charging. Avoid just getting the American version, but I would recommend this to moral degenerates who enjoy this kind of sleazy, Italian-made filth (you know who you are).

Watched with dodgy subtitles

[Bezenby · 5/10 · 30 October 2017]

This is just nasty. Micky Hargity plays a psychologist who is helping the police investigate a spate of killings of young woman, only they don't know that he is the killer! We first get to see Hargity endear himself to us by bludgeoning a young woman to death under a waterfall. Which quickly sets the tone for this nasty film. This is after he failed to rape her, mind.

Hargity is a killer, sure, but what do his closest kin think? His wife is sexually frustrated and regularly imagines bizarre lesbo/sado-mach trysts between herself and her hubby, but then Hargity's maid gets all hot about it all and starts feeling herself up (including some shoulder licking for some reason!). There's also someone that gets so worked up they start killing folk, which alarms Hargity as he's also a killer, like.

It was hard enough to keep track of things without the aid of coherent subtitles, but then again the general tone of the film isn't hard to grasp either. This is a giallo with some very nasty deaths thrown in.

You know what: I'm beginning to think that folks watching these films might think they are, just a little bit, sexist. Just a wee bit.

Italian Giallo Thriller with Mickey HARGITAY

[ZeddaZogenau · 6/10 · 3 March 2024]

Hot delirium from Italy

What a psychedelic sex nightmare! Only the Italian film industry from the Cinecitta of the 1970s offers something like this.

After his deployment in the Vietnam War, Herbert Lyntak (Mickey HARGITAY) returns to work as a psychiatrist. He often advises Inspector Edwards (Raoul LOVECCHIO) in finding the perpetrators of his murder cases. What no one knows except Marzia Lyntak (Rita CALDERONI): Lyntak suffers from post-traumatic stress, is impotent and has hallucinations. One day he seemingly murders a young girl. Or is this all just a bad dream? But the girl is actually dead. More murders occur, but Lyntak cannot be responsible for them. A strange game of cat and mouse begins...

In the revealing seventies, the psychedelic dreams of Italian cinema could show many a naked female body. Mickey HARGITAY (1926-2006), Hungarian muscle man, Hercules actor and husband of Hollywood diva Jayne MANSFIELD (1932-1967), really turns it up here. Whether tied to a dog chain or denigrating his reflection as a hyena: HARGITAY delivers the performance of his life. It's not all very believable, but it's definitely entertaining.

AMAZON PRIME VIDEO serves the version with the Vietnam scenes (there are probably different cut models of the film) and there are also more than enough sexualized scenes, so the original version is probably available here. The German dub is even stupider than usual, but that perhaps increases the giallo trash factor.

One of the sleazy giallos

[udar55 · 7/10 · 2 March 2012]

Dr. Herbert Lyutak (Mickey Hargitay) is off his rocker as he picks up and kills a young girl in the film's opening minutes. The police are baffled by this murder, the latest in a series of strangulation deaths in the town. The only person offering any insight into the killings is police psychologist -- dramatic pause -- Dr. Herbert Lyutak! Unable to please his wife (Rita Calderoni) sexually, Herbert decides to give himself up by hinting to the police he knows when the killer will strike again. He shows up to attack a decoy but his plans get sabotaged when another women is murdered in the same vicinity. This is one seriously demented giallo from director Renato Polselli and really goes to extremes when doing the whole sex/death connection. The revelation of the mystery killer isn't going to surprise anyone since the cast is so small, but there are some standout scenes. Hargitay, the former Mr. Jayne Mansfield, is good in the lead role and gives the right emotions for mentally unstable man. What is really fascinating about the film is the Blue Underground DVD offers two versions to watch and they are very different. The shorter American version opens and closes with scenes set in Vietnam with Hargitay as a wounded soldier and Calderoni as a helicopter nurse. There is also an extra killing and a different denouement inside the lovely family S&M torture room.

Sensual and Delirious

[andrabem · 10/10 · 18 December 2007]

The best translation for "Delirio caldo" would be hot delirium. When a desire (specially when it is a deep desire) is not fulfilled, it may turn into delirium.

The film begins with sexual violence followed by murder and the identity of the killer is revealed right away. Well, I'm not giving anything away - this is the very beginning of the film. The killer is Dr. Herbert Lyutak (Mickey Hargitay). And this murder is just another one of a series of murders committed against pretty girls. When Dr. Herbert Lyutak returns home, his wife Marzia (beautiful Rita Calderoni) is waiting for him. Their marriage is not working, but she loves him very much. Marzia has suspicions about his alternative life, but she'll do everything for him.

Other murders will happen and suddenly we are not so sure anymore about who really is the murderer. There are other characters, such as Joaquine (Marzia's niece) and the maid who works for Dr. Herbert and Marzia. Dr. Herbert is a psychiatrist that, ironically enough, helps the police in their investigations. From then on the story will unfold in many directions.

"Delirio Caldo" is a very sensual film. The actors are committed to their roles. Rita Calderoni seems to melt all over when touched by Mickey Hargitay - Her liquid eyes roll and seem to vanish in an expression of ecstasy.

Marzia dreams a lot. In her night dreams strange and erotic visions go through her mind, but in her daydreams, Marzia conjures kitschy visions of a normal happy life.

Marzia's niece, Joaquine (Christa Barrymore) has also intense feelings for someone and even the maid will have her moment of divine ecstasy.

The soundtrack is very good and underlines the different moods of the film - frenzy, tenderness "noir", romanticism etc..

"Delirio Caldo" is at the same time wild, tragic, pathetic and romantic, if I'm allowed to use so many adjectives. Open up your heart and mind and see this sensual and delirious masterpiece.

Dirty!

[Moshing Hoods · 8 March 2002]

This is nasty stuff. Surprisingly strong for a 1972 movie, Polselli's over-complex and contrived giallo happily depicts what other people would only dare hint to in a number of jaw-droppingly misogynistic scenes of sexual violence. In one remarkably unpleasant scene, a black gloved killer masturbates a female victim as he strangles her. I find it surprising that movies like NEW YORK RIPPER are so infamous when extreme stuff like this and GIALLO A VENEZIA exist. It's quite amazing that these films were made at all, let alone had a cinema release!

Focusing away from the violence, this is actually a pretty well made and tight giallo. Whilst a lot more sleazy than some of the classy entries into the genre, Polselli hits the viewer with some relatively innovative scenes and camera-work. The plot is hilariously winding- I won't give too much away, but fans of the more ridiculous giallos will not be disappointed. There is also a definite undercurrent of black humour, particularly in some of the scenes of violence. I think it is safe to say that the misogynistic humour will be left misunderstood by most.

Unfortunately, DELIRIUM fell victim to distributor re-cutting in a big way. The American version is hugely different to the original Italian release, losing a lot of violence, gaining some new footage, and asa result suffering quite marked changes to the plot itself! The different versions are really quite different, and I'd advise any giallo collector to check out both. By all accounts, the French print of the movie is the most complete "uncut" form. Definitely worth a look for fans of giallos and of good, honest cinematic scum.

Sensationally sleazy giallo

[christopher-underwood · 8/10 · 14 March 2006]

Sensationally sleazy giallo with loads of fab 70's gear worn by the men as well as the women and stacks of lurid action. When it's not sex or death on the screen, then it's shades of S&M in the cellar with chains, whips and other implements. Great looking, well OTT, eyes wide open shocker. Vivid killing in waterfall at the start sets the tone and we never look back, even the dead must have their clothing arranged in the sexiest possible way. Delirious ending but then this movie is true to it's title all the way. Perhaps the directing is not as stylish as some giallo and the music is rather muted. Some of the performances, especially towards the end are a bit uncontrolled but this is undeniably a very wild ride from start to finish.

Warm delirium

[Wheatpenny · 25 May 2002]

The English-language print of this movie is incoherent. It adds stupid Vietnam footage throughout and cuts out all references to the fact that it takes place in England, as well as all the sexual violence, the lesbian relationship between the killer's wife and her maid, and the killer's "masturbation" scene. In the European version there are three killers but here there are only two, and the ending is completely different. The American version adds two murders that were left on the cutting room floor of the European version, but they're unimportant to the story. The final third of this movie has sequences that are basically incomprehensible and the film ends with a tacked-on series of stills from different sex scenes from the film! This may have satisfied the grind house audience of the Seventies but nearly thirty years later it just seems tame and silly. Anchor Bay needs to find the full version of this one and get it out on dvd. As it stands now it's a disappointment.

Merge the two versions; make out your own cut!

[Coventry · 8/10 · 23 January 2008]

Our good friends over at the Wikipedia website define the term "Delirium" as follows: an acute and relatively sudden decline in attention-focus, perception, and cognition. It is commonly associated with a disturbance of consciousness. Fair enough! That appropriately describes both the main characters' behavior in this film and the spontaneous reactions of us, the viewers! The least you can say about "Delirium" is that it is one strange movie. Not just the plot lines and character drawings are demented and - oh yeah - delirious), but even the cut, edit and release treatment it received back in the early 70's was highly unusual and peculiar. There exist two principal version of this film, which both feature on the fancy Anchor Bay release, namely the original Italian "Director's Cut" and the heavily altered American version. Most of the reviews and user-comments I encountered avidly discourage people to watch the American version, but I on the other hand, feel that BOTH versions are essential viewing. If possible, you should even watch one straight after the other, filter different aspects & sub plots of both versions together and mentally edit them back together in order to make up your very own final cut! Granted, the American version opens and finishes with a completely goofy and irrelevant Vietnam-trauma sub plot (illustrated through ancient recovered footage with Dutch subtitles!), but it also contains at least one supplementary and highly engrossing killing sequence and – in my humble opinion – the grand finale twists make much more sense here than in the original version. The director's cut is far gloomier and digs deeper into the main characters mental background, but it only just becomes a true Giallo highlight when mixed with elements of the American cut.

Now, don't immediately fear that "Delirium" is an overly complex and inaccessible Giallo because of all this driveling about versions, because it's not! It's your basic and wondrously demented early 70's Giallo, rich on perverted themes, nudity & sleaze, sadistic killings and far-fetched red herrings. The story opens promising with a hunky middle-aged guy (real-life body building champ Mickey Hargitay) picking up a teenage girl in a bar and savagely murdering her in the middle of a mudflat river. Usually the purpose of a Giallo is to keep the killer's identity secret until the climax, but Renato Polselli clearly doesn't bother to do this. The first and highly ingenious twist promptly comes after the intro, however, as the same guy who we just witnessed committing a murder turns out to be a criminology psychologist. He, Herbert Lyutak, cooperates with the police regarding the series of disturbing murders, which naturally puts him above all suspicion. We also meet his wife Marcia, who loves him to death, and his horny housemaid who not so secretly craves for his body. We also learn a bit about Herbert's sexual-related issues that clarify his murderous tendencies. More gruesome murders of sexy young coeds follow; only now Herbert always has indisputable alibis. Is there suddenly a copycat killer? Does Herbert have an evil twin brother? The outcome of this riddle is fairly logic and easy to predict, but Polselli nevertheless maintains an admirably high level of tension and involvement. He inserts inventive sub plots (like vivid hallucinations of lesbian-laughter orgies and the innocent prime suspect's private investigation) and you undeniably look forward to each next gory murder that waits just around the corner. The soundtrack in this particular Giallo is slightly below average, but the photography is beautiful and surprisingly artsy considering the low budget, with an imaginative use of colors and POV shots. Even after starring in numerous low-keyed Italian smut movies (including the decadent "Bloody Pit of Horror"), Hargitay remains a horrible actor, but at least "Delirium" stars a series of indescribably hot wenches, and they all willingly takes their clothes of in front of the camera. This is a fabulously sensational piece of Italian cult cinema and comes highly recommended to fans with a healthy sense for adventure.

renato polselli delivers again

[anthonycwhittle · 29 July 2002]

I thought that the impious happenings in the Reincarnation of Isabelle couldn't be surpassed. Well I proved myself wrong after I witnessed this little picture. Although i enjoyed the film, I felt a little disappointed at times. I thought that the character of Rita Calderoni was a little over the top and i just expected more with the sexual content. The dialogue became a little risible at times and the plot to predictable. I didn't care for the ending either but overall it worked. Don't forget to check out the domestic release that is featured on the anchor bay dvd and witness for yourself how the Americans can destroy a film.

Simply Stunning Giallo Nasty!

[The_Void · 8/10 · 2 August 2006]

Some Giallo's try to tell a serious story, while others are happy to revel in the sleaziness of their absurd plot lines. Renato Polselli's attempt at the genre may not be very strong in the story department, but this is made up for with an onslaught of nudity and sexual violence and if you like your Giallo's to be wayward; Delirium is an absolute dream film! The film exists in two versions; an American cut, and an uncut European version, the latter of which was, of course, the one that I saw. I've not seen the American cut as I have it on good authority that it's the inferior version, and I can certainly believe that as the European market has always been more accepting of sleaze and nudity, and I imagine that most of it was cut for the stateside release. The plot is one of the most convoluted I've ever seen, and follows a police psychiatrist that murders young women in the most brutal ways possible. His wife takes pity on him upon discovering his secret, and naturally, the police enlist his help to solve the case; but when the murders continue, the psychiatrist isn't sure that he's still the one responsible.

Director Renato Polselli had a low budget to work with on this film, but he masks this brilliantly with an array of stark and contrasting colours, which give the film it's arty credentials, and provide some truly stunning imagery for the viewer - case in point; the sequence that sees a young woman strangled in a bathtub full of bold blue water! Mickey Hargitay gives a strong lead performance and always convinces as the psychopathic doctor. He is joined by Polselli regular Rita Calderoni, who looks hot in the role of his wife. The plot is complicated, and the director doesn't always seem keen to provide the viewer with a story, as the focus is always on the brutal murders and scenes of sexual torture, which can mean that it gets a little dry at times. But it all comes good by the end, as despite the fact that we know who the killer is from the beginning; Polselli still manages to pull a couple of surprises out the bag! The ending takes in all the main characters, and I won't hesitate to say that the final fifteen minutes are as good as Giallo gets. Overall, Delirium comes highly recommended to Giallo fans as there's nothing else quite like it!