The Washing Machine (1993)

Pretty movie, remind me those old erotic-thrillers broadcast after 22h. But this is an Italian one. Strange, and furthermore : the director is Ruggero Deodato. The story and characters are strange and this could be a lame erotic-thriller, but it is strange enough to be just acceptable for some viewers or quite good for others.Contains one of the best panties-shot of the soft-porn cinema (during the sequence in the museum). The picture quality is very sharp, very detailed and colourful, like many Italian movies. Like a Gucci ad, but fitted into a Ruggero Deodato erotic thriller. Terrific!One of the actresses, I mean the baby-faced one, have one of the most beautiful face I've ever seen, because her character is strange, mysterious, and the french dubbing (bad, as usual in those movies) make her seem more strange than she is in the original version. All these small elements make me remind her even after a long time.WARNING : SPOILERS down hereAnd the final shot : we see sometimes the evil women winning at the end of those movies (most of the times, men, after being mistreated along the movie, finally win), but in this one, four women are staring at the camera, with a final laughin' echoed, etc. OK, it's cliché, but I like it, it is so naive it becomes sincere, and thus, quite fascinating. Four gorgeous and mysterious women. I'd add it's quite a misogynistic ending, but I don't pay attention to this propaganda, I mean not in those lame kind of movies. Misoginy is very frequent in these, but if you can notice it and not pay attention to it, or even laughin' at it like at bad SPFX, it's OK, see it and you won't be afraid by real women in the reality (I'm not really jokin' sayin' that, 'cos I believed it was true when I was watching these kind of movies when I was 14 or so...). It's a good thing to prohibit these to young teens. I really think it. (I'm so glad to have discovered that women are not dangerous! Yeah!)

In this latter day Giallo, Police Inspector Alexander Stracev is called to the home of three sisters to investigate a crime. One of the sisters claims to have found the mutilated body of a pimp named Yuri in her washing machine. When Inspector Stracev arrives, he finds no body and no sign of there having ever been a body. But the more he investigates, the more enthralled he becomes by each of the three sisters as they take turns trying to seduce him, tempting him with information about what happened to Yuri and accusing each other of responsibility for Yuri's disappearance. Inspector Stracev is not sure what he's on to, but he can't get away from it. The sisters keep drawing him in deeper and deeper.With a name like The Washing Machine, I had no idea what to expect. What I found was an entertaining Euro-thriller that exceeded my somewhat guarded expectations. Director Ruggero Deodato (better known for his cannibal films) has created a very stylish (as stylish as Budapest, circa 1993, can be), quick moving and entertaining film that kept my interest from the opening scenes. The pacing is nice and I enjoyed the way Deodato allowed the plot to unfold in bits and pieces during several erotically charged moments. The mystery elements kept me guessing until the very end. There were questions I couldn't wait to be answered - Was there really a body in the washing machine? Are the three sisters as completely mad as they seem? Or, are these women using the Inspector as part of some sort of elaborate game? It's all very nicely done.

Utterly demented thriller (giallo?) about three twisted sisters that fall for the same type of men and use their washing machine as a killer device. Police inspector Alexander Stacev is bound to go nuts as all three sisters turn out professional liars and dedicated to get him in bed. It's hard to believe that this light-headed, almost comical horror cheapie was directed by Ruggero Deodato, creator of notorious Italian gut-munchers like "Cannibal Holocaust" and "Last Cannibal World". Judging by the ludicrous premise and absurd story-twists, Deodato must have been suffering from an identity crisis, or something! There's more gratuitous sex and nudity in "The Washing Machine" than in the average Shannon Tweed TV-thriller, but the actresses are bustier (especially the Polish Kashia Figura) AND there's splatter, too! What more could you possibly wish for? A terrific musical score, perhaps? There's that too!

A fine little film from cult director Ruggero Deodato, not one of his personal favourites but one of the few you can see in the UK uncut. It is certainly worth watching, most people think of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST when the name Deodato is mentioned, which is a shame because he has directed some very entertaining films and this is one of them. If you like erotic thrillers then this is for you, if you just like to be entertained then this is also for you.