Femina Ridens

R

1969

1h 48m

Mystery & Thriller

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Reviews

A journalist (Dagmar Lassander) turns the tables on the wealthy sadist (Philippe Leroy) who kidnapped her for his sick games.

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Anton Bitel

Little White Lies

in this surreal battle of the sexes, tables will be turned, and this initially entrapped, imperilled woman will have the last laugh

Jan 10, 2024

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Clayton Dillard

Slant Magazine

Sexual aberrations have rarely looked and felt as seductive as they do in Piero Schivazappa’s The Laughing Woman, which gets a deserving red carpet treatment from Mondo Macabro.

Feb 22, 2022

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Keri O'Shea

Warped Perspective

It's a lurid, inventive slice of late Sixties gender paranoia, and well worth a look - if you like that kind of thing.

Jan 7, 2024

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Martin Unsworth

Starburst

While it might appear to be nothing more than misogynistic fantasy for most of the runtime, when Maria gets the upper hand, it builds to a perfect climax.

Rated: 5/5

Jan 5, 2024

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Audience Member

"SAW meets DOWN WITH LOVE," says Dave. "Egads," says my inner feminist. "Awesome," says the Mod aesthetic.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

02/16/23

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Audience Member

loisto soundtrack, friikkiÃ¤ menoa!

Rated 4.5 out of 5 stars

01/29/23

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Audience Member

I thoroughly enjoyed this surreal bit of woman torturing whimsy. The story is a guy who, from appearance, was almost certainly in the hitler youth kidnaps a plucky reporter (after a little bit of plot involving an embezzler being fired from his job which turns out to be pretty irrelevant). He tortures her, mainly by getting her to make love to a mannequin of himself and by saying he's going to kill her at some indeterminate point. But lo, for he falls for her and they spend fun times in the woods and in secret passageways for dwarfs, but then there's a twist at the end, and a pretty good twist, not the one I thought it might be. For me, the film's success lies in its frequent bouts of weirdness. And in its fantastic soundtrack. In many ways, its actually quite classy.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

02/25/23

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Audience Member

femina ridens..a kinky classic of euro sleaze from 1969.. superb 60's imigary and sexy babes.. the shamless uk disc is a must!!

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

01/21/23

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Audience Member

Klassiskt gubbsnusk mÃ¶ter pop art och feminismen. Funkar sÃ¥-dÃ¤r kan man vÃ¤l sÃ¤ga. Ett par riktigt snygga surrealistiska scener men rÃ¤tt segt pÃ¥ det hela taget.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/20/23

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Audience Member

Feminist, mysoginist and any sexist reading you can think of can be read within this euro sex thriller. Stylish and dreamy but slow and tiresome, the film has its moments but overall i was expecting it to be alot more graphic (after all this is a sadist bondage sex film) and the ending was predictable and a let down. Not bad in terms of style but not one ill hurry to watch again. Good soundtrack though.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/22/23

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Piero Schivazappa

Director

Philippe Leroy-Beaulieu

Dr. Sayer

Dagmar Lassander

Maria

Lorenza Guerrieri

Gida

Varo Soleri

Administrator

Maria Cumani Quasimodo

Sayer's Secretary

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Synopsis

A journalist (Dagmar Lassander) turns the tables on the wealthy sadist (Philippe Leroy) who kidnapped her for his sick games.

Director: Piero Schivazappa
Screenwriter: Paolo Levi, Piero Schivazappa, Giuseppe Zaccariello
Rating: R
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Original Language: Italian
Runtime: 1h 48m