The Touch of Her Flesh (1967)

User Rating:

5.5/10   

Director:

Michael Findlay

Genre:

Horror | Thriller

Tagline:

RUGGED and ROUGH! FAST PACED THRILLS!

Plot:

A distraught weapons dealer is involved in an automobile accident after catching his stripper wife in bed with another man...

Plot Keywords:

Bed | Accident | Violence | Caught Having Sex | Saw

Cast

Suzanne Marre	...	Janet
Angelique	...	Claudia Jennings
Michael Findlay	...	Richard Jennings (as Robert West)
Vivian Del Rio	...	Go go dancer
Peggy Steffans	...	Hooker (as Marie Lamont)
Ron Skideri	...	Steve (as David Boxwell)
Rit Dexter	...	Doctor
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sally Farb
Roberta Findlay	...	Credits Girl / Dream Girl / Claudia Jennings's Voice (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Findlay		(as Julian Marsh)

Produced by
Michael Findlay	....	producer (as Julian Marsh)
Roberta Findlay	....	producer (as Anna Riva)

Original Music by
Robin Aden

Cinematography by
Roberta Findlay		(as Anna Riva)

Film Editing by
Michael Findlay		(as Julian Marsh)

Camera and Electrical Department
Roberta Findlay	....	lighting technician (as Robert Marx)
Marvin Flower	....	still photographer

Production Companies

• Rivamarsh

Distributors

• American Film Distributing Corporation (AFDC) (1967) (USA) (theatrical)
• Crest Film Distributors (1967) (USA: West Coast) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures of Canada (1972) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (2003) (USA) (DVD) (special edition)
• Something Weird Video (SWV) (USA) (VHS)

Also Known As:

The Touch of Her (USA) (bowdlerized title)
The Touch of Her Life (USA) (bowdlerized title)
The Touch of Her Passion (USA) (bowdlerized title)

Runtime:

USA:78 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Rivamarsh

Movie Connections:

Followed by The Curse of Her Flesh (1968)

Fantastic 1960s sexploitation

Sexploitation pioneers Michael and Roberta Findlay, whose names are probably more commonly associated with films like "Snuff" and "Shriek of the Mutilated", began in 1967 a series of three films which would later be deemed...The "Flesh" Trilogy. The first of these is "The Touch of Her Flesh" which Michael directs(credited as Julian Marsh) and stars in(credited as Robert West) as the misogynistic Richard Jennings.

When Jennings, a weapons expert, leaves out for a business trip to Boston, he leaves behind his beloved wife Claudia, whom we quickly find out is having an affair with another man. Jennings doesn't get too far before he notices that he's left some very important files back in his apartment. So upon returning home, he's shocked to see his wife with her new lover and hysterically runs out of the apartment into the streets of New York and is struck down by an automobile. He regains consciousness at a hospital where a doctor tells him that he's lost an eye and will be paralyzed from the waist down for a short time. It's not long after, that a drunken Jennings sits in his wheelchair and swears to take his vengeance upon all women(whom he considers to be nothing but whores), and later does just that (including Claudia) with a nifty variety of methods.

What I was most impressed with here is the cinematography, which for a late 60s "roughie" is very good. Shot in black & white, there's an abundance of style throughout, and none more so than the very opening where the credits are projected onto the "flesh" of a woman's various parts. Also noteworthy is the hip use of music, such as "Right Kind Of Loving" and others that will reoccur in it's sequels. This all helps to cover up for what I thought to be the films only shortcoming...a lack of dialogue. Of the 75 minute running time, there's probably no more than 5 minutes of speaking (or should I say dubbing?). And that's a shame, cause of those few lines, they're very funny. All in all, it's a really entertaining film that called for two sequels, both of which would get progressively better and even sleazier. I recommend it, not only for it's sleaze value, but also as an important piece of sexploitation history.