In the bloodlust of madness

At a young age, little Olivia had to witness her mother, who worked as a prostitute, being brutally murdered by a john. As a young woman, Olivia is married to the violent Richard, who often abuses her. Through her childhood trauma, Olivia hears her mother's voice forcing her to go out at night as a prostitute to kill johns. Olivia's life changes when she meets architect Michael Grant, who is in London to investigate the stability and repair of London Bridge. The two become lovers, but when Richard finds out about it, he gets into a fight with Michael. In the course of the fight, Richard falls into the Thames and disappears. Michael goes back to the USA and Olivia stays behind. Four years pass. Michael took over the construction of London Bridge in Arizona, where he accidentally meets a woman who looks exactly like Olivia and turns out to be the same. He falls in love with her anew, but the past catches up with them both.

Ulli Lommel is best known for his collaborations with Rainer Werner Fassbinder and also worked with Andy Warhol in his Factory. Most successful are his earlier directorial efforts, including The Tenderness of Wolves and The Boogey Man, which was a huge commercial success in the US. In the late 90s and in the 2000s, he directed mostly low budget trash, including the infamous Daniel the Magician with German singer Daniel Küblböck (who was a candidate in the very first edition of the German version of "American Idol"), which topped the Bottom 100 on IMDb for a long time. Olivia was made in the early 80s and is one of his most successful works. The main role is played by Suzanna Love, Lommel's wife at the time. The film was shot in London and Arizona. The story about the oppressed woman who becomes a murderess due to a childhood trauma entertains surprisingly well despite a sometimes dragging plot. This is mainly due to the beautiful staging and the wild genre mix of slasher, psychological thriller and erotic film. There is a really wacky scene in which Olivia comes to a suitor's apartment, which he has decorated with mannequin dolls. Maniac says hello.

Uncut version on US Blu-ray

In England, the film was released as Prozzie (A swear word for prostitutes) and there are at least two different versions. So far, mainly the shorter version was released on DVD by Vipco in the UK, Image Entertainment in the US and also X-NK in Germany. On the UK Blu-ray by 88 Films, only the censored version was released, as well. The uncut version was available in Germany on VHS by IMV and now also by Vinegar Syndrome on Blu-ray. This version is a bit longer in the violent scenes at the beginning and at the end of the film and also in the sex scene between Olivia and Mike.

A theatrical print was presumably scanned for the UK Blu-ray, as indicated by the prominent markings during reel changes. The transfer also lacks sharpness and has a strong yellow tinge, while the Vinegar Syndrome release offers absolutely top-notch picture quality as usual. In addition to the picture quality, the two Blu-rays also differ in the framing. Basically, the framing of the US Blu-ray seems more coherent, it should be noted that the UK Blu-ray shows a tiny bit more bare skin during some sex scenes.

 

Picture Comparison:

UK BD:

US BD:

Runtimes:

UK BD: 83:59 min.
US BD: 84:34 min.

Comparison between the UK Blu-ray by 88 Films and the US Blu-ray by Vinegar Syndrome.

[00:00:00][00:00:00]

Alternate title overlays.

No time difference.


[00:07:09][00:07:08]

Soldier Alex slams Olivia's mother's head down more times.

US: 5 sec.


[00:07:12][00:07:16]

Olivia's mother's head slams into the wall.

US: 1 sec.


[00:07:20][00:07:25]

Before Alex regains consciousness, the bloodied head of Olivia's mother is shown.

US: 2 secs.


[00:10:42][00:10:49]

The UK fades in a bit earlier as the " 15 Years Later" fades in.

No time difference.


[00:34:58][00:35:05]

The sex scene between Mike and Olivia is longer in the US version. Mike strokes Olivia's back with his hand for a longer time. In the next shot, the two are shown having sex much earlier.

US: 20 secs.


[01:16:15][01:16:41]

After Olivia stabs Richard once, the US shows her stabbing him three more times with the knife.

US: 9 sec.