September : Nocturnal Obssessions

Maidens of Fetish Street is the only film directed by Saul Resnick, who also worked on numerous bizarre American exploitation films in the 1960s. This gem of sexploitation blends mondo (sensationalist faux-documentary) with an experimental approach (Resnick was primarily a cinematographer) and, of course, includes the inevitable striptease and erotic scenes. It represents a pinnacle of sexploitation where the nocturnal city—Los Angeles in this case—becomes a labyrinth of sin and depravity. The ‘amoral’ characters indulge their fantasies and obsessions under the watchful, voyeuristic, and moralizing eye of the camera. Like many sexploitation and mondo films, viewers are morally reassured by a narrator's voice-over, creating a certain distance from the debauched scenes that can then be watched more willingly.

In Bilbao, the voice-over belongs to the protagonist, offering insight into his mindset. This film contains elements similar to the one above but with a Latin approach far removed from American puritanism. We follow the protagonist’s obsession with the stripper Bilbao and his nocturnal wanderings, immersing us in a disturbing gray area. Much like in Caniche or Anguish, Bigas Luna presents a traumatic and fascinating experience reminiscent of the giallo’s morbid and erotic tendencies.

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