Three escaped convicts terrorize the occupants staying at a remote beach side residence.
Violence and Flesh was written and directed by Alfredo Sternheim, whose other notable film’s include Anjo Loiro (this film was adapted from the Heinrich Mann novel titled “Professor Unrat”) and Pureza Proibida. The score for Violence and Flesh features music that was originally composed for other films, the most notable music being Pino Donaggio’s score for Dressed to Kill.
The plot for Violence and Flesh is not original by any means as it clearly was based on some or all of these films, The Virgin Spring, Last House on the Left, Last House on the Beach and House on the Edge of the Park. The plot’s initial set up takes some time before it gets to the meat of the story. The film’s major turning point is a scene where one of the female hostages Neila is asked to entertain the escaped convicts with a sex dance. Her provocative dance ignites the pent of sex drive of one of the convicts who proceeds to rape her. One of the film’s more WTF moments is when it comes time for one of the other convicts to choose his sexual partner he reverts back to his prison mentality and chooses one of the men as his conquest. While he is having his way with one of the men, there are two lesbians getting it on in the corner (now that’s entertainment). In a film that is full of bizarre and over the top moments, the most unusual character in the film is a young woman named Leticia who falls in love with one of the convicts. The predictable ending is kind of a letdown after a near flawless final act.
Early on there is a brief reference to the film’s title when one of the lesbians mentions “Every sin is punished by violence”, this line which is in reference to this character telling her parents that she was a lesbian also plays into how religion condemns homosexuality. It is also surprising just how much political and social oriented issues are interjected into this plot considering that these are two issues that the Brazilian government frowned most upon when this film was made.
The cast feature some familiar faces like Helena Ramos (The Chick’s Ability), Neide Ribeiro (Bare Behind Bars) and Nadia Destro (Bare Behind Bars). Ultimately Violence and Flesh’s delirious dialog and ample amount of naked flesh more than make up for the mediocre acting.
