Sergio Martino – Graffiante Desiderio AKA Craving Desire (1993)

Luigi is engaged to Cinzia, he has a good job and his life runs quietly. But unexpectedly his cousin Sonia knocks at his door. She lived in Venezuela with her parents but they have disappeared and she came back to Italy. She is very young and beautiful and once she loved Luigi. What is he to do?

This film directed by legendary Sergio Martino cannot be compared to his giallo masterpieces of the past but, viewed as an example of the late period of Italian thriller, it has some entertainment value. The movie tells the tale of a young successful Italian Luigi whose career and personal life are turned completely upside down by the arrival of his cousin Sonia. After returning from Venezuela where she experienced something unpleasant involving her family, the voluptuous young girl is allowed to stay in Luigi’s apartment and soon an intimate relationship develops. Sonia seems to have power over Luigi, who cancels his planned engagement, thus embarrassing the parents of his original girlfriend.

Sonia, who convinced Luigi there is no blood tie between them thanks to adultery in their family history,contrives daring sexual adventures and brings excitement into Luigi’s life,she even gets Luigi involved in a robbery, just for kicks. Poor Luigi doesn’t know that thanks to her mental disease, Sonia can get extremely jealous and is capable of cold blooded violence when she’s under strain … The movie focuses mainly on the interactions of characters and Sonia’s malignant influence on Luigi’s behavior,although it doesn’t lack blood and several instances of violence committed by a female character for once. In the most disturbing scene of the movie, Sonia tells Luigi she used pieces of a murdered girl’s corpse as ingredients for her meals… The Czech Republic saw a VHS release of “Craving Desire” in 1995.