A Thousand Pleasures (1966)

Directed by: Michael Findlay | 69 minutes | drama, eroticism | Actors: Marie Brent, Uta Erickson, Michael Findlay

If someone has already been stabbed to death within the first five minutes and the first naked woman dances through the screen, then you already know what kind of film you are dealing with. Brace yourself for a good dose of nudity, violence and perversity from sex operator Michael Findlay.

Oh, oh, oh… How wonderfully bad it all is again. ‘A Thousand Pleasures’ is the latest release in the ‘American Grindhouse Untamed Film Collection’ at the time of writing. In addition to a long name, this label has also built up a reputation for releasing one misfire after another in American film history, in which the work of director Michael Findlay is extensively discussed. And one thing becomes clear: Findlay had a very, but very idiosyncratic view of the world.

For example, who else but Michael Findlay can think of a scene where a woman insists on a man’s oral pleasure by saying, “And besides, I haven’t had lunch yet.” Not to mention the whole concept of the film: a lesbian couple kidnaps a man for his cum while keeping an adult woman in a diaper who has to serve temporarily as a child. You just have to make it up…

In ‘A Thousand Pleasures’ the viewer is completely knocked out with one perversity after another. By the time Findlay introduces a character named Boobarella, all you can do is shake your head and burst out laughing at the absurdity of the whole thing. What a great example of bad taste this film is. Like a dog’s nose is pressed into its excrement to teach it manners, Findlay pushes us face-to-face with facts, only it doesn’t make us any wiser. There is no morality, no theme, no happy ending, just a jet-black nihilistic worldview.

If we are to believe Mr. Findlay, the 1960s were just a decadent event. The film is populated by types who take the sexual revolution very far and for the sake of convenience add some murder and assault. The individualization of society at its worst. Incidentally, the lead role in this orgy of bad acting, empty dialogue and dysfunctional nudity is played by Michael Findlay himself. Under the pseudonym Robert Wuesterwurst, he is eagerly jumped by one naked woman after another, occasionally forgetting that he is making a film. The result is like a drunk: hilarious to watch and full of ideas, but totally inimitable, rudderless and drunk.

As said, it’s fun to watch, but it does require some stamina. 69 minutes turns out to be very long for a film that has nothing to say and only wants to immerse the viewer in a daze of lust and aggression. With a little more… Never mind, you know why you should watch this movie and quality has nothing to do with it. It doesn’t even make sense to go into the camera work, the editing or the always thundering music. The film is as low-budget as can be found and must rely purely on the crazy ideas that Findlay dared to put on film. For all movie viewers who like to dig in the dustbin of film history.