The premise to Doris Wishman's Indecent Desires is like softcore Twilight Zone: a man finds a ring and a voodoo Barbie doll of sorts which allow him to manipulate the body of a woman he's infatuated with. Through the stalker's caresses of the doll, she receives sudden physical pleasure; through his cruelty to it, she receives pain. Her sexually free friend doesn't understand and her square boyfriend can't protect her. I don't think it's a masterpiece by any means, but the story is told over a taut 75 minutes and is so strangely unique that I found myself interested and wondering where it was going to go.

There is a lot of casual nudity on display throughout the film, and it was interesting to think about all of the ogling of these two beautiful women (Sharon Kent and Jackie Richards) being put alongside the story of a creepy and dangerous pervert. It was like it was exploitational itself, and yet showing dangers women face from strangers in symbolic form. Was it self-aware of this? I have no idea. It also felt like it could be seen as celebrating the body and female sexuality in empowering ways, or as objectification. The dialogue is dubbed and weak, the acting is awful, and the editing is haphazard, all of which make it feel like very amateurish. And yet somehow it seems to emerge as the purest form of camp, in ways that I can't quite put my finger on. One thing I do know is that it has a strong ending, one worth sticking around for.

"Indecent Desires" is an ultra-cheap film, most probably filmed using a Super-8 camera, that, inexplicably, was posted on the Criterion Channel's site. I say inexplicably because the channel and their DVD/Blu-Ray collections are known for their artsy-fartsy films....many of which are foreign. I often like their stuff and subscribed to the channel because of this. However, I was a bit surprised to see within their classic and art films were a small number of ultra-cheapo exploitation films, like this one.

The film has minimal dialog and is in black & white. It's about a weirdo with a large ring and a doll. Using them, he apparently is able to molest the doll and have the woman experience what he does to the doll! She thinks she's going crazy....and is there any way to stop this weird guy?!

Wow...talk about a low-brow plot! It clearly was intended to titillate audiences of the day and tosses in some nudity...which isn't at all surprising. But since it's the 1960s, the nudity is pretty restrained by modern standards. So what you end up with is a soft-core porno film with dubious quality and entertainment value. There are worse films out there....though not many. A film for the curious and exploitation picture lovers only.