Psychopathia Sexualis (2005)

23% of critics liked it
(13 reviews)
23% of users liked it
(313 ratings)

The sexually salacious cases originally presented in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's notorious, turn-of-the-century medical text come to the screen in a complicated collection of erotic stories strung together by the curious tale of a manipulative doctor who may not always have his patient's best… More The sexually salacious cases originally presented in Richard von Krafft-Ebing's notorious, turn-of-the-century medical text come to the screen in a complicated collection of erotic stories strung together by the curious tale of a manipulative doctor who may not always have his patient's best interests in mind. From the story of a sexually repressed man who develops a troubling taste for human blood to the tale of a homosexual seeking to "cure" his condition, a masochist who enlists the aid of two corseted prostitutes in making his wildest dreams come true, and a lesbian who finds her sexual urges too powerful to resist when hired to tutor a sexually adventurous female student, the controversial case-studies that stunned Victorian England in the early years of the 1900s are recreated for the camera almost a century later to show just how little has changed in the realm of human sexuality. ~ Jason Buchanan, Rovi

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Rating, Runtime: R, 1 hr. 38 min.
Directed By: Bret Wood
Genres: Drama

In Theaters: Jun 8, 2006 Wide
On DVD: Jan 9, 2007
Studio: Kino International

Critic Reviews

Ty Burr, Boston Globe
Lugubrious to the extreme of unintended comedy, the movie suggests a regional dinner theater production of a late- ' 80s Peter Greenaway film.
Joe Leydon, Variety
Psychopathia Sexualis seems both plodding and snickering in its almost comically tepid rendering of masochism, homosexuality,
John Anderson, Newsday
What Woods achieves in his arch, velvet-cushioned vignettes is a sense of the subjects being reduced to symptom and diagnosis.
Jeannette Catsoulis, New York Times
Not even necrophilia and the imaginative deployment of leeches can relieve this exercise in unrelenting dullness.
V.A. Musetto, New York Post
Sex can be fun and exciting and wonderful. It also can be deadly boring, as in Pschopathia Sexualis.
Benjamin Strong, Village Voice
...it's clear from the pedantic tone of the dramatic re-enactments (imagine an adult History Channel) that writer-director Bret Wood believes he's showing us the sexual revolution's Magna Carta.
Eric Monder, Film Journal International
Manages to be provocative without being exploitative.
Ernest Hardy, L.A. Weekly
It's a mildly enjoyable romp.
Marc Mohan, Oregonian
The turgid accumulation of tedious sex just bores.
Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide's Movie Guide
Lurid though the material is, the film is scrupulously anti-erotic.
Ted Fry, Seattle Times
Psychopathia Sexualis isn't sexy enough to be soft porn. Neither will it cause an excess of cerebral stimulation.
Sean Axmaker, Seattle Post-Intelligencer
It's hardly revolutionary or revealing and Wood is more craftsman than storyteller or cinema essayist.
Ed Gonzalez, Slant Magazine
Everything you ever wanted to know about sexual perversity but were afraid to ask is on anemic display in Bret Wood's new film.

Read all 13 critic reviews

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Cast

Jane Bass
as Mother
Bryan Davis
as Dr. Goudron
Veronika Duerr
as Annabel Lindstrom

Sandra L. Hughes
as Madame
Ted Manson
as Richard von Krafft-Ebing
Daniel May
as J.H./Jonathan

See full cast

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