Germacide / Blondy / Vortex (1976)

Rod Taylor plays Christopher Tauling, a U.N. official in this political conspiracy piece that was filmed in Paris in September 1975.

Tauling is leading an effort to warn the authorities worldwide that a bacterial weapon is at the ready to wipe out most of mankind. But Tauling and the plot line about biological terror wind up being secondary to other intrigue.

While Tauling is away trying to advance his cause, his bizarre-looking, orange-haired waif of a wife, Patrice (Catherine Jourdan), is lured into a sadomasochistic affair with a young man, who nicknames her "Blondy."

The affair was engineered by a friend, Mitta (Bibi Andersson), who is not what she appears. Tauling winds up murdered, and an investigation ensues that reveals the killing's political motivations.

In a 1976 interview, Taylor referred to this film as "a dog."

Biographer Stephen Vagg agrees, saying that "Blondy" "stands comfortably as the worst film Rod ever made."

Vagg writes that the director, Sergio Gobbi, typically made "gangster movies, comedies and soft-core porn" and he was looking to break into the international market with this film. However, when the movie premiered in France, it was panned by local critics.

In "Rod Taylor: An Aussie in Hollywood," Vagg notes that Taylor and Anderson do "competent jobs, but it is sad to see such good actors in such a miserable film."

You can judge for yourself by viewing this movie, converted from VHS and uploaded to MediaFire: Dowload here.

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