Seduction: The Cruel Woman (1985)

other title: Verführung: Die grausame Frau

Seduction: The Cruel Woman (Verführung: Die grausame Frau, 1985) is a cool, stylish West German film about Wanda, a glamorous dominatrix who runs an S/M performance gallery in Hamburg. She stages elaborate rituals for paying audiences and draws her lovers — men and women — into carefully crafted traps of power and desire. Mechthild Großmann leads as Wanda, with Udo Kier as the lovesick Gregor, Sheila McLaughlin as the American newcomer Justine, and Carola Regnier as her jealous partner Caren. Inspired by Sacher-Masoch’s Venus in Furs, the film mixes erotic tension, lesbian dynamics, and dark humor into a sharp look at obsession and control. Directed by Monika Treut and Elfi Mikesch.