Skin Flicks (1978)

Another wonderful film by Gerard Damiano, but is it really so surprising? This film like A Rising Star that I mentioned last month is about the making of adults films and everything that surrounds the industry, it goes without saying that everything that is wrong with A Rising Star isn't here.

 

Harry (Tony Hudson), a film director has a lot of trouble with his latest production. He wants to do more than a fuck film what he wants is to produce a real film, but the problems and delays pile up. He can't find a satisfactory end to the great displeasure of Al (Gerard Damiano) its financial backer. But will he succeed in producing his work according to his vision or not?

 

While watching to the film one can't ignore the fact that Damiano tells his story and that he is Harry. The fact that he speaks knowingly gives a realistic version of what is the industry. The film starts strong with the audition of Ann (Heather Young) where Harry tells her that if she  decide to do the movie everyone will recognize her and her life will changed for the better or  the worse. It 's clear that it won't be an idealize vision of the industry. The emphasis is really put on the relationship between Harry, his agent (Beerbohn Tree) and Al. Relationships that become increasingly tense as the movie is delayed.

I can't say anything negative about this production who is certainly in  the top three of Gerard Damiano. The performance of Tony Hudson (his only film), Damiano (for once he does more than just a cameo), Sharon Mitchell and Beth Anna (for once she gives a good performance as an actress) are faultless. A moment is particularly disturbing, knowing what happened to Sharon Mitchell later in her life, when she is kidnapped and raped by a disturbed fan (Jamie Gillis). Another thing I noticed that makes a big difference with the eighties and nineties productions is the music used that gives a true value to the film. The distribution also includes among other Jill Monroe, Herschel Savage, Joey Silvera and Robert Kerman.

 

This film highly recommanded is available on the Adult DVD Marketplace website.

Erotic Adventures of Candy (1978)

Right from the start I must clearly define a fact, Carol Connors is terrible as an actress (she makes Bambi Woods looks like an  Oscar worthy actress, which is certainly an achievement). So get ready for 1h25 of poorly delivered comedy. Luckily there are other things that her actresses talent in this film. The story is very simple, it involves a naive young woman (Carol Connors) who wants to explore her sexuality. A search that will bring her in all sorts of situations more or less funny. The film is not as bad as I seem to say it is because despite the obvious lack of acting talent she has, Carol Connors still has two big talents. The film lie mostly on the rest of its distribution to contribute to its interest. In fact the male actors are those which give  the good performances in this film whatsoever John Leslie in the role of a gynecologist or John Holmes (for once he gives a good  acting performance) in the role of a man insecure with his deformity (guess which one) or Paul Thomas in the role of  the leader (or not) of a cult (with an Indian accent as well). The introductory scene of the sect presents several sexual activities which permit us to see Amanda Blake (a complete unknown for most viewers, but she was in the first Swedish Erotica loops that I saw  so there is a slight sentimental value for me) and even a little bit of action between man (I'm sure one of them is George Payne, but he is not credited on the Internet Adult Film Database, which proves nothing because there are many errors in it) that make cry some idiots on imdb.

As usual this one is available from Excalibur Film or Adult DVD Marketplace.

Hot Child In The City (1979)

One of my favorite movies, despite the fact the history is not very original. Brenda (Rikki O'Neal) and Mary Ann (Marcia Minor) two teenage girls miss their bus for a trip to a girl scout camp, but they can't return at their home since their parents believe they are at  the camp. So they chose to take the next bus ride and experience the New York adventure. Shortly after their arrival they meet a pimp (Carter Stevens) and began a lucrative career or at least believed it. The synopsis looks dark, but I can assure you this is not the case.

Usually I'm not a big fan of the films of John Christopher, but this one is an exception (as we say every rule has an exception). Of course he uses two loops to fill the time, a practice I hate and even more when the material is in such a pitiful state that it clashes with the rest of the  film. But this is the movie that made me really discover Marcia Minor (although she has a small role in Take Off, but that doesn't really count) so it's a big positive. Add to this that I usually appreciate Rikki O'Neal, and you have a good start for an enjoyable film. But what really makes this film fun to watch is the music, although it depends on your disco music appreciation but listening Beautiful Bend, Gene Chandler, Sarah Dash, Metropolis and without forgetting that the movie starts in force musically with Tramontana by Foreigner make you pass a great time. Carter Stevens gives a good performance in the role of the pimp who scam the girls, but he is the only who really has to act. Bobby Astyr, Ron Hudd, Herschel Savage and John Holmes (in one of the two loops) are also in this film. Of course the film end on a good note for our two heroines.

This film is available from Excalibur Films and Adult DVD Marketplace.

Eduardo Cemano's Sexual Healing Trilogy

Usually I write my reviews for one movie only in my entry, but only a few minutes after I started the first film in this set I was captivated by this one. So much in fact that in one day I watched the three movies, listened the three commentary tracks and watched the three interviews given by Eduardo Cemano... Wich almost never happens when I buy a set. It was the first time I listened  a Cemano's production (I have a copy of Thrilling Drilling, but I haven't watch it yet) and I fell in love immediately. His films have all the qualities I look for when I choose to watch an adult production. Obviously the fact that these films were produced in 1972 a time when the industry was not yet defined certainly plays a role in this.

The three films have a common theme. This theme is that nothing  is wrong or dirty in the sex who is the most natural thing in the world and that sexual orgasm has therapeutical benefits. But enough talking  it's time to leave the spot to the movies themselves.
 

The Healers (1972)

The film begins with a teacher (Eduardo Cemano) talking about a sex therapy while demonstrating it with the help of a Skeleton, which is rather odd introduction, following this introduction the film as such begins. This is  about a clinic using a new technique to treat the illness of the patients, a technique called Orgasmic Free Flow which treated by the achieving of sexual orgasm. Although this may seem unoriginal and boring it isn't the case at all. We're entitled to a highly erotic film by the way it was filmed. Indeed just like in Joe Sarno's Butterflies the actors played their scenes in an unstimulated way, but we don't see the penetration as such or the cumshot (the focus being on the actors' facial reactions) which is much more arousing to look at. The film has a good dose of comedy and exellent acting performances (even more when we take into account the fact that the majority of the dialogue is improvised). The cast include Ultramax (her first film), Arlana Blue, Levi Richards, Susie Mann and Barbara Benner. It should be noted that a scene between the Doctor (Eberhard Ellis) and his nurse (Margo Sanger) is one of the most exciting I've ever seen without showing any of the usual porn cliches.

Fongaluli (1972)

A strange name for a film that is just as much. The film is about a professor (Eduardo Cemano) conducting research on an island in the Caribbean (the movie was shot on location which certainly gives more visual values) on the crossbreeding of various animal races. So far this film does not seem so weird, but wait a bit. Following a meeting with an Arab he puts his hand on a drug (fongaluli leaves, from which come the title) he will use them on his laboratory animals and this is where the weird begins as one animal responds to this drug and what reaction it is. This animal is actually a lobster who begins to speak and later escapes. Even better  the lobster takes the form of a woman (Persephone Black), unfortunately the effects did not last and the professor must travel to different islands to find others leaves of fongaluli if he wants to unite his destiny with the lobster. An adventure that will lead them to islands inhabited by giants, dinosaurs, incestuous and a weird witch. All this with a very unexpected end. Again this film is shot in a more erotic way and countains a lot of funny moments. The majority of the distribution is made up of unknown with the exception of Eduardo Cemano and Ultramax. It should be noted that many more famous actor (Jamie Gillis, Helen Madigan, Valerie Marron, Georgina Spelvin and Marc Stevens) make an appearance in two delirious drug trip scenes.

Madame Zenobia (1973)
I liked it less and despite the fact that this film seems the most popular of the Cemano's movies. It seems to me that the history is less special this time and the sex isn't shown as something fun. Yet the distribution is interesting with Tina Russell, Levi Richards, Jamie Gillis, Andrea True and Davey Jones among others. The film begins well with a very romantic scene between Tina Russell and Jamie Gillis, but the rest is messed with all the forced sex the Tina Russell's character must undergo (I understand that this is part of her therapy, but this doesn't work for me). Maybe the fact that I watched two movies completely different before played a role in my lack of appreciation.


This set is available from After Hour Cinema.

Inside Desiree Cousteau : A comparison

This morning I received the new release of this film by the french company Wild Side Video (same one who released Odyssey: The Ultimate Trip in april). I won't speak of this movie again since I already did in January, but I thought it would be interesting to compare the visual quality of the two versions I now have of this movie. For each screenshot the first one is from the VCX version released in 2002 and the second one is from the new version released by Wild Side last week.

First one

Second one

Third one

Fourth one

And last one

It seems fairly obvious to me which version is the best. Of course there is a good difference in the price since the version of Wild Side Video must be imported from France, but paying more for more quality isn't usually a problem for a real collector. This is available on the french website of Amazon (the website is only in french, but this is not really that much of a problem since all their sites use the same layout).

 

The dvd countains also an interesting featurette of 30 minutes or so in wich Juliette Anderson, Serena, Sharon Kane, Mike Horner, Richard Pacheco, John Seeman, Bill Margold and Seka talked about this film and Desiree Cousteau. 

Jail Bait (1976)

It's been a while I had watched a film from Carter Stevens and this one was in my unwatched pile of film for quite some time already so it was its time. The movie is about Ron Baker (Wade Nichols) who is caught in a bad wedding with June (Sharon Mitchell) and who finds solace with his mistress (Eva Henderson). Which suits him until the day he discovers that he had an attraction for his young niece (Jenny Baxter) and he started drinking more and more after her departure for Italy. During one of his evenings of drinking he sees for the first time Tina (Tina Lynn) a young babysitter at his neighbor's home. From there all goes downhill for Ron  since she is only 16 years old ...

As usual it is an exellent Carter Stevens' production who runs the same way a conventional film would do (except that there is more sex of course). The film rests entirely on the shoulders of Wade Nichols and Tina Lynn since they had the only important roles in this film (most of the distribution is non-entity) and they acquit themselves from this task quite well. Of course this is not a surprise for Nicholls as he demonstrated on numerous occasions that he was a good actor, but this is much more surprising  from Tina Lynn since it was her only role (Stevens really had a special gift for finding talent). The story despite the fact that it may seem predictable isn't since Ron is not the only one with a scandalous secret.

This one is currently unavailable on DVD (it was released on VHS by Command Video a long time ago), but After Hour Cinema works currently on a second  volume in their Carter Stevens Director Series so maybe this one will be in it.

X Rated Ambition : The Traci Lords Story (2003)

A small change in my usual routine, since today I speak of a documentary instead of a movie. I have a few documentaries about the industry, but for the most part they are not really interesting (Debbie Does Dallas Uncovered being the perfect example of this). I came across this one by chance this week doing research on the web. It is as its title indicates about the career of Traci Lords. I do not think it's necessary to say again that Tracy Lords was my first childhood love (of course she does not know) and that I own 51 of her 73 films which is not easy to do, even if they are perfectly legal where I live.

This documentary is a production of Channel 5 a british television channel and is rather short since its only lasts 48 minutes. Obviously you will learn nothing really new if you are familiar with the facts, but it is interesting to see them told by those who experienced them. Indeed it is a series of interviews with those who had known her really well in those years, starting with one of her former classmates followed by Jim South, Suze Randall, Jerome Tanner, Amber Lynn, Ginger Lynn, Michael Carpenter (the director of her first film), Peter North, Tom Byron and a few others.

In addition to the interviews archival footages are used to give life to the documentary. Indeed many of the magazines in which she posed and many excerpts from her films (most  of them in poor shape) are presented. Obviously Traci Lords did not participate in it (which would have been incredible), but to counterbalance this old audio interviews are included in the documentary. I do not think that it is available on DVD since I  clearly watched a television recording (we even see the beginning of the advertising), but it isn't that hard to find.

Night Trips (1989)

If you are looking for the perfect blend between hardcore sex and eroticism look no further, this film is exactly what you are searching for. If this is not what you want, well there's always Please Rape my wife 5 or Dirty Slut Debutante 75 or other shit like this to please you. This film is the perfect movie to watch in couple if your better half is not too interested in adult movies because there are anything extreme or shocking in this film. In fact it is a typical  Andrew Blake's production : beautiful cinematography, great editing, beautiful people, great soundtrack and beautiful scenery. Although the story is not really the point of this movie, but it is not really important to appreciate it. This is about a woman (Tori Welles) who is "haunted" by erotic dreams repeatedly and consults two psychiatrists (Randy Spears and Porsche Lynn) to help her. For this they use a machine that can show her dreams on the screen. The history is as simple as that.

As I said this is how this movie was filmed that makes its beauty. We go from color images to black and white images to sepia  images which gives to the whole an unreal and highly artistic look. Also very little dialogue is used in this film (Randy Spears and Porsche Lynn speak a little and Tori Wells said a few words occasionally), in fact we can not even hear the actors while they had sex (this is where the excellent soundtrack shows its importance). I do not really have much to write except that I highly recommend this film that features in addition to the names already mentioned Victoria Paris, Peter North, Jamie Summers, Tanya deVries, Ray Victory and Marc De Bruin .

As usual you will find this one at  Adult DVD Marketplace.