The films of Carter Stevens 1977 - 1979

Today's something I don't usually do the review of a complete movie set. This set is the third one in the Carter Stevens After Hour Cinema Grindhouse Director Series (or the fourth one if we count the soft version of Pleasure Palace / Punk Rock released previously in colaboration with Secret Key Motion Pictures). The films included this time are Double your Pleasure (1978), The Love Couch (1978) and the hard version of Pleasure Palace (1979). Once again like the two precedent volumes the movies are remastered from film elements, so the previous versions thus become obsolete. The collection is presented on two DVDs, a commentary track by Carter Stevens himself for the film Pleasure Palace is present (by cons if you already have the soft version the commentary is the same), some trailers for some of his films are in the set (Highway Hookers is the only one I have not seen yet and it looks interesting to me) and a short interview with Carter Stevens is also included.

Now the films themselves...

Double Your Pleasure (1978)

The twin sisters (Brooke and Taylor Young) are back together again two years after the success of Teenage Twins. In this film they flee in the big city after they catched their uncle (Jake Teague) while he was having an affair with his secretary (Rikki O'Neal) at the office. At the same moment they fled a large sum of money disappears from their uncle's safe too. Have they stolen the money? That's what their uncle will try to know by hiring a private detective (D. Hartman) to find them. From that time we will follow the twins during their adventures in New York. The scenario is not very developed and it's still an excuse to watch two sisters having sexual relations together. But at least this time the distribution is interesting, with among others Roger Caine, Herschel Savage, David Morris, Dave Ruby, Ron Hudd, Bobby Astyr, Merle Michaels, Samantha Fox and Jill Monroe. I enjoyed this one a lot more than Teenage Twins, but the Young sisters are not really my type.

The Love Couch (1978)

Again, a scenario that is not very complex. A sofa tells us the adventures he has lived or rather the adventures experienced on it. Despite the fact the whole looks like a loop carrier (which it isn't) the film is still interesting for the diversity of situations and an interesting distribution (not to mention that Anna Beth is involved in three of these scenes).

Pleasure Palace (1979)

Finally with this one I got exactly what I like in an adult film : a movie with sex scenes and not an excuse to present sex scenes. In this film Jimmy Stone (Eric Edwards) and Mike Green (Robert Kerman) acquires a massage parlor and everything is fine with the local authorities until Joe Goodson (Jamie Gillis), the local boss decides to take the control of their bussiness. Do Jimmy and Mike will be able to resist and retain their business? This film deserves to be compared to the productions of Radley Metzger, Anthony Spinelli or Armand Weston. An excellent film in the crime genre where Carter Stevens manages to make us forget that we watch an adult film (no more sex scenes happen for more than twenty minutes at the end of the film and surprisingly we do not realize it as we are so stuck in the story). A faultless performance by the main cast (Eric Edwards, Robert Kerman, Jamie Gillis and Serena), supported by Roger Caine, Bobby Astyr, David Pierce, Jake Teague and Joey Silvera in smaller parts. A surprise ending to a story well written by Richard Jaccoma and Carter Stevens. Certainly the masterpiece in the career of Carter Stevens.

This film is available through the website of Alternative Cinema as the first and the second volumes are.

Teenage Nurses (1974)

I had read plenty about this film before seeing it, but nevertheless I was totally unprepared for what I saw. This is undoubtedly the most bizarre adult film's I've seen so far, certainly not erotic or exciting but fun to watch for other reasons.

 

Basically this film takes place in a hospital for wounded veterans of the Vietnam War. A new doctor (Jeffrey Hurst with an accent quite pronounced) makes his arrival at the hospital to implement a new entertainment system for the veterans. It would be easy to think that this will be more or less Candy Stripper well no ... You have to take entertainment for exactly what the word means and that is where the bizarre begins. Indeed throughout the film we will see performances by several real burlesque artists. In fact, many times the action is interrupted by performances of singers, dancers, jugglers and even a band wearing the weird transparent mask from Last House on Dead End Street during his performance. If this is not strange enough you can add Shaun Costello playing a journalist, with a look that must be seen, who sure had some difficulties to remain serious (something quite understandable) or the presence of a laugh track or the fact that one scene outside the hospital is repeated twice. While watching I was unable to stop thinking at the audience watching this movie at the Capri Theatre in 1974 and I couldn't stop laughing imagining their reactions to what was on the screen in front of them.

As mentioned at the beginning this is not really an exciting film and the action isn't really well-filmed, but this movie is entertaining for what it is: a chance for many old artists to demonstrate they are still able to perform quite well. The film distribution includes Valerie Marron, Laura Cannon, Sandy Foxx, Jamie Gillis, Fred Lincoln, Ashley Moore, Levi Richards and of course a lot of burlesque artists.

This one is available from Video-X-Pix and I must thanks Steven who sent me this one a couple of months ago.

Nice trio from After Hour Cinema coming soon

I know it isn't a review, but don't worry the blog isn't dead. In fact the task who took most of my time since the beginning of the year is now done, so I'm ready to resume my writing duty... maybe tonight if nothing happen.

I just did a mail order sooner today for three upcomming After Hour Cinema releases, so I expect to get them somewhere in may. All of them will be release the may 10, but I must take into account the mail travel between the USA and the Canada. 

AVON 7 TRIPLE FEATURE COLLECTION: SLAVE OF PLEASURE 2-DVD SET

One of the most notorious of old Times Square’s “mini-cinemas,” the Avon 7, and the films produced under its banner, have become the stuff of legend. Located on 724 7^th avenue (hence, the Avon “7”), the venue was known early on for its live sex acts, which were its main draw. To sedate the restless audience during intermissions between live sex, the theatre would screen self-produced adult films. With BDSM becoming prevalent in sex films by the late 70s and early 80s, the Avon 7 would reach the epoch of its career, and during this period would produce some of its most recognizable and infamous titles.

After Hours Cinema is proud to present three notorious Avon 7 roughies, produced by one of classic porn’s greatest producer-directors: Shaun Costello!

The Avon 7 is gone… But the films live on!

 SLAVE OF PLEASURE – Shaun Costello’s hot and bothered wife is kidnapped by white-slave-trader Jamie Gillis, in a fiendish plot conceived by sexy blonde C.J. Laing! But, Shaun will see that justice is met… Kinky, leather-clad justice!

MY MISTRESS ELECTRA – Sleazy pals Carter Stevens and Ashley Moore are going to be awfully embarrassed about screening a porn film for their buddies… Why? Because this particular film, unbeknownst to them, contains a friend’s mild mannered wife as a lusty performer! 

PRISONER OF PLEASURE – A housewife is abducted and held for ransom by the filthiest bunch of NY criminals you’ve ever seen! How about small screen sexual sadists like George Payne and Dave Ruby as examples?

SPECIAL FEATURES:

- Brand New Telecine from the Original Film Elements

- Booklet with Liner Notes

- After Hours Cinema Trailers 

PLEASURE PALACE COLLECTION 2-DVD SET: The Early Films of Carter Stevens Vol. 3, 1977 – 1979

After Hours Cinema is proud to present Volume 3 in its Carter Stevens Grindhouse Director Series showcasing new film transfers of Stevens’ ‘70s classics - approved by director Stevens himself!

By the late 1970s, the name Carter Stevens was recognized by the vast majority of porn patrons as a mark of quality. His was a name associated with all that a porn film should be: fun, fanciful, and free. Those very same marks also constitute the maxims by which Stevens has lived his life. Since his landmark first effort, 1971’s The Collegiates, each subsequent film of Stevens was seen as an opportunity to grow as an artist (a designation Stevens modestly denies) and also to fulfill the expectations of his audience. Stevens’ late 70s period is seen by most fans as the epoch of his career.

 

THE LOVE COUCH – A spin on one of porn’s classic motifs: the living bed that narrates the film by recounting aloud its illicit memories. It’s a tried and true concept that enables the filmmaker to litter the screen with multifarious sexual antics.

DOUBLE YOUR PLEASURE – Brooke and Taylor Young – those tasty twins – are back…and looking to recapture the success of Stevens’ 1976 film Teenage Twins (financially his most successful film).

PLEASURE PALACE ­– Writing under the pseudonym “Al Hazrad” (coyly alluding to the author of the Necronomicon of Lovecraftian mythos), Stevens would pen at that time his dream project: a film not only to satiate Stevens’ ambitious desires, but a porn film to break the conventional mold of traditional porn films. A film with action, romance, and, “gasp,” an actual story! That film was 1979’s Pleasure Palace – a film set to reshape the standards of adult films!

SPECIAL FEATURES:

- Digital Restoration from the Only Existing Film Elements - Approved by Director Carter Stevens

- Newly Produced Interview with Carter Stevens

- Trailers for other Carter Stevens Films

- Liner Notes Booklet 

TINA RUSSELL: 1970S GIRL NEXT DOOR

They don’t make them like Tina Russell anymore. They can’t - because girls like Tina Russell aren’t “made.” That is, they’re no product of some big-time porn studio, which feeds all their potential talent through an “idealist machine,” and when they’re squeezed out the other end, they’re your typical fabricated porno star. Fake breasts, fake ass, fake personality…

Fake, fake, fake.

Tina Russell was 100% natural; gorgeous face, beautiful body, bubbly personality, and a sincere love for sex. She was real – so real, you could’ve mistaken her for the girl next door.

After Hours Cinema is proud to present this fine collection of 8mm loops – an eclectic showcase of Tina Russell in some of her most sexually scintillating performances ever captured on celluloid for the small screen.  All loops newly telecined from original grindhouse film elements.

Review to come as soon I'll get them at home!

Girl Scout Cookies (1976)

New York, 1976, the mayor is preparing the next election  with a campaign to clean the streets of the city by attacking  the prostitution (What else is new?). Certainly one of the most successful campaign since there are only seven prostitutes  remaining in the city when the film began. Two of them (Crystal Sync and a complete stranger) are preparing themselves to hang up their skates (I'm Canadian so it's sure I have to use an hockey term somewhere in my blog) and put a stop at their career by receiving their last client (Mel White). But chance helping after finishing the job a girl scout comes at the door to sell cookies. A visit that will give the idea to the actress whose name I do not know (which is sad because she looks great) to personify a Girl Scout and use this ploy to sell her charms.

 

Without being one of the best production of Shaun Costello this one is still interesting for numerous reasons. Among them the lead actress (it's amazing how she looks young), the variety of scenes (mild sado-masochism, double vaginal penetration,...), the presence of John Leslie as a master of disguise (ok just one and not that spectacular) and the fast pace. One criticism I could make is that the end seems rushed and the final orgy seems unfinished.

This one is available from Alpha Blue Archive in a great set, but as I've already said previously it is quite overprice for an unauthorized release with very few remastering works done.

The Love Bus (1974)

In this film the gorgeous Jennifer Jordan plays the part of Barbara , a woman who has difficulties to feel involved in her relationship with the opposite sex. To help her overcome this blockade her psychiatrist (Jamie Gillies) advises her to attend a weekend with an organized group to overcome her apprehensions. Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on the perspective) all will not proceed as planned.

 

Before starting the movie I was expecting something similar to Lickity Split and it seemed that it would be the case when all the group embarked on a bus trip. But nothing happen during the ride since the bus driven by Kevin André is involved in an accident . An accident that forces the whole group to stay at an hostel owned by a couple (Sonny Landham with a redneck accent that come and go and Linda Lovemore). The big difference with the preceding film is  the fact that the distribution is talented  enough to be able to improvise interesting dialogues. The distribution includes among others in addition of the names already mentioned Marc Stevens, Levi Richards, Leo Lovemore, Day Jason, Shaun Costello, Rita Davis and Judith Hamilton (which I'm not a big fan and still isn't). There are a good part of comedy in this film, mostly due to Leo Lovemore and Mark Stevens and you  feel that everyone involved had a good time.

 

The film even includes a fisting scene between Jamie Gillis and Rita Davis, this is always appreciated when we know how some labels removed them from the DVD release of their film. Video-X-Pix certainly deserves  a lot of praise for not having censored a classic like VCA always does. There is also an interesting threesome between Leo Lovemore, Shaun Costello and Day Jason (which is certainly not the case with the other  one with Jennifer Jordan, Sonny Landham and Judith Hamilton). I've even been afraid for awhile to have a sex scene with a pregnant woman, but thank God it didn't happen. I'm pretty open sexually talking, but some things do not interest me at all.

 

By cons at some point the film is a little bit dark making it difficult to see some close-up. But this doesn't happen too often and I'm not sure if this is due to an insufficient lighting when the film was originally shoot  or the material used for the DVD (this is a video transfer). I am certain that a new transfer would correct this slight problem, but I don't think this movie is a candidate for the Platinum Collection. But of course I could be wrong.

 

This film is highly recommanded if you are a fan of Shaun Cotello and is available from Video-X-Pix.

Pen Pals (1973)

Chuck (Levi Richards) and Carmen (Tony Scott) held a meeting with four of their pen pals (Mary Stuart, Davey Jones, Mel White and one girl I don't know) from all the corners of the United  States and all this turns as a sex party. Everything stops there because this film has no story beyond that and the whole is more or less fifty minutes of sex non-stop. This may sound interesting but it is not ... Apart from Mary Stuart no actresses are really attractive and the sex is rather mechanical, repetitive and boring (except the scenes with Mary Stuart where we are able to feel some emotion from her). In a movie when the best part is the night footages of  New York it's pretty clear that we aren't on a joy ride.

 

I really do not have very much positive to say, but I did laugh to hear Shaun Costello directing the actors during a sex scene and at the countless flubbed lines ... The instrumental from the end of Misty Bethoven is often used and you have no idea how I would had like to see Constance Money doing an apparition in this mess. One thing for sure the next couldn't be worse.

 

This film is available from After Hour Cinema in a three movies set with Certified Mail and Love-In Maid.

Forced Entry (1973)

First movie directed by Shaun Costello and a production that is preceded by its reputation. The story basically is about a Vietnam veteran and his return to civilian life. If there's one thing I learned by watching movies is that many of them came back traumatized by the experience. Obviously this is also true for the "hero" of our story. So the former soldier who is never named is at his return either the owner of a gas station or an attendant at this station (but probably more the owner since he can go when he wishes to do so) and he enters in his Vietnam flashback mode when some women come to refuel their car. In his flashback mode he stalks his victims to kill and as this is an adult film, have a little fun.

 

There is no real consensual sex relationship in this film if we except the scene between Juta David and Shaun Costello (the only other male actor in this movie with the killer), so if you do not like when a movie is a little bit rough this one will not be your cup of tea. If I say rough you can take my word for it as the whole is accompanied by  convincing special effects, at least for the second victim and the rapes are intercut with archive images of the Vietnam War. What makes the film is the performance of Laura Cannon when she was attacked at her home, a performance so greatly executed that it's worthy of an Oscar®. Something I sure can't say about the two "actresses" playing the hippies, I've never seen people as annoying and stressful than those two... Honestly I think I would have done the same thing the killer did if I would have been confronted at these two women. If they would have been in the old anti-drug psa, I can assure you that these ads would have been effective.

 

Excellent career start for one of the most prolific director of this genre (what you will see throughout the month of march since the whole month will be devoted to Shaun Costello) and a film that I highly recommend.

 

This film is available from After Hour Cinema and the DVD countains also three short loops and a booklet written by Costello himself.

The Private Afternoons of Pamela Mann (1975)

As this year the Radley Metzger's productions will finally receive the treatment his name deserve I decided to revisit them to finish the month of February. I also decided to take the DVD versions and not the video versions (except for Naked Came the Stranger since I found no reason to justify an upgrade of my tape in this release). So we start this series with the film with which Metzger has made the transition, of course it started with Score and if I have time I will close with this title but I decided to open where the real transition has begun.

The story at first view may seem simple because it's about a husband (Alan Marlowe) who hires a private detective (Eric Edwards) to follow his wife (Barbara Bourbon) he thinks unfaithful. This does not seem very new, but things are not always what they seem to be. So for most of the film we follow as the detective the tribulations of Pamela Mann in the course of this day.

 

In this film we see perfectly the difference a director can do (which is also the case with Joe Sarno). There is a progression in the sexual scenes that are not a collage of five interminable scenes of twenty minutes without emotions. The result is an highly erotic film as I love them. Simple details such as the use of slow motion or  the presence of many mirrors or the lighting used (which will be much more apparent in the remastered version that Video-X-Pix prepare actually) adds greatly to the visual experience. The film is also accompanied by an excellent soundtrack which also adds a lot to the erotic mood, the final being the perfect example of this. The film also relies on a strong distribution with, in addition of the names already mentioned, Georgina Spelvin, Jamie Gillis (his big scene is cut in this version), Darby Lloyd Rains, Marc Stevens, Sonny Landham, Kevin Andre (short cameo at the beginning) and Levi Richards.

 

Obviously I recommend waiting until the upcoming release of the Video-X-Pix remastered version  and pass  this one. The mere fact that a scene is missing is already a good reason, but the presentation itself is not that great (the colors are rather dull and the print had it's good share of dammage). But  on the other side the commentary track with Eric Edwards and Veronica Hart is interesting and I would be really surprised to see it appear in the next version.

One fast message

I've keep this one secret since it isn't fun when we talk about something and that doesn't happen. In fact only one of my reader knew it before the announce. So here we go : I'm a writer on the new DistribPix portal, so from now on my reviews of the Video-X-Pix materials will be posted there.

Of course my blog is always alive since I will continue to review the rest of what I watch here. I'll try to watch something later this week and untill then my review of The Postgraduate Course in Sexual Love is available. 

Blue Ice (1985)

What's best for my comeback than a detective story featuring Nazi scientists, a mysterious old book and all this in a high-quality film. This film directed by Phillip Marshak (who also did The Nightmare Never Ends, an horror  movie much better than it's reputation could make you believe it is) has a pretty strong cast with Herschel Savage, Paul Thomas, Jamie Gillis, Helga Sven (for once I enjoyed her presence), Jacqueline Lorians, Shanna McCullough, Bill Margold, Danielle Martin and Francois Papillon (which has not a single line since his french accent is quite hard to impersonate a German accent) among others.

 

Ted Singer (Herschel Savage) is a detective hired by Big Man (Jamie Gillis) to find an ancient book with strong powers for its owner, something he doesn't know of course. What he doesn't know also is that a group of scientists who fled Nazi Germany when the nazi power collapsed is looking for this book too, but they know what is its power. Surprise, the leader of this group of scientists is Reggie Nalder (a very recognizable character actor who was in Mark of the Devil, Salem's Lot and many other "mainstream" films). This group of scientists was working on a formula to instantly transform any woman  in nymphomaniac before fleeing Nazi Germany, a point that is never really explained or used if it is only in the beginning of the film. It is clear that more Singer approaches the book the more he is in a collision course with the Nazis with a series of deaths along his path.

 

For a film made in 1985 the quality is strong and one quickly sees that it was made with an interesting budget and was not done in one day with a video camera (which is the case for most of the movies made in those years). Even more interesting is the fact that it would be equally interesting and logical without the sex scenes that come all for good reasons and are not there to be there. The most interesting is that just yesterday I was explaining the difference between an adult film and a pornographic movie to someone (a situation that happens quite frequently when we write and vow a great respect for the adult film industry) and this film is a perfect example of what an adult film is and what a pornographic movie isn't.

 

I won't tell you more about the film, since it would ruined the story and its multiple surprises.

 

You can get this movie cheaply trough Adult DVD Marketplace.

A little update

Sorry for the lack of updates recently, a month is long enough. I was busy cataloging my collection of movie, a task I haven't completed yet. Not to mention the DVD player on my computer that has a hard time reading the disc for quite some time, something that made me lose my patience on multiple occasions last month. My patience has its limits so I decided to invest and got a blu-ray reader and watch my films on the big screen.

I'm back and I feel better than ever and I promise you that I will write at least two or three articles per week.

I will begin in a few moments with the movie I've watch tonight.