MONDO FREUDO/ MONDO BIZARRO -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/29/19
 

MONDO BIZARRO (1966)

In 1962, exploitation filmmakers had a massive surprise hit with the shock-u-mentary MONDO CANE (Italian for "Dog's World"), a showcase for the twisted,  bizarre, and exotic things that go on in the world.  Audiences didn't know or care that the actual footage was heavily augmented with obviously staged material, and it was such a success that it even scored an Oscar for Best Song ("More").

As you might guess, this was followed by scores of imitations including 1966's MONDO BIZARRO (Severin Films). Producers Bob Cresse and Lee Frost spared every expense to put together a mixed bag of shocking sex and violence vignettes from around the world, or rather from in and around the Hollywood area with lots of stock footage of foreign countries to give things a faux international flavor.

The result is an interesting look at what audiences found shocking in 1966 and what exploitation filmmakers were allowed to get away with in terms of sex, violence, and forbidden content.

We the audience are invited to view it all as vicarious voyeurs, sometimes by means of a supposed super-powered telescopic lens (with infra-red capabilities for night shooting) that brings us up close to such forbidden nocturnal activities as a voodoo ritual in the Bahamas and half-naked lovers cavorting on a dark beach somewhere in California.

The most authentic footage is found in a sequence about spring break on the California coast, in which we see real-life mid-sixties teens blowing into town by the hundreds to engage in bacchanalian revelries.

There's also a lengthy bit which simply invites us to gaze at bikini-clad babes sunbathing on a public beach, and a profile of a man who lies on a bed of nails and pushes long needles through his cheeks (this part is disturbingly real). This is followed by a man who eats glass, although I'm betting this guy's not the real deal.

MONDO BIZARRO gets going when it starts focusing on sex, beginning with the relatively innocuous with a day in the bustling Frederick's of Hollywood mail order room (complete with models showing off their latest fashions for us) and night footage of various prostitutes, male and female, plying their wares on Hollywood Boulevard. There's also a few scenes of nude body painting, art classes with a nude model, and a beatnik photog snapping a topless dancing girl.

More endearing fakery comes with a naive guy's first visit to a massage parlor (supposedly in the Far East), which we witness through a one-way mirror. Already this technique has been used in the film's opening as supposedly unsuspecting women are filmed, again through one-way glass, stripping off in a dressing room with their eyes crudely obscured for anonymity.

The really dark side of sex comes into play with a trip to "Berlin" where leering audience members relive the glories of the Third Reich by gleefully watching a play about a Jewish girl who is kidnapped, stripped naked, and whipped as Hitler's recorded voice blares out. 

The film ends with a lengthy slave auction in which California's Bronson Canyon doubles as the Middle East and our high-tech telescopic lens captures wealthy sheiks bidding on hapless, naked slave girls who are brought out one at a time from their cages on the back of a truck (their lower regions crudely obscured to avoid obscenity charges). 

Cresse's sober voiceover observations ("To a maggot, the cadaver is infinity") add extra camp-humor icing to the cake.  While much of this sounds horrifically unsuitable for decent folk to watch (though it must've been irresistibly titillating to audiences at the time), the fact that it's all so wonderfully fake is what now gives MONDO BIZARRO its substantial entertainment value.


MONDO FREUDO (1966)

The second shock-doc on Severin's double-feature Blu-ray disc is the follow-up, MONDO FREUDO (also from 1966), which is more of the same but with even greater emphasis on the dark side of sex.

As with MONDO BIZARRO, the most true-to-life stuff involves real-life teenagers out for a good time.  Here, they're shown riding around up and down Hollywood Boulevard at night (for no apparent reason other than it's a fun thing to do) and hanging out in Watusi clubs.

The film then wastes little time steering us into a strip club where we get to watch a dancer named "Baby Bubbles" do her thing. While the club looks suspiciously like the same soundstage where almost every other such scene in these two "Mondo" films takes place, the dancer herself is a knockout (we'll see her again).

The same can't be said for all of the supposed prostitutes on display at other clubs (this time in both Tijuana and jolly old England, we're told), who pose as dancers while actually advertising themselves to potential clients. 

We learn that as long as they're wearing outfits that can be purchased in a store, they qualify as "models" and can therefore legally display their naughty bits for an audience. Makes sense, I guess!

More slave auctions take place, this time in Mexico, with more nudity and more of that odd film-scratching effect to obscure the more forbidden zones.  Then, a lengthy visit to a black mass ritual takes up much of the film's latter half, with a woman who appears to be "Baby Bubbles" herself writhing vigorously in black undies (once again, she's a total knockout) before helping to initiate another woman into the cult during a blood ceremony. 

My enjoyment of both documentaries was greatly increased upon second viewing thanks to the commentary tracks by Johnny Legend and Eric Caidin, whose humorous remarks on the onscreen action and first-hand stories about the times and places involved are as entertaining as the films themselves.  Also of much interest is an informative featurette, "The Cadaver Is Infinity: Bob Cresse, Lee Frost, and the Birth of American Mondo", featuring Chris Poggiali. 

Much of the lurid material in MONDO FREUDO/MONDO BIZARRO seems relatively tame these days, but it's interesting to see what was once considered so shockingly taboo to movie audiences.  (Admittedly, some of it still is, and viewer discretion is advised.)  But whether you're shocked, titillated, or simply moved to laughter, chances are you'll have a mondo good time watching.


Buy it from Severin Films

Special Features:
4K Scans From Original "Something Weird" Vault Negatives
Audio Commentary with Johnny Legend and Eric Caidin
The Cadaver Is Infinity: Bob Cresse, Lee Frost and the Birth of American Mondo – Interview With Chris Poggiali
Mondo Bizarro Trailer
Mondo Freudo Trailer
English Subtitles

MONDO FREUDO/ MONDO BIZARRO -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX AUSTRALIA STYLE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 12/18/11

 

Ozploitation director John D. Lamond returns to titillate us once again with 1978's THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX AUSTRALIA STYLE, a by-the-letters primer on "doin' it" that manages the remarkable feat of making sex boring.

Unlike the previous Lamond documentary we talked about, AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK, this one eschews the scattershot approach and focuses on a single subject.  Assuming we know little or nothing about it ourselves, the film opens during Professor Leonard Lovitt's sex education class for kids and invites us to join them in listening to his lecture.  This sequence is done with stop-motion animated puppets and is pretty much the only marginally charming part of the whole thing. 

As the professor starts his projector, the film proper begins with two women in leotards dancing badly around some giant alphabet blocks to an innocuous disco tune.  This gives way to a letter-by-letter journey through the alphabet beginning with "A" for "anatomy", in which we're introduced to the differences between male and female genitalia.  (More on that when we get to the letter "G.")  "B" is for "birth", offering some extreme close-ups of a nursing baby that had me thinking, "Huh?"

 

"C" for "contraceptive" seems to be an excuse for some product placement along the lines of the "Budget Rent-a-Car" shots in AUSTRALIA AFTER DARK, and "D" for "dreams" informs us that people like to dream about sex.  Surprisingly, "E" for "erotic", while managing to define the word, comes up short actually demonstrating it.  An attempt to mimic the "erotic" eating scene in TOM JONES consists of two stiffs staring meaningfully at each other while gnashing chicken, grapes, and bananas in an affected manner.  

Elsewhere, another couple pretend to have oral sex in a movie theater--mainly we just see the guy's face--and then join the "mile-high club" by kissing real hard in an airplane.  Kissing real hard seems to be the prevalent means of simulating the sex act in many of these vignettes. 

"F" for "fun" shows us a couple of people hopping around in a bubble bath.  "H" for "homosexual" is an excuse to indulge in "funny" stereotypes as a bunch of queens camp it up during a gay party, followed by a somewhat more enjoyable lesbian encounter.  "Innocence" is equated with "ignorance" as virginity gets the bird.  The scenario used to illustrate "J" for "jealousy", in which a woman tries to pick up a man in a bar, is intended as a startling role-reversal while having nothing at all to do with "jealousy."  As you might guess, "K" for "kiss" shows various couples kissing real hard.

Onward we slog through the rest of the letters as "love", "masturbation", something starting with an "N" that I can't recall, and of course the big "O" are similarly dramatised in lighthearted but relentlessly dull fashion as narrators Michael Cole and Sandy Gore drone monotonously.  This isn't just a parody of a dry, clinical sex manual--it often comes off as one, even throwing in the occasional comment by some Swedish sexologist who resembles Quasimodo's mom.  For anyone actually trying to get off to this movie, her appearances would be the equivalent of thinking about baseball. 

 

It's hard to imagine this tepid pseudo-educational film appealing to the raincoat crowd, though, or even the "watch naughty movies on cable after Mom and Dad have gone to bed" faction.  Observing various (mainly unattractive) couples acting out the enervating voiceover isn't the kind of thing one might want to use as a sex aid, or see at a drive-in or grindhouse.  So who the heck is this largely unerotic sex movie meant to appeal to?  Even the captive audience of an actual "Introduction to Sex" class would find it hard to sit through.

Aside from a snippet of cuteness here and there (the elevator-sex scene reaches the film's peak of verbal humor by deftly including the words "lift" and "elevate" in the narration), the only interest is in the brief bits of nudity, including, at around the halfway point, some actual shots of penetration. 

However, for any couples desperate enough to be using this film to put a cheerful charge into their love life, up jumps "R" for "rape" to throw some cold water on it with a jarringly out-of-place lapse into grim seriousness.  Lamond cheats a bit by giving us "X" for "excellence", and then "Y" for "you" gives him an excuse to recap the entire film with a montage of scenes that were already dull the first time.  As for "Z"...well, he couldn't think of anything for "Z."  What about "zipper"?  Or "zoo"?  Okay, maybe not "zoo."

The DVD from Intervision Picture Corp. is widescreen with Dolby 2.0 sound.  No subtitles.  There's a commentary with director Lamond and "Not Quite Hollywood" director Mark Hartley.  The box mentions a trailer reel but I couldn't find one.

A mildly interesting peek at 70s sexual mores and dull filmmaking, THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX AUSTRALIA STYLE (which, incidentally, has absolutely nothing to do with Australia) pits lots of nudity and some brief scenes of hardcore sex against unrelenting boredom in a touch-and-go battle that left me teetering on the edge of indifference.  Around about the twentieth time some random couple was shown toying with each other's buttons and kissing real hard, I found myself wishing the alphabet wasn't so darn long.

 

THE ABC OF LOVE AND SEX AUSTRALIA STYLE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Risque' Lingerie Scene in "WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932) Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi (video)

Risque' Lingerie Scene in "WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932) 
Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi

In "White Zombie", Madge Bellamy appears in a lingerie scene that is quite daring for 1932.

It's brief, but memorable. 


I neither own nor claim any rights to this material.  Just having some fun with it.  Thanks for watching!

Risque' Lingerie Scene in "WHITE ZOMBIE" (1932) Madge Bellamy, Bela Lugosi (video)

THAT'S SEXPLOITATION! -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 4/1/16

 

If you recognized the lovely face of 50s burlesque star Tempest Storm on the cover and it made you smile, then chances are Severin's new Blu-ray release of THAT'S SEXPLOITATION! (2013) will be right up your grindhouse aisle.

Host Frank Henenlotter, writer and director of the cult classic BASKET CASE, not only performs the same duties here but also gets his friend David F. Friedman to appear on-camera throughout. 

Friedman, as many will know, was the veteran producer/showman who gave us such films as BLOOD FEAST and was integral in supplying the roadshow crowd with many of their favorite nudie flicks over the years.

Sitting amidst his own personal gallery of priceless movie posters and memorabilia, Friedman's equally priceless recollections offer colorful firsthand accounts of the history of sexploitation films while we get to watch one great clip after another.

This history of naughty movies begins with those wonderfully ancient-looking silent loops from the 20s, which feature some very cute (and not-so-cute) young ladies cavoting in the forest as wood nymphs, skinny-dipping in someone's swimming pool, or taking part in a variety of other charming vignettes. 

There's full nudity but it's downright tasteful compared to what later years would bring.  These early nudie films were usually distributed in 16mm for private showings to adult (usually all-male) audiences before the advent of adult theaters.



The documentary takes us into the world of the sexploitation pictures of the 30s and 40s (such as HIGH SCHOOL GIRL and SEX MADNESS) which presented audiences with the most lurid tales of sex, drugs, abortion, and venereal disease under the guise of instructive cautionary screeds and "hygiene" films.

Then we get a pictorial tour of the nudist camp frolics of the 50s, with healthy, robust nudes reveling in the joys of sunshine and nature for our leering pleasure, courtesy of such directors as Herschel Gordon Lewis, Russ Meyer, Doris Wishman, and Francis Ford Coppola. 

There's also a sampling of the burlesque flicks which were basically filmed records of the typical burlesque shows of the era.  These feature such recognizable faces and bodies such as Tempest Storm, Bettie Page, and Blaze Starr in addition to numerous less-renowned dancers. 

Things really heat up with Friedman's favorite decade, the 60s, which he refers to as "the decade of innocent decadence."  In addition to the usual nudie loops there was the new mix of sex and violence known as "roughies" as well as an increasingly daring amount of full nudity and simulated sex. 

Meanwhile, homosexuality was explored mainly in the New York underground film scene, while the current culture of hippies, drugs, and rebellion provided experimental young directors with ample subject matter for their nude fantasies. 

The documentary ends on a melancholy note as the decade of the 70s heralds the gradual changeover from titillating exploitation to anything-goes hardcore.  As Friedman wistfully puts it, "The movies became explicit, and the fun stopped."

For those watching this disc, however, the fun's just beginning.  For the extras menu, Something Weird Video has opened up their vaults to offer us over three hours of rare nudie cuties, drive-in bumpers, "infomercials" for the sex manuals which were sold in theater lobbies, burlesque shorts, and longer features including a condensed (55 minutes) version of Joe Sarno's MOONLIGHTING WIVES and another about Mafia party girls entitled THE SIN SYNDICATE. 

The commentary track is a conversation between Frank Henlotter and Something Weird's Lisa Petrucci which is wonderfully informative, with lots of great anecdotes about the late David F. Friedman who passed away shortly after his participation in this film.  A trailer rounds out the bonus selection.

Anyone who ever ordered nudie films from the back of a girlie magazine and can still hear them clattering surreptiously through their home movie projector should experience a wave of nostalgia while watching THAT'S SEXPLOITATION!  And even if you don't remember those times, this exhilarating wallow in undiluted kitsch is a fun introduction to them. 

THAT'S SEXPLOITATION! -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

BAHIA BLANCA -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 6/26/20

 

After seeing prolific writer-director Jess Franco at his most outrageous, most violent, most sexually explicit, and most, well...baffling...it's nice sometimes to see him as a restrained, thoughtful, contemplative filmmaker switching into low gear to fashion something as quietly effective as BAHIA BLANCA (Severin Films, 1984).

Franco has chosen a scenic oceanfront village as his location, and revels in capturing its pictorial beauty in shot after dazzling shot. Against a backdrop of glittering ocean waves and blazing cloud-strewn sunsets, everything and everyone in the story takes on added importance and effect.

As for the story, it's surely some of Franco's best writing, filled with memorable dialogue, interesting characters, and a low-key plot that takes its time to unfold but keeps drawing us along toward its heartrending conclusion.

Antonio Mayans is Inspector Carlos Fernández, the local lawman who must delve into the mysterious murder of one Pocho Martin after he is found with a bullet to the head. 

The investigation leads to an island tavern run by beautiful Alida (Eva León), who sells both alcohol and love to the passing sailors, and cares for her mute, simple-minded sister Maria (Franco mainstay Lina Romay) while also carrying a torch for Carlos.

This complicates her relationship with the local underworld boss Raul Sebastian (Tony Skios), a cool, cruel type with a jealous streak that tolerates no other man in Alida's life.

More drama comes in the form of Raul's amorous son Andy (José Llamas), engaged to a sweet village girl but not above forcing himself on Maria despite Alida's threats of deadly force. Franco himself appears as a supposed mystic who warns those involved for whom he foretells grave peril.

Franco the filmmaker is more interested this time in telling an involving story than shocking or titillating us, keeping the sex scenes reined in (despite numerous and very pleasant topless shots of Eva León and Lina Romay) and never going for any kind of cheap shocks.

While it takes a bit of time to draw us in, the story eventually takes root in the viewer's imagination (this one, anyway) like an unusually well-written pulp novel featuring impetuous characters bound for tragedy in an exotic location.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is scanned in 4K from the original negative for the first time ever. Spanish mono with English subtitles. Extras consist of "In the Land of Franco, Part 4" (Stephen Thrower & Antonio Mayans tour multiple Franco locations in Spain) and "Bay of Jess" (interview with Stephen Thrower, author of "Murderous Passions" and "Flowers of Perversion").

I'm not sure how many films like BAHIA BLANCA Franco made or how characteristic it is of his work--having seen only fifteen or twenty of his films, I'm still a relative novice--but this is doubtless a prime example of the genuine filmmaking talent which was his to command when he chose to do so. It's by no means an epic, but it really burrows in and stays with you.


Limited Edition Blu-ray--MID YEAR EXCLUSIVE (Limited to 1500 copies)

Please Note: Bahia Blanca is a MID YEAR EXCLUSIVE, meaning this will be sold ONLY during the 4-day Mid Year Sale and will not be available ever again (much like Severin's Combat Shock release). ALL OF THESE RELEASES ARE REGION FREE.

BAHIA BLANCA -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA -- Blu-ray/ DVD review by porfle

 Originally posted on 10/12/2013

 

The third film (the first two being THE SINISTER EYES OF DR. ORLOFF and PAULA-PAULA) in my admittedly limited experience with the late cinematic superstar Jess Franco, THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA (1975), aka "Les nuits brûlantes de Linda" and "But Who Raped Linda?", leaves me still trying to catch that vibe which seems to attract so many Franco-philes to the prolific director's highly eclectic assortment of films like moths to a flame.   

Still, this strange, slapdash, often tawdry exercise in exploitation is brimming with enough perverse sex,  violence, and off-kilter oddness to hold our attention even through a few seemingly interminable stretches.  It begins with a Frenchwoman named Marie-France Bertrand (the voluptuous Alice Arno) being hired by Greek millionaire Mr. Steiner (Paul Muller) to live in his beachfront villa and care for his invalid daughter Linda (Catherine Lafferière) and psychologically disturbed niece Olivia (Franco mainstay Lina Romay). 

Unfortunately,  the feeble-minded Linda will respond only to Steiner's mute manservant Abdul (Pierre Taylou),  a kindly soul who dotes on Linda while drooling over Olivia from afar.  This is exacerbated by the fact that the oversexed Olivia, although still a virgin, sheds her clothes and starts furiously masturbating at the drop of a hat.  Marie-France herself eventually gets sucked into Olivia's gravitational pull until she begins to realize how flakey she really is. 

The film's title is a misnomer since the only "hot night" Linda has is the one in which Olivia sneaks into her bedroom and rapes her.  This sexually voracious nutcase also ravishes an incredulous Abdul in return for him sneaking into Mr. Steiner's room and retrieving the key to a bedroom he keeps sealed.  Here,  years ago, the adolescent Linda witnessed her uncle murder the man who was having an affair with his wife Lorna, who later committed suicide.

This rambling,  almost  stream-of-consciousness story is, like so many of its kind,  the framework on which to hang a succession of perverse sexual situations that build to a violent climax.  Much of the running time consists of Franco languidly caressing Lina Romay's nude body with his camera, whether she's rolling around in bed pleasuring herself or forcing herself sexually on some unsuspecting victim.  Other nudity includes a sunbathing Linda and some glimpses of Marie-France's ample form, in addition to a sequence in which Mr. Steiner chains a naked Abdul to a wall and canes him severely as punishment for "touching" Olivia. 

There's more to this story, however.  The first 2,500 copies of Severin Films' Blu-ray/ DVD combo set also include a third disc containing what they call the "rare alternate banana version" of THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA.  This is the hardcore French cut, with much more nudity and graphic sex which Franco lensed himself since he knew that such scenes would be added anyway.  Some scenes are merely reshot with the actresses exchanging the same dialogue in the nude rather than clothed, while Romay's masturbation sessions, as well as her lesbian encounters with Alice Arno and Catherine Lafferière, are much more up close and personal. 

The term "banana version" is derived from the scene in which Olivia rapes the helpless Linda--here, she uses the fruit in question as an impromptu phallic substitute, drawing a stream of vaginal blood (which doesn't score too high on my eroto-meter).  Elsewhere, her heated coupling with Abdul now includes some dreadfully unappealing fellatio that's shot in such extreme closeup that the camera often meanders around in a mish-mash of blurred flesh. 

Missing from the "banana version" is an entire comedy-relief subplot about a rotund police inspector (Angelo Bassi) and a female tabloid photographer who are staking out Mr. Steiner's residence.  (This was added to the softcore version to fill in the gaps from all the deleted X-rated material.)  An entire murder scene is gone as well, making the ending somewhat less violent. 

While the softcore print, from a 35mm source, is fairly good with occasional flaws (some of them a bit jarring), the "banana version" seems to have been dubbed from a finely-aged videotape copy complete with choppy editing,  bad sound, and awful picture quality.  Still,  it is in the original French with English subtitles, whereas the edited version is badly dubbed in English--lips sometimes move without accompanying dialogue, and the mute Abdul's grunting noises are similar to those of the closet monster in THE BRAIN THAT WOULDN'T DIE. 

Severin Films' Blu-ray/DVD combo set is in 2.35:1 widescreen with English mono sound (French on the subtitled limited-edition disc).  Franco fans will enjoy the two bonus interviews, one with the director alone and another with both him and his beloved muse Lina.  David Gregory (director of "Ban the Sadist Videos!") offers a short segment with genre author Stephen Thrower discussing the film.   In another brief clip,  we see Franco receiving the Fantastic Fest Lifetime Achievement Award with Lina by his side.   Some outtakes--mostly of Olivia and Abdul's sex scene,  plus Alice Arno rolling around naked in bed--and a trailer round out the extras.

Jess Franco's most impressive quality, to me, is how prolific he was--a compulsive, seat-of-his-pants filmmaker who didn't lavish a lot of time and care on his films, giving them a hit-or-miss quality which makes them, at the very least, interesting to watch.  THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA is that, but not much more.   Unless,  of course,  you're tuned into that special Franco vibe that has so far managed to elude me.

THE HOT NIGHTS OF LINDA -- Blu-ray/ DVD review by porfle

PAULA-PAULA -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/29/11

 

For his 209th movie, prolific Spanish director Jesús "Jess" Franco has made what he calls "an audio-visual experience" entitled PAULA-PAULA (2010).  In literal terms I suppose that's an accurate way to describe it, but holy cats, is this thing boring.  You could probably have an equally rewarding audio-visual experience by putting an album on and watching a lava lamp for an hour.

The story begins with a distraught, disoriented Paula (Carmen Montes) being taken into custody, apparently for having killed her friend who was also named Paula (Paula Davis).  Under questioning by a female officer (a briefly-seen Lina Romay), Paula-1 claims not to have done it although she hated her.  Then she lets slip that she has tried to kill her numerous times without success.

Later, we see Paula-1 dancing naked in a room, aware that a young police sergeant is peeking through the door.  If I had to choose a favorite part of the movie it would be this scene, since Carmen Montes is beautiful, has a great body, and isn't moving in super slow-motion.
 

Intercut with this are flashbacks of Paula-2 dancing in an apartment.  She wears a belly-dancer's outfit and undulates in front of a silver mylar backdrop, moving ever-so-slowly as a mirrored split-screen effect turns her body into abstract shapes.  Sitting in a chair in a revealing dress, Paula-1 watches her with fascination.  From this point on, the pace becomes practically glacial.

About halfway through, Paula-1 relates a brief story which will come into play at the end.  Then the two Paulas finally get together for about twenty minutes of mild softcore sex, all in maddening slow-motion that had me struggling to stay awake.  (This is the first film I've seen in ages that literally put me to sleep.)  After some more split-screen effects, PAULA-PAULA mercifully ends pretty much the way we expect it to.

This is the sort of thing you might've stumbled onto a roomful of stoned hippies watching back in the 60s while muttering "wow, man..."  With much of the film's running time consisting of plotless, enervating visuals, I began to appreciate the hot freeform jazz score by Friederich Gulda which plays continuously with no direct connection with the actions onscreen.


The DVD from Intervision is in widescreen with Dolby 2.0 sound.  Language is Spanish with English subtitles.  Extras consist of three Franco featurettes--an introduction to the film, a more detailed discussion of it, and, most interesting, the venerable director's thoughts on the state of contemporary filmmaking.

According to the titles, this is based on Stevenson's Jekyll and Hyde story, but it might as well have been based on "Green Eggs and Ham" for all the relevance this has to the film.  Although PAULA-PAULA seemingly aspires to be a cinematic equivalent to its frenetic jazz score, what it basically amounts to is Jess Franco dicking around for 67 minutes.

PAULA-PAULA -- DVD Review by Porfle

FRITZ LANG'S INDIAN EPIC (THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR and THE INDIAN TOMB) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 11/26/2019
 

Sometimes legendary director Fritz Lang wanted his magnificent visuals to convey an important message (METROPOLIS, THE TESTAMENT OF DR. MABUSE, M) and sometimes he just wanted to offer audiences grand escapist entertainment.

The latter goal Lang achieved in spectacular style with the films THE TIGER OF ESCHANAPUR and THE INDIAN TOMB, known collectively as FRITZ LANG'S INDIAN EPIC (Film Movement Classics, 1959).

A forerunner of more recent two-film narratives such as KILL BILL and IT, this double feature tells the sprawling story of a catastrophic love triangle that develops when German engineer Harald Berger (Paul Hubschmid) is summoned to India by Prince Chandra (Walter Reyer) to oversee the construction of several buildings as well as shoring up some of the crumbling infrastructure of the palace itself.

As fate would have it, a beautiful temple dancer named Seetha (Debra Paget, THE TEN COMMANDMENTS) with whom the prince has fallen madly in love is being transported to the palace in the same caravan as Berger, and when the European valiantly saves her life from an attacking tiger during the trip, she becomes hopelessly smitten with him.  This soon develops into an all-consuming passion that will invoke the jealous prince's white-hot, vengeful wrath.

Amidst a backdrop of splendiferous Indian locations and incredibly opulent sets, photographed in sumptuous color with rich production values, this steamy melodrama is soap opera of the highest order mixed with scintillating political intrigue (the prince's brother and former brother-in-law are plotting against him) and irresistible "boys' adventure"-style action involving swordfights, man-eating tigers, mysterious underground passages, and other fun stuff.

While some have compared these films to RAIDERS OF THE LOST ARK, viewers expecting non-stop thrills will be disappointed. Instead, we're allowed to settle in  for a stately paced parade of visual treats (I haven't seen such regal eye-candy since the "Sissi" films with Romy Schneider) charged with constant tension and suspense and punctuated here and there with action sequences that have a Rudyard Kipling flavor.

The tension increases as Prince Chandra's suspicions toward his intended bride Seetha and the European stranger are eventually made evident, bringing out the arrogant, petulant worst in him.  When Berger finds it necessary to escape Chandra's wrath, he finds himself lost in the catacombs beneath the palace where he encounters a colony of lepers banished to the underground.

We're also introduced to Chandra's compound of deadly caged tigers into which, at one point, Berger is tossed with nothing but a spear with which to defend himself. Here, Lang's attention to gilt-edged realism falters a bit when a lunging tiger is noticeably fake (as is a monster-sized cobra in the second film) but I found such shortcomings easily forgivable in view of the scene's entertainment value.

Performances are earnest, with Debra Paget a standout not only for her talent but also thanks to her incredible beauty and sex appeal. Her temple dance in this film is a highlight of sheer sensuality (to be surpassed in the sequel) while her acting adds depth to a very sympathetic character.  Reyer, on the other hand, ably conveys the prince's incredible arrogance, selfishness, and cruelty. (A young Luciana Paluzzi appears all-too-briefly as Seetha's loyal servant.)

Finally, the two forbidden lovers make a desperate escape attempt, with the prince's soldiers doggedly pursuing them from the steamy jungles to the parched, wind-seared desert.  It's there that the dashing European engineer and the beautiful Indian temple dancer meet their apparent doom as part one of Lang's Indian epic, THE TIGER OF ESCHANAPUR, ends in classic cliffhanger style.

The second installment in Fritz Lang's sprawling two-part saga of Indian intrigue and forbidden romance, THE INDIAN TOMB, picks up right where its predecessor THE TIGER OF ESCHANAPUR left off. This time German engineer Harald Berger's sister Irene (Sabine Bethmann) and her husband Walter (Claus Holm), who is also Harald's associate, have come searching for him.

They're told that Harald went missing during a tiger hunt, but become increasingly suspicious of the prince and his motives. This is especially true when Chandra orders Walter to design a tomb for his wife Seetha, in which she is to be imprisoned on their wedding day. When Walter balks at creating what is in essence an execution chamber, Chandra threatens him and his wife.

Political tensions grow to a boiling point as Chandra's brother Prince Ramigani (René Deltgen), passed over for the throne and eager to amend that oversight, plots against him with the help of the prince's former brother-in-law who also despises him. Even the temple priests grow angry toward Chandra when he persists in his desire to marry Seetha (and then execute her) after she is discovered still alive in the desert.

This second film's highlight comes when Seetha performs a cobra dance in the temple which is meant to decide whether the gods wish her to live or die.  In a costume that's the very definition of "less is more" (it makes a string bikini look like a parka) the incredibly gorgeous and physically fit Debra Paget's dance number is, to put it mildly, memorable, despite the very fake-looking cobra which menaces her character throughout.

Suspense builds as Berger's sister and her husband bravely plot to locate where he's being held prisoner beneath the palace and free him.  The story, which has been rather sedately paced up till now, really picks up steam with Irene's encounter with the frenzied band of lepers and Berger's desperate escape from bondage just as he's about to be executed in his cell.

There's swordplay and other violent clashes when Ramigani's armed rebellion against Chandra kicks into gear, and Lang finally shows us why we keep seeing all that dynamite stored in the passages underneath the palace, leading to a flood populated by hungry alligators.

The 2-disc Blu-ray from Film Movement Classics is an exquisite 4K digital restoration of both classic films with an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 and mono sound. Each film features a verbose commentary by film historian David Kalat. Bonuses also include the making-of documentary "The Indian Epic" and the video essay "Debra Paget, For Example" by Mark Rappaport, as well as trailers and an enclosed illustrated booklet with an in-depth essay by film scholar Tom Gunning.

One thing's for sure, when this story finally comes to a head, it pays off in all sorts of fun ways.  Viewers who stick it out through both installments of FRITZ LANG'S INDIAN EPIC not only get to enjoy some of the screen's most dazzling opulence and eye-pleasing production values, but also a romantic, exotic action-adventure ending on a satisfying note that makes it all wonderfully worthwhile.


Buy it at Film Movement.com


THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR
NEW 4K DIGITAL RESTORATION
Film Movement Classics
1959
101 Minutes
Country: Germany, France, Italy
Language: German w/ English subtitles
Classics, Romance, Thriller
Not Rated
Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1   
Sound: Mono   

THE INDIAN TOMB
NEW 4K DIGITAL RESTORATION
Film Movement Classics
1959
102 Minutes
Country: Germany, France, Italy
Language: German w/ English subtitles
Romance, Thriller, Classics
Not Rated
Blu-ray
Aspect Ratio: 1.37:1   
Sound: Mono

Here's the poster of the American theatrical release in which the two films were edited into one:

 

FRITZ LANG'S INDIAN EPIC (THE TIGER OF ESCHNAPUR and THE INDIAN TOMB) -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

 Originally posted on 11/18/2019

 

I went into THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK, aka "Gwendoline" (Severin Films, 1984) expecting to see the usual "so bad it's good" cheesefest. What I didn't expect was for it to be "so bad it's epic."

The film starts with a beautiful minute-long tracking shot of a Chinese shipping dock that's so detailed and crowded with costumed extras, so well-choreographed, and so artistically layered that it's worthy of comparison to Ridley Scott's city exteriors in BLADE RUNNER.  

This lavishly detailed eye-candy continues throughout the early part of the film, leading to equally impressive exteriors when director Just Jaeckin (EMMANUELLE, THE STORY OF O) takes us outside for some location shots in jungles and deserts which boast magnificent exotic vistas.

(Unfortunately, while these scenes might temporarily make you think you're watching a David Lean movie, they're poorly served by the rinky-dink musical score.) 

And then the film finishes with even more opulent interiors, this time rivaling those impregnable bad-guy fortresses from the Bond films with impressive sci-fi/fantasy design and more armies of extras (this time they're gorgeous female soldiers in service to an evil queen), all there to wow us before being destroyed in a fiery display of SPFX pyrotechnics.

The weird part is that all of this technical prowess and visual opulence forms the backdrop of a hokey, derivative action/fantasy tale that would usually be told on a low budget with less than stellar production values.

And being in the midst of all this cinematic finery just seems to make the incredible hokiness of Tawny Kitaen's gorgeous but naive Catholic school runaway searching the Orient for her missing father and Brent Huff's macho, swaggering soldier of fortune who ends up helping her seem somehow even more endearing.

I'm not sure if it's their exaggerated performances or just the strident dubbing, but the characters of Gwendoline and Willard are wonderfully over-the-top as they fully embody all the usual cliches of the plucky damsel in distress and the self-centered cad turned reluctant hero.

As per John Willie's classic bondage comics, Gwendoline ends up bound and gagged several times during the course of the story and rescued by Willard, who goes into action against martial arts masters, hulking thugs, and weird tribal zealots before the two of them, along with Gwendoline's faithful sidekick Beth (the very cute Zabou), make their way to the exotic underground land of Yik Yak where her father disappeared searching for a rare butterfly.

It's like a mash-up of "Raiders of the Lost Ark" and "The African Queen", with all the naughty sexploitation elements of an old "Cinemax After Dark" flick from the 80s. 

This is especially true when our heroes' captivity by the evil Queen (Bernadette Lafont) and her minions turns into a real kink-fest of exotic bondage and weird sexual rites climaxing (!) with Gwendoline herself battling against several warrior women and Willard's virtue hanging in the balance for a change.

I got the same vibe from all of this as I did watching Jim Wynorski's sexy fantasy adventure THE LOST EMPIRE (1983) way back in the VHS days, only with much better production values. I was also reminded a bit of BARBARELLA.

It's as though the makers of some big-budget epic were allowing director Jaeckin to come in on alternate days and use their sets, extras, and facilities to shoot his own low-budget movie.

The Blu-ray from Severin Films is scanned uncut in 4k from the original negative recently discovered in a Paris vault. Severin has outdone themselves with a bonus menu too loaded with goodies to list here (see below for full details) including an alternate U.S. cut and two commentary tracks.

Not as heavily kink-oriented as John Willie's original comics and with a much more lighthearted tone, THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK nevertheless revels in sexuality both frothy and lewd while taking us on a grand adventure that's like an express train through bad movie land with first-class accomodations.


Buy it from Severin Films


Special Features:

    Alternate US Release Version: THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK
    Audio Commentary with Director Just Jaeckin
    Audio Commentary with Stars Tawny Kitaen and Brent Huff
    The Butterfly Effect: 2019 Interview with Director Just Jaeckin
    Bondage Paradise: Interviews with Costume & Concept Designers & Comic Book Artists François Schuiten and Claude Renard
    The Perils Of Production: Interview with Executive Producer Jean-Claude Fleury
    Gwendoline’s Travels: Interview with Production Designer Françoise Deleu
    Blu-Ray Promos with Tawny Kitaen & Brent Huff
    The Last Temptation Of Just: 2006 Interview with Director Just Jaeckin
    Dr. Kinsey Interview with John Willie, Creator of SWEET GWENDOLINE
    Revealing Tawny Kitaen Photospread for French LUI Magazine
    Trailers
    Reversible Cover

Alternate Cover:

THE PERILS OF GWENDOLINE IN THE LAND OF THE YIK YAK -- Blu-ray Review by Porfle

FIRE ON THE AMAZON -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 1/10/11

 

At first glance, FIRE ON THE AMAZON (1993) appears to be the usual Hollywood attempt to mix issues--in this case, saving the Amazon rainforest--with thriller elements.  But this Roger Corman production soon reveals itself to be nothing more than a cheesy potboiler, and not a particularly good one at that.

Craig Sheffer plays R.J. O'Brien, who's in South America covering the murder of a rainforest crusader named Santo.  R.J. is one of those renegade American photojournalists who only care about getting the story, and not about what the story means.  But we know his neutrality won't last long when he meets cutie-pie Alyssa Rothman (Sandra Bullock), a Santo supporter who looks good in tight jeans.  When an Indian is framed for the murder and later found dead in his cell, R.J. and Alyssa enlist the help of the man's brother Ataninde (Juan Fernández) in a dangerous play against the corrupt local police. 

It's hard to believe this choppy, rinky-dink action flick was directed by Luis Llosa, whose ANACONDA and THE SPECIALIST at least had a measure of competence.  Bad editing works against the film throughout, but slapdash staging and unconvincing performances are major factors as well.  Visually, it resembles something you'd see at the drive-in during the 70s.  The script, interestingly enough, is co-written by one of my favorite actresses, Corman regular Luana Anders (EASY RIDER, DEMENTIA 13).
 

The environmental angle itself is given just enough lip-service to keep the plot moving while lending the film an air of respectability.  Ultimately, however, it's no more relevant than a Western about evil cattle ranchers and corrupt sheriffs versus noble sodbusters.  It does give R.J. and Alyssa an excuse to follow Ataninde deep into the jungle, where his brother's funeral allows director Llosa to film one of those weird tribal ceremonies where the white observers are given a hallucinogenic substance and trip out.

Here, right smack-dab in the middle of this guy's funeral, Sheffer and Bullock have a wildly-inappropriate softcore sex scene that's utterly ridiculous.  I'm not just talking about bare-shouldered groping and peekaboo stuff--it's the whole everything-but-the-genitalia routine, with the two tongue-wrestling leads humping away like they're in a Penthouse video.  At this point it becomes pretty clear that we're watching a standard exploitation flick that wears its loftier aspirations like a G-string. 

As R.J., Craig Sheffer is his usual Craig Sheffer self, neither very bad nor very good--his hair actually outperforms him--while Sandra Bullock gives her standard "I can't believe she's an Oscar winner" performance.  (In one scene she expresses grave concern by holding her nose.)  Judith Chapman of "The Young and The Restless" co-stars.


There's some pretty passable shoot-em-up action here and there, and an old-fashioned cliffhanger sequence with R.J. bound to a chair next to a ticking time bomb.  Most of the castmembers are held hostage at one point or another, with a gun or knife pressed menacingly against their throats.  This happens with such regularity that in one scene it appears as though Sheffer's character is holding himself hostage.  (Okay, I'm exaggerating.) 

The DVD from Anchor Bay is in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with Dolby Digital 5.1 sound and English subtitles.  The sole extra is a hilariously cheesy trailer. 

If you take FIRE ON THE AMAZON for what it is, a lively but dumb exploitation flick, you might find it somewhat entertaining.  (Especially if you just want to see Sandra Bullock naked.)  But if you're looking for a film with something genuinely important to say about the Amazon rainforest, you're barking up the wrong tree.

FIRE ON THE AMAZON -- DVD Review by Porfle

THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST -- Movie Review by Porfle

(This is part three of my look at the "Don Knotts Reluctant Hero Pack", a two-sided DVD containing four of Don's best-known movies: THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST, and THE LOVE GOD?)

The years 1966-68 saw the appearance of three Don Knotts comedies in quick succession--THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, and 1968's THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST--each of which dealt with Don's nervous-guy character by placing him in hazardous situations that forced him to somehow overcome his natural cowardice. In the latter entry, he was swept all the way back to the rip-roarin' Old West of 1870, complete with gunslingers, outlaws, and marauding Indians. Which, I would think, would be a pretty nerve-wracking place for a coward to be.

Don plays Jesse W. Haywood (a nod to Don's actual name, Jesse Donald Knotts), a dentist whose dream is to spread dental health throughout the West. After a rib-tickling main titles song by The Wilburn Brothers, the film gets off to a rousing start as we see Jesse trying to examine a fiercely-unwilling patient, Miss Stevenson, during his final "pass-or-fail" dentistry exam, which turns into a UFC-style fist-flying brawl. "How's it going, Haywood?" asks rival dental student Phelps ("Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman"'s Greg Mullavey, in one of this film's few running gags), to which Jesse responds "Fine...just fine" even as his fingers are being chomped. Once he gets his diploma, he bids a tearful farewell to his mother (Ruth McDevitt), then hops a train and it's westward ho.

Meanwhile, the notorious bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings (Barbara Rhoades) has just been captured after a long career of cattle rustling, stagecoach robbing, etc. But the sheriff (Ed Peck) offers her a deal--she must go undercover and travel West on a wagon train suspected of carrying smugglers who are supplying rifles to the Indians, and if she discovers their identity and nabs them, she'll get a pardon. But there's a catch--no unaccompanied women are allowed on the wagon train, and the agent who was to pose as her husband (John Wayne stock player Ed Faulkner) just got killed. So she needs to find a husband fast. Guess who she picks? Right--the duded-up, derby-wearing "tender ninny" (as she sneeringly refers to him during their first encounter), Jesse.

Her seduction of Haywood, when she comes to him for a feigned dental complaint and lets her cleavage do the talking, is still high on my short list of things that jump-started my puberty. Whether dressed in denim and rawhide and packing six-guns, or tarted up like a dancehall girl, Barbara Rhoades made my hormones yell "Yee-haaa!" But enough of my personal problems...

On the way West, the wagon train is attacked by Indians. Penny secretly disposes of them all, but Doc Haywood mistakenly thinks he's the big Indian fighter. So as soon as they get into town, he buys the standard black gunfighter outfit and goes swaggering around, revelling in his new status as a dead-shot Indian fighter. But the rifle smugglers (Don "Red" Barry and "The Addams Family"'s Uncle Fester, Jackie Coogan) hire a feared gunfighter named Arnold the Kid to challenge Doc Haywood to a shootout. Can you guess what happens?

Finally the truth comes out and Jesse realizes he's been duped, which leads to a great "Don gets drunk" scene in the local saloon. But just as things look their worst, Penny is kidnapped by the rifle smugglers and taken to a nearby Indian camp, and Jesse realizes he's her only hope. So he sobers up, straps on his six-gun, and goes to her rescue, resolving to save her from the bad guys even if it means dressing up as an Indian maiden and getting hit on by some horny Indian dudes. And when she finds out how brave he really is, Penny at last finds herself smitten by the "tender ninny", giving hope to all of us nerds who always dreamed of having the hottest babes in school fall for us somehow.

Once again, the cast is populated with familiar faces. Jim Begg of THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN reappears as a deputy who lives for excitement ("I just love this kinda stuff!" he exclaims in another running gag). The great Carl Ballantine ("McHale's Navy") and a surprisingly-young Pat Morita play storekeepers who cheat Jesse out of his every last cent as he attempts to equip himself for the journey West. Frank McGrath of THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT reappears as one of the people on the wagon train. MASH's William Christopher shows up as a hotel clerk, Eddie Quillan (the elevator operator from THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN) is a train porter, and Burt Mustin makes his third straight appearance in a Don Knotts comedy. Legendary character actor Dub Taylor even shows up as Penny's outlaw accomplace early on, before he decides to go to Boston to open up a little dress shop.

As in Don's previous two flicks, James Fritzell and Everett Greenbaum ("The Andy Griffith Show", THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT) are involved in the screenplay, along with Edmund L. Hartmann and the redoubtable Frank Tashlin, in this update of Bob Hope's classic comedy THE PALEFACE. Vic Mizzy is on hand once again to provide an appropriately lighthearted musical score. THE GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN'S Alan Rafkin ably directs. And aside from Fritzell and Greenbaum, the "Andy Griffith Show" connection here includes an appearance by Hope "Clara Edwards" Summers.

A worthy addition to the Don Knotts oeuvre, THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST is an endlessly fun romp that should please his fans. It's Don Knotts at his best, and that's pretty much as good as it gets.

THE SHAKIEST GUN IN THE WEST -- Movie Review by Porfle

6 HOT CHICKS IN A WAREHOUSE -- DVD Review by Porfle

Originally posted on 8/8/19

 

I have to hand it to 6 HOT CHICKS IN A WAREHOUSE (Indican Pictures, 2017).  It starts out sorta not-so-great and then, once its rather contrived premise is established, gradually turns into a pretty fun suspense-slash-sexploitation flick. Dumb fun, yeah, but still fun.

Six models are called together for a photoshoot at the warehouse studio of Adrian (Oliver Malam), a frustrated "incel" who bristles at the constant rejection and ridicule they hurl at him during all of their professional interactions.

It seems Adrian has discovered a weird new diet supplement called Pump-N-Go that turns people into vicious killers, and his plan is to keep the six women in cages, inject them with the drug, and pair them off in gladiatorial death matches which will give him (a) revenge, and (b) perverse sexual thrills.

Interestingly, we're initially inclined to sympathize with Adrian because some of these models really are obnoxious, hateful bitches who do lay on the ridicule pretty thick.  The only one we really get to know is Mira (Jessica Messenger), who just dresses like a slut because she needs the money and really isn't a "mean girl" type.

But as the story progresses, Adrian becomes more of a hateful psycho and we start siding with the girls as they're forced to battle each other to the death for his sick gratification. 

These scenes are pretty much meat-and-potatoes stuff--no dazzling choreography or shocking gore--but they do the job of holding our interest until the models start planning their escape.

That's where the suspense factor kicks in and the movie starts being more than just a collection of fetish montages.  (Although the girls do wear dominatrix outfits throughout almost the whole thing.) 

It's not Hitchcock or anything, but director and co-writer Simon Edwards is doing capable work here and giving us a fair amount of tension.  While the inevitable conclusion to all this doesn't exactly give THE WILD BUNCH a run for its money, I found it satisfying enough. 

By the time it was all over, I had actually started to like some of these unlikable chicks (the ones who were still alive, anyway).  The story actually has two endings--the official one, and the "gotcha!" during the closing credits.

6 HOT CHICKS IN A WAREHOUSE sets out to give us some voyeurism (there's an extended photoshoot montage that shows off the girls' bodies, and a bit of nudity here and there), some humor, some violence, and some revenge.  I don't expect it to get nominated for any Oscars, but to be honest, I'd rather watch this than the Oscars.


More on 6 Hot Chicks in a Warehouse at Indican Pictures:

Release Date: September 3rd, 2019 (DVD, Digital)

TECH SPECS

Runtime: 91 minutes
Format: 1:78 HD
Sound: Dolby Sr.
Country: USA
Language: English (with captions)
Rating: R
Bonus: outtakes, trailers

6 HOT CHICKS IN A WAREHOUSE -- DVD Review by Porfle