MESSALINA: THE VIRGIN EMPRESS is another in a long line of routine historically-themed sex adventures that Italian exploitation director Joe D'Amato was knocking out in the 1990s in the years prior to his death. This one's a story that's particularly void of imagination and talent, a mere repetitive sequence of sex scenes shot on the cheap and in a hurry.
Those looking for genuine production values will be disappointed as the whole thing takes place on just a couple of sets, although the costumes are quite cool (and were probably borrowed from another production). MESSALINA is basically D'Amato's ode to German actress Kelly Trump, who appears in virtually all of the scenes and gets up to all kinds of hardcore stuff. Sadly, the production is marred by the poor quality cameras leading to a grainy look, very bad and laughable English dubbing, and a plot that seems to have been written on the back of a beer mat. I prefer story with my exploitation but here all we get is endless repetition devoid of intrigue.
Those looking for genuine production values will be disappointed as the whole thing takes place on just a couple of sets, although the costumes are quite cool (and were probably borrowed from another production). MESSALINA is basically D'Amato's ode to German actress Kelly Trump, who appears in virtually all of the scenes and gets up to all kinds of hardcore stuff. Sadly, the production is marred by the poor quality cameras leading to a grainy look, very bad and laughable English dubbing, and a plot that seems to have been written on the back of a beer mat. I prefer story with my exploitation but here all we get is endless repetition devoid of intrigue.