Unheralded 60s auteur Joseph Sarno moves his internecine psychological wars to backwoods America to great effect in this opus. As usual, the writer-director's strategy is to reveal the characters and their relationships through brief dialogue scenes and sexual liaisons, gradually interweaving the plot threads, upping the intensity and revealing the sordid intentions lurking beneath the surface. A few of the method actors are rather unconvincing in their accents and mannerisms, and the scenes tend to be static due to the extreme low budget. But the Dreyer-like chiaroscuro lighting, the insinuating bongo-driven jazz score, and the intense portrayals make this one of his most compelling dramas, fitting well within the experimental art cinema of the 60s despite the exploitation pedigree. The eroticism is more intense than in his better-known earlier films, and the betrayals crueler than ever. A must-see piece of the Sarno puzzle.
5 Reviews
downright subversive
christopher-underwood12 January 2007
Starts innocuously enough with a number of characters introduced and some routine b/w humping but this becomes more interesting and finally downright subversive. Most things crop up in this b/w sex fest as the couplings develop into threesomes, foursomes and even more somes. Just when you think you have the measure of the predictability of the flick Sarno pulls yet another shocking surprise. There is something rather unpleasant running through this as one sister taunts another and once again in a Sarno film cuddly toys get rather more than a cuddling! Overall though much to enjoy and even if the sex does take up a bit too much of the proceedings some of the impressionistic photography is most effective, some good scenes and well worth seeing.
Sexploitation master Joe Sarno in peak naughty form
Woodyanders5 September 2016
Warning: Spoilers
Evil and jaded slut Norma Sue (ably played to the manipulative bitchy hilt by Cherie Winters) and her studly boyfriend Parker (a nicely sleazy portrayal by Alax Mann) decide to stir things up in a sleepy small town by taking up residence at an inn run by Norma Sue's uptight sister Jean (a fine performance by Uta Erickson).
Writer/director Joe Sarno not only astutely captures the sticky and stifling atmosphere of the country hamlet main setting (think "Peyton Place" gone seedy), but also explores his usual bold themes of incest, deep repression, and sexual experimentation with his customary praiseworthy frankness and intelligence. Moreover, this picture acquires an extra deliciously wicked charge by the way conventional stuffy morality gets tossed at the window: The bad girl catalyst for all the commotion goes unpunished and innocence winds up being irrevocably tainted by its exposure to pure unadulterated lust. The uniformly sound acting by the capable cast holds this movie together, with especially commendable contributions from Winters, Erickson, Irene De Bari as the sweet, yet frustrated Anna, Aaron Green as the scruffy Luke, and Charlie Dobson as deadbeat biker Billy Joe. The generous nudity and soft-core sex provide plenty of sizzle. Kudos are also in order for Pir Marini's groovy jazz score and Steve Silverman's stark shadowy cinematography. Recommended viewing for Sarno fans.
Writer/director Joe Sarno not only astutely captures the sticky and stifling atmosphere of the country hamlet main setting (think "Peyton Place" gone seedy), but also explores his usual bold themes of incest, deep repression, and sexual experimentation with his customary praiseworthy frankness and intelligence. Moreover, this picture acquires an extra deliciously wicked charge by the way conventional stuffy morality gets tossed at the window: The bad girl catalyst for all the commotion goes unpunished and innocence winds up being irrevocably tainted by its exposure to pure unadulterated lust. The uniformly sound acting by the capable cast holds this movie together, with especially commendable contributions from Winters, Erickson, Irene De Bari as the sweet, yet frustrated Anna, Aaron Green as the scruffy Luke, and Charlie Dobson as deadbeat biker Billy Joe. The generous nudity and soft-core sex provide plenty of sizzle. Kudos are also in order for Pir Marini's groovy jazz score and Steve Silverman's stark shadowy cinematography. Recommended viewing for Sarno fans.
Effective if overwrought Sarno melodrama
lor_20 June 2011
Warning: Spoilers
Like its stablemate MARCY, this rural Joe Sarno soft porn exercise varies his formula by moving from the suburbs or big city to the boondocks. It's an effective variation on his usual theme, and definitely worth viewing alongside his better-known titles.
In retrospect it seems clear that the prolific late '60s gave Sarno a chance to flex his artistic muscles. It's an unfortunate fact that several of these titles were released by defunct distributors, notably Chellee Films, with no trace of negatives or prints yet found in the 20 years or so that scavengers like Something Weird and its latter-day video competitors have been searching. One lead I suggest, having just watched a Klubb Super 8 DVD from Sweden anthologizing the work of Eugen Vohrmann, is that many of these "lost" U.S. films were distributed in Sweden by him, and may still exist there.
SPOILERS ALERT:
HOLLOWS concerns Norma Sue (Cherie Winters, effectively nasty here) returning to her hometown to live with sister Jean (Uta Erickson, title star of MARCY made around this time) at her inn, bringing a stud with her. The milieu is vaguely Southern, but as in MARCY unspecified. Uta steals the scene early on with a hot masturbation routine, scored to an effective Monk-ish piano and organ soundtrack. She also gets off voyeuristically watching her sister make love.
The siblings' jealousy since childhood is the main theme, well-acted. Monique Drevon, an actress who only worked for Joe (I don't know the reason why) is a married woman Anna having an affair with Billy Joe (effectively creepy 1-shot thesp "Charlie Dobson"), who easily converts her into a low-rent prostitute (servicing local boys at the $10 level).
Norma Sue engineers several lesbian scenes, leading to a kinky threesome where Anna is forced down onto a huge candle-shaped dildo (below frame, in this softcore Sarno era), and though in pain, Norma Sue forces her "to like it". A later rape scene adds to the porn content, as Sarno carefully tailors his action to appease an Adult Cinema audience.
It isn't surprising late in the film when the sisters make love, incest being Sarno's favorite theme. Though most of the previous sex action was executed using Joe's trademark chiaroscuro lighting (frame sometimes 90% in darkness), after the incest tryst the camera slowly pans up Uta's nude body in full light, lingering (for the fans) on her breasts, as the viewer ponders: what's her life to be now?
This lesbian incest turns out to be the coup de grace, as Norma Sue and her stud pack up and leave the inn, without even saying goodbye, leaving Jean in the lurch. Open ending has Jean seemingly liberated, ready to swing with another couple.
Blessed with a fine jazz score, HOLLOWS is a gripping example of Sarno's PEYTON PLACE format. I enjoyed it as much as I was disappointed with the similar but lifeless (and oddly presented in color) MARCY. Of the two, this is the Uta Erickson keeper.
In retrospect it seems clear that the prolific late '60s gave Sarno a chance to flex his artistic muscles. It's an unfortunate fact that several of these titles were released by defunct distributors, notably Chellee Films, with no trace of negatives or prints yet found in the 20 years or so that scavengers like Something Weird and its latter-day video competitors have been searching. One lead I suggest, having just watched a Klubb Super 8 DVD from Sweden anthologizing the work of Eugen Vohrmann, is that many of these "lost" U.S. films were distributed in Sweden by him, and may still exist there.
SPOILERS ALERT:
HOLLOWS concerns Norma Sue (Cherie Winters, effectively nasty here) returning to her hometown to live with sister Jean (Uta Erickson, title star of MARCY made around this time) at her inn, bringing a stud with her. The milieu is vaguely Southern, but as in MARCY unspecified. Uta steals the scene early on with a hot masturbation routine, scored to an effective Monk-ish piano and organ soundtrack. She also gets off voyeuristically watching her sister make love.
The siblings' jealousy since childhood is the main theme, well-acted. Monique Drevon, an actress who only worked for Joe (I don't know the reason why) is a married woman Anna having an affair with Billy Joe (effectively creepy 1-shot thesp "Charlie Dobson"), who easily converts her into a low-rent prostitute (servicing local boys at the $10 level).
Norma Sue engineers several lesbian scenes, leading to a kinky threesome where Anna is forced down onto a huge candle-shaped dildo (below frame, in this softcore Sarno era), and though in pain, Norma Sue forces her "to like it". A later rape scene adds to the porn content, as Sarno carefully tailors his action to appease an Adult Cinema audience.
It isn't surprising late in the film when the sisters make love, incest being Sarno's favorite theme. Though most of the previous sex action was executed using Joe's trademark chiaroscuro lighting (frame sometimes 90% in darkness), after the incest tryst the camera slowly pans up Uta's nude body in full light, lingering (for the fans) on her breasts, as the viewer ponders: what's her life to be now?
This lesbian incest turns out to be the coup de grace, as Norma Sue and her stud pack up and leave the inn, without even saying goodbye, leaving Jean in the lurch. Open ending has Jean seemingly liberated, ready to swing with another couple.
Blessed with a fine jazz score, HOLLOWS is a gripping example of Sarno's PEYTON PLACE format. I enjoyed it as much as I was disappointed with the similar but lifeless (and oddly presented in color) MARCY. Of the two, this is the Uta Erickson keeper.
Decent Sarno Picture
Michael_Elliott23 January 2018
Passion in Hot Hollows (1969)
** (out of 4)
Norma Sue and her husband return to the small Southern town she grew up in. Are they wanting to freshen up their lives? Help former family and friends? No, this is a Joe Sarno movie so Norma Sue plans on causing her sister Norma Jean to expose her dirty sexual thoughts and show the world that she too is a pervert.
I might have made the plot a bit more simple than it really is but if you're familiar with the work of Sarno then you already know that he quite often has a lot more plot than most films like this do. It seems that sexpoitation pictures either have no story at all and exist just to show off naked women or they have way too much plot, which is the case here.
Overall this is a mildly entertaining movie that fans of Sarno will enjoy but I doubt too many others get into the picture. I did like the setting and the idea that the "good" sister pleasures herself to the naughty stuff of the "bad" sister was a rather fun twist and some of the scenes were interesting to say the least. The performances were good for the most part and there's certainly some nice cinematography.
** (out of 4)
Norma Sue and her husband return to the small Southern town she grew up in. Are they wanting to freshen up their lives? Help former family and friends? No, this is a Joe Sarno movie so Norma Sue plans on causing her sister Norma Jean to expose her dirty sexual thoughts and show the world that she too is a pervert.
I might have made the plot a bit more simple than it really is but if you're familiar with the work of Sarno then you already know that he quite often has a lot more plot than most films like this do. It seems that sexpoitation pictures either have no story at all and exist just to show off naked women or they have way too much plot, which is the case here.
Overall this is a mildly entertaining movie that fans of Sarno will enjoy but I doubt too many others get into the picture. I did like the setting and the idea that the "good" sister pleasures herself to the naughty stuff of the "bad" sister was a rather fun twist and some of the scenes were interesting to say the least. The performances were good for the most part and there's certainly some nice cinematography.
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