Authorship of the original Satan WAS A LADY is definitely that of Doris Wishman; no one could imitate her style as accurately as this hardcore porn film approximates. Its strange non sequiturs, goof-ball cutaway shots, telltale tacky decor and even the great woman's voice on the soundtrack spell DW heaven. The fact that she sort of remade it in a 2001 release as a "hip" (with lots of live music) softcore opus to which she signed her name proves the point.
Before I get to the spoilers, namely the one-of-a-kind finale, here's the rundown on the hour-plus setup of non-action. There's an opening direct sound sequence of Victor & Claudia in bed having pre-marital sex. When Annie Sprinkle as Terry arrives, catching them in the act, her voice-over: "My sick little sister Claudia" sounds uncannily like Wishman's voice. I had the privilege of doing a phone interview with Doris in the '80s (for Variety newspaper), and it sounds like her.
Their mom Ada is stuck with an horrendous streaked wig, attempting to make an actress of same age look a generation older than the girls. What passes for plot is the on again/off again impending marriage of Claudia to Victor, the incomprehensible antics of sister Terry (Sprinkle looks great and does her XXX thing terrifically here, but her characterization is pitiful), and other excuses for explicit porn couplings.
Wishman has claimed that she wasn't on the set whenever actual hardcore (penetration) footage was being filmed, but that seems ludicrous given the fact that over 90% of this film is XXX. Bobby Astyr ad libs his way through a non-role as Terry's irritable boyfriend, who likes to put her in restraints for kinky sex, and otherwise abuse her. This is extremely tame, but apparently included as a sop to the rough NY sex then popular.
Victor is unfaithful to Claudia by way of a dalliance with C.J. Laing, in a painfully underwritten role wasting her considerable talents.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Enlivening this arousing but uneventful opus is an action-packed (for Wishman) final reel in which Terry seemingly poisons Victor after he asks for a glass of water at a family wedding planning meeting. The doctor, who looks more like a male hustler than a doc, pronounces him dead, but Vic comes back to life to scare Claudia in yet another ripoff of Henri-Georges Clouzot's much imitated but never equaled (even by Hitchcock) DIABOLIQUE.
A whirlwind voice-over wrap-up by the doc explains that Claudia was to inherit a s**tload of money on her 21st birthday, and sweet-seeming mom Ada plotted to get that cash. (She's Terry's mom and Claudia's step-mom.) A drug induced a coma in Victor, but the plot was foiled. "Take them away", and the miscreants are sent to the hoosegow, but in a typically downbeat ending Claudia is left in a permanent comatose state of shock.
I enjoyed the porn footage of this farrago, namely Sprinkle's sure deep throat technique and an attention to her makeup to give her a great look, replete with ahead-of-its-time cleanly shaved pussy. Sis played by Bree Anthony is also beautiful and the men all get it up on cue. Wishman fans should give this one a look-see, and get ready for that incredible ending.
Before I get to the spoilers, namely the one-of-a-kind finale, here's the rundown on the hour-plus setup of non-action. There's an opening direct sound sequence of Victor & Claudia in bed having pre-marital sex. When Annie Sprinkle as Terry arrives, catching them in the act, her voice-over: "My sick little sister Claudia" sounds uncannily like Wishman's voice. I had the privilege of doing a phone interview with Doris in the '80s (for Variety newspaper), and it sounds like her.
Their mom Ada is stuck with an horrendous streaked wig, attempting to make an actress of same age look a generation older than the girls. What passes for plot is the on again/off again impending marriage of Claudia to Victor, the incomprehensible antics of sister Terry (Sprinkle looks great and does her XXX thing terrifically here, but her characterization is pitiful), and other excuses for explicit porn couplings.
Wishman has claimed that she wasn't on the set whenever actual hardcore (penetration) footage was being filmed, but that seems ludicrous given the fact that over 90% of this film is XXX. Bobby Astyr ad libs his way through a non-role as Terry's irritable boyfriend, who likes to put her in restraints for kinky sex, and otherwise abuse her. This is extremely tame, but apparently included as a sop to the rough NY sex then popular.
Victor is unfaithful to Claudia by way of a dalliance with C.J. Laing, in a painfully underwritten role wasting her considerable talents.
SPOILERS AHEAD:
Enlivening this arousing but uneventful opus is an action-packed (for Wishman) final reel in which Terry seemingly poisons Victor after he asks for a glass of water at a family wedding planning meeting. The doctor, who looks more like a male hustler than a doc, pronounces him dead, but Vic comes back to life to scare Claudia in yet another ripoff of Henri-Georges Clouzot's much imitated but never equaled (even by Hitchcock) DIABOLIQUE.
A whirlwind voice-over wrap-up by the doc explains that Claudia was to inherit a s**tload of money on her 21st birthday, and sweet-seeming mom Ada plotted to get that cash. (She's Terry's mom and Claudia's step-mom.) A drug induced a coma in Victor, but the plot was foiled. "Take them away", and the miscreants are sent to the hoosegow, but in a typically downbeat ending Claudia is left in a permanent comatose state of shock.
I enjoyed the porn footage of this farrago, namely Sprinkle's sure deep throat technique and an attention to her makeup to give her a great look, replete with ahead-of-its-time cleanly shaved pussy. Sis played by Bree Anthony is also beautiful and the men all get it up on cue. Wishman fans should give this one a look-see, and get ready for that incredible ending.