Reviews

"Darktown strutters" uses the most elaborate, colorful, and huge props and sets like the interior of the "pot-sicle" freezer complete with an igloo. The costumes are some of the most outlandish in the blaxploitation genre. The biker women wear rhinestoned pink and bright yellow jumpsuits and feather head dresses. The comedy is very basic slapstick which relies a lot on the props and action (like kung-fu moves, pies in the face and other uninteresting activities) rather than interesting dialogue or inventive action. Its overall "weirdness" was so obviously trying to be weird that it became sort of routine.

It's a travelogue/sex-comedy with great photography of Rio, funny jokes and a pleasing early eighties feel. All the typical aspects of life in Brazil are shown like Carnival, native gods/religion, topless sunbathers, street dancers, the monolith dome with Jesus on top etc. There are a lot of funny lines that will keep you entertained and Michael Caine delivers them well. The soundtrack has a lot of bossa nova strains (composed by Ken Wannberg) and adds to the sexy, lighthearted mood.

Sharon Leslie plays a super model with amnesia. She's staying in a psychiatric hospital where her doctor is trying to uncover the repressed psychological trauma that put her in this state. It's partly a mystery, with the doctor as detective, in which they try to figure out who/what did this to her. Of course, it's also an exploitation movie with a lot of nudity and softcore sex. Sharon Leslie is attractive, and she looks a lot like the actress who played "Nola Darling" in Spike Lee's "She's Gotta Have it". The director of the original "Black Emanuelle", Aldaberto Albertini, also directed this one. His movies seem to focus more on character relationships/ psychological drama and are more cohesive than director Joe D'Amato's later movies. The movie is full of trippy flash back sequences and sexual suspense. Recommended!

The movie opens with a trip out, psycho 70s scene inside a dance/live sex club. This lasts a few minutes, the best in the movie, and then it changes over to a fairly tame Italian sex comedy. "Billy" has come to the Middle East to visit with "Andrea". From the minute he starts talking to the end of the film, he is constantly complaining about every little thing, about his impounded auto, the fact that women won't have sex with him, etc. Literally every bit of dialogue is full of his bitching. All of his "conversations" with "Andrea" are negative arguments trying to pass as comedy. In addition, the English dubbed voice is this abrasive, whiny man that will make you want to turn the volume off. The soundtrack by Alberto Baldan Bembo is fantastic and the best thing about this film. My advice: get the soundtrack, skip the movie.

Emanuelle is now a newspaper reporter who travels around the world in search of a story about "violence to women". It starts off in San Francisco, where she meets a guru leader of a religious sex cult. We see the inside of a large church-like rotunda covered with colorful, "Indian" tapestries. The members of the cult are arranged in pairs, seated on pillows, all over the floor. It's sort of unclear, but it seems that this is one of the places where sex slaves are collected. Then suddenly, Emanuelle is off to Rome where she uncovers another sex slave operation, then Hong Kong, the Middle East, and finally New York. There are really five mini-plots associated with each of these places. It's almost episodic. In comparison with "Black Emanuelle", the movie seems less focused on the characters and more interested in illustrating the plot. It can be less engaging because of this. Still, it's probably one of the better in the series (much better than "Black E, White E/aka Emanuelle in Egypt") and full of cheap, exploitive thrills!

Ajita Wilson stars as a newspaper reporter in search of information about an exclusive sex cult. A death and physical abuse have been associated with it, and she wants the story. In the meantime, she visits with a religious/healing guru to deal with her bouts of nymphomania. These occur whenever she hears certain music. While the plot/story may sound intriguing, it's actually a poor production. The acting and dialogue in this feature are far inferior to the "Black Emanuelle" series. The sex scenes are badly photographed. Mainly, it's just a jumble of indistinguishable limbs in extreme close-up (like legs and arms) and totally unsexy. Claudine's nymphomania song (repeated every time she has an attack) also starts grate on the senses. Finally, Ajita herself is not my idea of a sex goddess.

"The Black Decameron" contains a series of 5 fables on the subject of sex/love. They are all set in Africa, in authentic-looking "tribal" settings. The first fable involves an African Queen who is looking for a king. She puts a few of them through various tests, like battling wild lions, and they all fail, until the last one. In another story, "Cure of a crazy woman", two men try to "cure" a nympho woman who wears bizarre tribal make-up on her face. In the last fable "Simoa's endless search" a young man who is inexperienced with women, dresses in women's clothing in order to meet a woman's five daughters. He eventually becomes a traveling male prostitute. There is abundant nudity in this film, but a lot of it isn't erotic. The fable narratives can be slow moving, unsexy, and almost moralistic at times. But, there are a few bizarro, humorous scenes that save it from being uninteresting and predictable. Overall, this isn't your standard Western softcore movie. It probably has more in common with "The Gods must be Crazy" than the travelogue-type "Black Emanuelle" series.

There are eight episodes in this sex comedy. The episodes are so short that they lack development, meaning, progression and are pretty boring. Although this is a "sex" comedy, and the subject is sex, the movie is practically PG-13. The subjects of the episodes are pretty repellent, with titles like "Sex in Shantytown". The actor Giancarlo Giannini plays each of the lead roles in the episodes, and his performances are really the only reason to watch this film.

In this movie Inga is living in a boarding house with prostitutes also living there. She's almost forced to become one to pay her rent. The acting is particularly bad in this movie, as Marie Liljedahl is usually expressionless. The brief sex scenes are very unnatural, jilted and unpassionate. The whole movie is depressing and seedy. What it lacks the most is comedy. It seems as if the director, Joe Sarno, wanted to recreate (however shallowly) the somber mood of Scandinavian films. This has to be the worst softcore sex movie I have seen.

"The Initiation of Sarah" was made about a decade ahead of "Heathers" and it basically follows the same ideas. Morgan Fairchild is perfect as a vicious blonde barbie-like sorority sister. Just like "Heather #1". Then there's the other Morgan in this production, Morgan Brittany, who plays Sarah's brunette sister. They both have this perfect 70s look, like Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman), Farrah Fawcett, Cheryl Ladd, Jaclyn Smith. Fairchild is very convincing as a popular b**** and she has a whole horde of other barbie friends to back her up. I wish the film spent more time, and gore, in getting back at them. The horror element could have been expanded at this time. Of course, it was a made-for-TV movie.

This is one of the most hilarious movies I have ever seen that deals with such dark issues. It focuses on two sisters, Dawn a.k.a. " Sweetie" and Kay, who both (as we see it) struggle with their psychological health. Kay seems somewhat conscious of, but at the same time unwilling to express her psychological problems. This seems to manifest itself in her sexual problems with Louis. Dawn, on the other hand, seems completely oblivious to the fact that she has problems, and seems to live her life freely and spontaneously. We see the interaction between these characters as a struggle between stifling repression and an out-of-control, externally-destructive unleashing of feelings. The film seems to reconcile these aspects until we reach some sort of balance at the end.

While the film deals with these serious subjects, it is in no way (as far as I'm concerned) a depressing movie. It's filled with comedy, which has been called "black comedy", but in my view the comedy itself doesn't have any heavy, negative under tones. The actress who plays Sweetie is an established comedian and her comedic acting is hilarious and convincing. Sweetie freely expresses herself, in ways that might seem childish to some, but are secretly ways we might like to act if it were accepted. Her character tells us that it's possibly to be so free and unfettered and survive, up to a point.

I love the scene where Sweetie's new, wasted "talent manager" boyfriend is taken to a cafe, by Sweetie's father, in order to get rid of him. At the table Sweetie's father begins to talk about how Sweetie "was such a talented little girl". The boyfriend then spontaneously falls asleep (he has some kind of sleeping sickness). At this point the father tries to remove the boyfriend's coat, which is actually Louis's (Kay's husband), and which they have been trying to get him out of for a long time. The boyfriend, still asleep, then falls to the floor dragging the contents of the table top with him, and ends splayed out on the floor in a baroque mess.

There are numerous comedic scenes like the one above, that weave in and out of the movies' main issues (i.e. control of oneself). Dawn's boyfriend, like Dawn (Sweetie), lacks control over his expression, in this case his actual, physical body.

To add to these delights, the movie is beautifully, artfully photographed and the sets are also artistically satisfying. The soundtrack includes beautiful African gospel. All-in-all, if you're receptive to emotions and understanding them, this will probably be one of the best movies you'll ever see.

The only reason to watch this video is that one of its stars is a BRIARD, one of the most friendly, intelligent, forceful, and hairy of dog breeds! They are originally a French breed, but can now be found all over Europe and the United States. Your Briard, or other breed of dog, will enjoy watching this movie too!

Adapted from Sam Shepard's play, this movie retains many play-like elements such as a relatively fixed setting (a roadside 50's motel in the Southwest) and extensive, intriguing dialogues. A woman "May" is hounded by a man "Eddie" (played by Sam Shepard). She tries to hide from him in the out-of-the-way motel, but he finds her. The film explores the history of their relationship, mainly from their childhoods, that has led them to this point. It's very easy to feel sympathy for the characters and to understand that their dysfunctional present relationship is a result of past events out of their control. We mainly watch them fight, make up, fight, make up and so on. One image that stands out in my mind, is of Eddie hauling May over his shoulder kicking and screaming, taking her somewhere she doesn't want to go.

The soundtrack is also perfect soulful country with vocals by a lesser known artist "Sandy Rogers". She has this country doll voice that almost yodels at some points in the album! This is the kind of movie that will stay lodged in some part of your brain/soul. In other words, go see it!

It's so fake! The plot seems like a generic adaptation of the average blaxploitation film. The common themes of blaxploitation like racism, oppression and fighting for the integrity of your community are outlined so simplistically/shallowly. And the jokes aren't even funny! Dolemite does these stand up monologue comedy routines that are really painful. All the people around him deliver this canned laughter. Even the soundtrack sounds like it's fakin' the funk. For far better comedy in a blaxploitation try "Coffy" & "Friday Foster" with Pam Grier. For a more realistic blax experience try "Black Heat".

I first saw this film in a 1930's-40's movie theater (with the original large screen) and it fit perfectly with its noir themes and 40s style costumes. I had come to see it as a double feature with 'Delicatessen', and was surprised by the artistically satisfying black and white still photography that was flashed on the screen as examples of the main character's work. The actors well-crafted, enigmatic performances and the lavish interiors set an ambient mood that will stay with you after the film is over.

This was my favorite movie when I was 14 years old. I wanted to become a mortuary worker after I saw this! I still love it! It's one of the funniest movies I have ever seen, largely because of the crazy reanimating effects. The soundtrack, featuring the Cramps' "surfin' dead", is also really (80's post-punk) fun. More Brains!

This sex comedy/travelogue focuses on the beauty of Greece with its aerial photography of the island of Santorini (a.k.a. Thera). It is a picture-postcard fantasy of Greece. The production values are high and the scenes are colorful and crisp. A lot of its comedy comes from the fact that it's so embarrassing to watch, in a good way. There are a lot of cheesy moments that I wouldn't want to miss. It's 70's/early 80's alternative lifestyle style, which includes a group disco romp where everyone holds hands at the same time! Then there is that scene with the nude body builders... The film is well worth seeing if you've ever dreamed of going to Greece.

A very young Ornella Muti plays a rich girl who falls for an older hippie boy. Her parents don't approve and try to stop her from seeing him so they run away to a villa (Her parents') by the sea. Later they are shipwrecked on a deserted island. The plot focuses on the efforts of the police to figure out where the girl is, which is set against the developing relationship between the two young people. As there is only brief nudity, the film really can't be considered an erotic movie. It's a coming-of-age story in the context of a struggle between "free love" and established, conservative values and power. It's also known as 'Sunshine on the skin'.

Three young women leave their chauvinist boyfriends, set up their own living situation, a luxurious apartment, and revel in their sexual freedom. The actresses are fresh and sensual. The director, Claude Mulot, doesn't lack an artistic sensibility, and the sensual 70's disco soundtrack makes it even better.

A teenage girl runs away from her parents in Greece to hitch rides and generally just bums around. She meets a number of men and most of them are rejects. This is a 'sexual awakening/coming-of-age story'. However, Betty Verges seems a bit too old to play this part. She just has an air of sophistication, and she must be at least 5 to 10 years older than the character's age. Although the movie is set in Greece, the scenes are set in somewhat grimy locales and the photography is poor. The budget for this film must have been minimal. Finally, I didn't even like the soundtrack!

This is a coming-of-age story about a girl who can't decide whether she should go for her classmate or an older man (her father's business associate). The film lacks artistic interest and the dialogue is boring. The "comedy" scenes are either ridiculous or flat, and are similar to what you might find on a TV sitcom. It seemed like "Loredona" (Gloria Guida) did a lot of driving around on a moped going nowhere.

Gorgeous Annie Belle in her prime stars in this adventure/sex movie. She wears her hair in a buzz cut that is bleached platinum. She and her boyfriend are visiting some tropical Asian paradise. They have decided to keep an "open" sexual relationship, which is played out on their journey to find a secret society/tribe where the people live one year and then are reborn in some kind of ceremony. The scenery is gorgeous, deep vast green gorges and jungles are explored. The imagery is very similar to that of the movie "Black Emanuelle". It is rich and colorful. Recommended!

Annie belle is very young in this coming-of-age feature. She and her 'Father' go on a business trip to Hong Kong. There she meets a bunch of socialites and learns how some adults behave. The plot and acting aren't too exciting, but Annie Belle is attractive and the foreign locale/scenery are appealing. The groovy soundtrack also adds a lot.

Laura Gemser plays a magazine photographer who is sent to Africa for a photo shoot. There she is met by a couple and other swinging couples. They all stay at this huge, very touristy hotel with a gigantic swimming pool. One night they have a pool party complete with "real live" native dancers. It's very un-politically correct and very kitschy. Later, Emanuelle finally has her photo shoot, which turns out to be in one of those drive-through, stay-in-your-car safaris (albeit the photography is gorgeous). Throughout the film, Emanuelle is going after every man she meets. The photography is very well done in this film. There are scenes with cascading waterfalls, galloping giraffes and ancient ruins. The film is worth seeing for the soundtrack by Nico Fidenco alone.

This is far and away the best blaxploitation film I have seen so far. The slapstick humor is top notch, the costumes are really groovy and Pam Grier is the queen. The soundtrack by Roy Ayers is also superfly. I love the scene where Coffy is trapped in the sauna and tries to hit her captor over the head with one of the sauna rocks!