Movie Review: Hotter Than Hell (1971)

Hotter Than Hell (1971) - USA - Adult Comedy - Rated X

A.K.A. The Horny Devils

Directed by Al Mamar (Possibly a pseudonym)

Stars Ron Darby, Anna Travers, Annette Michael, Suzanne Fields, Judy Angel, John McGaughtery, Paul Dodge

Despite some good looking women, the tedious plodding, not particularly attractive men and jolting contrast from light to dark in this movie make it both a strain on the eyes and the attention span.

It seems souls going to hell are down and to increase the traffic, so to speak, Satan sends his two bumbling sons to earth to corrupt women, but as it turns out the women are the ones corrupting them.

Yes, I did have to pad my summary of the plot, as sad as that may seem. Maybe it could have gone something like 'guys with small penises and wearing funny outfits make out with women'. Admittedly that would not have been inaccurate as for a porn movie these actors are hung like infants compared to what you would expect in one. At best they are average guy next door types in size and looks, and their looks are nothing to get excited about. The girls on the other hand are quite good looking with nice bodies. So what we have here is your average no budget porn movie with unattractive guys doing hot girls. At least one part of that equation is not something one wants to watch.

In all fairness to Ron Darby he does have a good sense of humor and can be fun on screen with his personality. He has been in quite a few porn movies from the late 60s to the mid 70s while the industry was burgeoning. Unlike Ron Darby, a lot of the actresses in those early porn movies faded away quickly without even a footnote in history as to who they were.

As a porn movie, Hotter Than Hell is anything but. It has good looking women, but with such a lame plot and tedious sex scenes it would more accurately be called Boring as Hell. The early segment in hell before the boys are sent to earth is the most entertaining part, and despite being a dark scene it is well lit. Unfortunately the next scene in a white bathroom with a pale skinned woman in the tub is such a contrast in the light difference that the eyes trying to adjust so suddenly is screaming agony. With such good looking women as Anna Travers they could have done so much better. Sex scenes that move at a snail's pace combine with extreme, and I do mean EXTREME, close-up shots only add to the agony of the contrast in lighting.

My Rating: 2 Fingers, and only for some of the skin content and that's it. If you think it sounds like something that might appeal to you, I suggest putting on sunglasses just before the second scene starts.

This movie has been put out on DVD by Alpha Blue Archives and is available as a download from Something Weird Video under the title The Horny Devils.

Movie Review: Roman Nowicki's Fantom Kiler (1998)

In anticipation of having my other blog shut down because of Blogger saying they will now not allow adult blogs, specifically pictures and/or videos with graphic nudity (ambiguous as usual for Google I know), I am taking my reviews from The Sex and Blood Show and posting them here, minus the pics. This has been previously published by me, just edited for content so I can't be accused of using graphic, or overly graphic language.

Fantom Kiler (1998) - Poland - Sexploitation Giallo Horror - Rated X

Directed by Roman Nowicki

Starring Marek Stuhr, Eliza Borecka, Katarzyna Zelnik, Magda Szymborska, Lilian Cybulka, Piotr Sapalowski, Natasha Nowicki, Stan Blinki, Henryk Solski, Tadeusz Plotcki

A mix of Giallo and music video style packed with misogynistic sleaze has plenty to offer the viewer who's not afraid to admit they like it.

The police in a Polish town discover the mutilated body of a beautiful naked woman left in a field. It has been a year since a similarly mutilated corpse was found. While the police are still stumped as to the identity of the killer, a mysterious man dressed in a black leather overcoat, a wide-brimmed hat and with his face covered in a white fabric, much like the invisible man, goes on a killing spree of beautiful women as he strips them naked and mutilates their bodies. The only clue the police have is the women all passed through a railway station where a janitor works who has fantasies about these women who shrug off his advances. His fantasies include misogynistic murder fantasies about them as well, but has he crossed a line where fantasy and reality meet?

Fantom Kiler is purely misogynistic in its treatment of women. Of course it makes no excuses about that as up front they describe the Fantom as a misogynistic murderer. Being that it is sub-titled, as its original language is Polish and Russian, and those sub-titles compete with watching a number of naked women on screen, the sub-titles have apparently lost out and are not well read. And where they might be read, those scenes not involving naked women are few and far between and easy enough to fast forward right through them.

The reason I bring that up is because of an interesting aspect of the murders that is purely misogynistic, as the killer is described, and that is he never has sexual intercourse with any of his victims but instead mutilates them, and most notably mutilates their naked bodies in a sexual manner often involving their genitals.

Being that I said that, let's take a step back and not get confused by thinking in any way this is a deep psychological study of a misogynist psychosis. Fantom Kiler is purely and simply sleaze presented as women being stalked, stripped and murdered, and a minimal amount of a story connecting the scenes. There is more sleaze in Fantom Kiler than in any other horror movie short of being pure porn.

At its very core Fantom Kiler is not original. Giallo has been around for decades. Giallo movies were the original stalk and slash movies well before slasher movies like Friday the 13th were even a thought; those later slasher movies having their origins in Italian Giallo cinema. Giallo movies too were largely misogynistic as the victims were mostly women and in various states of undress; unlike the later equal opportunity victims in slasher flicks.

Though Fantom Kiler has its roots in Giallo with its storyline of a masked killer who stalks women, using many of the elements of Giallo with the way the killer is dressed, straight out of a Giallo movie, and creepy atmosphere in places like the woods at night and a graveyard complete with fog, Fantom Kiler ups the ante by doing away with the talkative story and gets right to the good parts, that being gobs of nudity and slashing.

Of course Fantom Kiler has been criticized for its purely misogynistic content. Like this is the first time misogyny has reared its ugly head in a movie? Hell no! Movies have been filled with sexist and misogynistic themes since the beginning of cinema, and what Fantom Kiler does is it takes the ball and runs with it.

I'm not making excuses for the movie, it is what it is, but it does deliver on sleaze and to an extreme level. And don't tell me that's not what you're watching a sleazy movie for. As a matter of fact, I'd be willing to bet that a lot of critics of Fantom Kiler have watched it through more than once, of course only for the purpose of making sure they have their notes right so they can properly denounce the movie so they don't seem like the perverts they really are.

Go back into your closets where you're hiding your skeletons.

Fantom Kiler is not going to win any awards for quality. The non-sleaze scenes, what few there are, are easily fast-forwardable without really missing anything. The editing and obvious video work are jumpy. But, it is misogynistic trash cinema of the purest form. If you like sleaze, there is more than an abundance of it to be had; but if you're afraid to admit it, then you might want to watch it only in your closet while nobody is around and then you can denounce it to everyone later even though you know you liked it.

My Rating: 3 Fingers. This is sleaze overload, and thusly entertaining for the person who enjoys such material, but if misogyny is something you'd rather avoid then this should be at the top of your list to avoid.

Get Fantom Kiler on DVD

Movie Review: Girls Are for Loving (1973)

In anticipation of having my other blog shut down because of Blogger saying they will now not allow adult blogs, specifically pictures and/or videos with graphic nudity (ambiguous as usual for Google I know), I am taking my reviews from The Sex and Blood Show and posting them here, minus the pics. This has been previously published by me, just edited for content so I can't be accused of using graphic, or overly graphic language.

Girls Are for Loving (1973) - USA - Spy Thriller - Rated R

Directed by Don Schain

Stars Cheri Caffaro, Timothy Brown, Sheila Leighton

Fills the void of spy movies where not only is the lead character a female James Bond but she and others in the movie have no problem with losing their clothes and getting down and dirty.

It seems Ginger McAllister has traded in her domestic private detective license and is now on call by none other than the CIA on international affairs to thwart evil doers who would dare to threaten the United States, and if she has to have sex along the way...well, it's just another part of her job.

This time, though, Ginger's nemesis is another beautiful woman named Ronnie St. Clair. It seems Ronnie has her eyes on a trade agreement between the U.S. and an Asian country. The U.S. is set to loan the country money to purchase U.S. goods under contract and Ronnie wants the names of the companies that will get the contracts so she can make a fortune off of them on the stock market; even if getting this information involves kidnapping and murder.

Girls Are for Loving takes the character of Ginger and puts her in a spy movie. In her two previous outings Ginger was a private eye in some low budget movies, but this time they have a much bigger budget taking her to international locales where she succeeds in losing her clothes just as well. The addition of the Ronnie St. Clair character ups the ante of what the film has to offer by pitting Ginger against a woman just as beautiful as herself and just as willing to lose her clothes.

Of course the movie is sexist as hell in presenting the women as eye candy, as most 70s films of this ilk were, but it transcends that usual mold by presenting both women as in-charge of their actions and destinies and their worlds revolve around them rather than either of them being the usual submissive female who gets naked while the heroic man saves the day. They do get naked, but they enjoy that freedom and Ginger makes no excuses for her open sexuality.

The addition of Timothy Brown also escalates the Ginger series as the first film of the series has Ginger having a negative attitude toward blacks but this movie adds not only a partner but also a love interest and he is black. You may remember Timothy Brown as Spearchucker Jones in the first season of the M*A*S*H TV series.

The plot of this movie is basic and sketchy at best, but we're really not here for the plot. We're here because two lovely women and others are going to get naked, and full nudity not just topless, and have sex, and tie each other down. Oh, and there's also explosions, pretty awful martial arts type fighting, chases, gunplay, and all the other things that make for an action spy movie outing.

This is begging for a newer DVD release as the current release by Monterey Video is rather dark in my opinion. In many scenes it is not a problem but for some night scenes and low light scenes it is difficult to make anything out at times. Luckily most of the film, the good parts, do not suffer from this problem.

This is not a pan and scan cropped version of the movie on this DVD. Some prints of this movie that were shown in theaters and released on VHS suffered from being cropped to cut out the pubic regions. I guess to not get an x-rating? The DVD version shows a lot more than the theater/VHS version did.

My Rating: 3 Fingers. Though sloppily done in several places, if you like spy movies and especially if you like sleazy movies, Girls Are for Loving combines both in a successful and fun way.

Get Girls Are for Loving on DVD

Get all 3 Ginger movies on DVD

Movie Review: Lord Farthingay's Holiday (1972)

In anticipation of having my other blog shut down because of Blogger saying they will now not allow adult blogs, specifically pictures and/or videos with graphic nudity (ambiguous as usual for Google I know), I am taking my reviews from The Sex and Blood Show and posting them here, minus the pics. This has been previously published by me, just edited for content so I can't be accused of using graphic, or overly graphic language.

Lord Farthingay's Holiday (1972) - USA - Adult Comedy - Rated X

A.K.A. Afternoon Tease 

Directed by Charleton Roberts (Joseph F. Robertson)

Stars Donna Young, Alida Tennant (Anna Travers), Casey Lorraine (Casey Larrain), Sandy Dempsey, Ron Darby

An at times slow movie for only 60 minutes is really brought up by the more than delicious beauties on screen naked and having sex.

Lord Farthingay, a British chap no less...righto, is arriving in the states for a holiday (that'll be a vacation for us yanks...jolly good). He will be staying at the Van Updyke estate, home of the snooty, but damn fine, Mrs. Van Updyke.

To make Lord Farthingay's stay an enjoyable one, Mrs. Van Updyke instructs Jeeves the butler to have some musicians play at poolside for the Lord, and I don't mean for church. Looking up For Teas in the yellow pages, Jeeves gets momentarily distracted and when returning his attention to the yellow pages he ends up calling the listing For a Tease which is a sex for hire business, and unknowingly orders a trio of prostitutes for his lordship. Needless to say, Lord Farthingay is in for a hell of a holiday.

The setup of Lord Farthingay's Holiday is basic, as I have summarized, and beyond that it is simply naked women and men having sex interspersed with a few occasional moments of humor. At times the movie does drag, but the women are paricularly attractive with nice bodies which more than makes up for the occasional slowness of the film. Anna Travers, a creamy skinned redhead with near perfect breasts, is exactly what I want for Christmas, and Casey Larrain is just damn fine and gets additional kudos for staying in character throughout the movie. 

Though there appear to be some attempts at showing penetration on camera, there are fewer gynecological close-ups than with a xxx movie which makes this film more ideal for those who don't want in-your-face genitals and other things but still want to see more of an x-rated movie than what an r-rated movie will show. Lord Farthingay's Holiday just verges on porn without actually going there.

My Rating: 3 Fingers. For the good looking women and the amount of nudity. Though X-rated, this is not XXX and probably would not appeal to hardcore porn fans.

Lord Farthingay's Holiday is available from Something Weird Video's website as a download. You may be able to find it on DVD from a seller, though Amazon does not have it.

Movie Review: Tender Loving Care (1973)

Tender Loving Care (1973) - USA - Drama - Rated R

Directed by Don Edmonds

Starring Donna Young (as Donna Desmond), Marilyn Joi (as Anita King), Michael Asher, Lauren Simon (as Leah Simon), John Daniels, Tony Mumolo, Josh Taylor (as Tim Taylor), George Buck Flower, Kathy Hilton

A soap opera plot involving nurses and doctors, drugs, extortion, and slappy gangsters offers plenty of skin to get through the occasional slowness of the film to make for an entertaining movie.

Karen is new in town. She's a nurse and just starting at the hospital where she meets and rooms with two other nurses. Between the three of them one will get involved with a doctor she has the hots for even though he is married to his profession, one will have to deal with a boxer whose medical condition will end his fighting career, and one will be dragged into her boyfriend's drug addiction with a by-product of extortion and murder. They will also encounter gangster, philandering guys who want to hook them up with other women, and tragedy.

Tender Loving Care is a short movie at 72 minutes, and despite that it does have an occasional drag, but not too many and the skin content is much better than the more successful nurses drive-in movies of the 70s that Julie Corman produced. Of what I have seen of the Corman produced nurses movies, Tender Loving Care has a stronger story that moves along with few glitches. What glitches there are is in the department of acting capability and silliness in some characters.

Of the three primary actresses, of course that would be the nurses, Donna Young's performance, even though she is the top billed of this movie (as Donna Desmond), is the weakest. She is not the least experienced of the cast, but most of her previous efforts were in x-rated movies where acting was not a prerequisite. For most of the movie she is fine in her performance but in at least two scenes she is stretching her ability as an actress.

Marilyn Joi, the most experienced of the three primary actresses and very probably under-credited on IMDB due to acting under so many pseudonyms (Anita King in this one), gives an expected good performance that is above the means of this film. Lauren Simon also turns in a good performance as the put upon girlfriend of a drug addicted doctor, not only having to deal with his mood swings but having to deal with covering up for him even facing extortion for sex. And of course George Buck Flower delivers a good performance as a lecherous hospital orderly as does John Daniels as a troubled young man facing the end of his boxing career.

There are weak performances in this, as in many low budget r-rated sex movies of the 70s, but the weakest are the gangsters. It seemed about standard in a lot of 70s drive-in fare to have slappy gangsters (humorously portrayed as idiots) whether it was a comedy or drama as this is. It makes me think that casting directors had special audition lines for bad actors called 'gangster auditions'; I don't think these guys had to stand in line for very long. ;)

I would normally review a sex movie, even though it is r-rated, on my Sex and Blood Show blog. This movie has only seen the the light of day on an Embassy Home Entertainment VHS release in 1986, which is difficult to find and expensive if you can, and an even more difficult to find DVD release, which I suspect is nothing more than a VHS master put on DVD, but I don't know for sure. I have the VHS but it is old and not worth even trying to do screen caps from it. Being I use screencaps from the movie I review on the Sex and Blood Show blog and don't have any, I decided to put the review here.

Actual reviews of this movie are also difficult to find. IMDB has two reviews on this movie's page, at complete opposite ends of the spectrum, and most other sites that even list a review for the movie are junk seo listings with no more than a basic informational listing of the director, stars, and running time of the movie. The standard description given for this movie is "Teenage nurses give love therapy. Lots of action when they try to straighten out the corrupt hospital staff" which is inaccurate as they are definitely not teens and no more than two of the hospital staff are portrayed in a negative light, and it certainly is not the hospital at fault.

My Rating: 3 Fingers. This has more to offer in terms of a coherent story and nudity than a lot of the other nurses movies of the same time, and in only 72 minutes it provides an entertaining watch if a hospital drama liberally sprinkled with sex is your type of movie.

The image I am using is a tamer newspaper ad for the movie I found at www.critcononline.com

Get Tender Loving Care on VHS