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Released by: Independent Cinema
Released on October 23rd, 2012
Directed by Jared Masters
Starring Jennicka Andersson, Jamie Devitt, Claire Kim, Corsica WIlson, Maura Murphy, Ingrid Franklin, and many many more beautiful ladies
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The Movie:
Climb It, Tarzan! is an unashamed tribute and throwback to the sexploitation flicks of the 60's and early 70's. Back in those days before hardcore was legal, when softcore was just barely on the right side of the law, when sleazy epics chronicling young girls in trouble were being made on both coasts, and nearly every city in the country. That's right, the good old days.
For once, one of these throwback movies actually deliver on what they promise. This movie hits all the right notes of one of the classic sickies, but never resorts to parody. Climb it, Tarzan! takes place sometime back in the late 60's or early 70's and is the story of Ginger, who after the death of her parents, returns to California where her sister, Janet, lives (on a boat, no less). Ginger desperately wants to get into modeling, and in doing so, she runs afoul the sinister Paula; a dominatrix photographer, with a taste for chloroforming and assaulting her models. Paula is played to sadistic perfection by Jennicka Andersson. She's a european beauty with a camera, who gets what she wants when she likes what she sees. A fantastic character, a kind of a cross between Olga from the classic series, and Harmon from H.G. Lewis's Scum of the Earth. Janet ends up making ends meet by shaking her money-maker in a go-go bar after getting propositioned by the sultry owner at a bar.
That's the general plotline of the movie, but the narrative doesn't necessarily spend a lot of time with it. The film's concise 75 minute runtime also dedicates a lot of it's space to Paula's antics with other models, other go-go dancers than Janet, Ginger's sexy tough girl agent (and VERY sexy secretary), some drug dealers Ginger knows, as well as numerous other people Ginger know. Honestly, I think some of the girls that appear might have nothing to do with her, but who cares?
That's the point of this movie. Girls. The cover boasts a, "vast, all-female cast of more than 50 budding starlets," and believe me, this is no hollow claim. There is not a man on sight in the movies entire running time, hell, I don't even remember seeing one in the background! I didn't count myself, but I trust their estimate of over 50 girls, because there are a lot of them, and a lot of them get naked, and even more of them are scantily-clad. Most of them stick to the period attire, late 60's/early 70's, but this being a movie made in the modern times, we get lots of the prerequisite rockabilly/burlesque look that is so prevalent these days. Either way, this movie is a fetishist's dream as every girl is dressed sexy, and tons of classic sexploitation set pieces play out in really nice ways. Everything from some whippings, to the acid trip scene, to many more, they're all here.
The only thing that seems to be missing are all of the scenes with Ginger! We hear about her being "molested" by Paula, but we never even see her there. We hear she takes some salacious photos for the magazine when she gets the cover, but we never see the photos being taken, or what came out. This isn't to imply that there is a lack of nudity and sexiness in this movie, because I'm not, there is plenty of it. It's just that Jamie Devitt, who plays Ginger, is a quite good actress, and is unbelievably cute, and extremely beautiful. She plays the character with a believable innocence and naiveté , but with a realistic sense of mischief and adventure. It would just seem that with her being the main character, and those being major parts of the plot, we'd at least see some aspect of them.
I'm trying to point out some flaws with this movie, but I'm having a bit of trouble, aside from my personal wish that we would have seen some of the scenes I mentioned above. The truth is, there isn't very much wrong with it, it delivers on what it's supposed to be very well. The sound at times is hard to hear, and as most of the story is moved along through dialogue, I'm afraid some of it might get missed in some of the more muffled scenes. Other than that, there is nothing to complain about here. Yeah, some of the acting isn't stellar, and some scenes the lighting isn't perfect, but this is a sexploitation flick. It delivers exactly what it's supposed to in mass quantities.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The film looks to have been shot on DV (maybe HD), and is presented 4:3. The image is nice and clear, and for the most part the film is better lit than most low-budget productions, so there isn't the usual distraction of godawful cinematography. The sound is a typical 2.0 stereo track, and there are no other options. For the most part the sound is perfectly fine, but in a few scenes it does get kind of a muffled. The music is fantastic, and fits the period it's trying to capture perfectly. In terms of extras, we get some deleted scenes (including an extra striptease), as well as some trailers.
The Verdict:
Look, I'm a sucker for vintage sexploitation and 60's and 70's sleaze. I love the stuff. I spend way too much money on product from Something Weird, and any of these types of flicks that get released I snatch up right away. As a diehard fan of that stuff, I have to say that this is a damn good tribute to the trash of that era. It delivers all of the stuff we'd expect, with some twists and turns, and loads and loads of beautiful, buxom ladies. Sure it has some flaws, but so did the flicks it's emulating. Who cares? You want beautiful ladies? It's got it. You want them naked? It's got it. You want sleaze? Got it. Girls in trouble? Got it. S&M? Yup. Girls lusting for each other? Definitely. It delivers everything that fans of these types of trash flicks want, and does it in a fun, entertaining, and gleefully trashy way. I really, really recommend this one…to perverts and cult film fans alike, especially when they are one in the same.
