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Released by: Impulse Pictures
Released on: February 12, 2013.
Director: Fred J. Lincoln
Cast: Serena, Jamie Gillis, China Leigh
Year: 1980
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The Movie:
Directed by the late Fred J. Lincoln, (the title card says 1979, it seems to have been released in 1980) Serena - An Adult Fairytale is a very loose retelling of the Cinderella story that begins with an introduction from our narrator, the lovely China Leigh, sitting in bed obviously reading from some cue cards just out of sight of the camera. She introduces us to a beautiful young woman named Cindy (Serena) who has the unfortunate luck of being sold into slavery where she's forced to clean for a predictably wicked stepmother type.
Serena also tends to spend what little free time she has laying in bed having sexual fantasies - but for the most part, she's got to do things like scrub the floor, until Mr. Thomas (Jamie Gillis in a giant leather top hat) shows up and wants some fun that is. At any rate, there's a lot of sex going on in the house she is now forced to work for. Any time she seems to witness something dirty going on, she gets roped into joining in, thanks to the efforts of her perpetually horny trio of stepsisters who eventually coerce her into playing along with them in the shower. When it turns out that Prince Charming (Paul Thomas) is coming over for a party, Serena is upset that she's not going to be allowed to play along, but this being a Cinderella story and all, you can figure out where it goes from there without too much help…
Obviously made fast and cheap and really using only one location, Serena - An Adult Fairytale does little to cash in on the whole 'fairytale' angle but it does give Serena the chance to strut her stuff on screen. When she's not joining in on fun (which is almost always) she's spying in on the participants and taking care of herself using a conveniently placed protrusion on a wall (yep - she basically screws a wall in this movie). Eagle eyed viewers will get a kick out of spotting a cat who keeps popping up in the background throughout the movie - presumably the kitty lived in the house and wanted in, at one point you can see him jump off of the porch railing up to the roof while Serena is cleaning the kitchen!
China Leigh makes for a horribly awesome narrator, reading her lines without bothering to look into the camera anymore than she absolutely has to and with no more enthusiasm than required. Gillis steals the show as he hams it up, looking ridiculous in his giant hat but obviously enjoying himself while a young Paul Thomas more or less just shows up towards the end to bang some chicks. The audio was obviously added after the fact so don't expect the oooo's and aaah's in the sex scenes to match up to the performers' mouth movements. The movie is reasonably well shot and features some decent camera work and a competent score. The end result is an amusing enough picture that, if a minor entry in the massive pantheons of rad old smut, is worth checking out, particularly if you're a fan of its leading lady.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The fullframe transfer on this DVD is in pretty nice shape, boasting good color reproduction and pretty solid detail. There is some print damage here and there and a few scratches that you'll notice throughout the movie but all in all, the movie is presented in pretty nice shape here. There are no issues with compression artifacts, macroblocking or edge enhancement, whatever defects there are can be attributed to the source material.
The Dolby Digital Mono track, in the film's original English language, also sounds fine. The score is properly balanced and the dialogue is easy enough to understand. If there's some occasional minor flatness, that's just part of the fun of a movie like this.
Outside of a static menu offering chapter selection, there are no extra features on this DVD at all.
The Final Word:
While far from the greatest adult film of the late seventies you're ever going to see, if you're a Serena fan then you'll dig this as she gets a lot of screen time. As to the story itself? There isn't much of one but the movie is competently made in terms of visuals and it features an enjoyable cast involved in some reasonably steamy activity. Not a lost classic, but better than average.
