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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: August 13, 2013.
Director: Kemal Horulu
Cast: Jennifer Welles, Dale T. Fuller, John Oppenheim, Tina Russell, Mary Poey, Rose Dunn
Year: 1973/1971
Purchase From TLA Video
The Movies:
Vinegar Syndrome keeps their Drive-In Collection double feature line up moving along nicely with this latest addition, a double dose of seventies sex films courtesy of director Kemal Horulu!
The Sexualist:
The first film (which uses the longer title of The Sexualist: A Voyage To The World Of Forbidden Love on screen) introduces us to a former medical student named Jeffrey Montclair (Dale T. Fuller) who now makes a living as a professional astrologer and filmmaker. We learn from the opening narration that he's read up a lot on the scientific study of human sexuality and then we cut to some rad footage of the lovely Monica (Jennifer Welles) writing around naked on a bed playing hide the candle with a lovely dark haired playmate.
From here we learn that Montclair's latest endeavor is to be an adult movie of the educational variety and that he intends to break down social barriers with it by starting things with an interracial scene. When Welles' black stud co-star can't get things past half mast, she chides him for his lack of prowess while he notes that she's too pasty to turn him on. Meanwhile, Montclair has to answer to the film's producer, a sleazy mobster (John Oppenheim) which results in Montclair having to open up his cast to include a gorilla and a few drag queens so that he can combine his love of astrology with his love of sex films. From here, he goes about shooting scenes that try to recreate different sex positions geared towards people of different astrological signs all while Monica and her female co-star wrestle for the top spot in Montclair's next film, sure to be a blockbuster of epic proportions.
Legitimately bizarre even by the already strange standards of seventies adult films, The Sexualist was obviously meant to be comedic before it was meant to be erotic. The movie is reasonably well shot and it's definitely paced right however, as the gags come quickly and constantly and many of them are legitimately funny. As far as the cast goes, the hardcore shenanigans primarily feature Tina Russell (who has a great solo scene here - toys!) and a bearded Jason Russell and look to have been added as an afterthought. Much of the action in the movie is actually softcore, though Welles is thankfully present in much of the movie and pretty much naked as a jaybird throughout.
The movie is also interesting in a time capsule sort of way as not only does it feature some nice vintage Times Square footage but it also seems to be poking fun at the astrology movement that was popular in the seventies as well. By basing the positions that Montclair's performers indulge in on zodiacal signs, the movie ties right in to those black light posters that seemed to adorn the walls of dorm rooms and crash pads around the country. Ultimately this is a fun watch, a memorable sex comedy that offers up some genuine laughs and quality skin in fairly equal amounts. And yeah, Jennifer Welles…
Wendy's Palace:
Up next, a movie about the world's oldest profession also made by Horulu, albeit a few years earlier. Once again set in New York City, the movie follows the titular Wendy (Mary Poey), a streetwalker who flies solo, sans pimp. This makes her a bit more vulnerable not just to crooks but to cops as well. Enter a vice cop named Vince (Henry Mills) who wets his wick in Wendy's hoohaw before sending her to jail on prostitution charges. While in the big house, she gets to experience the tender touch of a woman.
She's not in jail all that long, however, and once she's let out and comes into an inheritance, things start looking for up her. Soon enough, she's moving in with a lesbian named Lola (Rose Dunn) who wants to enlist Wendy's help in opening up a house of ill repute - there's easy money to be made there and Wendy's previous experience will come in handy. They bring in some new talent, teach them a few tricks and before you know it they've got a steady clientele to serve with all manner of special kinky requests. All of this is fine until Vince gets fired and decides that not only does he want in on their business, but that he's got serious feelings for Wendy too!
This one breezes by pretty quickly, a solid slice of seventies skin flick cinema that borders on dramatic from time to time but which is more concerned with sex scenes than depth of plot. What's here, in terms of the story, is sufficient enough to string together the different sexy set pieces and the cast all do decent enough work. As with the first feature, some of the harder material seems to have been inserted to get his one more 'raincoat crowd' appeal than it might have originally been intended to have had but it works. We get some solid seventies era New York City location footage and a weird score to highlight the movie and the film is well shot and easy on the eyes. If it's not as strangely memorable as the first feature on the disc, it's still a nice second feature worth checking out.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both movies are presented in 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transferred from 35mm negatives and for the most part both movies look very good here. If you've seen these before by way of grey market pan and scan tape sourced bootlegs you'll instantly notice that picture quality for both films is much improved over those editions. Some minor scratches pop up here and there as well as some minor specks but detail is impressive and colors look excellent across the board.
Both films get Dolby Digital Mono soundtracks, in English and without any optional language options or subtitles provided. Clarity of each mix is fine. There are some scenes that sound a bit flat but that's obviously to do with the original recording. The scores sound good here and the levels are properly balanced. Any hiss or distortion that does creep into the mix is minor and not particularly distracting while the dialogue is consistently easy to understand and follow.
Aside from a static menu offering chapter selection, we get some interesting deleted scenes for The Sexualist as well as a theatrical trailer for each feature.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome have once again rescued two seventies era adult oriented obscurities and given them shiny new life on DVD with their Kemal Horulu double feature. Although the first movie is by far the more interesting and entertaining of the two, both pictures will be of interest to fans of the era and it's hard to imagine them looking a whole lot better than they do here on this disc.
