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Drive-In Collection: First Time/Oriental Babysitter
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: November 12th, 2013.
Director: Anthony Spinelli
Cast: Mimi Margan, Joey Silvera, Linda Wong
Year: 1978/1977
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The Movies:
Following up their first Anthony Spinelli double feature, Vinegar Syndrome reaches deep into their dirty vaults and offers up another pair of vintage adult feature films from the late director. Here's what you get…
First Time:
The first feature begins with a scene where Sue Morris (Mimi Margan) is in bed with a man doing what men and women tend to do in bed. It turns out this is a movie shoot and that Sue is an actress in adult films. From here, once they finish up, she starts talking about her background and how she went through various experiences that lead to her developing a sense of comfort and confidence in regards to her sexual appetite.
Much of this stems back to her relationship with her ex-boyfriend, Jan (Joey Silvera). He's a deadbeat and won't get a job and when she can't bring in enough money to support them both working her menial nine-to-fiver, he gets irate. Rough with her, even. Eventually he convinces her that she could make some money in porn, and though she's initially hesitant, that's inevitably what happens. As she becomes more comfortable in her new lifestyle choice, they go to swinger's parties and fool around. Sue gets a taste of what it's like to dominate when she's encouraged to whip another woman and soon enough she even tries things out with another girl for the first time. The deeper she becomes involved with all of this though, Sue realizes that she's had about all she's willing to take from Jan… especially once she meets a nice lawyer named Jake (Jack Wright).
This is nicely shot and reasonably well paced even if it is pretty light in terms of story. Though the plot does serve to show us how Sue's demeanor changes over the course of her experiences, it's basically a framework to string together one increasingly kinky set piece after another. But it works, thanks in no small part to Margan's natural good looks and screen presence. She gives a decent performance here, both in the sex scenes and in the more dramatic moments between them, and she's not only very attractive but quite likeable as well. Joey Silvera is also pretty good here. He plays the sleazy boyfriend well and has the right sort of asshole persona about him to convince when he's slapping Sue around a bit. We want to see him get his comeuppance, and while this is hardly a revenge driven plot the way something like Alex De Renzy's Femmes De Sade is, we know that eventually Sue will ditch him for greener pastures.
Spinelli uses music well here and the film goes at a pretty good pace, never overstaying its welcome. There's enough creativity in the sex scenes to ensure that they're effective and intriguing and all in all, this one turns out to be a pretty enjoyable watch.
Oriental Babysitter:
Next up is Oriental Babysitter, which has even less of a plot than the first feature does but which makes up for that by featuring lovely Linda Wong (maybe best known for appearing in The Jade Pussycat with John Holmes?) in the role of, well, an oriental babysitter named May Ling. Turns out that starting around the age of fifteen she started babysitting for extra money and that due to the fact that she had developed early, the fathers of the kids she watched would often take an interest in her.
This leads to a series of sexual vignettes, all involving Wong, as she loses her virginity to a drunken dad (David Book) and finds she likes it. In the next vignette, another randy dad (Peter Johns) takes advantage of our heroine only to get busted by his wife. It turns out she's not mad, she's into it and the ladies to at one another while he gets his licks in where he can. She beds another few lucky folks before it's all over and it finishes with another three-way, this one a little bit kinkier than the last…
Again, it's fairly plotless, but it's certainly very watchable, particularly if you're a fan of Linda Wong. She's got great screen presence and the looks to match, and if she sounds a little out of it when she narrates some of the bridging scenes, her voice is actually somewhat sultry. She's got plenty of enthusiasm here and seems to be enjoying herself immensely and Spinelli's knack for solid production values and nice camera work ensures that there's plenty of visual appeal up on screen.
There's not a whole lot to this one, but it succeeds in its simplicity and gives you exactly what you'd want - the late, great Linda Wong in every scene, doing what she was known to do best. If you're a fan, that's more than likely enough to get your attention.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both movies are presented in 1.85.1 anamorphic widescreen transferred from 35mm archival prints and for the most part both movies look pretty good here. Some small splices and scratches pop up here and there as well as some minor specks but detail is good and colors look excellent. What we wind up with here are some nice, film-like transfers taken from materials that were culled from less than perfect sources but which still look very nice. Texture is strong throughout and there are no issues with compression artifacts, noise reduction or edge enhancement. First Time was previously released in an edited fullframe print by After Hours Cinema. This version presents the movie uncut and in its original aspect ratio. Oriental Babysitter popped up on a Linda Wong triple feature from Alpha Blue Archives and though that disc isn't on hand for the sake of comparison, it was probably fullframe and tape sourced. It stands to reasons that this release from Vinegar Syndrome represents the best home video presentation either movie has received to date.
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, there are no extras on this DVD.
The Final Word:
These features may not have as much going on upstairs as Vinegar Syndrome's earlier Anthony Spinelli double feature but what they lack in plot they make up for with quality sex. You can't really knock adult movies for giving their audience what they want, and on that level they're both quite good. Additionally, the director took the time to keep up appearances here, giving the film's just enough plot to work and ensuring that they always look their best. Vinegar Syndrome's double feature disc may be devoid of any supplements, but it offers up impressive audio and video presentations for both features.
