Felicia

Released by: Video-X-Pix
Released on: 5/5/2005
Director: Max Pecas
Cast: Rebecca Brooke, John Roche, Beatrice Harne
Year: 1975
Pruchase From TLA

The Movie:
It never ceases to amaze me how much better the Europeans are at making adult movies. Theirs contain a level of sensuality that most American pornos sadly lack. I'm no expert, but I'm sure I've seen more than most random chicks you'd come across on their way to the grocery store, so I stand by my opinion. As a fan more so of softcore, I'm not easily won over by hardcore. Felicia, however, directed by Max Pecas, with its subtle sexuality and engaging story, managed to win me over.

We start out waiting with Gabrielle (Rebecca Brooke) and Paul (Jon Roche) at the airport for their visiting niece Felicia (Beatrice Harne), a mouthy, troubled teen that's a lot less naí¯ve than they think she is. They meet and head for home. After setting her up in her room to rest, the young and frisky Gabrielle and Paul wind up down in the kitchen where they start kissing and inevitably end up in a lot less clothes than they started out in. They kiss for a while, we get a little dirty talk from Paul and the mix of the slowness of the scene and the soft, white lighting make for a pretty hot little scene of this-jobs and that-jobs. Gabrielle ends up with a mouthful of Paul and soon is face down on the kitchen table. Lots of moaning while innocent little Felicia is upstairs. Huh. Wonder what she's doing.

Masturbating, naturally! The way the prior scene cuts to this one you're not quite sure if she heard them and her actions are in response or not. First she takes care of business on her own, until she notices the candelabra on the bedside table and you don't have to be a genius or a pervert to know where it goes from there. She conveniently has a huge wall mirror next to her bed so we get straight on shots as well as mirror shots of herself watching, and there's no lack of close-ups either. The whole thing seems very forced and fake, which obviously it is, but c'mon, you're getting paid for this… try a little harder. Not sure if she heard me thinking that because suddenly she gets pissed off and throws herself on the bed, end scene. *shrug*

What does Aunt Gabrielle do for a job? Apparently she photographs naked hot chicks… some folks have all the luck! Photo shoot over, time to get dressed, ladies. While in the house planning to steal Gabrielle's jewelry, they get caught by Felicia who's been hiding behind a curtain taking pictures of them red-handed. In exchange for her silence, the women have to engage in dirty, lesbian activities for her amusement since she's never “seen two girls make out before.” They start out slowly, but by the end are way better at it than their heterosexual characters should be. Hooray for girl-on-girl oral and toe-sucking. Even sweet little Felicia gets in on it.

Cut back to the believable actors in the film, Gabrielle and Paul are talking in bed. They start to fool around, but Paul doesn't think they should with Felicia in the house. Here's a great idea for those seeking privacy… do it in the pool out back instead! The inevitable wet, spinning underwater shots ensue but they're nicely done and the actors seem into it… lots of expression, which I find a lot sexier than just in-out-in-out. Plenty of oral and fingering though for those of you that are into the sheer visual physicality of it all. After a fairly lengthy pool scene, they move onto dry land to a fireplace type thing that's around the side of their house. Seems dangerous to just be burning unattended, but my husband is always telling me I shouldn't question things like this. The passion continues…

The voyeurism level on this film is pretty high because these guys really seem to mean it. If I found out they were husband and wife in real life I wouldn't be surprised. Everything seems so natural and beautiful and non-degrading between them. The colors are soft and the flicker of the fireplace sets the right mood for this scene as they explore each others' bodies, inside and out. They seem to prefer in. After they go at it for a while they kick into standard love making and then a bit more dirty talk, but this time Gabrielle is the most verbal and as far as sex sounds, she's pretty damn convincing.

Hey, look, Felicia's back! I forgot she was in this flick. Despite being the title character, she's hasn't been in it a whole lot yet. It's a shame really as she's got that pouty little brat act down to a tee. While Aunt Gabrielle and Paul are having a barbecue with friends, the son of one of them wanders off and runs into Felicia… in her bedroom somehow. Again, me questioning things I should just take for granted. The two of them get to talking about whether Felicia's “done it” before to which she claims she hasn't. Like all good French women, she's already half-topless so her outfit or lack thereof is fitting. Despite that, he tells her she's inhibited and gets her to start feeling herself up before he looks for her “ding-ding” but seems to be unable to find it. Keep looking, man! I wish there was a French audio track on this because I'd love to know how to say “ding-ding” in French. “What if I don't have one?” ponders Felicia to which he responds, “Girls are such cunts.” The film was taking itself a lot more seriously before this scene. They start to kiss and Felicia unzips his pants to find he's not as “rock hard” as he claimed to be. He continues to call her an “idiot” or a “cunt” every other sentence but still somehow gets her to suck him off despite her seemingly curious repulsion with it all… or is that just an act? She manages to get into it and leaves him happy in the end. Once he's gotten what he wanted, he nicens up a bit and tells her she was “terrific” and “did you?”… to which she responds “Didn't feel a thing” and walks away. Haha…. Maybe this character is title-worthy. Could she be frigid, he asks? Nope, she's reveals she's not a virgin… and calls him “queer” “like all the others.” Anyone else think, at this point, she actually has “seen two girls make out?”

Whether or not she did get anything out of her little sexcapade, it's put her in a happy mood and she warms up to Aunt Gabrielle with a photo shoot out in the beautiful sunshine and flowers. She's as gorgeous frolicking as she is brooding so this makes for a visually pleasant scene. Before long, the photos get a little more risqué. Despite her bonding with Gabrielle, dinner with Paul is miserable and the two of them end up throwing things at each other. Can they really despise each other this much or are they hiding some other feelings?

Poor Felicia now feels unloved by Paul's meanness. Nobody loves her, according to her, because she's “so ugly.” All porn stars should be that ugly in my opinion. Back in their bedroom, Paul reveals to Gabrielle that he feels Felicia is in love with her or the other way around as “something's changed” between them since their photo shoot. His jealousy has made him hot and the two make love, not realizing that Felicia is watching them through the crack in the door. Gabrielle masturbates in what is probably her most unnatural scene of the film and after watching for a while Felicia leaves quietly with a glint in her eye. During their next photo shoot, which has gotten even more revealing since last time, Felicia lets Gabrielle know that she saw her and mimics what she had seen and heard. Obviously upset, Gabrielle slaps her and runs off. Time heals all wounds though apparently and Gabrielle and Felicia are soon dancing up a storm at a party with their earlier barbecue friends, much to Paul's dismay. He's even more annoyed when Felicia comes knocking at their door after midnight with stories of nightmares and needing Gabby. Paul refuses to let her stay in bed with them for the night so Gabby leaves him and goes off to console Felicia. The two wander outside together and Felicia finally gets her way with Gabrielle. Luckily for us, it couldn't have happened to two better looking chicks. Is Gabby who she really wants though or is it Paul that's the real goal?...

Video/Audio/Extras:

Felicia is presented in full frame, obviously cropped from widescreen. It's not as noticeable during the sex scenes as they're filmed a lot closer up anyway, but for wider shots telling the actual story it's quite apparent that you're missing out on a decent amount. Picture quality itself is good enough for what it is, though there are a few times when you can see a shaky tracking line on the top and bottom of the screen. There's also a part during Felicia and Gabrielle's first sexual encounter where the picture cuts out completely for a minute or so. Foreign flicks seem to be filmed in a much softer focus which I think keeps it from looking unintentionally uncrisp years later. Periodically a Video-X-Pix bug appears in the bottom right of the screen.

The disc's mono audio track was passable, no real flaws. Levels seemed a bit off during the sex scenes as the moaning seemed just a bit too loud for the enthusiasm involved.

Special features were practically non-existent with simply a trailer for Inside Seka… it was an amusing one though. There is a scene selection option with a note beforehand advising the viewer that the film was intended to be experienced in its entirety and only to use the scene skip for repeat viewing… pretty pretentious for a dirty movie, haha.

The Final Word:

Overall, I enjoyed this film though I'd love to see it released in a widescreen format. Performances were good by the three main actors and the sex scenes were well and believably choreographed. VXP should release more Euro stuff like this.