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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: January 13th, 2015.
Director: Bud Lee
Cast: Hyapatia Lee, Sharon Kelly, Peter North, Patti Petite, Gail Force
Year: 1985
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The Movie:
The beautiful Hyapatia Lee got into the adult film business when she learned that actresses were making a whole lot more on the strip club circuit than she was despite the fact that they typically delivered lousy performances on stage. When she decided to go this route, she and husband Bud Lee debuted in a 1983 film called The Young Like It Hot, directed by Bob Chinn for Caribbean Films. This relationship proved fruitful and as the years went on, the Lee's would wind up making a fairly ambitious film for Caribbean called The Ribald Tales Of Canterbury. As the title suggests, it's a triple X take on Chaucer's writing with Bud getting directorial credit and Hyapatia top billing.
Set in medieval times (and shot on a studio lot with costumes previously used by MGM for Excalibur), the story begins with a scene in a tavern where an insanely catchy, goofy theme song plays. Here a female hostess (Hyapatia Lee) talks to those in her party and sets up a little bet. Whoever can tell the best story on the journey they're about to embark on together will win the prize.
So as the movie plays out, everyone in the party gets the chance to tell a story. Along for the ride are a handsome knight (Mike Horner), a rugged carpenter (Jesse Eastern), a goofy flour mill operator (Dennis Duggan), a rather unorthodox monk (Elmo Lavino), and the beautiful Lady Of Bath (Colleen Brennan/Sharon Kelly). As the stories are told we see them play out by way of some flashbacks. The knight recalls tells how he escorted an abbot on a journey to visit the pope only to learn that the abbot was not an abbot at all but secretly a hot chick (Debra Lynn). The carpenter talks about how a cheating miller attempted to con two young men (Peter North and Jon Martin) but how his con backfired when his wife (Stevie Taylor) and daughter (Buffy Davis) decided to have an orgy with them. The Lady Of Bath tells of how her father was cheated out of some land by an evil Lord (Bud Lee) and how she used her feminine wiles to win it back by messing around with him and his wife (Cheri Janvier). It goes on from there with a few more stories told before the winner is chosen.
Highlight by a pretty great scene in which Sharon Kelly does the deed with Hypapatia, this is a nice mix of steamy sex, goofy comedy and reasonably posh production values. It's obvious that the filmmakers behind this one cared about putting out a good product as the move is nicely lit, the costumes look good and the cast all deliver better than average performances both in and out of the sack. The movie is also well edited and briskly paced, balancing out the hardcore action and the comedic vignettes in between in equal measure and with a good amount of success. Those looking for a serious or literal adaption of Chaucer may walk away disappointed, but really, who'd be doing that in the first place? Those looking for depth need not apply but anyone who enjoys breezy hardcore action mixed with some comedic moments ought to get a kick out of this one.
Video/Audio/Extras:
The Ribald Tales Of Canterbury arrives on DVD in a new 2k scan that has been restored from the original 35mm negative and it looks very good. There are some shots that are softer looking than others, no doubt due to how the movie was shot, but for the most part the image is crisp, clean, nicely detailed and very colorful. There are no obvious compression artifacts nor are there any problems with noise reduction. Fans of the film should be quite pleased with how nice this presentation is.
Audio chores are handled by way of an English language Dolby Digital Mono track, there are no alternate language options or subtitles provided. Clarity and balance are find throughout and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion. The opening theme song, the one that will get stuck in your head and never, ever leave - it sounds quite nice here too.
The main extra for Ribald Tales is a commentary track with director Bud Lee moderated by Vinegar Syndrome's Joe Rubin. This is a pretty interesting discussion in which Lee talks about how he got into the adult film business along with leading lady Hyapatia Lee, what his relationship was like with working with Harry Mohney, who did what on the movie and what it was like on set. He also talks about his approach to shooting sex scenes, noting that he went for realism whenever possible (which is why there are no phallic toys present in the lesbian scene) and he's quite open about his actual role as a 'director' on the movie. He shares some stories about working with Peter North (he was as obsessed with his hair as everyone says he was), with Sharon Kelly, and of course, Ms. Lee as well. It's informative, quite well paced and a nice addition to the disc. A ten minute long video interview with Bud Lee is also included here and although it does cover some of the same ground as the commentary the focus is more on his introduction to and subsequent relationship with Hyapatia - definitely worth a watch, Lee come as an intelligent and friendly guy.
Included as a second feature on the disc is the film Tasty, also directed by Bud Lee in 1985 with Hyapatia Lee once again top billed. Shot directly after Ribald Tales, Tasty takes place at a radio station called 96 KNUT. Ratings at the station are in a bit of a slump and it's for this reason that their chief advertiser (Bud Lee) tells them that he's pulling out and spending his dollars elsewhere if things don't improve.
Gary Connors (Jesse Eastern), the station manager, is ready to fire whoever he has to fire to make this happen so one of the station's DJs, Tasty Tastums (Hyapatia Lee), decides with nothing left to lose they might as well have some fun. With this in mind, Tastums decides it'll be way more fun to focus less on the stations stale rock 'n roll format and instead focus on… sex! So she starts a live call in show to get things moving, and before you know it she's dishing out sex advice to a couple (Patti Petite and Scott Irish) who have a thing for a certain scene from Last Tango In Paris! News reporter Legman Mack (Steve Drake) starts reporting on local brothel activity to help would be patrons avoid the cops while DJ Dr. Fermento (Steve Powers) helps Tasty out with a contest. Meanwhile, sex toys are being advertised with great success and Tasty is out to launch her own music video (for a song called Hit Me With Your Wet Shot that's eerily similar to a certain Pat Benatar song! Spoiler - she gets a facial from Mike Horner at the end of the video!).
Connors doesn't know what to think of all of this but he does know that both his wife (Ashley Welles) and the younger woman he's screwing on the side (Stacey Donovan) are paying very close attention to what's on the air. Maybe Tasty was on to something from the start and the stations chances at making it are better than anybody thought?
Not as ambitious or as good as the main feature on the disc, Tasty is still a pretty amusing XXX comedy thanks mainly to the efforts of the cast. For the most part, it works rather well. Hyapatia actually makes for a reasonably believable on air-personality and while the synch on the audio in her 'music video' has obvious issues, she gives it her all as she struts around in lingerie, kicking away and dancing like she means it (Mike Horner sort of just hangs out in the bed and looks confused by it all). There are some decent jokes here and the sex is once again well shot and appealing. Trailers for both features are provided as are static menus and chapter selection for both films.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome's double feature DVD release of The Ribald Tales Of Canterbury and Tasty is a good one, offering up both movies in excellent condition and with a really interesting commentary track serving as the main extra over the feature attraction. Both pictures are a lot of fun, and this release comes easily recommended.
