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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: January 20th, 2016.
Director: Alex de Renzy
Cast: Desiree Cousteau, John Leslie, Joey Silvera, Tracey Adams, Ron Jeremy, Jamie Gillis
Year: 1978/1987/1989
Purchase From Vinegar Syndrome
The Movies:
Pretty Peaches:
Directed by Alex de Renzy, 1978's Pretty Peaches begins when a gorgeous dark haired young woman drives her Jeep up to a gas station for a fill-up. While the attendant takes care of that, she heads into the ladies room for a quick change of clothes and then heads off to her daddy's wedding somewhere in a small town in Nevada. She arrives just in time to see her dad, Hugh (John Leslie) pledge nuptials to his new bride, Lilly (Flower). To celebrate the three gamble for a bit and then Peaches does some shots. From here she gets behind the wheel of her Jeep and drives off the road and into the brush. She falls from her vehicle and is found by two guys, Kid (Joey Silvera) and Terry (Ken Scudder), who saw her earlier at the gas station.
Unsure what to do, they poke at her and decide it might be best if they loosen her clothes. Before you know it Kid's getting it on with her and after she wakes up they realize she's suffering from amnesia - she doesn't remember a thing, she can't even recall her name. They decide to help her out by taking her to a crazy doctor who, in the film's most frequently censored scene, gives her an enema in the bathroom. Meanwhile, Hugh and Lilly consummate their marriage first in a corny hotel and then later at home where the randy maid (Juliet Anderson) gets in on the action. Before it's all over Peaches will get raped in a lesbian orgy while looking for a job, fall in with a shifty psychiatrist (Paul Thomas) and then get it on in a crazy oiled up orgy - but will she recover her memory?
Very obviously inspired by Voltaire's Candide, Pretty Peaches is quite well made and yes, even well-acted. Shot in various mostly rural locations the film is bright and colorful and it hits the right tone for the comedic elements that make up a big part of it to work quite well. The camera work is strong, doing a fine job of establishing everything you'd want it to from the various set ups and also at capturing all of the carnal action that winds up on display. Throw in some enjoyable music in the background and good, professional quality lighting and this is a slick little picture with enough gloss and polish to impress.
Even the more extreme content here is played with a wink and a nod, the aforementioned (and frequently edited) enema scene being performed by a quirky, frizzy haired pervert on the constantly clueless Peaches taking it like a champ until, well, she just plain old can't do it anymore. The lesbian rape is actually the harshest scene in the movie and the only one that really borders on the unpleasant, if you're able to suspend your disbelief enough to convince yourself that the poor old girl really is as upset as she looks here. In typical de Renzy fashion, however, this scene adds some of the kink and rough stuff that were trademarks in the films he made in the second half of the 1970's.
More impressive than the production values, however, is the not inconsiderable presence of the adorable (and genuinely beautiful) Desiree Cousteau. Here she plays a bubbly, well-meaning airhead, a bimbo with a heart of gold who of course winds up being consistently taken advantage of by everyone she comes across in her quest to figure out who she is. She plays the part perfectly and she looks amazing doing it, her short bob-style hair cut accentuating her charming smile and beautiful eyes. Truly one of the best looking women to come out of the industry of the day, she's a blast to watch here. Surrounding her with the likes of Aunt Peg herself and male talent like Silvera, Scudder and a scene stealing (and freakishly bearded) John Leslie certainly helps but really this is Desiree's show and de Renzy is smart enough here to make sure that we don't stray away from her for too long at any given point in the film.
Pretty Peaches 2:
When this second movie begins, Peaches (Siobahn Hunter basically recreating the role that Desiree Cousteau made famous in the 1978 original) is in the bedroom with her boyfriend, Bobby (Peter North) but her mom, Eunice (Tracey Adams), tells them to knock it off. Bobby tries to sneak out the window in Eunice's room but she finds him hiding behind the curtain. The fact that she's decked out in her eighties lingerie obviously has an effect on him and she demands to see his 'ugly, little penis.' Before you know it, lucky Bobby has given milf-tastic Eunice a serious plowing and he's on his way.
Peaches, however, wants to know more about the ways of love. She schedules an appointment with her estranged step-father, Stanley (Herschel Savage), a corporate big wig who tells her to go out and explore things and warns her to never be tease before boning his secretary. So Peaches puts on her best pair of 'daisy dukes' and hits the road. It isn't long before she's picked up as a hitchhiker by a trucker (Buck Adams) who takes her back to a hotel where he picks up a hooker (Janette Littledove) and they all hop into bed together. From there, Peaches heads off to meet up with her Uncle Howard (Ron Jeremy) who is involved in some incestuous dealings with her aunt (Ashely Welles) and their horny son (Billy Dee). This is nothing compared to when she meets Granny (Jamie Gillis), however, who teaches her a few tricks once Granny's true sex and motives are unveiled. While all of this is going on, Eunice and Stanley have hit the road together to try to save Peaches from whatever harm may come her way. Along the way, they just might reconcile… and Peaches just might make out with a few more lucky guys and gals before they find her.
Fast paced and pretty ridiculous in its execution, Pretty Peaches 2 is a fun romp. Played completely for sexy laughs, it features a great cast highlighted by Tracey Adams (this is one of her best roles) and a convincingly naí¯ve Siobahn Hunter. Both actresses are in excellent form here. Comedic efforts from Ron Jeremy (whose outfit here is just atrocious) and Jamie Gillis in granny-drag queen mode are also pretty funny and the rest of the cast also deliver fine work. The movie is nicely shot and makes good use of the widescreen 35mm photography employed here.
The ending, however, is a bit of a clichéd cop out. We won't spoil it, but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this one was wrapped up fast and without much thought. Everything leading up to it is pretty great though. The sex is nicely shot, it doesn't overstay its welcome and it features a good cast while the plot is genuinely funny and quite amusing.
Pretty Peaches 2:
This third film stars Keisha in the title role of Peaches and when we meet her, she's just hanging out at home in the trailer park talking to her friend about sex. From there she has a surreal dream where a few guys rip the multiple layers of pantyhose off of her friend Sandy (Lynn LeMay).From here, her mother (Tracy Adams again) hears about her dream and is a bit worried about her daughter's libido. She sends Peaches off to see Doctor Thunderpussy (Rachel Ryan), a foxy number who examines Peaches and then boffs and inflatable love doll in the next room before sending her patient on her way.
From here, Peaches decides to seek spiritual enlightenment, and heads off on a quest to better herself. Along the way she meets up with televangelist type named Billy Bob (Jamie Gillis again) who is far seedier and randy than he'd ever want anyone to realize. Gillis is hilarious here, hamming it up with a huge cross hanging around his neck and decked out in a shiny, goofy suit. He does his best Jimmy Swaggart act and you can see how (and why) de Renzy might mine this sort of thing for comedic effect. After he escapes the government by helicopter, Peaches is once again on her way and her travels then introduce her to a trio of nuns (Priscilla Love, Vicki Blair and Tianna) - you can probably figure out how that works out. Of course, Peaches is Peaches and she once again gets involved in all manner of sexy shenanigans. She splits the convent and hitchhikes, only to get picked up by a female driver (Fifi Bardot) who brings her to a seminar led by Professor Otto (veteran actor Jon Martin). Meanwhile, Peaches' mother has once again teamed up with boyfriend Bobby (this time played by Gene Carrera and his amazing bouffant hair) to find out where he daughter has run off to… and we all know what happens when Peaches' mother and her boyfriends get together.
This one just isn't as good as the first movie on the disc. It's not horrible by any stretch, in fact it's fairly good and it definitely has its moments, but the second film is the better of the two on this disc. Gillis steals every single scene that he's in (and he gets some good screen time here) but Keisha, as fine looking as she is (and she is very fine looking indeed), doesn't convince us the way that Siobahn Hunter did in the 1987 picture. The production values also aren't as glossy here and the movie looks to have been made with considerably less polish indicating that de Renzy was probably working on a lower budget.
Tracy Adams is once again enjoyable to watch and the nuns were a nice touch (they also give the director the chance to exploit some nice location photography - where did he shoot the interiors of the convent? They look pretty convincing!). Together Pretty Peaches 2 and 3 make a good double feature, just don't expect the same level of quality or fun from the later film as you'll likely derive from the earlier one. Bonus points for taking a whole lot of pot shots at hodge-podge spiritualism and religious phonies with the storyline though.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Pretty Peaches arrives on Blu-ray from Vinegar Syndrome in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer 'restored in 2k from 35mm archival elements' and framed at 1.78.1 widescreen. Detail is remarkably strong here, you can make out every hair in Leslie's raggedy looking beard and every strand in his goofy cowboy hat while skin tones look perfectly natural - nice and warm, never too pink. Color reproduction is spot on and is consistently impressive while black levels stay deep and pretty pure throughout. There aren't any major print damage issues to not, just a completely expected bit of natural looking film grain, while the transfer is free of any edge enhancement, compression or noise reduction issues. The transfer here, not surprisingly, puts previous DVD releases of this movie to shame - it's a very, very strong transfer, one of Vinegar Syndrome's best. How does it compare to the limited edition Blu-ray release? The bit rate is a bit higher here, so those with really big sets or projectors might notice a difference, but let's be honest here- the difference is minuscule, which is fine. The limited edition release looked great, and this one looks just as great, if not slightly better.
Pretty Peaches 2 and 3 are presented in AVC encoded 1.78.1 widescreen in scans taken from their respective original camera negatives. The earlier film looks quite a bit better here than the later one does, probably because of the formats used (the third film was shot on 16mm and is much grainer). However, detail is strong, color reproduction is very nice and the image is pretty damn close to pristine for each picture (though edit splice marks do show up during the third film anytime there's a cut). Colors are again quite good though. There are no problems with noise reduction or edge enhancement on either picture and we get a very noticeable upgrade in detail, clarity, texture and color reproduction here compared to the DVD releases of the sequels.
Audio chores for each film are handled just fine by the movies' DTS-HD Mono mix, in the films' native English. Dialogue is easy to follow and properly balanced alongside the film's score, which demonstrates good depth and more range than you might expect it to. There are no alternate language options or subtitles provided.
Outside of a static menu offering scene selection for the two features, the only extra on the disc is a theatrical trailer for Pretty Peaches 2. The extras that were included on the limited edition Blu-ray release of Pretty Peaches have not been ported over to this reissue.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome have done a fine job bringing three of Alex de Renzy's finest fuck films to Blu-ray. Each movie is well worth seeing for fans of smut from bygone era's as we get plenty of story and character development to complement the bumping and grinding, while the presentation for each picture is excellent in terms of both the audio and the video.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
