Unveiled

Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: April 12th, 2016.
Director: Suze Randall/Victor Nye
Cast: Taija Rae, Krista Lane, Patti Petite, Francois Papillon, Mike Horner
Year: 1986
Purchase From Amazon

The Movie:

Directed by Suze Randall and husband Humphry Knipe (under his Victor Nye alias), 1986's Unveiled is about as eighties as it gets, but don't let that dissuade you. The story, such as it is (this is far more about the visuals and the sex than it is about the narrative) tells the raunchy tale of a well to do lawyer named Bob (Mike Horner). He is, like many men that exist in the world of adult films, a little irritated that his wife, a beautiful woman named Cindy (Krista Lane), just isn't taking care of his manly wants and desires the way that he feels she should be. Oddly enough, his best friend Ted (Jake Scott) is in a similar situation. He's lucky enough to be married to Julie (Erica Boyer) but it's a two edged sword… she's not putting out.

As such, Bob gets what he needs from a kindly hooker (Patti Petite) while Ted gets his fill of his secretary (Alexis Greco). Both men are doing this on the sly, or so they think - Julie is going through Ted's pockets one fine day and finds that he's left a used condom in there. Oops! Understandably distraught, she heads out to hang with gal pal Cindy one night while Bob and Ted head out to do their own thing. This leads to a strange turn of events when Ted sleeps with Cindy and Bob with Julie, with neither wife any the wiser. What? No, of course they're wiser, they figure out what happened pretty quickly and then decide to get even by donning clever mask disguises and following the guys to a bizarre sex club… where they then decide to get in on the action themselves.

So long as mimes don't kill the mood for you (hey, they're fucking creepy) then this one might do it for you. As stated earlier, the plot is pretty minimalist here but we've got enough of a story going that the filmmakers successful hang the increasingly flamboyant sex scenes off of it well enough. There's a lot of interesting costumes on display, especially once we get to the sex club in the later part of the movie, and that lends itself well to the colorful visuals that are always an important part of Randall's work.

While there was clearly a lot more work put into the staging, design, lighting and camerawork than the writing, it pays off. This is a great looking movie, the cast are all in fine form and very photogenic and they perform pretty admirably. The sex scenes have got a nice energy to them and there's plenty of visible and audible enthusiasm on display from all involved. As to the cast members themselves, they're likeable enough. Horner and Scott are fun to watch in a rascally sort of way and while it's hard to be like 'yeah, go get them hookers and show your frigid wives whose boss' this is all meant to be fantasy and it -never tries for reality. Likewise, once the girls get wind of what's really going on, their 'revenge' plan is just as ridiculous and hard to support once you start thinking about it too much. The solution? Don't think about it too much. Have fun with it. Go into this one expecting a loose, playful and flamboyant XXX feature and you'll get what you came for.

Video/Audio/Extras:

Unveiled arrives on DVD from Vinegar Syndrome in a new 2k scan from the original 35mm negative framed at 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen. Colors look excellent here and detail is quite strong. Some of the stock footage inserts stick out a bit but that's to be expected and is hardly a strike against the disc. Skin tones look nice and lifelike and black levels are strong. The image is typically quite clean, there are only a few minor specks throughout and a couple of scratches evident in the first few minutes. Overall the movie looks great, fans should be quite pleased.

The English language Dolby Digital Mono sound mix, the only one available on the disc, sounds fine. You might notice the occasional pop in the mix if you're listening for it but aside from that the levels are properly balanced, dialogue is easy to understand and the score and sound effects are mixed in effectively enough. There are no subtitles provided on this DVD.

The main extra on the disc is a fourteen minute video interview with star Mike Horner. He speaks pretty enthusiastically about his work in this film, but he also covers his thoughts on working with Randall and some of the pros and cons of that business relationship. He notes how he wound up in California in the first place and also talks about some of the cast members that he shared the screen with in Unveiled.

A theatrical trailer, menus and chapter selection are also included.

The Final Word:

Unveiled is more a series of vignettes than a tightly constructed narrative but fans of Randall's flashy, art-heavy style of pornography will appreciate this on that level to be sure. There's a good cast here, the various scenes of physical couplings are really nicely shot and tightly edited and more often than not the comedic elements work well enough. Vinegar Syndrome's DVD release looks quite nice and tosses in a bonus interview with Horner as its prime supplement.