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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: November 29th, 2016.
Director: Kirdy Stevens
Cast: Dorothy LeMay, Honey Wilder, Eric Edwards, Kay Parker, Juliet Anderson, Jerry Butler, Blake Palmer
Year: 1982/1984
Purchase From Vinegar Syndrome
The Movies:
Vinegar Syndrome presents the first two sequels to Kirdy Stevens' classic Taboo on one double feature Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release!
TABOO II:
Made two years after the success of the first film, Taboo II once again found Kay Parker in front of the camera, directed by Kirdy Stevens in yet another tale of incestuous love. The movie begins with a quick recap of what came before it, how Barbara Scott (Parker) was distraught after her husband left her and how after a few trial and error encounters she wound up finding love in the arms of her son, Paul (Mike Ranger). When this second movie begins, Paul isn't living at home anymore and Barbara misses him quite a bit. She hangs out a lot with her lesbian friend Gina (Juliet Anderson), and is intrigued when Paul's friend Junior McBride (Kevin James) starts coming around the house.
Cut to Barbara who is enjoying a massage at the hands Gina. She's naked, getting an oil rub, and soon Julie isn't just oiling her up, but she's doing what lesbians tend to do in situations like this. Junior shows up at the door, Gina lets him in and continues giving Barbara a massage. At first Junior just watches but soon enough they have a three way. Meanwhile, Junior's family (Eric Edwards, Honey Wilder and Dorothy LeMay) are sitting down to eat and celebrate but he's not there - they wonder where he is, but we know what he's up to as we cut back to the two older women fucking his brains out.
Later on, Junior's sister Sherry (LeMay), who just so happens to be Paul's former flame, talks about how she wants to try and talk her dad into buying her a Ferrari. Junior goes inside and Marylou (Bambi), his sister's friend, is waiting for him there. They go at it. The next day Bambi and Sherry go off to school. Eric Edwards and Honey Wilder get it on while the kids are out of the house. Later that day, Sherry and Marylou decide to have some hot lesbian sex in a hot tub. Junior walks in on the two of them and, despite his sister's protests, they have a three way. After this, Sherry decides to go talk to her dad about that car. They have a conversation about it and that's that. Junior walks in on his sister later that night and tries to get her to have sex with him but no dice! At least not to start. He finally talks her into it and they fuck.
The next day, Gina calls and invites Junior and his sister to a party. They agree, and things get crazier from there. It seems that in this universe, everyone is fucking everyone else and incest is the name of the game!
While this film concentrates more on sex and less on plot than the first one did (and it has a lot less to do with Barbara Scott, which is kind of surprising), it's still fairly well acted and even if you can see the plot twists coming a mile away, it's kind of fun getting there regardless. The movie once again focuses on the taboo subject of incestuous love and while the first movie dealt with the ramifications and social consequences of indulging in that, here everyone just sort of fucks everyone else, relationships be damned. The orgy at the end of the movie (which features Ron Jeremy, Linda Shaw, Cara Lott, Crystal Dawn and a few others) takes up a large portion of the last half of the film but it's shot well and it's features some interesting bit players popping up throughout. All in all, this second film is not as good as the first movie but the sex is hot (particularly anytime Dorothy LeMay is involved!), the direction is tight and the movie features a nice cast of sultry seventies sex sirens to keep things interesting.
TABOO III:
Kay Parker reprises for the third time her role of Barbara Scott, the over-sexed and perpetually horny mother of Paul, the son who has been everything a mother could want and so much more. Her feelings for Paul have always been strong but with him out of the picture after the events that took place in the first film, she turns her attentions towards her other, younger son Jimmy (a former porn star who was at one point reportedly making his living as a bus driver... the one and only Jerry Butler). Jimmy is, quite understandably, more interested in nailing his girlfriend and getting his band a record deal (the one and only Ron Jeremy figures into this subplot as a shifty record producer) than in fucking his aging mother.
Unfortunately for Barbara, her incestuous ways encounter a kink - Jimmy's got himself a hot-ass lady friend (Lisa Lake) who prevents the young man from paying his mother the attention she so desperately craves. That said, Barbara figures if she plays her cards right that she can beat this little trumpet at her own game and win lithe Jimmy's affections once and for all. While all of this nonsense is going on, Barbara's friend and confidant, Joyce McBride (Honey Wilder reprising her role from the last feature), has taken a page out of Barbara's lovemaking handbook and started up a complicated but steamy incestuous relationship with her own son, Brian (Blake Palmer).
While the plot is quite soap operatic, director Kirdy Stevens, the same man who shot the first two films in the series (both of which were quite successful), has the good sense to fill his picture with some seriously impressive sex scenes some of which star a veritable who's who of late seventies/early eighties erotica. While many of the scenes are brief compared to modern day gonzo fuck couplings, they fit in with the plot quite nicely, which is always a good thing when dealing with plot driven sex films.
So okay, some of the storyline bits in this movie contradict what happened in Taboo II but for the most part things move along as fans of the first two movies would expect them to. We're not necessarily sure what Barbara is up to at first or who she can afford the fancy house she lives in, but what matters is that before you know it she's up to her old tricks again and her 'familiar' habits are obviously back in full swing. The sex scenes are quite plentiful and they're well shot and quite effective. There's a lot of good humor in this entry as well, which makes it a more enjoyable film than the second picture was. Throw in some new wave band action, an orgy with Colleen Brennan in it, scenes with Kristara Barrington, Misty Dawn and Pamela Mann and, well, Taboo III is the right mix of goofy entertainment and steamy sex.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Taboo II & III debut on a 50GB Blu-ray disc in AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfers taken from a 2k scans of '35mm vault elements' which means that the negatives weren't available to be used and these were probably print sources. Regardless, they look quite good. There's some mild to occasionally moderate print damage here and there - scratches and what not, and some more noticeable than others - but nothing so serious as to take you out of the movie at all. Colors are really nicely reproduced, never too hot or oversaturated, while skin tones look lifelike and natural. There are no problems with any compression artifacts and the transfer is free of any obvious noise reduction or edge enhancement.
The only audio options provided for the features are English DTS-HD Mono tracks, there are no alternate language options or subtitles provided. The audio is fine, there's decent depth here and good clarity. The scores sound nice, they are well balanced like the rest of the tracks, and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion. The music used during the two films, particularly part III with the new wave numbers in it, has some nice bounce to it. Bass is pretty strong here and for older single channel mixes, things shape up quite nicely actually.
The main extra on the disc is a twenty-minute interview with Blake Palmer, who starts off by talking about getting his start in the adult entertainment world by posing for stills shot by Suze Randall before then moving on to acting in hardcore features. He then goes on to talk about working on Taboo III, his thoughts on co-stars Kay Parker and Jerry Butler, his feelings on the Taboo films and a fair bit more.
Rounding out the extras on the disc is a theatrical trailer for Taboo II, a still gallery that lets you peruse Kay Parker's original script for Taboo III, menus and chapter selection. As this is a combo pack release there's also a DVD included inside the clear Blu-ray keepcase.
The Final Word:
Neither Taboo II or III are as good as the original film but they're both entertaining and decent movies in their own right. There are some great casting choices here and some decent couplings to hold our attention. Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray release looks and sounds good and the interview with Palmer is an interesting supplement. Recommended.
Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!
