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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: July, 2017.
Director: Ralph Ell
Cast: Darby Lloyd Rains, Barbara Carson, Bobby Astyr, Harry Reems, Nancy Dare, Bree Anthony, Anne Sprinkle, Alan Marlow, Melva Jackson
Year: 1975
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The Movies:
Vinegar Syndrome offers up a triple feature of rough and tumble 16mm quickies, each one directed by the mysterious Ralph Ell…
My Master, My Love:
First up, a picture made by one Ralph Ell that opens with a scene where we meet a scruff dominatrix -named Margaret (Darby Lloyd Rains) and her perpetually abused female servant named Roberta (Barbara Carson). They fool around a bit, and then soon enough a tattooed guy (Don Allen) and his lady friend (Annie Sprinkle) arrive and indulge in the services that Margaret offers with a little three way action.
After that, a man named Billy (Alan Marlow) chats with Roberta for a spell - he's house sitting for them - before then going off on some odd tangent in the nearby park where a pretty black girl (Melva Jackson) picks him up for reasons that we at first don't really understand… and then it turns out she's a prostitute - now it all makes sense! They get it on in a room decorated solely with dark wood paneling.
It turns out that Billy is Margaret's brother and when he winds up walking in on her with a client (Nancy Dare) - in a seriously rad lesbian scene - she in turn hands her over to him to take care of. As Billy makes his way through the ladies in the film, his sister gets irritated with him, goes at it with Roberta and that's more or less it. Fade out over a dramatic shot with a red candle and call this one done!
Teenage Masseuse:
The second feature revolves around a fairly abusive alpha-male type played by Bobby Astyr (who we usually associate with more comedic roles). He digs sex shops and stuff. He also has a sort of sex torture dungeon setup going on. Oh, and he's married to cute Nancy Dare. We see him going at it with a lady (Melva Jackson) in said sex dungeon, she gets shackled and chained and forced to perform. Then eventually we see Nancy get intimate with an elephant statue and a bed post while Don Allen peeks in on her and the eventually takes over where those inanimate objects left off, getting a bit rough with her in the process.
The next morning Nancy is walking down the street and after chit chatting with a black guy who tries to sell her a watch, winds up taking him back to her place - something to do with a job that she wants. Once that job is over, her next assignment shows up in the form of Annie Sprinkle and friend. You can probably guess how that all turns out - hotcha! They've all got funny but kind of rad seventies swimwear on and they go at it on a dirty couch in a room with horrendous wallpaper. Once it's established that she's basically working as a prostitute, Annie's pal hooks up with some guy, Melva Jackson hooks up with a guy in an amazing pink and white suit and everyone has a big ol' orgy. Before it's finished Astyr winds up paying a visit to the brothel where he winds up with… his wife! He takes her to a wood paneled room, chains her up, and slaps her in the face with his dong. Who says true romance is dead? Then we get some girl on girl fun and more dramatic red candles.
Nobody in this movie is teenaged and there aren't any massages.
More:
Last but not least, Bree Anthony, sporting an awful black poodle perm, is in a relationship with a black guy and another woman that goes south after an opening flashback showing them all going at it when we find out that said guy is dead! A detective played by none other than Harry Reems shows up to try and figure out what happened, while a mobster played by Bobby Astyr, who hangs out with a really tall black dude, skulks about.
After a bump and grind session with a curvy woman and a black chick, Reems himself gets in on the action with Bree… followed by everyone else getting in on the action with Bree (who speaks with a hysterically terrible French accent for much of the picture). There's some more light BDSM play in this one too, making this set three for three in that department.
Those expecting glossy production values and flawless starlets need not apply, but if you've got a soft spot for low rent seventies smut and don't mind the cheapjack production values, questionable music selections and very real appearance of some of the cast members then you can have a good time with these three movies. None of them are lost classics but these three pictures, produced by none other than Leonard Kirtman (as Leo D'Leon), offers a glimpse back into NYC' scuzzy past and a few interesting cast members. The stories come second here and nobody involved with any of this stuff had aspirations about making high art films, but they're amusing enough that devotees of this particular era of filthy filmmaking should appreciate seeing them preserved on disc as they are on this release.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Each of the3 films on this dual layered DVD is presented in 1.33.1 fullframe taken from new 2k scans of archival 16mm elements. Given the age and relative obscurity of these low budget features, the transfers are pretty solid. Some minor print damage is noticeable here and there but nothing that'll take you out of the movies. Not surprisingly, as these were sourced from 16mm elements, grain is heavy but never to the point of distraction. Colors look nice, skin tones are fine and black levels are alright.
It's Dolby Digital Mono all the way around, no alternate languages or subtitles are provided. Occasionally the dialogue can sound a little hollow but that's likely got more to do with the original recordings than anything else. Some minor hiss is present from time to time. Otherwise, the audio is fine. You'll be able to understand the dialogue without any issues and the levels are balanced well enough.
Outside of menus and chapter selection there are no extra on this release.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome once again rescues some legitimately obscure adult film oddities and offers them up in nice shape. The three movies here are no classics, but they have their moments and benefit from some genuine seventies charm and some interesting cast members.
