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Peekarama: Women At Play/Good Girls Bad Girls
Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 27th, 2018.
Director: Art Ben
Cast: Colleen Brennan, Taija Rae, Paula Meadows, Sharon Kane, Tigr, Danielle, Cara Lott, Sharon Mitchell, Jerry Butler, Joey Silvera
Year: 1984
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The Movies:
Vinegar Syndrome pairs up two of director Art Ben's (a.k.a. Ron Dorfman) NYC shot mid-eighties adult features in this latest in their Peekarama line of vintage dirty movie collections.
Women At Play:
Our first film is “a story of six women, a play, a theater, spring time in New York and what it is that men and women really want from each other.†From here we meet lovely 'British' Wallis Greene (Paula Meadows) - would be director of a women's theater group. She and her five starlets -Lucy McGee (Sharon Kane), Colby Jones (Tiger), Faye (Danielle) and Raye Dunbar (Cara Lott) and Priscilla Parks (Sharon Mitchell).
In order to really get into their roles in this new erotic production of Greene's, the ladies decide to throw themselves into the parts, method acting style. What this means basically is that they go around screwing dudes and each other. Raye's husband, Wayne (Jerry Butler) wonders if something is up as the girls sure do spend a lot of time at the theater - and he's not the only one wondering why the girls seem to be so busy there. Well, it turns out they're… practicing, which we bear witness to when Faye, Raye and Colby have a pretty scorching three-way in the backstage dressing room area. And when Sam (Alan Adrian) just happens to show up? He gets in on the action too.
From there? Another group scene followed by a scene where Lucy reconciles things with husband Phil (George Payne), a writer who does things the old fashioned way - he writes by hand, no word processor for him! As the premiere date gets closer the girls keep on screwing and the guys getting closer to figuring out what's really going on here, all of which leads up to a big ol' orgy and then the play itself!
Played more for laughs than for anything else, Ben makes good use of some NYC locations, most of which revolve around the small art theater that serves as the principal area around which the action is set. The music in the movie isn't all that good and it's unusually repetitive but the film is nicely shot with otherwise pretty decent production values. It's colorful, playful and fun, with a good sense of humor to it all but at the same time, strong enough in the bump and grind department to work in that regard too. The cast are in fine form, Cara Lott really shines here, and if it's all light and fluffy, so be it.
Good Girsl Bad Girls:
The second feature opens with a scene where a woman named Velva (Colleen Brennan a.k.a. Sharon Kelly) and her man (Jerry Butler sporting a beard and a headband!) go at it in the bedroom. After they finish, he sends her to get some ice for their drinks - and then she tries to shoot him! It goes south and she winds up dead. It turns out she was an actress in a sex show. The cop assigned to her case, Mark Costa (Joey Silvera), heads out into New York City to find out who killed her and why. He interviews a few people but it turns out that most of the people who knew her and/or worked with her don't really want to talk to the cops. Ginny McNamara (Taija Rae) talks about being impressed with her performance. The guy who booked her in the show, Arthur Zoltan (George Payne), lets slip that she had some problems in California and needed to come back to New York, so he got her the gig, but co-star Elaine Random (Sharon Mitchell) tells Mark that Velva had a habit of fucking men who were in relationships with other women. A friend and theater critic named Victoria Hines (Paula Meadows) talks about how Velva was not just a good actress but a good friend, her 'moral integrity was beyond reproach.'
Mark doesn't have much to work on, he goes home and vents to his lady friend, a traffic cop named Terry Goodman (Carol Cross) who works him over with a rolling pin! From there, he makes his way through Velva's theater business circle, finding and following up on clues when and where he can. Gordon Barnes (Eric Monti) tells Mark how he tried to get with Velva but never succeeded, and then Mark goes to pay a visit to the theater where Velva worked. Meanwhile, Gordon, who has been bugged, talks to Elaine about Velva unaware that two cops have tailed him and are listening in as she tells him about an orgy she had with Velva, Zoltan and a few others - which gets them so turned on that they go at it too! Eventually, the two cops (Sandy King Joseph Stryker) get horny themselves and start knocking boots in their van while at the theater a gang bang breaks out which Mark and Victoria watch. This, of course, gets them turned on so she jerks him off! As the plot moves forward, Terry proves to be a far better cop than anyone realized as she helps Mark with the case and they get closer to finding out who killed her and why.
A much more substantial film than the first feature, this XXX murder mystery has a pretty decent plot to it and makes very good use of its strong cast. Ms. Brennan gets lots of screen time here and she looks fantastic, performing with plenty of enthusiasm in the sex scenes and easily taking on the more dramatic aspects of her character quite successfully. Silvera makes for a good male lead, he plays his cop character well and has good chemistry with most of his co-stars, especially Carol Cross. Taija Rae only gets a supporting role here but she sure looks great while Sharon Mitchell owns pretty much every scenes that she's in.
Like the first movie, production values are pretty solid. Again, the music is repetitive but Ben's pictures moves at a good pace and is nicely shot and well lit. The sex scenes are performed with plenty of energy but never feel overdone. All in all, a pretty solid effort from all involved.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both movies are presented anamorphic widescreen in standard definition transfer taken from new 2k scans of “35mm pre-print elements.†Each film, framed at 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen, looks very good even if there is some very minor print damage here and there. Great colors, good depth and texture, strong black levels - these look really good and show about as much detail as you could realistically hope for in standard definition.
Both films get the English language Dolby Digital Mono treatment. Clarity is just fine in each film with those theme songs sounding nice and clear. Balance is fine in each picture and there are no problems with any hiss or distortion. Dialogue is clean, crisp and clear. There are no alternate language options or subtitles provided.
Static menus and chapter selection are provided for each film, that's all she wrote.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome's DVD release of Women At Play and Good Girls Bad Girls presents two entertaining and well-made mid-eighties adult features in very nice shape. If the features themselves aren't all time classics, they're worth seeing for fans thanks to solid direction and good casting - particularly if you've got a thing for adult films of the era.
