Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: January 21st, 2020.
Director: Edwin Brown (as Stephen Lucas & Edwin Durell)
Cast: Annette Haven, John Leslie, Lisa De Leeuw, Mai Lin, Joey Silvera, Herschell Savage, Jamie Gillis, Francois Papillon, Kari Foxx, Keli Richards, Kristara Barrington, Bunny Bleu, Nina Hartley, Jade Wong
Year: 1982/1986
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A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 - Movie Review:
Vinegar Syndrome offers up a double dose of vintage smut set back in the days of Sultans and harem girls! 1001 Erotic Nights follows the exploits of Sultan Shaka Khan (John Leslie), who claims (falsely) to be a descendent of Ghangis Khan. His most prized possessions are the women of his harem, many of whom are very beautiful and skilled in the ways of sex. The film details the exploits of the Sultan, his harem girls and his friends.
What he doesn't know is that his wife, Sultana (Lisa De Leeuw) is cheating on him with another man, Saragon (Herschel Savage). We see her in bed with him going at and then he offers her a gift in the form of Joey Silvera and his member. Joey dances for them to the soothing sways of a bizarre sitar based rendition of a song that sounds way too similar to a certain Jefferson Airplane song. The two men double-team her. Unbeknownst to the threesome the Sultan is watching them and planning his revenge.
Back at his fancy digs, The Sultan picks Scheherazade (the gorgeous Annette Haven) for his nightly rendezvous, after which she is to be put to death (The Sultan has this thing about executing women after he's had his way with them). She warms up with a session from a lady friend who coats her hoohaw in oil, then does what rad lesbians do. Once this is over with she's ready for the Sultan. She tells the Sultan some stories, hoping to delay her death, which leads to a few different scenes. In the first, a woman (Nicole Black) paints her nails, an on-looking man (Jon Martin) becomes aroused and masturbates. He comes back later to find her ready for him and the two masturbate in front of each other. Finally they can take no more and he climbs into bed with her. Soon she decides to bring two more women into the room for him. This segues into Jon Martin, now masquerading as a doctor, examines the two girls that have been offered to him. His examination techniques would land him in jail these days, but the girls seem into it. Scheherazade's next story sees a sleeping woman named Mariko (Mai Lin) awoken when a randy Prince (Paul Thomas) licks her while she sleeps. When she wakes up, he's treated to a nice welcome and they go at it. Then we get a flashback scene where three women (one of whom is Chelsea Manchester, another is Lysa Thatcher go at it. When one of the girls finds a ceremonial mask with a very phallic nose, she puts it to good use by using it on her friends. From there, Paul Thomas is back, this time with Nicole Black. As the movie comes to its close, we get the inevitable and anticipated scene where Scheherazade and The Sultan finally go at it, bringing the movie to a close.
There isn't really much of a story here at all but the production values are impressive and the cast is very strong. This is a very nicely shot film, the compositions are excellent and the lighting is top notch. The score is also pretty solid and there's nice costuming throughout. This allows us to look past little details, like the fact that all of the Caucasian performers appear to have been blasted by some spray-tan and look a little orangey. The sex is performed enthusiastically and by a talented group of performers who do seem to be legitimately enjoying themselves here. There's some good humor worked into some of the scenes as well, which is always a plus.
1001 Erotic Nights 2: The Forbidden Tales is a decent follow up to the first film, though its done with a different cast. This time out, though the formula is the same (period costumed performers relay and act out some sexy stories in front of the camera), we've got Francois Papillion playing the horny sultan who wants to find the right woman. We've also got Scheherazade (Kari Foxx) on hosting duties again. His pal, The Judge (played by the legendary Jamie Gillis), decides for him that he should hold a contest to determine the most eligible woman by putting them to the ultimate sex tests.
These setup leads to a few different scenes. In the first, The Sultan enjoys a trio of lovely ladies all at his disposable (Bunny Bleu, Kristara Barrington, Sandy Summers) and really into oral! It plays out pretty much how you'd expect. Next up, The Judge has to test out a female candidate (Petty Petite) by auditioning her with a horny servant (Jon Martin). Gillis' reactions here are pretty hysterical. Next up, The Judge two lovely young (Rayanne Drew and Tami White) ladies who show him what they can do to each other while he oversees the action. After that, The Judge auditions a buxom lass (Buddy Davis) himself, just to make sure she's up to code.
From there, The Sultan hosts a big ol' orgy with help from Alexis Greco, Bunny Bleu, Keli Richards, Kristara Barrington, Nina Hartley, Chris Chase, Joey Silvera and Steve Drake and after that, he gets his voyeuristic kicks by being tied up for some kinky BDSM. As it all comes to a close, The Sultan gets his chance to be alone with Scheherazade.
Again, the plot isn't much to write home about but the movie doesn't lack in style. It's also a good bit funnier than the first one, anytime Jamie Gillis is on screen he steals the show and he's a kick to watch here, showing great comedic abilities. The rest of the cast are pretty strong, though Francois Papillion isn't as charismatic as John Leslie or as good an actor. The movie is paced well and once again very nicely staged and shot.
A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 - Blu-ray Review:
Both films are presented on the same 50GB disc taken from new 2k restorations of their original 35mm negatives. Picture quality is great. Both features are here in excellent shape, showing almost no print damage at all. Colors are reproduced perfectly and black levels are spot on. There are no noticeable issues with any compression artifacts and both transfers are entirely devoid of any noticeable noise reduction or edge enhancement issues. Skin tones look great, there's excellent detail and depth throughout, and there's plenty of natural film grain here as well.
Audio is handled by a series of 24-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono tracks. Optional subtitles are provided for both features in English only. There's a little bit of sibilance in the first film but outside of that, no problems here. Dialogue is always clean and clear and both tracks are nicely balanced.
Extras are slim, limited only to trailers for each feature, menus and chapter selection. We do get some nice reversible cover sleeve art, however, and the first 2,000 units purchased directly from Vinegar Syndrome get a very nice limited edition, embossed slip cover designed by Earl Kessler Jr.. As this is a combo pack release, a DVD version of the two movies taken from the same restorations is also included.
A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 - The Final Word:
A Thousand and One Erotic Nights 1 & 2 are fairly plotless but nevertheless enjoyable vintage adult pictures that sport nice production values, fine performances and a strong cast. Vinegar Syndrome's Blu-ray release is light on extras but the two movies sure do look fantastic here.