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Released by: Impulse Pictures
Released on: April 28th, 2009.
Director: John Doo
Cast: Helena Ramos, Vanessa Alves, Romeu de Freitas, Andre Loureiro
Year: 1984
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The Chick's Ability - Movie Review:
The plot for the first of Impulse Pictures' 'pornochanchada' line finds Brazilian sex pot Helena Ramos starring as Laura, a hospital worker. She spends her spare time hanging out with her boyfriend who makes a living as an artist specializing in nude portraits. Vanessa Alves plays Cristina, who finds herself knocked up when a tryst with a stranger at a waterfall results in an unexpected pregnancy. Her family shuns her for this, as she has no interest in getting married, and she's more or less left on her own.
When her baby needs an emergency operation and she doesn't have the money, Cristina has no choice but to turn tricks on the streets in order to save the life of her child. When street walking doesn't prove to be as easy a way to earn a buck as she'd first thought, she winds up employed in a high class house of ill repute. Cristina's life collides with that of Laura and her boyfriend when he pays a visit to the brothel an falls in love with the younger woman. The only one Cristina feels that she can turn to is an aging transvestite chain-smoking hooker named Lili (Romeu de Freitas), while Laura's increasingly jealous behavior starts to cause problems for all involved…
Vanessa Alves steals the show in this one, playing up her naí¯veté with conviction (she tells the man she romps with in the water fall that 'It's getting big' and does so with a sincere sense of surprise) but not failing to deliver some welcome sexuality throughout the film. She's pretty much getting naked every few minutes and evidently has no qualms whatsoever about showing off the goods. While Helena Ramos might get top billing (at least on the DVD packaging), she doesn't have nearly the same sense of youthful sexual vigor as her co-star. No disrespect to the MILF-tastic Ms. Ramos, mind you, she still smokes when she's on camera, and she too spends much of her screen time modeling her birthday suit.
While the plot is little more than melodramatic soap opera material, director John Doo ensures that there's enough sex liberally scattered throughout the picture that you probably won't care. The story works in that it holds our interest and effectively brings us from one revealing set piece to the next. The film is rather nicely shot with some great location photography setting the stage and showing off the locale scenery, contrasting rather interestingly with the often times dingy interior shots that remind us that not everyone who lives in Brazil has a mansion on the beach. As far as the sex scenes go, they verge on hardcore from time to time (one scene that takes place in a pool features some pretty graphic cunnilingus) but they never quite get there, even if they teeter on the edge. They too are shot quite nicely even if they rely on typical eighties soft focus a bit too often. The film shows a good eye for framing and is set to a pretty bouncy soundtrack that fits the tone of the story and the more graphic aspects of it quite appropriately. When it's all said and done, the picture is entertaining and sexy enough that it'll definitely appeal to those who dig similar Euro-softcore films from the likes of Franco and D'Amato.
The Chick's Ability - DVD Review:
The 1.33.1 fullframe transfer looks to present the film in its original aspect ratio and overall the image is watchable enough, if never amazing. There's some minor print damage and a bit of color fading here and there but aside from that, little to complain about. There are no obvious compression artifacts or edge enhancement problems and the image is flagged for progressive scan. Skin tones, of which there are plenty, look nice and lifelike and for an older, obscure skin flick, The Chick's Ability looks just fine.
The film is debuts on DVD with its original Portuguese 2.0 Mono mix intact, with optional subtitles provided in English. As far as older Mono mixes go, this one sounds just like you'd expect it to - range is limited and the audio is at times a little bit flat but there aren't any audible problems to complain about. Dialogue sounds clear, the levels are well balanced, and the score sounds nifty. The subs are easy to read and free of any noticeable typos.
The DVD itself is barebones save for a very basic menu and chapter selection option. Inside the keepcase is an insert booklet containing a brief essay (no writing credit is provided) on the history of the 'Pornochanchada' films that were popular in Brazil from 76-84. Some more background on this film and others like it would have been very welcome, as would a trailer or even a featurette, but that's all we get.
The Chick's Ability - The Final Word:
Entertaining and steamy enough to matter, The Chick's Ability is worth a look for fans of softcore sex films, particularly if you like your smut with some Latin flair!
