The World of Severin Films

Black Box Laure

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 27 Jul 2007 15:00:00 +0000

First, a so-so review of Black Emmanuelle's Box from Pop Syndicate. Basically, "you'll like it if you like this kinda stuff." But we like seeing our names in print, so it's offered here for your perusal.

Better, here's one from Andre Salas, at Filmmaker Magazine, who gives us this Laure review:

"LAURE

I admit it, I'm obsessed with Severin Films' DVD ouput as of late. Their recent releases include titles by cult maestros Walerian Borowczyk, Jess Franco and Lucio Fulci; their website list of upcoming releases is a mouthwatering roster of 70s Euro rarities.

Out now is a forgotten gem called Laure ($29.95), touted as being written and directed by (and starring) Emmanuelle Arsan: author of the now-infamous book Emmanuelle. This is and isn't exactly true, but I'll let the bonus features on the disc explain the whole story.

Laure is a soft-focus little gem starring Annie Belle as the title character, a free-spirited female who encounters hunky Al Cliver (of Zombi 2 fame) on the way to hear her Professor dad speak at a local university in Manila. Immediately smitten, she brings him along and soon he's caught up in her world of intellectual, libertine friends and lovers. As our sexy cast heads into the jungle to find the lost Mara tribe (reknowned for their enlightened sexual philosophy) every taboo is broken.

If it all sounds a bit like the plot of a lost Emmanuelle movie, well, it basically is (It even was released as Forever Emmanuelle in some territories). Belle proves as ideal and likeable a heroine as needed to pull this sort of thing off, and Cliver is game enough to match her. A kick-ass score of groovy lounge/psychedelica heightens the mood.

Sexy, stylish and good-natured fun, Laure is an ideal choice for your next swinging singles cocktail party."

New reviews: Laure, O, Mansion

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 14:04:00 +0000

Movieline Online sent along this review for Laure. Say they: "The sex scenes rarely move beyond unclothed heavy petting, paced with a deliberate feminine sense of eroticism that really works. Laure is soft-sell soft-core, unlike the ugly hurriedness of D'Amato or the clumsy fumblings of Franco. And it's all the better for it."

And here's a review from Ed Demko over at Bloodtype for Mansion of the Living Dead that's just darned entertaining. Franco fans can be so apologetic for their love of the man. Or maybe "defensive" is the word. Did he like Mansion? He says he did. Judge for yourself.

Here's another one from Jay Reel with our friends from Deadpit. A review of The Sexual Story of O. He kinda dug it. He recommends it for "Franco completists only" however. He does say this: "One thing I'll say about the movie (originally released in 1984), and that it's pretty to look at. I'm not just talking about the female nudity, and there's plenty of that, but there's a lush style to the whole movie that's impressive considering the films budget ("Two cents" according to director Jess Franco in the interview included on the DVD)."

New reviews of old stuff

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 21 Jun 2007 12:01:00 +0000

Today in the ol' inbox, we discovered new reviews for two of our older releases. That's the fun of the internet - you never know what you're going to get: ad for a penis enlarger? An offer from a deposed Nigerian diplomat to share a large war-profit fortune? A favorable review of Mansion of the Living Dead?

Well, in the last case, yes. (Actually, in all cases, yes, but I'm only posting the latter - the other two I'm keeping for myself. Do you know how many penis enlargers you can buy with a Nigerian war-profit fortune?)

So, for your reading pleasure, here's the Bloodtype Online's review of Mansion of the Living Dead.

To round out this blog, here's B-Scared's review of Gwendoline. As to be expected, he loved it. But, seriously, who doesn't? Terrorists, that's who! (Another email confirmed that anything not loved by a single American equals terrorism, so love truly is the answer!) Read the Gwendoline review. It's lovely.

Laure reviews and a little bit more

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 14 Jun 2007 13:25:00 +0000

Laure has been chosen as one of iF Magazine's top picks for June 12 (an honor in any month!). Read about our standing with other notable titles HERE.

"Uncle Scoopy" (aka "Johnny Web", which I also suspect is a pseudonym), reveals the true secrets behind Laure (as we revealed on the disk's special features). Read all about it in his insightful article.

Another fine review turned in by our good friend Michael Den Boer at 10K Bullets - this time for... wait for it... Laure. Read it here.

Meanwhile, over at Film Fanaddict, we reviewer Martin Boucher admits to popping his Franco Erotica cherry with The Sexual Story of O.

More coming soon!

News and Reviews: Laure is released!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 06 Jun 2007 13:44:00 +0000

Some recently-released news about our new release, Laure, as well as upcoming release, Vanessa:

'LAURE' STARRING ANNIE BELLE AND EMMANUELLE ARSAN RELEASE ON JUNE 12th

Her tantalizing memoir shocked the world. Its infamous film adaptation changed X-rated cinema forever. Now for the first time, Emmanuelle Arsan - the real EMMANUELLE - brings her own lush vision of total sexual abandon to the screen as writer, director and co-star of this rarely seen erotic classic. The succulent Annie Belle (of HOUSE ON THE EDGE OF THE PARK and BLACK EMMANUELLE, WHITE EMMANUELLE fame) stars as Laure, a free-spirited young woman whose bold philosophy of pleasure enflames the passions of every man and woman she encounters in the steamy city of Manila. But when she's invited to join a deep jungle expedition with a hunky filmmaker (Al Cliver of ZOMBIE and THE BEYOND) and a beautiful anthropologist (Arsan), Laura discovers that no sexual hunger can ever be truly forbidden. Can one woman's insatiable lust create a new dimension of love, or will her complete carnal surrender to a strange native tribe lead to the most shocking act of all?

Extras: never before released interviews with stars Annie Belle and Al Cliver and Producer Ovidio Assonitis.

OTHER NEWS:

Severin Films recently acquired Hubert Frank's outstandingly unchaste VANESSA which will hit the shelves this August. VANESSA is our most requested title for future release so we are proud to present the global premier of the Olivia (BLOODY MOON) Pascal starrer in its correct aspect
ratio with a new transfer from the original negative. New interviews with Director Hubert Frank and DP Franz Lederle have been shot in Germany and Lederle has supplied us with his revealing Super 8 home movies from the set of the film.

In addition legendary Italian smut master Mario Bianchi sat down for his first video interview for a DVD exposing all the juice about the making of his sexy satanic sleaze-fest SATAN'S BABY DOLL (due out this fall).

As for MALABIMBA - THE MALICIOUS WHORE (also this fall), the hands down most shameful, morally wrong Severin offering yet, we have an on-camera confessional with sinful Sister Sofia herself, Mariangela Giordano.

We're also diligently working on the second volume of Black Emanuelle's Box which will feature D'Amato's rarest entry EMANUELLE & THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE, BLACK EMMANUELLE/WHITE EMMANUELLE aka VELLUTO NERO (the "Alien Vs. Predator" of erotica starring both Laura Gemser AND Annie Belle) and BLACK EMANUELLE No. 2, Bitto Albertini's rarely seen follow-up to his classic EMANUELLE NERA. A second soundtrack compilation featuring the Nico Fidenco scores from EMANUELLE IN AMERICA, EMANUELLE & THE LAST CANNIBALS and EMANUELLE & THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE will also be included along with a whole host of exciting new extras.

FOR MORE INFO VISIT http://www.severin-films.com/

* * *

As for reviews, here's one from Bloodtype Online for The Sexual Story of O.

And, to kick off the Laure excitment, a review from William Simmons at SGM:

LAURE

William P. Simmons

The name Emmanuelle has long been synonymous with salacious living, sexual freedom, and artfully conceived smut. A phenomena bigger than life, the series began life as Io, Emmanuelle (1969), starring Erika Blanc. The series really took off with the 1975 version starring Sylvia Kristel, provoking moral outrage by fully embracing its X-rated catalogue of free love, infidelity, and soft-core sex. Several more sequels with Kristel followed, including the notable skin-slapping Black Emanuelle (2) (Joys of a Woman). In true cannibalistic fashion, European spin-offs were being made as well, most notably (and exploitatively) in Italy. And while Kristel gave up her part after a few roles, realizing that she was becoming too old for Emmanuelle's exploits, the character as a title and representative of sexual liberation continued to thrive in such guises as the 'Black Emanuelle' films. These scandalous incarnations starred Luara Gemser, whose first involvement with the series saw her playing a journalist in Emanuelle Nera (Black Emanuelle), directed by Albert Thomas. D'Amato. Her presence would soon grace the screen in such flesh feasts as Emanuelle in Bankok, Emanuelle in America, and Emanuelle Around the World. Under Joe D'Amato's hand, the evolving series would leave its soft-porn origins and become something meaner, something filthier. Embracing rape, incest, lesbianism, and bestiality, D'amato's Emanuelle character has less to do with the theme of free love and sexual liberation and more to do with degeneration and degradation. Laure, long thought to have been crafted by the woman whose real-life exploits and open marriage inspired the first Emmanule film, retains the innocent sexuality and experimentation of the original film although it deals with a whole new cast of characters and story-line. Emmanuelle Arson -- the real Emmanuelle, displays true creative energy and insight into the human mind -- perhaps the sexiest organ of the human body, creating a fleshy world of surrender and control that explores the dangerously obsessive worship of Aphrodite. She does this with her presence, mirroring the just as sultry magnificence of Annie Belle. Yet the director and of this lush and intellectually dense day-dream of carnality was Emmanuelle's husband. Louis Rollet Andriane, a diplomat who needed to conceal his amorous life style, wrote both the original book Emmanuelle and the script for Laure, serving as director. He did a commendable job, as we may now see thanks to Severin's deluxe treatment of this unappreciated classic of abandon.

A plot that hinges on the emotional and physical quest for both dominance and subservience to the sexual instinct that tears its way so passionately through the succulent characters, Laure is a surprisingly serious, morally thoughtful examination of free will and erotic choice. Seductive Annie Belle (BLACK EMMANUELLE, WHITE EMMANUELLE) plays the titular role of Laure, an emotionally and sexually adventurous young lady with raging hormones and legs that just can't stay closed. Her free-spirit and sexually radiant figure matches the bold moral philosophy of pleasure with which the subtext of the film truly concerns itself with. At the Manila Institute for research, scientists and tourists wax poetic about the 'Mara tribe,' who have an odd annual festival of rebirth. During this rite, some of the tribe forget who they are and begin life anew. Laure, daughter of the institute's director, captivates photographer Nicola, and soon after they indulge their kinks for voyeurism and sexual freedom, they team up with Gualtier, an anthropologist, and his lover, Myrte. Mating with just about every attractive man and woman she meets in the sultry city of Manila, Laure is happy to join the jungle expedition. Awkward beefcake Al Cliver plays a filmmaker with his customary deadpan aplomb, and neither the anthropologist or his lover are safe from Laure's amorous attentions. Taboos are broken as Laure discovers more cultural norms to break in her determination to experience the ultimate pleasure. The sweaty action soon leads Laure to a native tribe where she engages in " the most shocking act of all," participating in the Mara tribe's rites.

Similar in theme to the Emmanuelle films, the approach differences from other films of its ilk, distinguishing it. Arson's husband's story is both realistic and sensationalistic, merging believable characters with pulp-like scenarios in an exotic jungle atmosphere that adds dramatic spectacle to the sex. However, whereas the Emmanuelle films often used a skimpy situational device to simply hurry Gemser, et all, to the next skin scene, the internal drives and back story presented here are more convincing. While the instinct for sex remains the motivating force behind Laure's character, and Arson's persona further smolders the flames, a more organic, honest feeling sense of fate makes its presence known. Arson's documented lifestyle as a free-loving globe-trotting explorer of carnality in no small way helps make the film stand out. Her contributions as co-star -- and some say writer -- inject the film with sexual allure, energy, and a throbbing sense of intimacy hard to beat. A fleshy embodiment of lust, sexual anxiety, and jungle adventure, Laure outclasses many of its cinematic cousins.

Proving yet again why it is indeed 'the Criterian of Smut,' Severin Films treats Laure like the Citizen Cane of softcore. Re-mastered picture and sound give this somewhat battered film a much needed face-lift. The 1:77:1 print (anamorphic) is an impressive orgy of sights and sounds, with flesh tones naturalistic and succulent. The female flesh on display is luscious, and no significant grain or scratches disturb the fantasy evoked by sensual performances. Audio is no dud either, captured in clean Dolby Digital Mono, which preserves the original score with additional clarity. No muffling or background sound of note disturbs this wonderful listening experience.

Extras can't help but be a disappointment after the wealth of material that Severin has included on such recent releases as Black Emmauneulle's Box, but as a stand-alone DVD this carefully assembled supplementary footage is both informative and enjoyable. The most provocative extra is 'Emmanuelle Revealed,' an interview with producer Ovidio Assonitis, wherein he sheds some light on the woman's personality and work method, dishing dirt in a respectful manner. Along the way we learn that Linda Lovelace was initially hired for the role. A bad attitude and drug problems led to her being replaced by the smoldering Anne Belle. Assonitis comes clear about the role that Andriane played in the writing of the Emmanuelle book and this script, as well as his personal fetishes, intellectualism, and complicated manner of being. The second featurette is called "Laure: A Love Story," and examines the on-and-off again lust affair between Al Cliver and Annie Belle throughout various movies and years. Fascinating stuff delivered with aplomb.

New Franco reviews to tide you over...

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 30 May 2007 14:08:00 +0000

With anticipation mounting over the release of Laure (from Emmanuelle Arsan – the real Emmanuelle), here are a couple of reviews of past releases to tide you all over:

First, a tongue-in-cheek (no pun intended) review of Once Upon a Girl from Bloodtype Online.

Next, a very positive review of Perversion Story from EInsiders.

One for The Sexual Story of O from DVD Talk.

And speaking of O, here's a cheeky listing from EInsiders:

THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE (Severin Films. $29.95): With a title like that, do you really need a description? All I will add is that this 1982 effort was directed by none other than the infamous Eurosleaze auteur Jess Franco–that should be enough to attract the right people to this DVD while keeping the others away. If that isn’t enough Franco-directed smut to satisfy you this week, the good folks at Severin (who are really becoming players on the grindhouse DVD front) are also releasing his oddly title 1984 knock-off "The Sexual Story of O"–after all, the original "Story of O" was hardly about knitting as far as I recall.

And here's an O review that will make you swear off the internet, joke or not, courtesy of DVD Verdict.

Here's a love letter to all things Franco over at the Videowatchblog.

Finally, Francophile Robert Montell gives us reviews of Sexual Story of O here and Inconfessible Orgies of Emmanuelle here.

New Reviews of E and O and more!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 16 May 2007 13:13:00 +0000

Here's a new Perversion Story review from the Coffee, Coffee and More Coffee blog. (Hey, the guy likes coffee.)

And once again, we made it into "The Week in Sleaze" over at the Sleazegrinder. Yay us! "Meanwhile, there's '80s smut from Jess Franco to be had from S everin Films. The Sexual Story of O (which has nothing to do with the Just Jaeckin film or book) stars Alicia Principe as an innocent young girl who is seduced and then sold as a sex slave by her perverted neighbors, while The Inconfessable Orgies of Emanuelle (whatta title!) has the incorrigible title character (an in-name-only relation to the Sylvia Kristel and Laura Gemser characters) indulging in sex games with her husband and a marquis. Both are plot-free sex fests with beautiful photography and women who look good without their clothes, so unless you're looking for top-drawer Franco like Venus in Furs, you'll be mighty happy with these discs. And ole Uncle Jess even contributes interviews about the films on both discs."

Now here's a slew of reviews from Peter Sobczynski:

Perversion Story

Black Emannuelle

Inconfessable Orgies/Sexual Story of O

Mansion of the Living Dead/Macumba Sexual

And here are two hit-or-miss reviews for Inconfessible Orgies and Sexual Story of O from Movieline Online. He may not have loved the movies, but the reviews are hysterical. Plus, he says that Severin has "nothing to be ashamed of", so we'll take that as a mandate and blanket permission from here on out.

Black Emanuelle and Perversion Story reviews!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 03 May 2007 20:01:00 +0000

Here's a lengthy review of Black Emanuelle's Box from Eccentric Cinema.

And a fun one from Horrorview.

And another from Robert Monell discovered on a Feedster blog.

And, for a change of pace, Louis Fowler sent us this review for Perversion Story, which ran in the Rocky Mountain Chronical:

PERVERSION STORY
(UNA SULL’ALTRA)
Starring Marisa Mell, Jean Sorel, Elsa Martinelli
Directed by Lucio Fulci
Severin Films

Most cult-movie fans hear the name Lucio Fulci and immediately think of his gore-filled Italo-splatter films of early ’80s, like Zombi II and The Beyond. While he’s known for those horrific, nightmarish interludes, he also had a long, rather illustrious career before them, making a few cheap sex comedies and spy films here or there, but mostly honing his future horror chops on the giallo circuit, directing Hitchcockian murder mysteries, like this one from 1969. (To be fair, there is little to no perversion in this film. U.S. producers often translated foreign titles into sexy, salacious ones to get asses into theater seats. It usually worked.)

George, a successful doctor and all-around philanderer, is an arrogant prick, which doesn’t help his case when his asthma-suffering wife is found murdered. George becomes the prime suspect, but along the way, with the help of his haute-couture photographing girlfriend, he meets a stripper who looks exactly like his dead wife.

The last 30 minutes get pretty pulse-pounding as George is sent to the gas chamber, waiting for the one piece of crucial evidence that can free him. Fulci really amps up the suspense in this flick, one of his best. A rare soundtrack of Riz Ortolani’s swingin’ score, included as a bonus disc, is one of the best bonus features I’ve come across in a DVD in quite a while.

New reviews for the new Franco releases!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 24 Apr 2007 13:05:00 +0000

Severin Films is putting out two new uncut and remastered classics from the remarkable Jess Franco. They'll be available for mass consumption on May 1, but here are some tastes to whet your appetite:

From 10K Bullets, reviews for The Sexual Story of O and The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle

And from our buddy at SexGoreMutants:

THE SEXUAL STORY OF O

William P. Simmons

Jess Franco. For those only familiar with the more popular of this director‘s achievements, this name summons images of fetishistic sadomasochist sex play, repetitive zoom shots (often of heaving breasts and pubic hair), and female vampires humping bed-stands. For those who can appreciate the director’s
unapologetic love for sensation, his emotional outbursts and love of atmosphere are wicked delights. As his penchant of celebrating effect at the cost of narrative continuity or logic. Mention of this truly original filmmaker brings to mind worlds of flesh and fantasy that challenge traditional linear logic and
mainstream sensibility. In The Sexual Story of O, the newest offering from underground champs Severin, Franco’s esoteric philosophies and pornographic preoccupations meet, flowering into a truly enticing and raunchy bedtime story of lust, betrayal, and doom.

Perhaps no other director would seem such an ideal fit to this story of sexual enslavement, sadism, and desire. The very subversive themes of the original story calls to Franco’s aesthetic history and approach, begging him to maul its storyline like hands punish and mold human flesh in the novel. In fact, this film is related to the novel in question only in title, tacked on by producers. An examination of unrestrained lust, Franco’s gorgeous and deadly narrative surmounts the cruelty and excess of the original novel, examining the sexual awakening of a different sort -- one that truly plummets the depths of desire and dread, pain and pleasure. Also dissected are the politics between the self and the soul, and the games played between lovers as each decides who gives and who takes, and to what extent. The plot features Odile, a young nymphet (played by Alicia Princípe) who submits to more than she expected -- and maybe more than she can survive -- when she is seduced into a deviant game of sexuality by her shameless, decadent neighbors. These ‘games’ and the emotional echoes played upon in the film question her identity and we follow her transformation with deliciously wet and salacious imagery. Such delights as afternoon threesomes lead to dens of physical and emotional degradation as eroticism descends into violence and truly disturbing (yet titillating sadism). How much can Odile handle before both her and her female tempter/guide/Dom reach a point of no return? Co-starring Daniel Katz, this 80s feature is a triple threat of searing philosophy and carnality, and is perhaps most effective in its examination of our human inability to truly understand the desires or emotional depths of one another (or ourselves). A love letter to Franco’s continuous muse, the Marquis De Sade, this film is a beautifully decadent dream of corruption.

The Story of O, written by Pauline Reage, was published in 1954 -- a repressive era that almost equals our own . . . Almost -- to scant critical acclaim and much public outrage. Controversial and salacious, the book, its sexual intensity, and its thematic implications retains its ability to arouse and shock. More importantly it retains its ability to encourage readers to question their own sexual identity and desires. These elements were successfully translated to the screen in Story of O (Histoire d'O), wherein an alluring young fashion photographer is brought to the Chateau Roissy by her more experienced lover Rene (Udo Kier). Here she undergoes sexual transformation, suffering humiliation and erotic enticements that challenge her physical and emotional limitations. Wishing to please Rene, she then allows herself to be handed over to Sir Stephen (Anthony Steel), whose demands make her wonder about her safety. Just Jaeckin merged sensuality with suspense in his own version of the text. Franco combines graphic, tantalizing sexual excess with a harsher, more scandalous poetic vibrancy. This is Franco in a surprisingly poetic mood, directing his energies at celebrating the seedier elements of sado-masochism and S&M. Most effective is Franco’s suggestion that our inability to intimately ‘know’ our own desires or the emotional dimensions of others leads to both pleasure and pain -- an emotional theme mirrored by the sex acts themselves as Odile suffers/enjoys the erotic tortures of S&M. When the act of sexual love and -games’ lead to the troublesome and quite shocking finale, Franco suggests the unpredictability of love, and the danger of giving into another’s desires. Yet instead of condemning any of the players, Franco’s satisfying amorality simply depicts the consequences, suggesting perhaps that something in Odile was fated for these acts, and hungered for them in a masochistic manner.

The Sexual Story of O is presented by Severin in a 2.35/16x9 transfer. The picture is sharp and clean without any noticeable flaws. Imagery is crisply defined, colors are bold, and the overall transfer superb. Audio in mono Spanish and English features a moody score, and removable subtitles.

Just as in The Inconfessible Orgies of Emmanuelle, the only extra on this disc is "Franco's O," another rowdy interview with the outspoken director. Get ready for a 14 minute blitzkrieg of politically incorrect (thank god!) anecdotes and feisty opinions as the director recalls the cast, his decision to use different actresses, and his general opinion about the film.

And:

THE INCONFESSABLE ORGIES OF EMMANUELLE

William P. Simmons

While the critical establishment often lambastes him and the mainstream ignores him, devotees of exploitation and emotionally subversive cinema watch his erratic if influential career with interest. While it may be stretching it to say that his is a career and style that evokes either love or hate, this generalization isn‘t far from the truth. Rare is the viewer that walks away from screening one of his highly personal films without strong reaction. Repulsion, frustration, incredulity, or obsession: many are the emotions that his work instills. And while he is often accused of indulging in sensation for sensations sake, it should be remembered that his cinema is primarily devoted to emotion and spectacle, not realistic storytelling or narrative coherence. Franco focuses on sensationalism, be it sexual, violent, or rooted in terror. And while it cannot be denied that this devotion to the senses is responsible for derailing several of his films, just as many of his visually intensive physical and/or esoteric experiments succeed precisely because they barrage us with such outlandish excesses. This is particularly true in his treatment of sexual freedom in The Inconfessable Orgies of Emmanuelle, a bold new release from Severin. Rightfully called the ‘Criterion’ of smut, this company has already brought us such obscure pieces as Private Collections and Perversion Story. Now they wow us with this uneven if salacious work of fetishistic sexuality, uncut and uncensored for the first time in America.

The history of Emmanuelle as a series is itself a noteworthy process of exploitation evolution. Beginning life as Io, Emmanuelle (1969), starring Erika Blanc, the 1974 version of Emmanuelle, starring Sylvia Kristel, provoked moral shock and outrage by embracing its X rating and scandalous nature. Directed by Just Jaeckin, the story revolved around a sexy young model encouraged by her photographer husband to indulge her desires. The evolving series would come to embrace such controversial acts as rape, incest, lesbianism, free love, orgies, and animal sex (thanks to Joe D’ Amato, sleaze king). These would star Luara Gemser, who first enacted the role in Black Emmanuelle (1975), directed by Albert Thomas. After several sequels with Kristel, the Italian Black Emanuelle films found dominance among exploitation fans. These offered raunchier sex and varying degrees of sadism, taking the franchise to grittier and more graphic depths. Franco’s version of the nymph’s erotic excesses is closer to D’Amato’s vision than Jaeckin, and while lacking much of the formers violence, the Spanish director clearly enjoys treating the character as a sexual object to be used hard and with undeniable zeal.

French TV star Muriel Montossé (billed as Vicky Adams) makes her steamy, feline mark alongside the legendary status of Sylvia Kristel and Laura Gemser as the one and only Emmanuelle. Exploring carnal joys in various ‘unlikely’ places (and positions!) this Franco feast of flesh, semen, and dream-like atmosphere features amongst its fetishistic highlights a ‘live’ lesbian exhibition that, along with Emmanuelle’s other wild ways, makes her friends think that her sexual desires are out of control. As she becomes entangled with predatory lesbians, and her escapades increase in number and deviancy, pleasure soon leads to brutality in expected Franco style. Also known as EMMANUELLE EXPOSED, this erotic assault may lack something of the director’s customary violence but preserves his voyeuristic love of flesh and emotionally intensive atmosphere. While Franco reveals that the Emmanuelle title/relationship was tacked on his work as a commercial afterthought, with distributors attempting to cash in on the success of that series, the director is clearly suited for the material. Parodying the ‘narrated’ structure and soft core fluff so often evoked in the Emmanuelle series, Franco reveals with class and sarcastic wit the ‘fake’ sentiment inherent in so-called sophisticated erotica. He also weaves a story that engages despite its rather unlikable characters. But these characters are believable precisely because they are depicted without false sentiment and strained likeability, bringing them closer to people one would encounter in everyday life.

The first thing apparent in this film is Franco’s decision to use his characters as unapologetic sexual objects, objectifying them without remorse. Better yet, he does this while making them enjoy their treatment. This is woman wanting to be a sexual object even though she may not know it, and while this film -- and that statement -- is sure to evoke anger amongst politically correct critics who believe government regulation somehow possesses the power to repress ancient animalistic tendencies in human beings -- Franco’s work understands that these tendencies are rooted far deeper than our current hypocritical niceties allow. Tendencies, finally, that art allows us to indulge -- and in some cases exorcize -- by experiencing them vicariously, in the safety of storytelling. That is precisely what is so engaging about this movie. Franco encourages us to indulge in our animalistic desires to see women subdues, subverted, used, and in some cases, abused. Yet he also shows woman as a vibrant, healthy, sexually hungry animal herself, giving as good as she gets through the ultimate power that she wields through her sexual mystique.

The barrage of erotic and filthy images here are as powerful and erratic as a tidal wave of emotion. While Franco is often dismissed as a fetishistic hack by those hypnotized by mainstream ‘logic’ and traditional narrative sequence, in The Inconfessable Orgies of Emanuelle he not only indulges in sex for the simple joy of it its physical pleasures but strives to explore with varying success its degrees of emotional and spiritual union-- albeit without ever losing its exploitative sheen. A sure fire treasure for Franco fans who primarily know him for the noir imagery of Dr. Orloff, the slapdash gore of Bloody Moon, or the pulp-crime shlock of Kiss Me Monster, this raunchy, erotically charged peep show reveals yet another side of Franco.

Orgies is featured for the first time on DVD in the Unites States, completely uncut and complete, and re-mastered from original vault materials. One of the many features that Franco completed in a less restrictive Spain, this tale of honeymooners torn apart by sexually deviant stalkers is featured in its original 2.35 aspect ratio, enhanced for anamorphic televisions. Visual quality is very good, especially considering the rarity and age of the film. Colors are sharp and bright, and the copious nudity and carnage captured in surprisingly clear imagery. Audio is presented in both English and Spanish tracks. The English version is less cohesive, with dialogue that sounds fragmentary and background interference. The Spanish track is clean and concise, without muffling, and the English Subs well written.

There is only one Extra feature for this film. Thankfully it’s a great one. "The Inconfessable Orgies of Jess," is A 17 minute interview with the man himself, featuring the rowdy, opinionated director in all of his enthusiastic wit and fury. Among the highlights are his verbal assaults against Just Jacekin and Sylvia Kristel and obvious love for his cast. His unpredictability and occasionally absurd opinions are undeniably evocative.

AND, for good measure, here are two reviews for a couple of our previous releases from B-Scared.com: Perversion Story and Immoral Women

Black Emanuelle reviews!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 16 Apr 2007 14:36:00 +0000

New review of Perversion Story from Turner Classic Movies, courtesy Lang Thompson.

And from 10K Bullets come this review for Black Emanuelle's Box:

"Severin Films Black Emanuelle box set is one of the most impressive collections of soft core erotica to find its way to a legit DVD release and this release is obviously a labor of love as they amount of restoration and extra content collected for this release for exceeded my expectations. Fans of sex goddess Laura Gemasr can now finally retire their worn out grey market versions of these films and replace them with Severin Films stunning box set."

and this one for Emanuelle Around the World (XXX European Version).

Black Emanuelle's Box in the Spotlight

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Mon, 09 Apr 2007 15:29:00 +0000

Black Emanuelle's Box is a highlight in "This Week in Sleaze" over at The Sleazegrinder. Who could ask for anything more?

Horrorview sends over reviews for Perversion Story and Black Emanuelle's Box.

New Emanuelle reviews!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 29 Mar 2007 12:24:00 +0000

Some cheeky reviews from William Simmons at SexGoreMutants for our new Emanuelle releases:

EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD (XXX Edition)

William P. Simmons

Joe D’Amato was a one man definition of exploitation throughout the 1970s -80s, crafting some of the genre’s most cynical, violent, and titillating films. Okay, sometimes he crafted shit sandwiches, but even these possessed enough energy and guts (and breasts and asses and innards) to make them of interest to exploitation fans. You are a fan of exploitation, aren’t you? Come see what Uncle Severin has for you. That’s right, one of the more sought after skin fests of papa Joe D‘Amato, intact with gorgeous women doing
dirty deeds on an even dirtier budget. Devoted to breaking taboos of cultural taste and aesthetic acceptance, D’Amato (a cinematographer-turned-director) soaked his minuscule budgeted portraits of physical carnage and excess in buckets of blood and gallons of cum, merging horror and eroticism (er, make that smut) long before it was a Hollywood cliché. Lacking the technological principles of Bava and the poetic lyricism of Argento, D’Amato was more interested in exploiting primal human hungers and fears than in developing subtle characterizations. And it shows in this sick puppy. Bloody spectacle was D’Amato’s meat and drink, and Gorehounds and sex fiends have always fed well on his excesses. Reveling in the intimate exploitation of such basic, animalistic human behaviors as violence and sex, D‘Amato found a perfect wedding of content and form in the Emmanuelle franchise, directing such perverse poems as Emanuelle in Bangkok, Emanuelle Goes Japanese, Emanuelle's Revenge, and Emanuelle in America. In Emanuelle Around the World, he indulges his taste for exploitation with sheer recklessness and joy, diving into sleaze with abandon as he drowns the exotic, earthy Laura Gemser into such down-and-dirty situations cinematic situations as prostitution,
snuff, etc. Severin rescues this delightfully demented homage to sex and slavery with a pristine transfer and intriguing extras, with the polished color and compositions arousing a disturbing contrast when compared against the grim imagery and sordid subject matter. Best of all, this is the film uncut as it was meant to be seen, garaun-fricken-teed to offend and arouse!

In a plot devoted to action rather than character, using Emanuelle’s character more as a sexual object that things happen to than a truly evolving character, Gemser’s walking testament to female sexuality is a bit misogynistic, and that’s okay, for despite the convincing tone of the atmosphere and situations, this is still a fantasy. Pain, perversion, and sexual ecstasy are heaped upon Gemser and pals as Emanuelle attempt to expose a ring of exploitation and exploitation. Traveling the world, she stops along her crusade against female degradation to suck, swallow, and cavort with various members of both genders. Exploring the treachery of male ran organizations that harm women, she meets George Eastman’s character in India only to discover that he possesses a talent for prolonged sexual pleasure. Progressing from this to a temple, she finds fresh meat in Brigitte Petronio, and rest assured D’Amato doesn’t miss a chance to pair these two together. Finally, reaching Rome, Emanuelle discovers Karin Schubert, who leads her to a white slavery ring, a vicious cartel of tyranny that she vows to destroy.

Emanuelle Around the World is one of the more shocking of the Emanuelle series, right up there with Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals and Emanuelle in America. Effective on an undeniably crass but immediate level, this is the kind of cinema that drips animal savagery and guilty pleasure -- exactly the type of subversive cinema that has moral police gasping in the isles (or masturbating in the closet). Following the formula of these films, this story includes the expected exotic locations, copious nudity, and occasional raunchy hardcore action desired. In fact, everything one could possibly want in an Emanuelle film is here --
globetrotting, sleazy sex, secret slave rings, and of course more sex! More importantly from a thematic standpoint, this entry examines the tension between sexual freedom and excess with abusive power. A theme that is mirrored by an unsettling orgy of violence and eroticism, porn and drama. This and the general enthusiasm of the film may even raise it above the typical Emanuelle outing.

Severin has quickly risen in the ranks of exploitation DVD, releasing classis and forgotten gems of sleaze, action, and horror in definitive transfers with enticing extras. While extras are absent in this disc per say, the film itself is the extra, revealing sexually extreme footage never before seen in the States, and never before on disk. While this statement will undoubtedly send those fan boys who spend way too much of their lives on message boards, the rest of us -- folks with lives outside the computer screen -- will simply be grateful to Sevrin for restoring this salacious slice of sleaze to its immoral glory. Ahh, the skin, the sin! Some of the naughty restored scenes of this “XXX European Edition” include: an all-woman Kama Sutra academy, Karin Schubert’s gang rape, more lesbian encounters (now, I ask you, how can this be anything but a good thing?!), sick games with animals (I don’t get the attraction here but apparently D’Amato did!), and U.S Senators
defiling women.

The quality of the materials here are surprisingly good, with little if any distortion of picture or sound. In fact, this may well be the flick has ever looked and sounded -- cliché to say but true. The 1.85:1 widescreen print is stunning when you think about the obscurity of the film and its history, clean and with little grain to speak of. Colors are bold and vibrant, and the flesh tones realistic. Imagery in general is sharp and pleasing. Audio is featured in Mono and Dolby Digital, harmoniously blending sound effects and score. Crisp without whispering or scratching, the audio tracks heighten the watching experience. All around, this is Emaneulle as you’ve always wanted to see her, being raw and dirty in a polished setting.

BLACK EMANUELLE’S BOX

William P. Simmons

A fleshy embodiment of lust, sexual anxieties, and exploitative adventure, the now notorious Emannuelle series celebrated the human expression of sexual hijinks in a manner both physically raw and emotionally intensive. It also rose more erections than Viagra, celebrating ‘classy’ filth, sleaze, and erotic adventure, often merging soft/hardcore porn with other bankable grade-B genres. The history of Emmanuelle as a series is itself noteworthy for the film buff. The phenomena began life as I, Emmanuelle (1969), starring Erika Blanc. But it wasn‘t until the 1975 version starring Sylvia Kristel that the series provoked moral outrage by embracing its X rating, enjoying its scandalous nature without apology. Several Kristel follow ups ensued, including the notable Emanuelle (2) (Joys of a Woman). At the same time other spin-offs were being made throughout Europe, most notably in Italy. After a few sequels, Kristel gave up her part, realizing that she was becoming older. It was the ‘Black Emanuelle’ films that found the most fanatic favor. These scandalous incarnations starred Luara Gemser, whose first involvement with the series saw her playing journalist Mary Jordan, known to her fans as just ‘Emanuelle’, in Emanuelle Nera (Black Emanuelle), directed by Albert Thomas. When D’Amato took over the series, retaining the name change (altering Emmanuelle to Emanuelle for legal reasons), the result was the attractive if uneven Emanuelle in Bankok. (1976). And whereas the
earlier stories revolved around a sexy young model encouraged by her photographer-husband to indulge her desires, the evolving series would come to embrace rape, incest, lesbianism, and -- cripes! -- bestiality.

Such graphic honesty encouraged raunchy sex and varying degrees of sadism, taking the Emanuelle character to increasingly queasy territory. Exploring practically every taboo known to man, each of these films, regardless of director or starlets, helped redefine the exploitation genre. Emanualle herself is both character and caricature, ‘type’ and ‘individual,’ and within her smoldering gaze, ripe flesh, and liberated nature is a shout for personal freedom. On a simpler note, these films are excuses to see women enjoyed as sexual animals, something that sounds offensive at first but which, after some thought, is precisely how nature intended men and women to use each other. The thematic elements and moods of each Emanuelle film reflects something of the cultural bias and taboos of the time in which it was produced. Thus we skip from tender school girl romps to harsh political satire, heavy petting sessions in brothels to torture shows of death and desire in snuff factories. Yet despite differences of quality or plot, one thing remains the same -- Emanuelle uses a careful, winning formula of sex and sleaze and adventure to peddle its starlet’s luscious wares. Despite the reams of social critique the careful viewer can identify, the main reason to watch these pictures is titillation, something which these films excel in . . . when they can be found in their appropriate uncut condition. For the first time ever, Severin, a champion of eroticism, presents three of the Emannuelle films in all their sleazy glory in Black Emanuelle’s Box, a three disk set that includes Emanuelle in Bangkok, Sister Emanuelle, and Emanuelle Around the World uncensored.

* * *

The first film, Emanuelle in Bangkok, is a heady stew of carnality and playful action. Directed by Aristide Maccaessi under his Joe D’ Amato byline, this entry is surprisingly restrained -- at least compared to the maestro’s other Gemser efforts. Forsaking the perversions and fetishistic violence that would color many of his other films, D’Amato still manages to invest enough skin and sin into the uneven narrative to warrant a look, especially for fans of the seductive Gemser who, as usual, plays both wide-eyed innocent and wild whore with strangely touching tenderness.

In the threadbare plot, which is at best simply a skeletal outline upon which to hang as many sex scenes as possible, journalist Emanuelle travels to the Orient where she wishes to interview a close relative of a King. Once there, she comes too close to official state secrets for her own good, and finds herself victimized by a frightening and wrathful system. When her hotel room is invaded and her passport stolen, she finds herself trapped in a friendless, exotic land. Worse she is left to the designs of a group of rapists who are agents of the corrupt government. Of course, this only heightens her powers of seduction, as she bumps and grinds her way out of danger in expected if highly provocative fashion.

Lacking the outrageousness of violence and depravity that fuels D’Amto’s best work, this chapter attempts to interweave both a personal and political storyline at the expense of both. A coup occurring in Bangkok and the turmoils/freedom of Emanuell’s relationship are slight threads upon which to drape the sexual content, and Gemser’s character struggling with free love doesn’t convince. Neither silly or fun spirited enough to be considered a typical soft-core romp nor horrific enough to be considered a genre outing (on par with Emmanuelle and the Cannibals, for instance), Emmanuelle in Bangkok is a rather unique contribution that exists outside easy labeling. Dealing somewhat sensitively with such issues as race, gender, and repression, Gemser’s character is still primarily milked for enticement and cheap thrills. Exploitation is the name of the game! In this the film delivers, offering up heated amounts of sex and a silly romance along the way. The general plot and theme creates a sense of friction between race and gender, love and ownership that encourage thought along with the usual goggling. Direction is competent if not stylish. An uneven ode to physical and emotional love, this film isn’t quite capable of evoking empathy in either the general story or characters, lacking the careful blend of physical titillation and emotional involvement required. On the other hand, it lacks the sadism and explicitness which one expects from D’Amato. Still, the title will be of definite interest to D’Amato fans, because it was his first hand at this series.

Featured in anamorphic Widescreen, Severin brings Emanuelle in Bangkok to us in a ratio of 1.85:1. The picture is wonderful considering the soft, hazy image of past releases. Visual integrity is maintained well throughout. Colors are bold and vibrant, skin tones realistic. The only mark of the film’s rarity and age are very few scratches that appear here and there, due, I expect, to the rough condition of the original print. Audio is superb, without distortion, bringing the melodic score into your living room with no fuss. Dolby Digital and Mono sound options are both clean and effective, although, surprisingly enough, the English track feels more natural.

* * *

SISTER EMMANUELLE

A scandalizing combination of Nunsploitation and the earthy sexuality successfully exploited by Gesmer in the series that forever burned her naked, brown skinned image in the hearts of fans the world over, Sister Emmanuelle is a celebration of sin and skin that never attempts to do more than entertain. It accomplishes this by focusing on fetishistic sensationalism and erotic laced action, largely ignoring any attempt at logical storytelling in favor of pure sensationalism. Never a series known for narrative coherency or dramatic aesthetics, this Emmanuelle entry adds to the established exploitative fervor the further element of the Catholic Sisterhood, delighting in the sexual deviancy and liberation imagined within a religious context. Severin’s treatment of this rarely seen Grindhouse goody is respectful and impressive, showing an impressive attention to detail and preservation.

In a plot devoted to cutting the meat from the gristle, Sister Emmanuelle gets to the sweat-and-cum basics with startling rapidity. When Emmanuelle (Laura Gemser) repents the sinful crimes of her past life, she enters a convent and dedicates herself to a life of service -- and, man, does she deliver! When Monica, the sexed up, free-loving nymphite arrives, Emmanuelle is given the task of caring for her. Problem is this daughter of a wealthy baron has appetites as big as her father, and Emmanuelle isn’t up to the moral task. Soon she allows herself to become swayed by the younger girl’s sexual abandon, and questions her own sexuality -- and in no time at all both clothes and inhibitions are shed!

Celebrating smooth curves and the sharing of vital bodily fluids, Sister Emmanuelle exchanges the traditionally tragic, emotionally shocking emphasis of the more effective Nunsploitation films for a more innocent tone and theme of sexual liberation. Largely ignoring the subversive themes of the sub-genre in favor of a surprisingly tender emphasis on relationships, love, and personal truth, the story focuses on Emanuelle’s earnest attempts to aid her fellow sisters while battling her own internal conflicts between flesh and vows. In other words, sex-soaked eye candy is wed to real drama. Lesbianism, grinding hips, and lusty girls in habits fill practically every frame, the visual spectacle reinforcing dramatic structure. While the Emmanuelle series is rarely recognized for its sensitive plots or the emotional resonance of its socially conscious themes -- the be all and end all for each film admittedly the amount of sexual lewdness and, in some cases, the violence injected within its formula -- this entry is determined to spin a real story with its
exploitative elements. Many Nunsploitation films emphasize some basic element of social injustice or hypocrisy in the tyrannical machinery of the Catholic Church but Sister Emanuelle does so more through its celebration of choice and devotion than through the violence usually resorted to. Giuseppe Vari doesn’t depend on the brutality or outrage of, say, either D’Amato’s Convent of Sinners or Bruno Mattei’s The Other Hell to evoke emotion, and one walks away enchanted rather than sordid, feeling as though he has watched an honest-to-God story, not simply skin. In addition, the physical beauty of the film cannot be denied. The earthen presence of the actresses is sure to be the deciding factor for sexploittaion fans, successful at capturing sexual tension and indulgence in her most heated moments.

Again we have a clean print of an underground film with little scratching, no grain, and realistic colors. Severin again preserves the 1.85:1 aspect ration (anamorphic compatible). Audio is in English and Italian with optional English Subs, which are easy to read. The Dolby and Mono tracks are easy on the ears without any distortions worth mentioning, making for another enjoyable movie experience.

* * *

EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD

Joe D’Amato was a one man definition of exploitation throughout the 1970s -80s, crafting some of the genre’s most cynical, violent, and morose films. Devoted to breaking taboos of cultural taste and aesthetic acceptance, this cinematographer-turned-director soaked his minuscule budgeted explorations of physical carnage and excess in blood and sex, merging horror and eroticism (or more often, plain old smut) long before it had become a Hollywood cliché to do so. Lacking the fine tuned technological principles of Bava and the poetic lyricism of Argento, D’Amato was admittedly more interested in exploiting primal human hungers and fears than in developing subtle characterizations. Bloody spectacle was his meat and drink, and on such grim pleasures as Blue Omego and Anthrophagus he fed well. Reveling in the intimate exploitation of such basic, animalistic human behaviors as violence, and sex -- and in such emotions as repulsion and desire -- D’Amato found a perfect franchise with which to spin his cum-drenched spectacles with Emmanuelle.
Massaccessi was responsible for not only Emanuelle in Bangkok but also Emanuelle goes Japanese, Emanuelle's Revenge, and Emanuelle in America. D’amato found in the seductive yet earthy Laura Gemser a physical embodiment for his aesthetic principle -- a living peep show -- whose mixture of raw sexuality and free-spirit he deftly (if with broad strokes) injected into down-and-dirty cinematic stories of prostitution, snuff films, and cannibalism. In Emanuelle Around the World, he indulges his taste for exploitation with
sheer recklessness and joy, diving into sleaze with characteristic (indeed, almost childlike) innocence. Severin rescues this delightfully demented homage to sex and slavery with a first rate transfer and intriguing extras, with the polished color and compositions arousing a disturbing contrast when compared against the grim imagery and sordid subject matter.

In a plot devoted more enticingly to contrasting moments of pain, perversion, and sexual ecstasy, this more engaging story finds Emanuelle attempting to penetrate and expose an all too real evil of exploitation and death. Traveling the world still again, she stops along her crusade against female degradation to suck, swallow, and cavort with various members of both genders. Exploring the treachery of male ran organizations that harm women, she meets George Eastman’s character in India only to discover that he has found the talent of prolonged sexual pleasure. Progressing from this to a temple, she finds fresh meat in Brigitte Petronio, and rest assured D’Amato doesn’t miss a chance to pair these two together. Finally, reaching Rome, Emanuelle discovers Karin Schubert, who leads her to a white slavery ring, a vicious cartel of tyranny that she vows to destroy.

If Sister Emanuelle is the most poetic entry in this series, than D’Amato’s Emanuelle Around the World is one of the most shocking. Effective on an undeniably crass, immediate level, this is the kind of cinema that drips animal savagery and pleasure, and exactly the type of subversive cinema that has moral police gasping in the isles -- while the rest of us are shouting with glee! Following the formula of all these films, this story includes the expected exotic locations, copious nudity, and occasional raunchy hardcore action. More importantly from a thematic standpoint, this entry examines the tension between sexual freedom and excess with abusive power. This theme is mirrored by an unsettling mixture of violence, eroticism, and drama that raises it above the typical Emanuelle outing.

Emanuelle Around the World is given a four star treatment, including a widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1, enhanced for anamorphic televisions. The picture quality is for the most part superb (as have been all the discs), with only a few scratches in the beginning to disturb the otherwise sparkling transfer. Again, colors and skin tones are effectively depicted, realistic and bright. Background details are easily discernible. Audio is in Dolby Digital and Mono English or Italian with optional English subtitles. These tracks are no less coherent and professionally rendered than the other two discs, doing their job well.

* * *

Even the packaging for Black Emanuelle’s Box is impressive, featuring a front flap that opens to reveal Laura Gemser in full frontal glory. Once Gemser’s box - ahem!- is opened, you’ll also find a package of color lobby cards printed on durable cardboard. Besides the obvious visual and audio technical quality, this set is worth obtaining for the bounty of extra materials. These supplements are informative and fun, including serious examinations at D’Amato, Gemser, and the Emanuelle phenomenon. Free of fluff, Severin’s supplementary material provides exciting and educational contexts for the films, encouraging greater appreciation. First up on this beaver hunt are the extras for Emanuelle in Bangkok, which features a rare interview/appearance with the Man himself in Joe D’Amato at Eurofest. This rare interview is divided into two sections: first big Joe weighs in on his career and the censors during his brief public appearance at Eurofest, wherein he was a featured speaker shortly before his death. D’Amato is in great form here as he jokes and takes things in stride. For a more informative chat, the second portion -- a set-down chat -- really delivers, exploring his subject matter preferences, goals, and opinions on both his own work and the genre at large. This is an engaging feature, painting a portrait of the director as a professional and craftsman, rounded out with brief glimpses of David Warbeck, Ingrid Pitt, and Catrinia MacColl. A “Theatrical Trailer’ for the feature follows.

The second disk, Sister Emanuelle, sports another salacious ‘Theatrical Trailer’ and four “Deleted and Alternate Scenes.” These latter offer tantalizing glimpses of skin and hardcore action. While hardly necessary, this footage adds more smut for the buck. Severin saves the best for last, including the most impressive supplements in the 102 minute softcore version of Emanuelle Around the World (their XXX version is sold separately). “Black Emanuelle’s Groove: An Interview With Composer Nico Fidenco” is a revealing, personable discussion with this musician. This segment revolves around the composer’s work and inspiration, from his early days composing the soundtrack for In A Colt’s Shadow to his first interactions with Bitto Albertini and Ennio Morricone. This is a short history of the genre, in the Emanuelle series, and includes personal remembrances and analysis of his work. Finely conducted and balanced, this interview depicts its subject as a professional devoted to his craft. The Theatrical Trailer is next, but you may not have time for it, wanting to grab straight for the crowning piece of this box set -- “Getting Down with Black Emanuelle,” which features Nico Fidenco’s score! This 20 track score is alone a collectible item, containing music from a variety of Emanuelle’s distinct moods and encounters, with soaring wind-pipes, blistering drums, and exotic harmonies evoking images of palm infested jungles, palace orgies, and a freedom of spirit most delicious. A wonderful, appropriate way to honor the films and their fans! Wonderful films, inventive packaging, and insightful extras. Buy it, watch it, and listen to it with someone you want to mount, baby!

Perversion Story reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 21 Mar 2007 13:58:00 +0000

Here's a new review of Lucio Fulci's Perversion Story courtesy of PopSyndicate.

And from DVD Talk, Glenn Erickson is cool on the movie but loves the presentation.

Black Emanuelle's Box Set coming soon!

Reviews!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Mar 2007 11:34:00 +0000

Here's a new collection of reviews for some of our titles, starting with:

Perversion Story:

10K Bullets take on Lucio Fulci's Perversion Story.

And an in-depth discussion over at the "I'm in a Jess Franco State of Mind" blog.

Immoral Women:

DVD Verdict's review of Immoral Women.

10K Bullets review of Immoral Women.

DVD Drive-In's review of Immoral Women (a bit mixed, but he still dug it pretty well!)

And two more from Pop Syndicate and Scoopy.org

For Private Collections, here are reviews from:

DVD Maniacs

DVD Drive-In

Pop Syndicate

And at Senses of the Cinema, Scott Murray gives us this article about the filmmaker himself: "Re-engaging with Life: Walerian Borowczyk’s Lost Film, “L’Armoire”"

Perversion Story review

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 17:32:00 +0000

Here's a great little review of Perversion Story from William P. Simmons from SexGoreMutants:

PERVERSION STORY

William P. Simmons

From the suggestive, atmospheric supernatural terrors
of its Gothic 'Golden' period in the 1960s to the
psycho-sexual paranoia and stylish slayings of the 70s
Giallo, Italian Horror has challenged established
rules of social acceptability, storytelling tradition,
and cultural conscience. Whether examining the
fog-shrouded corridors of warped minds and decadent
ancestral estates or digging deep into the steaming viscera so crucial to the meaty marvels of the later Zombie and Cannibal opuses, Italian horror shares an intimacy to both sheer sensationalism and mature psychological suspense. This unique combination of paradoxically related graphic violence and emotional terror was embodied in Lucio Fulci, one of the genres most maligned yet talented directors.

A poet of the perverse who delighted in peeling back the raw exterior of existence, Fulci defied the knee-jerk philosophy of traditional conservative
cinema, employing ultra-violent examinations of the flesh and the surreal to study the chaotic bleakness and decay lurking below the crust of politely restrained society. With a camera lavishing loving detail on decay and the supernatural, Fulci displayed in his lengthy if erratic career the ability to force audiences weaned on the laughably rigid morality of Hollywood to investigate new possibilities of physical corruption, emotional lethargy, and spiritual
decadence – themes largely ignored by directors who lacked the nerve or aesthetic sense required to treat the macabre in any other sense than playfully. Fulci explored the fragile dimensions of the human psyche before he probed the soft underbelly of the flesh.

Investing the Giallo with grim believability and social vivisection, Fucli tackled the 'Love Me' generation of the 70s with Lizard In A Woman's Skin, investigating the hallucinatory conflict between the desires and fears of the subconscious. And before he exposed the scandalous exual perversion of the Catholic Church in Don't Torture A Duckling, Fulci was lending his unique sensibilities to the Giallo/thriller format with One On Top Of The Other, a surprisingly sensitive and uniquely 'understated' murder mystery. Lacking the gore and hyper violence that would characterize the best of his later work, and missing the surreal atmosphere dependent on the fantastical situations that would breath such malignance into films like The Beyond, this film already exhibited the director's disenchantment with the human race. Important as a first rate who-done-it, this suspense gem is also an essential example of the director's ability to create an complex, emotionally involving story when granted the proper screenplay. Released under the French title Perversion Story by Severin -- a company quickly building one of the most unique DVD catalogues for devotees of exploitation and horror -- this crime thriller makes up for in emotional involvement what it lacks in visual excess.

An effective variation of the traditional 'insurance scam'/murder frame-up narrative pattern often utilized in classical noir, Perversion Story is lent energy and emotional resonance by Fulci's sure compositions and character sympathy. The story follows brothers George and Henry Dumurrier, both of which who run a private clinic and make false promises about their medical procedures to generate publicity and income. Balancing an affair and work with Susan's (his ill wife's) emotional demands, George allows her sister to tend to her physical needs. Deep in an affair with Martham the cheating wife of a business associate, George's complicated life worsens when he receives a call informing him of Susan's death -- followed by the discovery that he is the beneficiary of an insurance policy he wasn't aware of. It doesn't take the police long to suspect him of her murder. Later, patronizing a night club, he and Martha are fascinated by Monica Weston, a mysterious blonde who resembles his dead wife. Opening a sexual relationship with the mystery woman, George discovers that Susan's body had traces of poison found in it, and he is formally charged with murder. As the net of frame-ups, blackmail, and betrayals tightens around him, George and the insurance company fight to discover the truth behind a case of murder and hidden identity. If he is to save himself from certain death, and gain peace of mind, George must locate the elusive mystery women to whom he has given his heart, and prove his innocence.

A filmmaker whose defiance of authority was as striking as the blood-and-sex drenched images layering amoral splatter-ballets of nihilism and wonder, Fulci is perhaps best known for the gleefully excessive gut-muncher Zombie (1979). Often (and quite erroneously) referred to as a "rip-off" of George A. Romero's hugely successful Dawn Of The Dead, the grand guignol of Zombie was an international sensation that paved the way for a quick succession of atmospheric
exercises in brutal surrealism, resulting in a Fulcian Golden Period, which included City Of The Living Dead (1980), The Black Cat (1981), The Beyond (1981), and House By The Cemetery (1981). Despised by censors, reviled by proponents of 'subtle' terror, and victim to the political/economical factions of his native film industry, Fulci was also betrayed by the intensity of his own thematic obsession with decay, moral corruption, and the questionable integrity of perception -- the very tool by which we define reality and one's place in a larger spiritual and physical context of an often malignant universe. Fulci crafted in his unrepentantly somber, inspired cinematic fragments a geography of fear, grue, and isolation. In the chaotic center of triumphant decay, moral ambiguity, and rampant sexuality, Fulci's vision imbued his own particular fetishistic visions of earthly decadence and supernatural speculation with a
philosophic vitality unavailable in the crude pseudo-documentaries of his countrymen or the uninspired Drive-In fodder of American cinema.

If Fulci's 'Zombie Quartet' continues to win him fans for their atmosphere, ultra violence, and nihilistic vision, his Giallos best represent him as a storyteller. Fans accustomed to the director's surrealistic visual approach -- and the disjointed scripts emphasized in his dark fantasies -- will be surprised by the complex, psychologically naturalistic suspense of Perversion Story. Fulci's Gialli are suspenseful as a result of their wit and careful scaffolding of suggestively telling events, not dependent on special effects or spectacle. Each is anchored by realism and believability, particularly his first. A traditional mystery thriller at first glance, Perversion Story is a character study of lust, greed, and guilt saved from mediocrity by an intelligent screenplay and Fucli's intimate understanding of moral corruption. Mell is the seductive highlight of the story, a Fem Fatal radiating needy yet deadly femininity. Equal parts chilly and soft, victim and victimizer, Mell is believable as an individual while also serving as an archetype for sexual enticement in general. Lover, mother, bitch: she is the typical Fulci female. (in this light she can also be seen, for those caring to look below the surface, as a symbol of the mythic triple goddess). For the lions share of its running time, 'Una Sull altra' is an exquisitely crafted thriller that never seems less than real in its depressing intent and erotic fury. The camera work -- from Alejandro Ulloa -- compliments Fulci's splendid direction, and the erotic underpinnings of Marisa Mell is an engaging contrast to the subtle performance delivered by Jean Sorrel.

Better known as One On Top of The Other, and often appearing on collector's gray market dupes, Severin's release of Perversion Story represents the first time that the film has appeared in the English market proper. A labor of love, the film is treated with respect and affection, and the company should be praised for its devotion to such a rare yet significant piece of Italian cinema. Compared to other VHS prints, this is a thing of beauty, both in presentation and the decision to include extra erotic footage. And while some question exists as to its completeness -- a fact that has some genre message boards crying foul -- it should be noted that Severin itself comes right out and TELLS prospective buyers that this is the French theatrical cut of the film. In fact, this is what their website reads:

"Thought to have been lost for more than 35 years, this is the French theatrical cut newly transferred from the Parisian negative element containing salacious scenes never before seen in any English language release. In France the film was released under the title Perversion Story even though it carries the Italian title card Una Sull'Altra and is an alternate edit from the US and UK releases we know as One On Top Of The Other."

Did we all see that? Good. This is "an alternate edit from the US and UK releases." Therefore whether or not scenes from gray market Italian or English versions isn't pertinent. Severin presents the French version of Perversion Story on English DVD for the first time ever, having rescued several moments of sexual intensity. Those few moments of exposition or character dialogue that exist in varying forms and lengths in other prints add little to an appreciation or understanding of the feature.

The picture quality for One On Top Of The Other is sumptuous! Easily the best this film has ever looked. Definitions are superb, the picture clean and concise. Colors are sharp and full-bodied. While very little lines and dirt are present, they are rarely evident, and in no manner reduce the enjoyment of the picture. No speckling or grain is noticeable. Audio is feature din both Italian language and English, and is just as professional, thankfully lacking the usual distortion that appears in rare titles. While the English track is nicely done, the Italian option is recommended for a purer feel of the experience, taking greater advantage of the wonderful score.

If the visual and audio presentation of this film is admirable, the extras are superb (if scant), thanks to the inclusion of the film's complete score! While not as evocative or moody as Fabio Frizzo's music for The Beyond or City of the Living Dead, Riz Ortoiani's compositions are unique orgies for the ears, reaching various emotional dimensions with cool stands of jazz. A collectible item, this CD is a major find, and is alone worth the price of admission. The other extra is the lengthy English trailer, which is full of spoilers, so watch after the feature.

Controversy and Good Reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Wed, 07 Feb 2007 18:12:00 +0000

So the Hollywood machine continues to dictate what we, as adult consumers, are and are not allowed to look at.

NO LOVE FOR LEPUS

From Severin Films:

One day following its heralded release, a prominent US retailer has unceremoniously returned all copies of IMMORAL WOMEN due to what has been reported as its ‘offensive’ packaging. Despite the fact that the cover art replicates imagery used on its 1979 theatrical posters, morally sensitive folk at the chain found the suggestive shots of bunny-lust to be too much for their customers. We are currently investigating how this will affect the immediate release of IMMORAL WOMEN and may be forced to consider a toned-down cover for future pressings. We’ll keep you posted.

In other puritan news, the facility that creates our subtitles today ejected both the regular X Rated and XXX Rated European cuts of EMANUELLE AROUND THE WORLD from their facility due to ‘inappropriate content’. We’re now searching for a subtitle house with less of an aversion to Mr. D’Amato’s unique vision and hope this does not necessitate a delay in the 3/27 street date of BLACK EMANUELLE’S BOX.

We're getting a lot of support from fans and reviewers out there, as evidenced, for example, by CHUD.

***

But rather than dwell on the negative, we made it into the Week in Sleaze again: read it HERE.

10K Bullets says of Private Collections: "Severin Films have done an amazing job bringing another classic erotica film to DVD with their solid DVD presentation and handful of interesting extras."

And of Immoral Women: "Immoral Woman is another classic tale of erotica from Walerian Borowczyk and now it can be appreciated in all of its glory via Severin Films exquisite DVD release."

And here's a very positive review for our Private Collections DVD from our good pal William Simmons:

PRIVATE COLLECTIONS

William P. Simmons

In 1979 three of the world's most stylish, intellectually independent erotic filmmakers were invited by French producer Pierre Braunberger to produce a monumental erotic collection of fantasies. Just Jaeckin (Emmanuelle), Walerian Borowczyk (The Beast) and Shuji Terayama (Fruits of Passion) each drew upon cultural taboos, private obsessions, and a host of fetishistic desires to direct a loosely bound anthology of sin and sensibility with an aura of
supernatural tension and fantasy. The results were as emotionally scathing and poetic as they were rawly erotic, merging the primal instincts of the flesh with
the loftier ideals of liberation and consciousness. Appearing for the first time complete in the US, Severin Films presents this ode to sexual titillation
and the surreal transferred from the original negatives, and gives devotees of erotica and European cult films a reason to celebrate!

The first entry is also the most surprising and immediately satisfying, working on the senses and intellect rather like a Strindberg ‘dream’ play as a
misleadingly simplistic narrative undermines our sense of logic and expectation ... from within. “L'île aux sirènes," filmed by Just Jaeckin (having made a name for himself with Emmanuelle), casts the always exotic Laura Gemser as a siren-like nymph inhabiting an island with her lovely -- and hungry! -- sisters. When a shipwrecked sailor (Roland Blanche) drifts to the island after falling overboard a sail ship, his struggle to survive is interrupted by ghostly, fleeting glimpses of lovely dark skin blinking in the sunshine. Before you know it, he’s caught Gemser, they frolic in the surf, and he’s brought to a gathering of other naked ladies. For a brief time, this lucky fellow roots and wallows paradise,
worshipped and fed, given sexual access to one and all. No good thing last forever, though, and he soon discovers the lady’s interesting dietary habits. What began as a wet dream threatens to become a chunk-blowing nightmare. Disturbing and graphic in scenes, this is an expressionistic riff on the cannibal and femme fatal theme that only loses steam -- and contradicts its own beauty -- by the trite plot device at the end.

Next up is a visual piece of skin poetry by Japanese director Shuji Terayama. "Kusa-Meiku" may be the most bizarre, visually challenging examination of danger and sexual obsession in the collection, featuring a young naïve village boy haunted/sexually provoked by an insane neighbor. The boy’s mother strives to warn him against/protect him from this woman, going to extremes to isolate him. The boy suffers himself to bondage and pain to distract him from the sexual
allure of his neighbor, but her hunger -- and the secrets she seems to harbor-- overcome his reluctance, and a bizarre history/relationship are revealed amidst
such surreal images as severed heads, nightmarishly large spiderwebs, and demonic manifestations. A chaotic symbiosis of sex and the fantastic, this
erotic warning breathes with the dark foreboding of a horror story, and is simply mind blowing in its intensity and blitzkrieg of images.

The last title, while not as rich thematically (nor as inventive), is just as beautiful to look at. Borowczyk's "L'Armoir" further suggests that director’s eye for startling imagery and the sexually chagred possibilities of the past. Taken from the ingenious pen of author Guy De Maupassant (whose best, most disturbing work came near the end of his life in an insane asylum) is a slice of mood, depending more on the establishment of mood than on narrative structure. A meeting between a prostitute (Conti) and her rather wealthy client (Maurin) are used as coat racks upon which to hang the director’s obsession with weird, lush images. Plot development is largely cast aside. But that won’t matter for devotees of this man’s work, who will thrill to such visions as a carousel filled with call girls.

Unapologetic, irreverent, and energetic, these directors were each highly skilled, individualistic visionaries. Renowned as much by devoted fans as they are reviled by mainstream critics, their work confuses and irritates, challenging conceptions with over-the-top visual excess, fetish imagery, and a
dream-logic that subverts rationalism. Often there is no attempt at logic, and these filmmakers defy the traditional narrative role of the storyteller, becoming instead surrealistic painters of celluloid madness, scattering joyfully amoral visions across beaten and bendable flesh. Flesh is featured in all of its pleasures and deviancy, as people -- primarily women -- are celebrated as playthings, conquests, and finally threats. These cinematic examinations of lust and joy, pleasure and pain are equal parts seduction and fanaticism, juxtaposing the liberation of sexual freedom with the emotional entrapment that accompanies
all physical expression.

Even the least successful of these pieces are akin to a sexual form of terrorism, attacking us where we feel most safe, raising hell with cinematic conventions,
challenging personal expectations, and obliterating established ideals of morality. They are as pleasurable as they are eye opening. In this, the film is as much philosophically rooted art as it is daringly exploitative. Even in those few movies where genius is replaced by lethargy, an uneven albeit intriguing sense of chaotic brilliance remains. Thankfully, this enthusiasm and subversive perception often imbues excessively erotic period splendor with timeless themes. More importantly, a thoughtful subtext throbs beneath the erections and panting
bosoms, lending a satisfyingly emotional and intellectual subtext to the scintillating sex.

Though visual quality changes according to director and segment, the quality of the disc itself is commendable, particularly in the first and second chapters, where colors are bold and sensual, merging fantasy with stark realism, and flesh tones rendered convincingly. Featured in 1.66:1, this is perhaps the best the film will ever look on DVD. Audio features original French and Japanese soundtracks with optional English subs. Also on hand is an alternate,
partially-English-dubbed soundtrack. Of the two, the first track offers the best comprehension and quality. Extras for Private Collections include a tempting
theatrical trailer, director bios, and an interview with Jaeckin, wherein he discusses his career in general with specific mentions of Gemser, the film at
hand, etc.

The reviews are rolling in - everyone loves those IMMORAL WOMEN!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 01 Feb 2007 20:51:00 +0000

First up, two nice reviews for Immoral Women and Private Collections from Rock'n Roll Purgatory.

A true honor: Immoral Women was mentioned in Paul Gaita's "This Week in Sleaze" over at the Sleazegrinder site.

Peter Sobczynski serves up the cleverly-titled "Jess One of Those Things" to review Macumba Sexual and Mansion of the Living Dead over at EFilmcritics.com.

The January 26th episode of The Dead Pit featured the good ol' boys taking on Macumba Sexual.

And here's a review for Immoral Women from one of our favorite buddies, William Simmons from SexGoreMutants:

IMMORAL WOMEN
William P. Simmons

Walerian Borowczyk proved himself as capable of investigating the internal nature of men and women as he was their sexual adventures -- often with the same scandalous and poetic depth. Many of his films expose a deep, abiding interest in not only raw earthly pleasures but also the psychological processes -- the needs and hungers and fears -- that lead up to them.

In Immoral Tales, he traced the struggle of lusty individuals for freedom. In Immoral Women, he continues this theme, mirroring the joyful, natural decadence of sexual passion with the visually surreal. Capturing women in a variety of situations (both sexual and political), he is careful to depict sex as both a pleasure and power struggle, weapon and toy. In the meantime, he also has much to say about the evolving, often treacherous nature of emotional love,
gender wars, and the hypocrisy of the church -- smut with a conscience! Bororwczyk’s cultural criticism can’t be ignored, as his scathing condemnation of church and state are as evident and bold as the naked flesh in his frames. This is particularly true in Immoral Women, wherein deception and the search for profit is often revealed as just another dimension of sex, which is surly as emotional as it is a physical act.

Following in the long line of anthology formats revolving around a similar theme or unifying thread, Immoral Women is a collection of four small films that examine the taboo desires of a quartet of erotically charged, intelligent and quite resourceful women. Going boldly where others feared to tread, Borowczyk features a carnal catalogue of depravities both visually provoking and thematically taboo. Ranging from the simply lurid to the bestial, the tone of each
chapter is informed by the nature of the particular passion explored. Therefore danger stands alongside enticement, the forbidden with the sexually explicit. Mood and emotion never take second place to the exploitation of bare flesh. The driving desires behind each of the luscious ladies, and the psychological obsessions from which they stem, connect the salacious images to emotional themes that lend deeper meaning to what would otherwise simply be a
simplistic (if good looking) fetishistic catalogue of sex acts. While honest emotional drives and literary themes enhance the sexual obsessions, imagery takes precedence over plot, for they are not traditionally plotted narratives so much as flashes of emotion and insight, sexual revelations closer to the epiphany stories of a smut-peddling James Joyce than a traditionalist story teller.

The first episode is Margherita, centering around Marina Pierro, the daughter of a baker sexually pursued by an artist and moneylender. Loving a local tradesman, she allows herself to become an object of devotion for a painter, enticing both him and the moneylender Bini to get what she wants. This Chaucer-like plot descends into exploitative intrigue tempered by a poetic storm of sensual imagery and stark contrasts between tone, ranging from the dramatic to the cartoonish. Flesh and art, the human body and architecture, are merged into an uneven if eventful whole in this parable of lust and love. A riot of color and bawdy humor, certain scenes border on the surreal, and the fragmented storyline and funhouse atmosphere only add to the joyous feeling of chaos. This episode is a celebration of sexuality at once both enticing and artfully restrained, appealing as much to the brain as to the libido.

The second entry, Marceline, is also the most infamous, centering around a voluptuous young thing who has developed a strange, naughty bond with her pet bunny. While words alone do little service to the unsettling and rather insane premise, suffice it so say that this isn’t a film to show the kiddies at Easter! A rather troubling piece of celluloid, this scene alone begs for comment, and is in itself worth the price of admission. Equally shocking and tender, this outrageous, inappropriate scene easily leads to questions of moral conscience and where one’s own tastes and preferences stand. No matter where you weigh in, that scene, and the story as a whole, is a brazen, thoughtful work of, yes, art, calculated and executed so as to arouse thought -- and more than a few chuckles.

Marie, the final entry, can’t help but disappoint after the twisted imagery and scandalous nods of the first two stories. More of a parody of sexuality than a tale proper, the brief episode feels uncompleted and immature compared with the rest. Still, the sly winks and humor -- and the imagistic flourishes -- redeem it, allowing us to appreciate its simplistic good humor. Modern France is the setting, drenching the frames with style and a bustling, riotous sense of life. When Marie (Pascale Chrisophe) is kidnapped by a blackmailer and held for ransom, her husband attempts to humor her captor. Proving ineffectual, the husband is upstaged by the family dog, and his canine rescue pays off in unexpected ways. Yet anothernod to a fetishistic interest in intimacy between animals and humans, the humor keeps the tone light, again arousing both a sense of disorientation, disgust, and awe.

Condemned as a pornographer by self-appointed culture warriors and loved by the faithful few who shared his child-like delight in human sexual expression, many critics and fans simply didn’t understand either this director’s stories or his style. A shame, considering he offers so much both visually and subject wise. His individualistic approach to art, combining the profane with the pornographic, also combines the philosophical with the visceral. His fetishistic fables evoke raw sensationalism with emotional urgency, finding the intimate in the universal and the cosmic in such animalistic acts as copulation. Walking a tight-rope between exploitation and sensitive characterization, Borowczyk’s best work occupies its own dimension -- somewhere between scandalous smut and intellectual challenge. In any case, he is never less than enthralling, and even those who can’t embrace his cinematic style or choice of content can appreciate his daring and artistic sensibility.

Awe, eroticism, passion, and humor are embraced throughout. The sexual symbolism and thematic subtext suggest the idolatry and sexual relationship implicit/suggested in the external mechanics of external behavior on one hand, and the primal organic simplicity of the sexual act on the other . . . Or maybe this is simply avant garde smut, featuring bunny loving and doggy favors in a poetic manner as the director pours mood and style into unique compositions. Each of the three chapters merge sexual explicitness with philosophic integrity. At best, these visions challenge our current or previously gleaned perceptions about the nature of reality, ourselves, and the curious relationship between the body and the mind -- no small feat for a film where a girl who gets it on with a bunny! The sexual levels of each piece are clearly above average softcore fluff yet the sex acts are never captured with the penetration or simplicity of pornography. Style pours from every frame, and while undeniably erotic, the lush coloring schemes and framing shots -- as well as the uneasy elegance of the settings -- combine to
achieve emotion, not simply erections. While the obvious focus on sex occasionally distracts from potentially more interesting themes, Borowczyk manages to depict self-satisfied humanity as nothing more or less than an animal, ruled by instinctive drive and pleasure.

Severin treats Immoral Women with the dedication one would expect a major company to lavish on Citizen Kane. Simply put, this is a gorgeous transfer from the original negative, clear and crisp with minor grain and distortions that probably originated from the film itself, not the transfer. The 16x9 enhanced video transfer sports highly defined color schemes, retaining the beauty of flesh tones and natural skies alike. A far cry from the dubs and fourth generation
copies making the rounds, this version is uncensored and considerably clean. Audio is just as proficient, offered in French language with optional English subs as well as a dubbed English option! Kudos for going the extra mile in this as in so many other aspects for this significant release of one of the cinema’s most original, misunderstood, yet consistently engaging poets of carnality and liberation. The soundtrack can be played in the original French with optional
subtitles or a not-bad English dub track. Extras include a thorough Borowzcyk bio by Richard Harland Smith and the evocative European theatrical trailer.

Extras, while slight, are worth spending time with -- unlike many people you may know. First off is a brief, concise, and routinely informative bio by Richard Harland Smith. Getting to the skinny of the director with panache, this is a splendid introduction to the auteur. The only other extra is a trailer, that flashes by with the elegiac splendor of a dream -- fluid and invigorating!

Black Emanuelle News and some new reviews

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 23 Jan 2007 18:20:00 +0000

Severin Films is proud to announce Black Emanuelle’s Box – a limited edition collection!

“Superhumanly sexy… Laura Gemser is a honey-dipped cup of juicy java goodness!” – Mr. Skin.

The breathtakingly beautiful Laura Gemser stars as the infamous sexual adventuress in these three erotic epics now on DVD for the first time ever in America:

Emanuelle in Bangkok – Emanuelle prowls the steamy underbelly of the Thai city on an odyssey of opium orgies, depraved Republicans and flying ping-pong balls.

Sister Emanuelle – Emanuelle renounces her wanton ways and joins a convent for wayward schoolgirls, only to face temptation from some very unholy sins of the flexh.

Emanuelle Around the World – In director Joe D’Amato’s notorious jaw-dropper, Emanuelle uncovers a global conspiracy of enslaved women, kinky senators and inappropriate uses for exotic pets. A.K.A. The Degradation of Emanuelle, this DVD is newly transferred from the original negative featuring never-before-seen footage! This is the first time this DVD has ever been available in America.

BONUS CD: Getting Down with Black Emanuelle – an all-new compilation of remastered soundtrack music—long out of print—by composer Nico Fidenco. This Collector’s Edition four-disc set will be limited to only 4000 units and will never be offered in this format ever again. Set extras include the featurette of Joe D’Amato at Eurofest, the “Groove Featurette” with composer Nico Fidenco, deleted scenes and theatrical trailers. The collection will also boast six collectible color postcards of poster art from around the world.

Pre-order Black Emanuelle’s Box by March 2. The collection streets on March 27 for an S.R.P. of $69.95.

Now, some reviews for our latest releases:

DVD Maniacs delivers accolades for Immoral Women.

Four stars for Macumba Sexual from B-scared.com and More praise from the Inzomniac's Madness Review.

And THESE from Popsyndicate:

Once Upon A Girl
http://www.popsyndicate.com/index.php/site/story/once_upon_a_girl/

Macumba Sexual
http://www.popsyndicate.com/index.php/site/story/macumba_sexual/

Mansion of the Living Dead
http://www.popsyndicate.com/index.php/site/story/mansion_of_the_living_dead/

More coming very soon!

New news and reviews for 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Tue, 09 Jan 2007 19:00:00 +0000

Welcome to 2007!

Let's start off with this positive review of Mansion of the Living Dead from B-Scared.com.

Speaking of everyone's favorite Franco, eFilmcritics is hosting a give-away for Macumba Sexual and Mansion. Check it out here.

(In case you're curious as to what these wonderful films might be about, look no further than the news posted here on The Horror! The Horror!

B-Scared.com comes through again with this review for Once Upon A Girl.

And here's a little quote about Once Upon A Girl from Bill Garcia at The Web of Fear: "ONCE UPON A GIRL [has] the smutty charm of being something truely odd. It has that "grindhouse", scuzzy streets of New York feel to it, andyou never forget that you are watching something innovative. Since this is a feature that was produced by animators of children's cartoons, there is that other worldly weirdness and humor associated with it."

More news and wonderful weirdness coming in January, including Private Collections and Immoral Women!

noreply@blogger.com (Anonymous) — Thu, 07 Dec 2006 21:25:00 +0000

Welcome to the official blog for Severin Films! Feel free to visit our official site as well for more information.

Right now, we'd like to take a few minutes to tell you about our latest release, Once Upon a Girl:

"A completely memorable viewing experience highly recommended for any viewer who believes they have seen absolutely everything!! A bonafide exploitation gem and a recommended purchase!" – DVD Drive-In

UNCUT, UNCENSORED & INCREDIBLY UNSUITABLE FOR CHILDREN!

Once upon a time, a group of frustrated yet dirty-minded Hollywood animators led by writer/director Don Jurwich—famed artist and producer for The Flintstones, Josie & The Pussycats and Scooby-Doo—forever scandalized the cartoon community with this immoral mix of live-action and extremely adult animation...and nearly destroyed their careers!

When a lewd old lady claiming to be Mother Goose (an outrageous cross-dressing performance by Hal Smith, best known as `Otis The Drunk' from The Andy Griffith Show) is put on trial for obscenity, she introduces a series of filthy fairy tales filled with nymphomania, bestiality and an eye-popping cavalcade of cartoon perversion. Where did Jack really stick his magic beanstalk? How did Cinderella find fun while waiting for her Prince to come? Who truly tried to eat Little Red Riding Hood? And what kind of sick freak is the 8th dwarf, Pimpy? Severin Films is shamelessly proud to present this infamous milestone of sleazy `70's animation in which everybody lives happily (and hornily) ever after!

Once Upon a Girl is Severin Film's Fritz the Cat—only naughtier (if you can wrap your head around that!)

"A funny and uniquely seventies cartoon that should, thanks to this fine home video release, find its place alongside other more risqué animated
movies of the era like Fritz the Cat or even Heavy Metal." – DVD Maniacs

"Once Upon A Girl is nothing less than a slap-your-knee, laugh-out-loud-jerk-fest (not that way, you pervert!), and an occasion worth celebrating for devotees of adult and exotic cartoons. Courtesy of those warped, wonderful lunatics at Severin Films comes the Grand-Dad of dirty—make that filthy!—animation. Severin is quickly becoming a fan favorite, unearthing rare cult film favorites and restoring them with precision and care." – Sex-Gore-Mutants

"What could have been a charmless and disgusting little film actually turns out to be a witty adult version of Jay Ward's Fractured Fairy Tales, with surprisingly lush background paintings. (You'll never believe how beautiful a witch's porno show can look.) Much like the adult version of Alice In Wonderland, this is a fun tacky porno for the whole family." - Bad Movie Planet

“I have seen films that would raise the neck hairs of an ordinary filmgoer, perhaps even lead them to destructive deeds. In other words, I'm not that easily surprised or unnerved by most grotesqueries captured on film. And then I met Once Upon a Girl. for those who find bumpin' and grindin' cartoons even remotely erotic, here's your Citizen Kane." - Louis Fowler, The Rocky Mountain Chronical.