MCBASTARD'S MAUSOLEUM: Russ Meyer's BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRAVIXENS (1979) (Severin Films Blu-ray Review + Screenshots)

Russ Meyer's

BENEATH THE VALLEY OF THE ULTRAVIXENS (1979)

Label: Severin Films

Region Code: Region-Free

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 93 Minutes 2 Seconds

Audio: English DTS-HD MA 2.0 Dual-Mono with Optional English

Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.85:1)

Director: Russ Meyer

Cast: Francesca ‘Kitten’ Natividad, Uschi Digard, Ann Marie, June Mack, Candy Samples, Russ Meyer

Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens (1979) was the final theatrical film by naughty-auteur Russ Meyer, co-written by none other than the late film critic Roger Ebert (Beyond the Valley of the Dolls). This tells the tale of Small Town U.S.A., and is narrated by Stuart Lancaster (SuperVixens) who introduces the inhabitants of said small town and pops up throughout the film narrating the ribald events. The main couple here are Lamar (Ken Kerr, Up!), a junkyard employee who is taking correspondence classes, which seems to take up all his time, much to the dismay of his super-horny lust-filled wife Lavonia (Kitten Natividad, Another 48 Hrs). She craves sexual gratification but he's too busy with his nose buried in a book to pay much attention to her sexual needs. When she forces the issue he ends up forcing her into anal, which she dislikes, and afterwards she kicks him in the balls for it. It seems that Lamar is anal-obsessed and is none too interested in taking his wife face-to-face vaginally so to speak. Unhappy with her married sex life Lavonia resorts to chasing after a well-hung teen named Rhett (Steve Tracy, Little House on the Prairie) who she initially attacks and rapes at a swimming hole, then moving onto a garbage truck driver named Mr. Peterbuilt (Patrick Wright, Frightmare), and even a bug-eyed travelling salesman who shows up on her doorstep.

Eventually Lavonia adopts a secondary identity as Mexican stripper named Lola Langusta at a strip club frequented by her husband. When he shows up there he is none the wiser that the striptease he's watching is his own dang wife. During the performance she ends up drugging his beer, taking him back to a hotel room and blowing him until he gets an erection and finally getting some proper vaginal sex, but oddly using a black sock over his cock in the process. When the drugs wear off he flees thee scene across the rooftop rather that servicing his wife's front door. Later his big-tittied boss at the scrapyard, Junkyard Sal (June Mack), coerces him into having sex with her by holding his job over his head, they engage in all manner of sexual positions, eventually getting around to his preferred anal penetration, but the sex session is interrupted by peeping tom co-workers Beau (Don Scarbrough) and Tyrone (Aram Katcher, The Right Hand of the Devil), the latter of whom comes across as a ort of junkyard Peter Loree. Junkyard Sal is so dismayed by the entire fiasco that she fires all three of 'em for being "pre-verts".

Eventually the married couple seek to solve their marital-sexual problems by visiting dentist/marriage counselor Asa Lavender (Robert Pearson, Drive-In Massacre) and his nurse Flovilla (Sharon Hill, Hellraiser II: Hell on Earth), but this strange therapy session is also bust. While Lavonia is getting her teeth drilled Lamar forces anal on nurse Flovilla in the other room, and then the dentist, revealed to be a gay man, attempts to have sex with Lamar, chasing him into a closet, and then using a chainsaw to get him out of the closet. While this is happening Lovania gets it on with Flovilla, who breaks out a violin case in which she keeps a huge double-ended dildo and the pair get busy! Still unable to have vaginal sex with his wife Lamar eventually seeks the spiritual healing of a Pong-loving, big-tittied, blonde evangelical radio preacher/healer named Eufaula Roop (Ann Marie, SuperVixens), who has been popping up throughout the film giving radio sermons. She is actually introduced in the film's opening scene having sex with Martin Bormann (Henry Rowland, The Frisco Kid) inside a inside a coffin, apparently fulfilling some sort of necrophiliac fantasies. Anyway, Lamar shows up at the radio station with his cock out and she's quick to give him some sexual salvation live on air!

Aside from some bizarre rape scenes played for comedy this one is not nearly as seedy and violent as SuperVixen, but the sex is wall-to-wall and a bit more prurient than other Meyer's films I've seen. Like the previous Vixens flicks it plays as a series of sexed-up vignettes, there's nude women galore, sex shenanigans wall-to-wall, and it's got plenty of that patented Russ Meyer big-tittied women with huge personalities front and center. The star this time around is the busty Kitten Natividad, Meyer's girlfriend at the time, who aside from being well-built has such an comedically expressive face, she made me laugh quite a bit, and it's a plenty ridiculous skin flick, so laughing is A-OK. What really held it all together for me was seeing Stuart Lancaster from SuperVixen pop-up throughout as the narrator describing what's happening in and around Small Town U.S.A., directly addressing the camera with a grin as he describes the sexual proclivities of the characters. The film is pretty silly and surreal, quite lunatic in fact, but it all works out in the end. I was thrilled and entertained throughout, say what you will about the tit-obsessed Russ Meyer, he did not make boring flicks, and while SuperVixen is still my favorite of this trilogy, all three are highly enjoyable skin flicks from a master of the big-bust exploitation and this madcap finale was a blast.

Audio/Video: Beneath the Valley of the UltraVixens 91970) arrives on region-free Blu-ray from Severin Films, presented in 1080p HD and framed the theatrical 1.85:1 widescreen aspect ratio. This original camera negative for this film was not stored in proper conditions and suffered weather-related damaged, Severin restored the film to correct photochemical blemishes and did amazing work, however, a few moments of staining remain, but they are only momentary in nature, and the flick largely looks marvelous with vibrant color, accurate skin tones, and pleasing depth and clarity throughout. Audio comes by way of English DTS-HD MA 2.0 dual-mono with optional English subtitles. The track is sourced from a composite of audio from 35mm theatrical print and a 1" tape masters, and if that gives you pause fear not, like the video the audio restoration sounds terrific.

Extras include the Archival Audio Commentary With Co-Writer/Producer/Cinematographer/Editor/Director Russ Meyer, the 17-min The Latin Brünhilde – Interview With Actress Kitten Natividad; the 23-min Talk It Over – Ellen Adelstein Interviews Russ Meyer For Her Tucson Talk Show In 1979; and the 7-min Still Talking It Over – New Interview With Ellen Adelstein where she looks back at her Russ Meyer interview, including tales of accidentally showing the wrong clip, and how it was difficult to interview Meyer and keep in FCC friend. As a resident of Tucson I love these extras that relate back to Tucson. We also get the 2-min

Trailer. The single-disc release arrives in a black keepcase with a single-sided sleeve of artwork emulating the vintage Russ Meyers Merchandising Corp. VHS tapes.

Special Features:
- Archival Audio Commentary With Co-Writer / Producer / Cinematographer / Editor / Director Russ Meyer
- The Latin Brünhilde – Interview With Actress Kitten Natividad (17:00)
- Talk It Over – Ellen Adelstein Interviews Russ Meyer For Her Tucson Talk Show In 1979 (23:28)
- Still Talking It Over – New Interview With Ellen Adelstein (7:20)
- Trailer (1:57)

Screenshots from the Severin Blu-ray: