SYLVIA KRISTEL HARDCOVER BOOK and 4-DISC BLU-RAY SET now available for Pre-order!

CULT EPICS INDIEGOGO CAMPAIGN FOR “SYLVIA KRISTEL: FROM EMMANUELLE TO CHABROL Written by Jeremy Richey HARDCOVER BOOK” + SYLVIA KRISTEL 1970s COLLECTION 4xBlu-ray Set

SYLVIA KRISTEL: FROM EMMANUELLE TO CHABROL

A trailblazing figure in film and popular culture, Netherlands native Sylvia Kristel became one of the biggest stars in the world as Emmanuelle in 1974. Alongside her most famous role, directed by Just Jaeckin, a little-known fact is that Sylvia Kristel also appeared in over 20 films between 1973 and 1981 featuring exceptional work with some of the greatest directors in film history including Walerian Borowczyk, Alain Robbe-Grillet, Roger Vadim and Claude Chabrol. Now the story of Sylvia’s astonishing career in the '70s is told in Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol, written by Jeremy Richey. Featured are new interviews with Just Jaeckin, Pim de la Parra, Robert Fraisse, Joe Dallesandro and Francis Lai among others. Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol is a film-by-film guide to one of the most distinctive and uncompromising careers in modern cinema, and a celebration of a most remarkable woman in a fully illustrated coffee-table book written by author Jeremy Richey.

A homage to Dutch movie star Sylvia Kristel, to be released as a Hardcover book written by Jeremy Richey, and produced by Cult Epics.  We have launched an INDIEGOGO Campaign for the book, please Join Us. Together with the Book we are offering four of Sylvia Kristel’s 1970s films previously unreleased on DVD and Blu-ray as an Exclusive Perk + bonus disc Interview. 

SYLVIA KRISTEL: FROM EMMANUELLE TO CHABROL Written by Jeremy Richey. 

New Hardcover coffee-table book, 10x12 inches, 352 pages, fully illustrated with over 200 images, edited by Nico B. Pre-order your exclusive signed copy on Indiegogo. 

Sylvia Kristel: From Emmanuelle to Chabrol Hardcover book. Support and Contribute: 

https://igg.me/at/sylviakristelbook

EMMANUELLE (1974) & EMMANUELLE 2 (1977) (Umbrella Blu-ray Review)

EMMANUELLE (1974) 

& EMMANUELLE 2 (1977) 

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: Region-FREE
Rating: R
Duration: 94 Minutes/91 Minutes 
Audio: French, English DTS-HD MA 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: 1080p HD Widescreen (1.66:1)/(2.35:1) 
Director: Just Jaeckin/Francis Giacobetti
Cast: Sylvia Kristel, Alain Cuny, Marika Green, Daniel Sarky, Christine Boisson / Sylvia Kristel, Umberto Orsini, Frédéric Lagache, Catherine Rivet, Caroline Laurence, Henry Czarniak, Tom Clark, Laura Gemser

The seminal softcore classic Emmanuelle (1974) is adapted from Emmanuelle Arsan's famously erotic-novel and stars the fresh-faced and freckled ginger Sylvia Kristel (Because Of The Cats) as the titular wife of an older French diplomat Jean (Daniel Sarky), who works at the French Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Arriving in Bangkok from Paris she mingles with the other diplomats bored and promiscuous wives who are bemused at her monogamous views, she is soon befriended by a teenage girl named Marie-Ange (Christine Boisson, Antonioni's Identification of a Woman) who comes to visit her at her home, all the while casually a sucking on a lollipop and masturbating to a picture of Paul Newman in a magazine while they share stories of promiscuous sexual encounters, thus setting the tone for this softcore sexual adventure. The films plays out in a menagerie of softcore, soft-focus sex fantasies with Emmanuelle eventually taking on several new lovers, including a blond archaeologist Bee (Marika Green), and the wife of another diplomat named Ariane (Jeanne Colletin) who also gives Emmanuelle's husband a taste too. 

Then we have an older man named Mario (Alain Cuny, La Dolce Vita)  whose sexual prowess is canonized by both Maria-Ange ans Ariane, but whom Emmanuelle has little interest in at first, but she's being steered in that direction. 

The film is basically a series of sexual vignettes, it's all very softcore-lite in a nipple-nibbling sort of way that seems tame today, but might have been an erection-making shocker when this made the rounds in the theater in the 70's (or on late night cable where a lot of us caught it!) - and it was distributed by Columbia Pictures! 

Directed by Just Jaeckin (The Story of O) the film has a gauzy look about it, it feels dreamy and seems to try to rise above it's smuttiness with some artistic leanings, and it does have a certain classy veneer about it with some great looking locations in Thailand - but it's a movie about a woman having sex with multiple partners, make no mistake about it. 

The locations and female stars are attractive to watch, and while some of the eroticism is decidedly underplayed 
and happens off-screen it still manages to squeeze in a bizarre shocker - the image of a Thai stripper smoking a cigarette with her vagina always manages to catch me off guard, it's sort of gross but mesmerizing in a strange stomach-churning way, and you know that woman must have died years ago of cervical cancer cause that's just not right! 

 A few other issues I have with the film is that Emmanuelle sets out on this journey, ostensibly to become a better lover for her husband's pleasure (with his consent even), but it looses it's way at the end, not that this thing was a steadfast journey by any means, but the movie comes to a close with Emmanuelle out on the town with infamous old-lover Marco, who thus far has been confirmed to be an amazing lover, but he doesn't touch her, though he does take her to an opium den where she's gang-raped, then taken to an underground fight club where she is the sexual trophy of the winner, it's a strange ending that comes abruptly and doesn't wrap anything up, but I guess no one's watching an Emmanuelle movie looking for proper story, just some softcore fun with plenty of nude women. To that end I will say that Sylvia Kristel is not hard to watch, she was a gorgeous woman and looks great, I can see why this film caught on in the 70's, it's just not one of the better erotic films of that era in my opinion. 

In the sequel Emmanuelle (Krystel, Frank & Eva) arrives in Hong Kong via ship to join her husband, now played by Umberto Orsini (Violent City, again with the understanding that sleeping around is A-OK as long as their are no romantic entanglement to impede their own relationship. Arriving she discovers her husband has been having relations of a sexual nature with a gorgeous young woman named Laura (Florence Lafuma), spurring her to pursue a handsome American pilot/art smuggler named Christopher (Frédéric Lagache), as well as both pursuing Laura's sexy but virginal step-daughter Anna-Maria (Catherine Rivet)! 

The sequel is even more lavish a production than the first film, an erotic travelogue or erotic adventure with Emmanuelle failing to bed the American pilot, he being truly puzzled by her sexual politics. However, she manages to get some via Anna-Maria's dance instructor, a tattooed polo player and various men and women at day spas, including an interesting masturbation scene while she's having acupuncture applied to her body, and posing as a whore at a gentleman's club - this girl gets around! 
]

The film is artfully shot by cinematographer
Robert Fraisse (Ronin) with gorgeous tracking shots that soak in the exotic scenery, of both the environmental and physical variety, sweeping across nude flesh in the throws of ecstasy. The film opens on a weird seduction scene, a woman on the ship travelling to Hong Kong tells Emmanuelle of being raped by three women at her boarding school when she was younger, thereby initiating a lesbian love scene, it's a strange come on, but it works. 

Be on the lookout here for Laura Gemser (Violence n a Women's Prison) who would go onto star in the Black Emmanuelle series of films, as a horny massage parlor girl, it's all hot stuff, and  

Audio/Video: Emmanuelle (1974) and Emmanuelle 2 (1977) arrive on a single-disc region-FREE Blu-ray from Umbrella Entertainment in anamorphic widescreen, the first film is framed in 1.66:1 while the second film is 2.35:1. The source for both look clean with only some white speckling and very minor print damage, otherwise these look great. The first film is quite an improvement from Umbrella's DVD release just last year, grain is well managed, skin tones look natural, there's some modest depth to the image, and fine detail is abundant. The sequel is a bit softer to my eyes, the grain looks a tiny but filtered, the contrast is off in a few scenes, and the fine detail is not as prominent, but both look good considering these are most likely the same dated masters provided by Studio Canal for release in other territories in the aughts.  

Audio on both films comes by way of original French via DTS-HD MA 2.0 stereo or an English dub, with optional English subtitles. The French has a more organic delivery to it, the English sounds a bit thin by comparison. The score from the late Pierre Bachelet on the first film sounds great, sometimes it's jazzy with some minor freak-outs, at times bringing to mind the early Argento scores from pro-rockers Goblin minus the darkness. The second film has a score from composer Francis Lai (Dog Day) which sounds terrific. 

Sadly, this release is bare bones, with only a start-up menu with the option to choose which movie and which audio set-up. The single-disc release comes housed in an oversized Blu-ray keepcase with a sleeve of reversible artwork, each featuring the same key art with one side offering the unsightly Aussie rating classification, the other without, the Blu-ray disc features the same key art without the title logo covering Kristel's breasts.  

Emmanuelle (1974) is a pretty damn classy erotic film, it handles the sexuality with a feminine sensuality that never goes vulgar, a softcore film that captured the imagination of horny movie goers in the porno-chic 70's and went on to earn lots of money. So much so that it went on to inspire a few legit sequels (and a few not so legit), including Emmanuel 2 (1977) which is included on this release, also starring the seductive Sylvia Kristel. In my opinion it's a sequel that improves upon the first film, amping up the sultry eroticism with even artier cinematography and more exotic locations, a vintage slice of erotic adventure that I strongly encourage any kinky cinema lover to seek it out, this double-feature comes highly recommended. 

EMMANUELLE (1974) (Umbrella DVD Review)

EMMANUELLE (1974) 

World Classics Edition

Label: Umbrella Entertainment
Region Code: All (NTSC)
Rating: R
Duration: 94 Minutes
Audio: French Dolby Digital 2.0 , English Dolby Digital 2.0 with Optional English Subtitles
Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.66:1) 
Director: Just Jaeckin
Cast: Sylvia Kristel, Alain Cuny, Marika Green, Daniel Sarky, Christine Boisson

The seminal softcore classic Emmanuelle (1974) is adapted from Emmanuelle Arsan's famously erotic-novel and stars the fresh-faced and freckled ginger Sylvia Kristel (Because Of The Cats) as the titular wife of an older French diplomat Jean (Daniel Sarky), who works at the French Embassy in Bangkok, Thailand. Arriving in Bangkok from Paris she mingles with the other diplomats bored and promiscuous wives who are bemused at her monogamous views, she is soon befriended by a teenage girl named Marie-Ange (Christine Boisson, Antonioni's Identification of a Woman) who comes to visit her at her home, all the while casually a sucking on a lollipop and masturbating to a picture of Paul Newman in a magazine while they share stories of promiscuous sexual encounters, thus setting the tone for this softcore sexual adventure. The films plays out in a menagerie of softcore, soft-focus sex fantasies with Emmanuelle eventually taking on several new lovers, including a blond archaeologist Bee (Marika Green, the aunt of Eva Green, The Dreaners), and the wife of another diplomat named Ariane (Jeanne Colletin) who also gives Emmanuelle's husband a taste too. Then we have an older man named Mario (Alain Cuny, La Dolce Vita)  whose sexual prowess is canonized by both Maria-Ange ans Ariane, but whom Emmanuelle has little interest in at first, but she's being steered in that direction. 

The film is basically a series of sexual vignettes, it's all very softcore-lite in a nipple-nibbling sort of way that seems tame today, but might have been an erection-making shocker when this made the rounds in the theater in the 70's (or on late night cable where a lot of us caught it!) - and it was distributed by Columbia Pictures! Directed by Just Jaeckin (The Story of O) the film has a gauzy look about it, it feels dreamy and seems to try to rise above it's smuttiness with some artistic leanings, and it does have a certain classy veneer about it with some great looking locations in Thailand - but it's a movie about a woman having sex with multiple partners, make no mistake about it. 

The locations and female stars are attractive to watch, and while some of the eroticism is decidedly underplayed 
and happens off-screen it still manages to squeeze in a bizarre shocker - the image of a Thai stripper smoking a cigarette with her vagina always manages to catch me off guard, it's sort of gross but mesmerizing in a strange stomach-churning way, and you know that woman must have died years ago of cervical cancer cause that's just not right!  

A few other issues I have with the film is that Emmanuelle sets out on this journey, ostensibly to become a better lover for her husband's pleasure (with his consent even), but it looses it's way at the end, not that this thing was a steadfast journey by any means, but the movie comes to a close with Emmanuelle out on the town with infamous old-lover Marco, who thus far has been confirmed to be an amazing lover, but he doesn't touch her, though he does take her to an opium den where she's gang-raped, then taken to an underground fight club where she is the sexual trophy of the winner, it's a strange ending that comes abruptly and doesn't wrap anything up, but I guess no one's watching an Emmanuelle movie looking for proper story, just some softcore fun with plenty of nude women. To that end I will say that Sylvia Kristel is not hard to watch, she was a gorgeous woman and looks great, I can see why this film caught on in the 70's, it's just not one of the better erotic films of that era in my opinion. 

Audio/Video: Emmanuelle (1974) arrives on region-free DVD from Aussie distributor Umbrella Entertainment in anamorphoic widescreen, framed in the original 1.66:1 exhibition ration. The source looks very clean with only some white speckling and very minor print damage, otherwise this is a great looking source. The movie was made with a very specific soft-focus cinematography style, so the image looks soft at times, but this is an aesthetic choice and not a weakness of transfer. Audio on the disc comes by way of original French via Dolby Digital stereo or an English dub, with optional English subtitles. The French has a more organic delivery to it, the English sounds a bit thin, boxy and unnatural by comparison. The score from the late Pierre Bachelet sounds great, sometimes it's jazzy with some minor freak-outs, at times bringing to mind the early Argento scores from Goblin minus the darkness. 

There are no extras on the disc, not even a start-up menu, audio and subtitle options are accessed via the audio/subtitle button your remote - this is the definition of bare-bones.  

Emmanuelle (1974) is a wannabe-classy sort of erotic film, it's not anywhere near the arthouse erotics of Radley Metzger (The Opening of Misty Beethoven) in my eyes, and the sex is not up to snuff in comparison either, but for some reason this one captured the imagination of viewers in the porno-chic 70's and went on to earn buko dollars, going onto inspire a few more legit sequels starring Sylvia Kristel, in addition to loads of Italian knock-offs starring the the sultry Laura Gemser (Women's Prison Massacre). There's even an ozploitation version which I love quite a bit called Felicity (1978) that I strongly encourage you kinky cinema enthusiasts to seek it out. 

MORE SCREENSHOTS FROM THE DVD:

Cult Epics Presents FRANK & EVA: Living Apart Together - A Pim de la Parra film, featuring Sylvia Kristel in her debut.

Cult Epic's FRANK & EVA: Living Apart Together Revised Street Date to 6/5/2018

FRANK AND EVA (1973)

Label: Cult Epics
Release Date: REVISED STREET DATE: June 5th 2018 
Duration: 97 Minutes
Video: 1080p HD Full Screen (1.33:1)
Audio: Dutch Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono with Optional English Subtitles 
Director: Pim de la Parra
Cast: Willeke van Ammelrooy, Hugo Metsers, Sylvia Kristel

Frank (BLUE MOVIE's Hugo Metsers) and Eva (THE LIFT's Willeke van Ammelrooy) cannot live with or without each other. In the liberal 1970s, Frank sleeps with every woman he can get. Eva, meanwhile, is looking for more security and wants to start a family. Frank's behavior frustrates her so much that she starts an affair with their mutual friend. This social drama offers a view on relationships not much different than today. For Sylvia Kristel (her debut prior to EMMANUELLE), a special role was written after she said to Pim de la Parra, "Why won't you discover me? I'm the best."

Frank & Eva is the second artsploitation film by director Pim de la Parra, after he produced BLUE MOVIE with his partner Wim Verstappen. Cult Epics presents its worldwide premiere on Blu-ray & DVD, in High-definition with extensive bonus features.

Special Features: 
- New High-definition transfer
- Audio Commentary by Pim de la Parra (2018)
- Up Front + Naked: Sex in Dutch films (2017) featurette with Willeke van Ammelrooy a.o.
- Frank and Eva Poster + Photo Gallery
- Sylvia Kristel Film Poster Gallery
-Original Theatrical Trailers

DVD Review: BRUTALIZATION (1973)

BRUTALIZATION (1973) 

Label: One 7 Movies

Region: 0 NTSC

Rating: Unrated

Duration: 98 Minutes

Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono

Video: Anamorphic Widescreen (1.77:1) 

Director: Fons Rademakers

Cast:  Bryan Marshall, Alexandra Stewart, Sylvia Kristel

Synsopsis: Sylvia Kristel, of Emmanuelle fame, stars in this nasty rape and revenge thriller in which a gang of wealthy bastards break into peaceful homes and rape the women while forcing their husbands to watch in pain. Inspector van der Walk (Bryan Marshall) a strong-willed police cop, is determined to make them pay for their awful crimes but the members of the gang are bounded by an oath that is linked in some unpredictable ways to some high ranking people in the upper echelon of the Dutch society. Thus begins a painstaking quest for truth and to make sure that the ruthless gang of rapists is put behind bars. But van der Walk has to play against all odds...

Not sure why this one was re titled for it's American release on DVD but its only slightly better known as Because Of The Cats (1973) which is what the title card for the film advertises. This is a Dutch/Belgium co-production from 1973 with the dramatic tendencies of a classic crime procedural with the more exploitative elements of a 70's rape-revenger beginning with a nasty bit of business right at the start. A middle-aged upper crust couple arrive home to discover a group of stocking-masked miscreants have broken in, the youths rape the woman several times over as her helpless husband can only look on in horror as they hurl mean-spirited taunts at him.

Inspector Van der Walk (Bryan Marshall) is on the case, this just one in a series of similar incidents. As the film plays out  it's a pretty straight faced procedural as the inspector sets about sleuthing the crime which leads him to The Ravens - a gang of teenage tyrants, violent, middle class snots with a bit too much time on their hands. There are also female counterpart to the male delinquents, a foul-mouthed cadre of young women known about town as The Cats. Van der Walk investigates and interrogates various suspects which leads him down a path some members of polite society wish he would just abandon. 

The DVD cover would have you believe that this one is a rape-revenger through and through  and while it does to a degree that's just one part of the story, this is way more of a police procedural and it's a bit of a slow burn but I rather like a drawn out story, especially when it goes a bit nutty at the end. The cast is only just decent - no one's pouring themselves into these characters - though it was nice to see a very young and gorgeous Sylvia Kristel (from the Emmanuelle films) here in what amounts to only a peripheral appearance despite what the marketing of the film would have you believe, exploitation indeed.

The film starts of scuzzy with the home invasion and rape but quickly settles into crime thriller mode for awhile before we have a surreal nude swimming orgy/death scene then straight into some fun erotic ritual weirdness. The transition is a bit jarring but I just went with it. Note to cat-lovers, you should be aware that no less than three kitties are skinned, skewered and stabbed to death in short order here - you've been warned. 

Brutalization (1973) comes to DVD from One 7 Movies with an anamorphic widescreen (1.77:1) transfer that quite watchable if unremarkable. Color reproduction is strong but detail and clarity are lacking  plus there's some some unfortunate DNR scrubbing and edge enhancement on display. On the bright side the source elements are in great shape with only minor print damage. Similarly the English mono audio is unimpressive but I dig the funky Ruud Bos score, the only extra is a theatrical trailer for the film. 

Rape-revenge enthusiasts might be disappointed by the lack of the visceral stuff other than the uncomfortable scene at the top of the film as this one tends not to play up the exploitative elements too much, but it's a decent watch. A time slice of Euro-Cult with some sweet nudity and a pretty decent story if not a lot of juice. 2.5 Outta 5 

DVD Review: Mr. Skin presents Women in Prison Triple Feature (1983-1985)

Mr. Skin Presents
WOMEN IN PRISON TRIPLE FEATURE

Panik House Entertainment [PH1012] 
Release Date: July 12th 2011

Celebrity skin legend Mr. Skin and Panik House Entertainment have teamed-up to bring you what is considered by many to be the Unholy Trinity of Women in Prison Films: CHAINED HEAD (1983), RED HEAT (1985) and JUNGLE WARRIORS (1984)! It's a triple-threat of 80's behind bars exploitation featuring Linda Blair (THE EXORCIST), Sybil Danning (HOWLING II) and John Vernon (CURTAINS) in three films guaranteed to slap, tickle and titillate those brave enough to bare witness to the depraved depictions of life behind bars 80's style. This triple feature is only available for a limited time so snatch it up while you can.   

CHAINED HEAT (1983)

Label: Panik House Entertainment
Region Code: All Regions NTSC
Rating: Unrated
Duration: 98 mins
Video: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digtal 2.0 Mono
Director: Paul Nicholas
Cast: Linda Blair, Sybil Danning, John Vernon, Henry Silva, Tamara Dobson
Tagline: What these women did to get into prison, is nothing compared to what they'll do to get out!

CHAINED HEAT is considered the ultimate Women in Prison film and I would have to agree, though my experience in the genre is actually quite virginal and relegated to the three films found on this set, so take that as you will. Linda Blair (THE EXORCIST) stars as Carol Henderson, a naive suburban teenager who is sentenced to 18 months in a women's prison for vehicular manslaughter. The "prison virgin" is in for a rather rude awakening to the realities of L.A. prison life. While being matriculated into the prison system Carol befriends a repeat offender meets named Val (Sharon Hughes, THE LAST HORROR FILM) and unfortunately also catches the attentions of the perverted Warden Backman (John Vernon, DIRTY HARRY) who always has an eye for fresh meat. Once settled in on her cell block she has an encounter with Ericka (Sybil Danning, THE HOWLING II), the leader of the white faction who along with Captain Taylor (Stella Stevens, THE MANITOU) are dealing cocaine within the prison walls.

Warden Backman is portrayed with delicious sliminess by the great John Vernon, the guy has a pimp office with a friggin' hot tub which he utilizes when making homemade porn with surveillance cameras. His current inmate playmate is the smokin' hot snitch named Debbie (Monique Gabrielle) whom he not only gives the double-secret penetration to but also enlists to sniff out who's selling the nose candy as it cuts into his own drug peddling activities, of course. Ericka finds out about the snitch and decides that the bitch has to go but this doesn't sit well with Duchess (Tamara Dobson, CLEOPATRA JONES), the empowered leader of the black faction, who fears that the heat will come down on the black inmates given that racial tensions are already at the breaking point. The shit going on on this prison is pretty epic; Captain Stella is smuggling girls outta the prison to pimp them out to L.A.'s sleazy elite, there's a shit ton of double crossing going on and the the coke-addled Warden rapes poor Carol when she comes to him for help, not knowing any better,  which leads to a scheme by which Val plans to seduce the Warden to get the videotape of him raping Carol and expose him to the authorities, but the hot tub seduction is interrupted by Captain Stella and the frightful red-haired guard Paula (Edy Williams, BEYOND THE VALLEY OF THE DOLLS) who drown the Warden and then kill Val by beating her with a billy club. Captain Stella then turns on Ericka and pins the murders on her - I told you this is Shakespearean, well maybe not all that but it is pretty awesome. Carol discovers Val dying and with her last breath she reveals the identities of her killers which transforms Carol from naive rape-victim to vengeful bad ass.  The waring factions join forces and riot in an effort to get the VHS tape which now has the murder of the Warden, Val and Carol's rape which leads to a satisfying finale stuffed with violence, revenge and mayhem.

I've long heard of this film's legend and I gotta say it lives up to the hype on every level, it's a fantastic cavalcade of lesbians in prison stereotypes, tough chicks, sleazy jailers, rampant drug use, rape, revenge and the all important nude shower scenes. The performances from Blair, Danning, Stevens, Dobson and Vernon range from grimly dramatic to pure delicious campiness and it's makes for the perfect balance of sleaziness and good campy fun, it's a great watch and highly recommended.

DVD: According to DVD this marks the films first-time available uncut and remastered in it's original aspect ratio of 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen and I gotta say it looks pretty great, no doubt helped by Mac Ahlberg's great cinematography. Transferred from a clean source print with very minimal print damage of any kind, it's quite hard to pinpoint any issues with the print and the film's grain structure is nicely intact, bonus, the colors are strong and black levels are good. The English language Dolby Digital mono suffices, it's clean and free of hiss, crackle and pop plus Joseph Conlan's droning score sounds pretty sweet. No subtitles are offered.

Special features include an video introduction from Mr.Skin recapping the film's sleazier skintilating highlights, an anamorphic theatrical trailer and video interviews with both Stella Stevens and Sybil Danning

DISC 1 Special Features:
- Introduction for film by the Legendary Mr. Skin
- Captain Taylor Unchained: Interview with Stella Stevens (11:14) 16:9
- Ericka in Heat: Interview with Sybil Danning (11:23) 16:9
- CHAINED HEAT Theatrical Trailer (2:08) 16:9

RED HEAT (1985)

Label: Panik House Entertainment Region Code: All Regions NTSC


Rating: Unrated
Duration: 94 mins
Video: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digtal 2.0 Mono
Director: Robert Collector
Cast: Linda Blair, Sylvia Kristel, Sue Kiel, William Ostrander
Tagline: Only one film could top the intensity of CHAINED HEAT. This is it!

Linda Blair returns to the women in prison sub genre just two years later with RED HEAT as red-headed American college student Christine Carlson who comes to West Germany to visit her fiance, Mike, a serviceman in the US Army stationed in Germany. After an argument over dinner Christine goes for a walk when she stumbles upon abduction of a suspected spy by the East German Staasi who in turn kidnap her as a CIA accomplice. She's interrogated and deprived of sleep until exhausted she breaks down and confesses to the accusations. She is sentenced to imprisoned in an East German prison where she encounters the East German version of Ericka from CHAINED HEAT, Sofia (Sylvia Kristel, EMMANUELLE), who is the sadistic lesbian-rapist lover of the warden Einbeck (Elizabeth Volkmann, VERONIKA VOSS). Her fiance Mike at first assumes she's left him following the argument but when her passport is discovered in the parking lot outside he realizes something terrible has happened. Not getting satisfaction through regular channels Mike enlists the help of his military buds and stages a daring prison bust to free Christine. Sounds exciting, huh? Well, it's not as great as it could have been, the prison break-out is pretty anti-climactic but like I said, it's a good watch it's just not CHAINED HEAT.

It lacks that proper balance of sleaziness and camp that made the former so much fun, I think we needed John Vernon here to alleviate some of the oppressive atmosphere. This is a very dark film, it's not easy to digest the sleazier WIP elements when they aren't offset by some campier shenanigans, at least in my experience.  


DVD: Presented in anamorphic 1.78:1 widescreen with English language Dolby Digital Mono, no subtitles offered. Not a bad looking print but it's a dark and grainy affair, the film seems a bit underlit. Not sure if the film was going for a dark look or if the production couldn't afford decent lighting, either way it's a drab film but it suits the film's grim tone. The Dolby Digital mono handles the dialogue, effects and Tangerine Dream's kind of bland score pretty well. Special features include a fullscreen trailer and a Mr. Skin introduction for the film.

JUNGLE WARRIORS (1984)

Label: Panik House Entertainment
Region Code: All Regions NTSC

Rating: Unrated
Duration: 95 mins
Video: 1.78:1 Anamorphic Widescreen
Audio: Dolby Digtal 2.0 Mono
Director: Ernst R. Von Theumer
Cast: Sybil Danning, John Vernon, Paul L. Smith, Nina Van Pallandt, Marjoe Gortner, Kai Wulff 

Interestingly the third feature is not really a women in prison film at all. JUNGLE WARRIORS is in fact a jungle/action film with some minor WIP elements. That's kind of cheating but since it brings both Sybil Danning and John Vernon from CHAINED HEAT back together I'll allow it.

This time out five gorgeous American models along with pretentious art director Larry (Marjoe Gortner, THE FOOD OF THE GODS) and photographer Joanna (Nina Van Pallandt, THE SWORD AND THE SORCERER) charter a plane piloted by Ben (Kai Wulff, ASSASSINS) to fly them to some exotic jungle locations in South America for a sexy fashion photo shoot.

Enter the always entertaining John Vernon (ANIMAL HOUSE) whom appears as the American drug lord Mastranga who along with his second in command Spilotro (Alex Cord, THE DEAD ARE ALIVE) have arrived to trade 50 million in gold for cocaine with drug lord Cesar Santiago. Whiler scouting for some scenic locations the plane encroaches on the drug lord's compound and is shot down. After escaping the crash unscathed the group are left to fend off pythons, cayman and the drug lord's mercenaries who are in pursuit. When the soldiers of fortune catch-up to them the usually uppity Larry momentarily turns bad ass and takes out a few mercs until he is impaled by a nasty trap. After being captured the group are taken to Cesar Santiago (Paul L. Smith, PIECES, POPEYE) doing what he does best, being awesomely odd, his delivery is quite weird but always fun. He invites them to dinner were he introduces his half-sister Angel (Sybil Danning, CHAINED HEAT). During the uncomfortable meal things go awry and Ben is decapitated and the girls are imprisoned in a dungeon. Hanging by chains from the ceiling the girls  are interrogated by Angel who gives 'em the once over and a nice titty squeeze for good measure and then throws them to the typically savage mercenaries who squeeze, grope and rape the women though what we see onscreen is pretty tame. Later the models escape from the dungeon with the help of a sympathetic elderly woman, they arm themselves and make a break for it. Hot babes with guns in the jungle, it's not quite WIP but I'm not gonna complain, this is a fun watch. At about the same time Santiago double crosses Mastranga and everything goes south with the three armed-to-the-teeth factions engaging in an intense gun battle as the CIA moves in further complicating matters. The remainder of the film climaxes as an 80's jungle-action flick and in the end it's all a bit slightly goofy but still a pretty damn entertaining action flick. It's not on the same level as CHAINED HEAT but I prefer it's trashiness to RED HEAT's rather grim aesthetic. If you enjoyed Brian Trenchard-Smith's CUT AND RUN I think this will be a fun watch. Plenty of violence and a tiny smattering of the WIP tropes.

DVD: Presented in 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen with English language Dolby Digital mono with no subtitles. Of the three films on this set it's the softest looking image of the bunch, but despite some lack of fine detail, heavy grain, truly poor black levels and some super-hazy cinematography it does come from a clean source print and is quite watchable. The special features include a 16x9 enhanced trailer and a Mr. Skin introduction for the film.  

DISC 2 Special Features:
- Introduction for each film by the Legendary Mr. Skin
- RED HEAT Theatrical Trailer (2:08) 4:3
- JUNGLE WARRIOR Theatrical Trailer (1:37) 16:9

Verdict: As my introduction to WIP films I think this was a great set that I would recommend to devotees of the subgenre as well as newbies like myself. Good sleazy slammer exploitation nastiness, chock full of nude babes, vile jailers and every other stereotype you could hope for with an exploitation flick. When it comes to WIP films I can tell that for my own enjoyment I need a certain amount cheesiness, camp, kitch or whatever you wanna call it to offset the the heinous rape scenarios.  

CHAINED HEAT 4 outta 5
RED HEAT 2.75 outta 5
JUNGLE WARRIORS 3.5 outta 5

CHAINED HEAT Screen Caps

RED HEAT Screen Caps

 

JUNGLE WARRIORS Screen Caps