Worse Than Wild Beasts (1976)

True confession: I love these sleazy old Mexican films that were basically soap operas with nudity.  I'm a big fan of the old fotonovelas, such as  Casos Reales – “una historia de la vida Lagrimas” or Casos de Alarma!  No lie, if I could find a steady supply of good quality Mexican soap opera films, I would devote a whole blog to the genre.  Unfortunately, the best I can find is the rare VHS.  So, until some genius puts a bunch of these on Blu-ray, I'm just going to have to be happy with a sparse and low-quality supply.

There's just something almost perfect about these pictures: (1) The actors and actresses give it all - soap opera style, (2) the setting is phenomenal - Mexico in the seventies, (3) the ladies are always gorgeous beyond belief, and (4) the stories are just so damn trashy and sleazy - glorious to behold. 

Women in Fury (1984)

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When Love Is Lust (1973)

Original Title: Quando l'amore è sensualità; an Italian drama about marital problems and the downsides of the "Love Generation".  Sounds depressing, you say?  Yes it is, but it does feature nude scenes from Agostina Belli and Femi Benussi - so it's got that going for it. 

The Ravager (1970)

A twisted, mean spirited little movie about a Vietnam vet who goes crazy and ravages the Las Vegas area by blowing people up with homemade bombs.  Yeah, not at all represented by the original movie poster.

Sex Is Crazy (1981)

An extremely bizarre Jesús Franco film that lives up to its title "El Sexo Está Loco" about swingers and aliens.

Death Steps in the Dark (1977)

By 1977 giallos running a bit thin, and writer/director Maurizio Pradeaux decides to make a tongue-in-cheek parody of the genre (much like what happened with slasher films; after the well had run dry we were besotted with an endless series of send-ups and satire like Cabin in the Woods, Scream, etc.). If you're familiar with the genre, I suppose this is mildly amusing; if not, you might mistake this for a legitimate, straight giallo film.  Let's have a look...

The Takers (1971)

A couple of hippie bikers invade the home of a couple young ladies and "hold them at their mercy - helpless to resist.  Shocking! Bold! Sensual!"

Gabriela (1983)

Based on an acclaimed novel, with sweeping political story and incredible acting performances - this is probably way too classy for VZ1.  That being said, it does star Sonia Braga, who is nude quite a lot - so maybe it's just sleazy enough to pass through our filter.  Let's see...

The Big Snatch (1971)

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Sexcula (1974)

An adult movie from Canada featuring Dracula and Dr. Frankenstein played by females; also starring a guy in a gorilla suit and plenty of raunchy seventies sex.  Let's have a look...

The Witches of Breastwick (2005)

I wanted to see this predictably terrible sexploitation flick for a couple reasons.  First, you get some genuinely interesting behind the scenes stuff from the Jim Wynorski documentary, Popatopolis (2009). Also, it features Monique Parent, who just straight-up rules. So, let's give it a whirl...

Virgin Girl Violators (1983)

(Original Title: "Os Violentadores de Meninas Virgens") - A rather rough Brazilian crime picture about a sex slave operation and a renegade dry cleaner who won't take this lying down.

Tigress (1969)

A poor girl is terrorized by her schoolmates - and her life just keeps getting worse.  But one day, this girl will become the Tigress, and get even for the wrongs she's suffered.

Adventures of a Plumber's Mate (1978)

In the grand tradition of Confessions of a Window Cleaner, Secrets of a Door to Door Salesman, and The Ups and Downs of a Handyman, comes another British sexploitation film about a blue-collar trade.  By the close of the seventies, this type of film (epitomized by the Confessions films) had a run its course, with this entry being among the last.

I read this from a review on IMDb and it couldn't be more true: "The Italians make sex look wholesome, the French make it erotic, the Americans make it dirty but the Brits laugh about it." 

Snuff Trap (2003)

Some of the DVD box art I've seen for this film make it look like an actual snuff film.  It certainly has its cruel moments, but it's far tamer than many of the DVD covers lead you to believe.  It's by Bruno Mattei, who's been directing sleaze across decades.  We've covered SS Girls (1977) and Rats: Night of Terror (1984), but there's many more to go through, including Women's Prison Massacre (1983) and Zombie 3 (1988).

A Place Called Today (1972)

A city, fraught with racial tensions and poverty, must choose between a corrupt rich incumbent mayor and his rival, a black power radical.  Starring Lana Wood and Cheri Caffaro.

SS Girls (1977)

Original title: Casa privata per le SS; An Italian Nazisploitation flick directed by Bruno Mattei who also did Rats: Night of Terror (1984).

The Hood Has Eyez (2007)

Three rich private school girls end up in the wrong side of town.  A couple of gangbangers show them how it's done in the hood.  Yes, it sounds really terrible - and the cover art assures me this will be the case.  However, I like to check out newer exploitation films every once and a while (and, yes, I realize this is twelve years old).  Who knows? Maybe we'll happen upon a modern day H.G. Lewis.  Let's give it a whirl...

Embrace the Darkness II (2002)

Man, vampires sure took a beating after the Ann Rice fad, and then Twilight.  They went from being lords of darkness (a la Christopher Lee) to emo goth boys. You might say The Hunger also helped the vampire down the awful road toward fashionably detached club kid, as we see in this film.

The Party at Kitty and Stud's (1970)

Sylvester Stallone took part in this mild adult film because he had been ejected from his apartment and was living in a bus station.  The two hundred dollars he made from the film, literally saved him from being homeless.  Rocky would be released later that same year, catapulting Stallone to massive fame.... and, of course, the owners of this otherwise forgettable porno realized they now had a cash cow.

They offered Stallone rights to the film for $100K, but Stallone said he wouldn't buy it for two bucks.  The film, capitalizing on the star's celeb status, was distributed to theaters for $10K per night, prompting a classic Stallone quote - "Hell, for $10,000 forget the movie! I'll be there myself!"

Stallone is unrepentant and unashamed of his dabble in the porno biz, which is awesome.  Of course, he claims it would be rated PG by today's standards.  That's not quite true, considering it does have full frontal nudity and he shows his junk; however, it is admittedly very tame by porno standards - maybe not even worthy of being called a porno.  Let's just call it an adult film.  And here it is...

Born Ready (1976)

A quaint little story about a guy who has had a continuous hard-on since childhood, and he's dying to get rid of it.  Original German title: Leos Leiden.  Also known as: Born Erect.  Truly one of the oddest adult movies you're ever likely to see.

Wild Riders (1971)

There must have been a real fear of the unwashed youth back in the late sixties, early seventies, because there are just tons of movies about hippies and bikers coming into our living rooms and raping our wives and killing the rest.  While Easy Rider celebrated the new generation, there were many more films which presented them as rapist animals.  Or was the zeitgeist not based on a fear of the massive generation of rebellious youth... but rather the inner desires of the generation itself?  A shared sick fantasy of breaking free of traditional decency in favor of lust and murder?  Hm.  We're getting too deep for VZ1, but it's something for the armchair sociologists to ponder.

Wet Wilderness (1976)

Above: The DVD release, and the original VHS cover (which is woefully poor at representing the actual film).  Supposedly the original movie poster was a terribly drawn B&W illustration, but I couldn't find it.

Wet Wilderness has earned some notoriety as being perhaps the first adult-film slasher movie.  AV Maniacs called it "reprehensible in pretty much every possible way". 

The Black Alley Cats (1973)

Four school girls are brutally raped; they vow to make their revenge, and train to no longer be victims and form a gang called the Black Alleycats.

Gettin' Even (2005)

Gettin' Even - AKA 6 to 9: Payback's a Bitch!  It's a silly, sexy, and profoundly stupid take on the classic 1980 comedy.

Caged Heat II: Stripped of Freedom (1994)

Jewel Shepard stars in this paint-by-numbers Women in Prison flick. 

Naked and Free... The New Life Style (1968)

Original Title: Heißer Sand auf Sylt; A story about a stuffy businessman who gets a taste of "The New Life Style".

Hell Baby (2013)

Beware of spoilers.  Yeah, VZ1 is essentially one big spoiler - but we don't normally cover movies this recent and this close to mainstream, so wanted to give a warning.

This a horror comedy by Robert Ben Garant and Thomas Lennon, and stars a number of comedic actors that are just so naturally funny, they could be reading the phone book and I'd laugh - namely Keegan-Michael Key and Rob Corddry. It deserves a place on VZ1 because it goes to the usual exploitation cinema places - gore, nudity, over-the-top everything.  Pretty admirable for a film with a bunch of recognizable names attached.  Let's have a look.

Attack of the 60 Foot Centerfold (1995)

 Fred Olen Ray directs and Roger Corman produces this campy and charming B-movie featuring a centerfold model who, in her quest for beauty, gets enlarged to giant proportions.

The Affair (1995)

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The Devil's Wedding Night (1973)

An early Joe D'Amato horror film about Countess Dracula and her magic ring, starring Rosalba Neri.

Friend of the Family II (1996)

If you haven't seen the first Friend of the Family, not to worry.  This has absolutely nothing to do with it.  The story is one we've seen many times before - the fatal attraction; an affair that has lethal consequences.

The Hyena (1997)

Joe D'Amato brings us a story of a home invasion with plenty of plotting and scheming - and, of course, sex. Featuring the sizzling Cinzia Roccaforte.

Bizarre (1970)

Would you believe this film is entirely narrated by a mummy? Also featuring naked dancers pelted by vegetables, a mutant birth, lizard fetishists, and nude cat burglars. Doesn't this sound awesome?  Well, it's not. Rather, it's an acid-trip hodgepodge and pointless pastiche by Antony Balch, It should be no surprise that Balch was a friend and collaborator with William Burroughs.  Balch deserves credit for rescuing tons of exploitation films from the dustbin of history - buying them for pennies in Europe then releasing them under catchy names in the UK.  But his own attempt at filmmaking is just a "bizarre" hot mess.

Suburban Wives (1972)

Seventies films were full of unsatisfied housewives - especially British movies for some reason.  Look no further than the Confessions films which were brimming with sexually frustrated wives ready to throw themselves at Robin Askwith - or how about Frustrated Wives (1974)? The list goes on. Let's face it, the frustrated housewife trope lends itself to sex comedies - it's the perfect springboard to cheeky British gags.

But this is a Derek Ford film, so I'm fully expecting to be thoroughly underwhelmed. Let's have a watch.

Quel Movimento Che Mi Piace Tanto (1976)

Sure, it's a well worn plot, but it stars two Italian comic geniuses (Carlo Giuffrè and Renzo Montagnani) and two scorching hot ladies who can't keep their clothes on (Martine Brochard and Cinzia Monreale).  Need I say more?

The Body Shop (1972)

The Body Shop (AKA Doctor Gore) is directed by J.G. Patterson Jr., who also wrote and starred in it.  Patterson had co-produced The Gruesome Twosome, and the HG Lewis influence definitely shows. 

Screaming Dead (2003)

There are SO many evil photographer movies.  I never knew this was such a thing among B-movies before VZ1.  So far, we've had Dark Room (1989), Whirlpool (1970), Fatal Images (1989), Blood Harvest (1987), Click the Calendar Girl Killer (1990), The Photographer (1974), Bizarre Lust of Sexual Deviant (2001) and my favorite Double Exposure (1983) - and we're just getting started!

The film stars Misty Mundae and is about a slime-ball photographer who takes his models to an abandoned insane asylum for a photo shoot.  Bad things happen.  Let's watch.

Teaser (1974)

Rene Bond and Becky Sharpe star in this simple movie about a straight-laced stamp store clerk who gets corrupted by some suburban swingers.

Penetration Angst (2003)

This was the first of three collaborations between Director Wolfgang Büld and British/Columbian actress Fiona Horsey.  The second, The Chambermaid (2004), and the last, Twisted Sisters (2006).  Let's take a look at the film that started this B-movie trifecta.

Twisted Sisters (2006)

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When Love is Obscenity (1980)

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Love Camp 7 (1969)

Here it is - Love Camp 7, considered the granddaddy of all Women In Prison (WIP) films.  Yes, the genre goes way back to early 20th century pulp fiction; however, if you had to stick a pin at the origin for the tidal wave of WIP films that would come in the seventies, this would have to be it.  While there were others before it, Love Camp 7 established the pattern for the many films that followed.

Whenever Director Lee Frost teamed up with Writer Bob Cresse, they created magic.  Cheesy, poorly executed and morally reprehensible magic, but magic nonetheless.  See House on Bare Mountain as evidence.

So, here we have the originator of the WIP, a Frost-Cresse team-up, and it's starring Kathy Williams.  We can't go another day without watching this...