Fascination (1979)

2 / 5 Mar '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Jean Rollin
Written by: Jean Rollin
Actors include: Franca Mai, Brigitte Lahaie, Jean-Marie Lemaire
Genre: Horror, Porn
Length: 80 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
I'm shocked how terrible I thought this was, I mean it has a pretty stellar reputation! This is very much focused on being an "erotic" film and the horror/vampire bits seem rather an after thought. Even for eroticism it's poorly done, it's so darned wooden that it's hard to believe Brigitte Lahaie had an actual porn career. On the plus side, it's nicely filmed with a decent camera but I think that's about all I can say. The plot is about a thief who barges in on a castle for refuge that contains two Lesbians. The Women tease him and warn him of their upcoming group activities involving many Women coming over. Of course he ignores the warning and suddenly finds himself much in demand. It's just so gosh darned boring and sex filled that I didn't care about any minor plot details they bothered to give us. I actually hated this, it just seemed so gosh darned pointless but since it is so well liked by others I guess you'll need to find out for yourself...but don't say I didn't warn you.

Availability:  On DVD

A Serbian Film (2010) aka Srpski Film

4.5 / 5 Jan '11
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Srdjan Spasojevic
Written by: Aleksandar Radivojevic, Srdjan Spasojevic
Actors include: Srdjan Todorovic, Sergej Trifunovic, Jelena Gavrilovic
Genre: Horror, Drama
Length: 103 minutes
Banned: Australia

Review:
Well, this is the sort of film that seriously succeeds in being a disturbing horror film in nearly every sense of the word. It's got something to offend everyone, and it made me feel very uneasy and uncomfortable. It's difficult to watch because of subject matter, but since it's so well made and well acted it's almost more shocking. It's a film about a retired Porn actor called Milos who was known in the business for being able to get himself hard immediately. He needs money for his Wife and Son so he somewhat reluctantly signs on to do a mysterious art film. The thing is, they won't tell him what he's filming, he is just to show up and not ask questions. This will tackle just about any taboo you can think of, and it's stunningly horrifying. I did see "what happened" coming, it wasn't too surprising that way, but it was still mesmerizing none the less. I can't really "recommend" this, but if you can handle nearly anything in film and want to be disturbed you may want to see this one, I think it takes the cake.

Availability:  On Blu-Ray & DVD

Assault! Jack The Ripper (1976) aka Bôkô Kirisaki Jakku

3.5 / 5 Oct '10
Tagline: N/A
Directed by: Yasuharu Hasebe
Written by: Yasuharu Hasebe
Actors include: Yôko Azusa, Yutaka Hayashi, Tamaki Katsura
Genre: Horror, Exploitation, Adult
Length: 72 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
Well this definitely borders on being pornography which is not my thing but the demented plot made up for it for me. The story is about two people who work at the same restaurant together. As they are driving home together they come across a woman who they sort of accidentally end up killing and they find it makes for awesome sex together. So together they go out and kill people (by slicing them from the groin upwards) just to have great sex. When the Male starts going out for kills without the Female (who is a butter face) some jealousy is involved and things kind of get even insane from there. It's very graphic and rewarding in a sadistic horror sense, it also does seem to have a bit of a sense of humor which I think helped the movie as well. Definitely an exploitation film that won't be for everyone, but it's pretty entertaining in a sick way for those of us who aren't offended by much.

Availability:  On DVD

Sugar Cookies (1973)

3 / 5 Aug '10
Tagline: Meet the beautiful people who live... and die in a freaky, try anything world.
Directed By:  Theodore Gershuny
Written by: Theodore Gershuny, Lloyd Kaufmann
Actors include: George Shannon, Mary Woronov, Lynn Lowry
Genre: Exploitation, Drama, Thriller, Horror
Length: 89 minutes
Banned: Nope

Review:
This is a weird one I'll give it that. In many ways it's a soft-core porn which really put me off I must say. The plot on the other hand is kinda neat, and I like lead actress Mary Woronov, she really makes quite an impression in anything she's cast in. The story is about a pornographer called Max who kills a young model (who was also his lover) and makes it look like a suicide. Soon his assistant Camilla has found a nearly identical looking girl who she grooms to be just like the murdered model. Along the way she has a romantic relationship with this new girl (which chews up way too much time in the movie) under the guise of preparing her for an upcoming film role. The film is at least interesting enough to keep watching and to want to know what's happening, it just could have used a little more "spice" along the way. Not my favorite but it could have been so much worse, at least the cast make this worthwhile though, and heck I'm always up for some exploitation.

Availability:  On DVD