Exploitation

Barbarella: Queen of the Galaxy

Barbarella makes a forced landing on the planet Lythion in the year 40,000 where she vanquishes robots and monsters.
Genre: Science Fiction
Rating: PG
Release Date: 8-AUG-2006
Media Type: DVD

Jane Fonda's memorable, zero-gravity striptease during the opening credits of this 1968 Roger Vadim movie is the closest the film comes to a liberated marriage of wit and sex. Based on a French comic strip, the story concerns the adventures of a 41st-century woman, who pretty much gets it on with whomever asks. The sci-fi sets were pretty interesting at the time, though they look rather anachronistic now. Appreciated today mostly as a camp classic, the movie is actually more trying than anything else. --Tom Keogh

Two Moon Junction

This camp spectacle stars Sherilyn Fenn (Boxing Helena) as an upper-crust Southern belle who abandons the posh life for sex on the road with a carny worker. Naturally, the older folk (Burl Ives, Louise Fletcher) take exception. Typically silly, soft-porn stuff from director Zalman King (Wild Orchid), this erotic joke of a movie is good for putting one's busy brain on hold for awhile. Colorful support from Kristy McNichol as a cowgirl, Screamin' Jay Hawkins, and the late Hervé Villechaiz (Fantasy Island). --Tom Keogh

Embrace of the Vampire

A sensuous but innocent college freshman is seduced by a most obsessive lover.

Showgirls

No Description Available.
Genre: Feature Film-Drama
Rating: NC17
Release Date: 5-JUN-2001
Media Type: DVD

When Goldie Hawn recommended Elizabeth Berkley for a small role in First Wives Club, she publicly stated that Berkley deserved the opportunity to redeem herself after starring in the ridiculous Showgirls. That says it all: this sleazy, stupid movie, which mixes soft pornography with the clichés of backstage dramas, is the kind of project an aspiring actress would have to put well behind her to keep a career going (though costar Gina Gershon certainly benefited from her, uh, exposure in the film). Berkley plays a drifter who hitches a ride to Las Vegas, becomes a lap dancer and then a performer, and discovers--gasp!--there's a whole world of sex and violence involved with these things. Gershon is probably the best element in the film, playing Berkley's bisexual rival for the big spotlight on stage. Joe Eszterhas was well overpaid for writing this howler, and director Paul Verhoeven (Basic Instinct) should have known better than to take it seriously. --Tom Keogh

9 1/2 Weeks (Uncut, Uncensored Version)

Frequently given short shrift as a blue movie (which it is) and as mindless (which it isn't), director Adrian Lyne's follow-up to Flashdance (insert own joke here) is a thoughtful, smutty film about a bad sexual relationship. It follows the two-month affair between Elizabeth, an art-gallery dealer, and John, a Wall Street exec. The relationship spirals downward into raunchier sex (filmed, by the way, quite nicely) but principally is about two adults doing adult things but not acting anything like real adults. Attempts at actual human connection, about the longing to be "good," are present here and make this an above-average erotic film. Rourke is just honing his scumbag, bad-boy persona; but it doesn't overwhelm. Lots and lots of Kim Basinger. --Keith Simanton

Poison Ivy

Sight unseen, it's tempting to dismiss Poison Ivy as a teen variation on your standard trashy erotic thriller, a genre born with such promise in Body Heat that has since been in steady devolution. But while Ivy is no Heat, it's better than virtually any of those movies that star someone named Shannon. Crisp directing is supported by a script that takes a smart look at dysfunctional family dynamics, but most of all, it's the performances. Much has been made of Drew Barrymore's perfect casting as the title character, but she also does a sneaky and subtle job of straddling the fence: is Ivy a desperate, lonely young woman, an evil barracuda, or both? Tom Skerritt matches her step for step, playing the fallen husband as both hopelessly vain boob and genuinely lost soul. Cheryl Ladd delivers a sharp, minimalist performance as his Beverly Hills trophy wife dying of emphysema--becoming the still-life center of everyone else's life. And Sara Gilbert does a fine job in a role that gives her all the heavy lifting, playing tortured straight man to this pathetic and compelling tree full of coconuts. This DVD features both R-rated and unrated versions. The latter shows a bit more skin, although it's still fairly tame compared to the average skin flick. It also leaves Ivy a bit more ambiguous, and is thus a bit more fun. --Geof Miller

A sexy devious teenager has an unhealthy influence over a wealthy Beverly Hills family. Starring Drew Barrymore Sara Gilbert and Tom Skerritt.Running Time: 88 min.System Requirements:Running Time 88 MinFormat: DVD MOVIE Genre: DRAMA Rating: R UPC: 794043484629

Big Bad Mama

Angie Dickinson stars as a bank-robbing matriarch in this 1974 Roger Corman production, often described as a knock-off of Bonnie and Clyde. (As if that makes any difference regarding the worth of the film--which is pretty good.) Set in Great Depression-era Texas, the story finds Dickinson's desirable and poor character driven to crime, along with her two daughters (Susan Sennett, Robbie Lee), all of whom use sex to distract or drive men into culpability. The film, directed by Steve Carver, is pure Corman formula: fast-moving, violent, gritty, adorned with nudity, and yet solidly true to its own sense of high drama and texture. Veteran Angie Dickinson brings solid acting chops (and a great bod on display) to the enterprise--and speaking of Enterprise, William Shatner is quite memorable (as is Tom Skerritt) as one of the gentlemen who fall under the antiheroine's sway. --Tom Keogh

Trader Hornee

Move over, Sheena! Algona is here! Twenty one years after two zoologists disappeared in the jungle, detective Hamilton Hornee (Buddy Pantsari) leads an expedition into darkest Africa to search for their missing daughter, Algona, heiress to her father's fortune. Joining him are "Sultry" Sommers (Elizabeth Monica), lesbian journalist Tender Lee (Lisa Grant), two of Algona's greedy, S&M loving relatives (Christine Murray and John Alderman), and Stanley Livingston (Fletcher Davies), on the lookout for Nabucco, a legendary white gorilla. But Algona (Deek Sills) just happens to be the magnificent blonde she goddess worshiped by the Meshpokas, "the most feared humans in all Africa," while Nabucco turns out to be an escaped convict in an ape suit... "Trader Hornee," a hilarious sex comedy from producer David F. Friedman, is outrageous, over the top, and completely out of control!

Mantis in Lace

Look out, it's Lila! A sweet-faced topless go-go dancer, Lila loves mixing S-E-X with L-S-D. Trouble is, when she starts hallucinating, she sees flashing lights and swirling colors. The freaked-out Lila then grabs a handy meat cleaver and promptly hacks up her lovers in an acid-fueled frenzy. A mesmerizing mix of murder and madness from producer Harry Novak (Please Don't Eat My Mother), this edition of "Mantis in Lace" is the premiere of the rare, uncut version, digitally remastered from the original 35mm hallucinogenic negative. Outta sight, baby. PLUS: Over 100 minutes of never-before-seen outtakes, Trailer for this and other Something Weird titles, Alternate psychedelic murder sequence; Three archival short subjects: Sid Davis' classic classroom scare film "LSD: Trip or Trap," "Alice Goes to Acidland" and "Girl In a Cage;" Gallery of Harry Novak exploitation art; Harry Novak radio-spot rarities