BLACK EMANUELLE, WHITE EMANUELLE aka VELLUTO NERO (1976)

I have to give credit to Brunello Rondi for somehow keeping me watching 1976's BLACK EMANUELLE, WHITE EMANUELLE (aka VELLUTO NERO) a plotless softcore romp through Egypt. It's hard to even classify this as an Emanuelle flick as star Laura Gemser isn't playing the same photo-journalist character as in EMANUELLE IN AMERICA or EMANUELLE AND THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE.

This time out she's "the world's most famous model" and is in Egypt for some reason with boyfriend / photographer Carlo (played by real life husband Gabriele Tinti), a repugnant douchebag who verbally, physically and sexually assaults Laura when he's not making her pose next to rotting dog corpses or piles of dead bodies. And, if that's not enough to make you hate him, in one scene he wears a Boston Bruins shirt!

On the plus side all four of the female leads including a nympho mother and her two daughters – one a borderline psychotic, the another a manipulative minx with Annie Lennox's haircut – all get nude. Frequently.

Al Cliver (ZOMBIE, DEVIL HUNTER) shows up as some kind of mystical deep thinker who gets oral from the mom then gets it on with her and the oldest daughter (the oddly hot Ziggy Zanger) while an aging Hollywood queen caresses them all. The whole perplexing thing climaxes at some Egyptian ruins, though Laura is nowhere to be found, probably exhausted from the previous night's hypnotism and goat sacrificing.

While the flick has a beginning, a middle and an end that's about the only things it shares with, you know, movies. The story meanders along at its own head-scratching "pace", teasing the viewer with the thought that something of consequence might happen, only to toss in some nudity and then move on. By the end I found myself so fascinated by this non-film that I couldn't turn it off or guess what happens.

A wildly different type of flick than Joe D'Amato's EMANUELLE IN AMERICA, though I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor and publisher of Exploitation Retrospect. He is old enough to remember when Emmanuelle had two m's in her name and was played by Sylvia Kristel. For more reviews check out the ER website, like us on the Facebook and follow us on the Twitter.

BLACK EMMANUELLE, WHITE EMMANUELLE is available from Amazon.

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF CANNON FILMS (2014)

Before we turn the calendar to October and kick off the 2015 installment of 31 Days of Fright, I wanted to dash off some thoughts on Mark Hartley's latest doc, a look at the legendary Cannon Films that seems to have divided fans of the wildly hit or miss studio.

Few flicks have been as highly anticipated by yours truly as Mark Hartley's warts and all look at the wild world of Golan, Globus and Cannon films as told by the people who were there.

I was there, too, but as a passionate fan of the company who willingly plunked down cash I frequently didn't have an abundance of and time I probably could have been putting to better, more productive use. But none of that mattered when there were Chuck Norris, Michael Dudikoff, Jean Claude Van Damme and Charles Bronson movies to watch!

Notorious for their penny pinching and passionate hucksterism, movie-loving Israeli cousins Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus didn't invent the exploitation film sales model but, for a brief time, they certainly appeared to have it perfected. Films with nary a word of script would be sold to territories around the world (usually based on a poster of one of their stars holding a machine gun or samurai sword it seems) in order to finance operations and productions.

Unfortunately, what began as a truly low budget, seat of your pants operation churning out content for the multiplexes and video stores of the 80s somehow lost its way. A company that once blanched at the thought of a $30 million budget became notorious for throwing money at everyone from Sylvester Stallone (OVER THE TOP, COBRA) and Christopher Reeve (SUPERMAN IV: THE QUEST FOR PEACE) to the Dereks (BOLERO) and director Tobe Hooper, whose trio of flawed but beloved flops – LIFEFORCE (1985), TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2 (1986) and INVADERS FROM MARS (1986) – helped set the company on the course to financial disaster.

The picture painted by Hartley's documentary is one of chaos, with the cousins making seat of their pants decisions, combining disparate concepts into head-scratching wholes, chowing down off of Styrofoam plates in their offices, confusing films and people yet never acknowledging their errors, and loving today what they hated yesterday. In other words, probably what was going on at a lot of low budget film companies struggling to stay relevant as the film world slowly changed during the 70s, 80s and 90s.

Filled with often hysterical, sometimes bitter anecdotes about the company and its leaders, ELECTRIC BOOGALOO is packed with appearances from those in front of and behind the cameras who produced some of the best – and admittedly worst – sinema of my youth, including the aforementioned Hooper, MGM CEO Frank Yablans (who clearly hated the "garbage" Cannon gave him to distribute), Dolph Lundgren, script reader David Del Valle, Michael Dudikoff, Lucinda Dickey, Franco Nero, Cassandra Peterson, Richard Chamberlin, Oliver Tobias and directors Sam Firstenberg, Albert Pyun and Boaz Davidson, just to name a few. Alas, Golan, Globus, Chuck Norris, Jean Claude Van Damme and Sly Stallone are conspicuous by their absence. (The cousins, in true Golan-Globus fashion, produced a rival doc called THE GO-GO BOYS and completed it first, much like the battling break dancing flicks discussed in ELECTRIC BOOGALOO.)

I've read complaints that ELECTRIC BOOGALOO doesn't adequately celebrate what Golan and Globus accomplished, nor does it champion the love fans have for the likes of COBRA (1986) or Hooper's over-the-top horror efforts. But that's not what the picture is about and, quite frankly, it didn't bother me as it's not meant to be a love letter to the admittedly hit or miss studio.

I'm 100% comfortable in my appreciation of stuff like MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE, the violently cartoonish DEATH WISH sequels and LIFEFORCE – my wife can attest that I blurted out "I LOVE that movie!" about 20 times during our screening – even in the face of those involved telling me what a flat out disaster the filmmaking process was. But that's okay, I love what I love and no amount of anyone telling me how bad it is or what a horrible experience it was will change my mind.

BOOGALOO marks the third major behind-the-scenes documentary from Hartley after the revelatory NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD: THE WILD, UNTOLD STORY OF OZPLOITATION! (2008) and 2010's MACHETE MAIDENS UNLEASHED! (which I found sorta "fun but meh"). Unfortunately, I don't see the uninitiated coming away from the flick with a laundry list of titles they want to track down a la NOT QUITE HOLLYWOOD. In fact, seeing clips from Cannon flicks I'd never bothered to watch like SAHARA (an epically awful looking Brooke Shields vehicle), MATA HARI (with Sylvia Kristel and her boobs) or BOLERO (a then controversial skin flick from John and Bo Derek) did nothing to convince me I needed to watch them, though I did just drop $3 on a VHS of the insane looking GOING BANANAS starring Deep Roy in a role original pitched to Clyde the Orangutan from the Clint Eastwood flicks.

If I have any complaint about BOOGLOO it's that I would have liked to have heard more about Cannon productions that never happened – like SPIDER-MAN or GOLEM starring Charles Bronson – but that's a minor beef and maybe somebody out there is toiling away on a definitive oral history of such projects.

As always, your mileage may vary.

Bonus features on the disc – which I got dirt cheap from Amazon – include 25 minutes of deleted scenes (fingers crossed for more interviews with The Dude) and a half-hour of Cannon trailers. – Dan Taylor

Dan Taylor is the editor and publisher of Exploitation Retrospect and is currently working on what looks to be a massive new issue due out later this year. He loves LIFEFORCE, AVENGING FORCE and MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE but hates, Hates, HATES Tobe Hooper's TEXAS CHAINSAW MASSACRE 2. Check out more reviews at the website and follow ER on Facebook and Twitter.

ELECTRIC BOOGALOO is available as standalone disc or as part of a Cannon 10-Pack featuring such films as INVASION USA, COBRA, MASTERS OF THE UNIVERSE and BLOODSPORT.

EMANUELLE AND THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE (1978)

"Do you still go in for a lot of lovemaking?"

Laura Gemser returns as the famous reporter with a nose for news and a bod for steamy lovemaking – with all comers! This time out our intrepid newshound is hot on the trail of an international gangster and winds up at a white slavery auction.

After going undercover as a poor girl, Emanuelle gets shipped off to Madame Claude’s brothel (hence the alternate title EMANUELLE AND THE GIRLS OF MADAME CLAUDE) where she learns the dreaded too much and has to be lobotomized, but not before a hot nurse strips down to get it on with our super duper snooper in a hospital room featuring a giant cabinet of drugs.

Paced and structured like the sleazier EMANUELLE IN AMERICA (1977), WHITE SLAVE TRADE is a bit more erotic than the usual Joe D’Amato fare and packs more plot into its first 12 minutes than all of the excruciating BLACK EMANUELLE/WHITE EMANUELLE.

Includes: sex in exchange for car repairs, auto-eroticism, safari montage, dancing natives, tranny, Chinese Joe. – Dan Taylor

EMANUELLE AND THE WHITE SLAVE TRADE is available at Amazon.

THE SNAKE GOD Will Slither Its Way Into Your Heart

Happy Friday trash fans! While yours truly plugs away on fun stuff (like final layout duties on ER #52 which will be available for pre-order soon) and not as fun stuff (the jobs that pay the bills) our good pal David Zuzelo takes over the review reins for a look at the latest from Mondo Macabro. It's THE SNAKE GOD... and if ever there was a flick that has "Damn You, David Z!" potential, this is it!

Mondo Macabro sure knows how to grab my attention! Promising me "AN EXOTIC INFERNO OF SEX AND VOODOO" with the release of the hard-to-find THE SNAKE GOD certainly makes me eager to pop that disc into the player. Add in that it stars the beautiful Nadia Cassini and the instantly recognizable allure of Beryl Cunningham (Bruno Mattei's ISLAND OF THE FISHMEN aka SCREAMERS) and I'm doubly there. But the main thing I was interested in was seeing another film directed by Piero Vivarelli!  Vivarelli was behind the camera for the fumetti-inspired films SATANIK and MR. X so expectations ran high, but what I got was far more than expected. THE SNAKE GOD was definitely an inspiration for several Italian sleaze films to come (Joe D'Amato fans should take note), but it's got some decidedly different flavors mixed into its witches brew of voodoo, allegory and bare bodies.

Paola (Cassini) is married to Bernard Lucas, a very wealthy man who brings her to the Caribbean for what at first seems like romance, but it quickly becomes obvious that he wants her as another possession to show off to his high society pals. Once he promises her that all the beauty she sees will be hers, "if she plays her cards right" then it is definitely trouble. The pair frolic for a bit in the exotic locations, slurping J&B and eventually stumbling upon a voyeuristic opportunity to watch what appears to be some natives engaged in sex and shimmying in the sand. Paola is definitely curious to learn more and Lucas tells her about Stella (Cunningham), the woman she is admiring. After assuming that she was "just" a native, she learns that not only was she her husband's secretary at one point, but that she was a teacher. After a few days he leaves her on the island to her own devices; Paola is immediately drawn to Stella and the pair become fast friends.  Where Paola is seemingly naïve, Stella is centered and one with the island culture around them. With Stella's astro sign medallion wisdom and carefree attitude, Paola can't help but want to know not just her, but all about the island, and opens up about herself in the process. Paola left her fiancé to marry the wealthy industrialist and has been batted about by what she thinks is her own "luck." But luck may not be on her side any longer, or is it?

THE SNAKE GOD co-starring A Bottle of J&B

After persuading Stella to take her to a local ritual that involves a whole lot of sexy voodoo possession dancing and gyrating, Paola begins to have dreams and visions of snakes and sex and they begin to affect the island world around her. As she starts to miss her husband he turns up dead thanks to a bizarre plane crash witnessed by a local fisherman. In a last ditch effort to stay connected to her previous life she brings the man she had ditched to the island. What poor Tony doesn't realize is that Stella has already met him...in a VOODOO VISION! The situation spirals out of control as things go from a lover's triangle of the flesh between the three and into an unearthly love square that features Djamballa, The Snake God and the lines between civilization, magic and reality bend and blur.

Honestly, this has a happy ending all said... at least I think so. Everyone finds satisfaction and a place in the world.  At least the weird world of Il dio serpente!

THE SNAKE GOD is a film that works fairly well as a guide for some later sun and sex exploitations from Italy, but its interest goes much deeper. Where D'Amato would indulge in surfside sapphic grinding (on a log!), this goes further explores its characters and works as a surreal drama that wears its weightier aspirations to talk about the expectations of "civilized" characters when placed in an exotic environment where danger and desire seem to mix magically with darker forces. The script is playing with the stereotypical "white girl goes native" tropes in the best possible way by making her foil – the incredibly dark-skinned and beautiful Beryl Cunningham – the more intelligent and educated of the two. When the Island God and the people make their choices it brings a great balance to the film as everyone gets what they desire, though one ends up in slightly stranger circumstances than they could have imagined.

That's one elegantly composed shot... is 7:16 AM too early for some J&B?

But it isn't all just allegory and deeper meaning! There is some groovy music composed by Augusto Martelli and many soundtrack enthusiasts will know the theme as soon as the first bass note has you (island) grooving on your couch. Fans of sexy women are well served; Beryl Cunningham will make you want to book your next vacation to the Caribbean for sure, and Nadia Cassini goes from playful and hopping on a bed to sweaty solo gyrations under the influence of the snake god. And hey, you get a snake wiggling about in the sand. Snakes are cool by me. Vivarelli put together a film that will definitely tickle the brain while never neglecting to get behind your zipper for a few snake tongue licks as well!  An achievement for sure, and a film that every fan of trashy European cinema will enjoy as both a film and a nice bit of Italian genre film archeology.

The DVD from Mondo Macabro is a gem as usual. There is an interview with Piero Vivarelli (oh, please get me a double feature of those earlier fumetti films!!), a really strong essay on the film's production and history and a nice widescreen transfer that lets us focus on every drop of sweat that rolls off the nose of Nadia Cassini!

And if you like spotting J&B bottles then I assure you that you will LOVE this film. Vivarelli shoots some scenes featuring the familiar yellow label like a true advertising artist would.

It's sexual liberation for all...and the liberation of a hard-to-find film for all connoisseurs of exotic sex films. THE SNAKE GOD has slithered its way into my heart! – David Zuzelo

THE SNAKE GOD is available from Amazon and Diabolik DVD.

Want to know more about the exploitation roots of the man I affectionately call 'Damn You, David Z!'... check out this interview in The Cape Cod Examiner.