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Reviews
Carmen (1996)
Horrible!
Why did Aristide Massaccesi (1936-1999) decide to use his most famous pseudonym in the various porn videos he directed in the 1990s? The name Joe D'Amato was marked in the 70's and 80's by a series of erotic and horror films which were very financially successful and which, over time, became cult objects among fans of "exploitation" (such as Buio Omega, Antropophagus, Absurd aka Rosso Sangue, the "Black Emanuelle" series, Voglia di Guardare and many other films from that period). In the early 1980s, Massaccesi directed several cheap porn films, but using the pseudonym Alexandre Borsky. Why, then, did he use the name Joe D'Amato in countless irrelevant adult videos, such as this "Carmen" (1996)? Career contempt? I don't know.
Carmen - La Zoccola Spagnola is a horrible porn video. First of all, this video has nothing to do with the famous Carmen by Prosper Mérimée and Georges Bizet. By the way, neither story or plot this video has. Why did D'Amato waste time on productions without plot or narrative? In Carmen there is only a succession of sex scenes staged without enthusiasm and inspiration and which basically boil down to fellatio and vaginal penetration. In the entire video there is only a brief moment of double penetration, which makes this video a nightmare for all female sodomy lovers.
As was customary in Italian productions of that period, in Carmen there are no Italian actresses (the cast is formed by Hungarian and Slavic actresses, for the most part). Only Maria de Sanchez is Spanish and she is wasted here as she was very beautiful and talented. In short, Carmen is one of the worst porn videos of the 90s.
El ojete de Lulú (1986)
A real disappointment
Filmmaker Jesús Franco is considered a disciple of the Marquis de Sade, a famous French libertine philosopher and writer of the 18th century. However, Franco never directed a film faithful to Sade's works. The Spanish filmmaker was never interested in discussing philosophy in his films and seemed to feel a strange repulsion for female and male sodomy (sodomy being the favorite practice of the divine Marquis). I think that most of those who study Franco's work have never read a book by Sade and that's why they think that films like Justine (1969) and Eugenie (1970) are adaptations of works by the French philosopher. A gigantic mistake.
In the 1980s, Franco directed several pornographic films for a Spanish production company called Fervi Films. Perhaps the most famous (and ridiculous) of them is "El Ojete de Lulú", starring Lina Romay and Mabel Escaño (two wonderful actresses and wasted here). The film shows the dialogue between Lulú's anus and vagina (with Lina dubbing the first and Franco himself dubbing the second!). However, based on this premise, it was to be expected that the film would show a lot of vaginal and anal intercourse, right? Wrong. Being a Franco film, what we see is a lot of fellatio on flaccid penises and a lot of poorly staged and tedious lesbian sex. The only possible anal penetration in the entire film doesn't last a minute and is doubtful as the camera angle doesn't allow the viewer to see whether there was real anal penetration or not. A real disappointment. Franco, unlike Sade, hated anal sex and couldn't care less about philosophy.
Dan Oniroku: Nawa-geshô (1978)
Masterpiece
Japanese erotic cinema was the best in the world in the 1970s. In Europe only Borowczyk and Tinto Brass made films comparable to Japanese erotic works in terms of cinematographic quality. And among Japanese erotic filmmakers, Koji Wakamatsu, Shôgorô Nishimura, Teruo Ishii, Masaru Konuma and Norifumi Suzuki were the best.
Few films analyzed and portrayed female masochism in as much depth as this Rope Cosmetology. Here, the protagonist Kanako (a magnificent and very beautiful Naomi Tani) yearns to be treated like a dog by her husband, in the literal sense of the word. Her relationship with him was cold, without communication and without satisfaction, as the opening scene shows. But after visiting a former lover who is training to be a Female dog (with dog collar and all), everything changes in her life. Kanako even gets to copulate with a German shepherd in one of the most daring and beautiful scenes in Japanese erotic cinema.
That film has very good photography, with sophisticated camera movements. An authentic masterpiece of erotic cinema.
Entre pitos anda el juego (1986)
I really love Lina and Mabel
In the 1980s, Spanish director Jesús Franco (1930-2013) directed several pornographic films for a production company called Fervi Films. Pornography was legalized in Spain in 1984 and Franco is considered the father of the genre in his country, for having directed the first Spanish hardcore film, entitled Lilian, la virgen pervertida.
Entre pitos anda el juego is a moderately entertaining film thanks to the presence of Lina Romay (wife and muse of the director) and Mabel Escaño, a wonderful theater, film and television actress born in Malaga in 1946. With two actresses so beautiful and talented, it is a pity that Franco did not make a more interesting film, with a real plot that demanded something from the main actresses besides sex. There's even a poorly simulated anal sex scene involving Lina and Mabel in an orgy with two men, which the director doesn't even try to disguise that it's all simulation. In a sexually explicit film, this is unforgivable! Also, as is common in soft and hard films, the lesbian sex is abundant and very tedious, as the actresses can't even kiss each other convincingly.
There are many awful titles in Franco's prolific career and this one I only watched because of the two lead actresses.