Porn Loop Orgy

 
A brave and passionate fellow named 42nd Street Pete has been compiling and introducing a stack of porno "loops" from the 70's and 80's for distributor After Hours Cinema. Loops were short films that were played over and over again -- in a "loop" -- in porn emporiums on 42nd Street, NY, and in other cities throughout the world during better times (for sleaze fans, anyway). In many countries, they were also sold in Super-8 compilations -- or alone if they were long enough.

The Extreme Sleaze Showcase/Part 3/The Peepland Collection is Pete's latest offering, and it's a good one.  Loops don't have complex storylines. They have simple premises. For example, my favorite in this collection is *Violence*. The premise is: A young woman riding a bike is kidnapped and taken to a barn. There, she she is raped and abused. That's it.

*Violence* fascinated me because it's visually similar to some rough little shorts I made myself in the early 80's; they had titles like 'Horsing Around' and 'Beyond the Pale, and although they were not hardcore, they had a similar storyline, and were shot on Super-8 (like *Violence*). Although Pete introduces and comments on these movies, he doesn't say a lot about their origins. *Violence* also appealed to me because it has what I can only call a Color Climax look.

 In the 70's and early 80's, Color Climax was the premier European producer and distributor of loops and magazines featuring every sexual bent imaginable (legal and illegal) . Notorious, now hard-to-find films like *Kilroy Was Here*  and *Debased Dolly*  were distributed if not always produced by Color Climax, and I have always associated the grainy Super-8 look of films like *Violence* with the company (now an on-line concern only).  If I'd frequented 42nd Street, my reference points would probably be different.

Many of the loops in this compilation are clearly American, but several appear to be European. The films are silent, so there's no dialog to identify anybody's origins, and the locations are fairly generic (countryside, the odd city street, sleazy rooms) Another reference I have for the Euro -- or Scandinavian look, more rightly -- is what I've seen of Bodil Jenson's bestiality loops. They, too, have that distinct and magical Super-8 quality where the colors are muted, the grain is thick, and film scratches dance across the screen.

Another suspiciously Euro aspect of *Violence* is the inclusion of shots of pigs during the rape. The pigs are not part of the sex, but shots of them hanging out, eating, roughhousing, and gawking at the proceedings are intercut in order to up the sleaze quota. Perhaps the original producers were appealing to the beasty crowd?


The Extreme Sleaze Showcase DVD's are all must-haves.

 The artwork for After Hours' DVD mirrors the look of porn paperbacks of the period

There is a bit of confusion in some of the attached notes. Although the loops collected for Part III are said to have originally been screened at 'Peepland', the written notes for Part II cite *Violence* as a loop that screened at Blackjack Books. It's a minor confusion, and I simply point it out to invite clarification.

One of the most curious loops involves Louie De Jesus (from Bloodsucking Freaks) going the whole hog with the wonderful Vanessa Del Rio. This is a hardcore scene, and features the little guy penetrating a porn queen who is undoubtedly all woman.

Super-8 loops aren't produced today, but their equivalent is the gonzo porn that keeps the internet humming, and DVD shelves (in some countries) filled. Although S/M-themed porn -- porn that is structured around scenarios and adheres to master/slave dynamics -- is still produced, material along the lines of 'Violence' is not as common. The work of adult filmmakers such as Simon Thaur,  Belladonna, John Stagliano, Khan Tusion, Rob Black, Rocco Siffredi, Jake Malone, Cristoph Clark, Max Hardcore, Nacho Vidal, and Thomas Zupko (among others) is descended from the rough loops -- like *Violence* --  that once made 42nd Street so special.

These collections are a priceless reminder of recorded sexual culture, a culture that echoes today, and will echo well into the future.

No Dogs

I feel like barking at traffic this morning, so hope there's something of interest here to warrant your time.

Just ordered an Oppo Blu Ray Multi-Region player because there's a lot of stuff coming out in France and the UK that is being totally ignored by US distributors. Seriously, the US scene is getting lamer and lamer. There is no much international stuff that is not available.

I reviewed the 'Mesrine' films, Killer Instinct and Public Enemy Number 1 almost a year ago on this blog. These brilliant crime flicks are still total no-shows theatrically and on DVD/Blu-Ray in the U.S. Directed by Jean Francois Richet, who also directed the brutal Assault on Precinct 13 remake, and starring Vincent Cassel, these are on par with American classics such as Heat and Goodfellas.

Thank Christ another French crime flick, A Prophet, made it to these shores, and is currently in theatrical release. I urge you to see this terrific crime/prison drama. It is a blistering, realistic genre pic with a number of sensational performances. Nobody is doing this stuff like the French.

This week I was pretty disgusted by Comedy Central's censoring of the second part of a two-parter of South Park in which the prophet Mohammed is referenced and said to be inhabiting a bear costume. A Muslim extremist group, predictably upset by this, said that Trey Parker and Matt Stone would probably end up like Theo Van Gogh for making this episode. Van Gogh, a doco filmmaker, was slain in Amsterdam in 2004 for daring to expose the abuse of Muslim women in Islamic society.

Comedy Central's knee-jerk kow-towing to this group is pathetic, but equally pathetic is how thin-skinned these extremists are. If they honestly feel that their religion can not withstand a bit of satirizing, how strong can it actually be?

Every religion gets satirized on South Park. In this episode alone, Budda snorts coke and Jesus surfs the internet for porn.

I felt that the show's handling of the Mohammed character was extremely sensitive.

Obviously, a few others didn't.

Still thoroughly enjoying A&E's The First 48, easily my favorite reality crime series. This is an exceptional weekly show detailing the first forty-eight hours after a homicide is committed.

Last week's duet of episodes, 'The Stranger', and 'Prince of Darkness', were dark, stark explorations of an embedded crime culture. As usual, I was riveted.

The show is a textbook example of how to make a solid reality show. From the cutting to the graphics to the ace sound design and camera work, every element contributes to an overall sense of suspense and dread. It's important to mention the show's brilliant music contributions, too, from Paul Brill, Justin and Brian Deming, and Don DiNicola. If you've never seen this show, do yourself a big favor.

Belladonna's latest excursion into perversion, No Warning 4, comes with two covers. This one is sure to provoke water cooler conversation.

The flick itself is much tamer than the cover art suggests, but one has to admire Belladonna for not disappointing her fan base.

The alternative wrapper adds a fascinating line of copy to the sell:

"A girl at war with herself."

The psychology of this director's work is what makes it interesting and an indicator of where hardcore, directed by women, is moving.

At the other end of the spectrum, and recommended, is Luc Jacquet's Le Renard Et L'Enfant (The Fox and the Child), a 2007 childhood odyssey from the director of March of the Penguins

Although it is not a documentary, it is close to it, and focuses on a tender relationship between a young girl and a fox. The images of the two interacting are magnificent, and the location work is exemplary.

For some, the film may be a little too manipulative and heavy-handed (there have been such criticisms). As a fan of The Bear, Milo and Otis, The Yearling, The Plague Dogs, Duma, Fly Away Home, Watership Down, and The Painted Hills, I found The Fox and the Child to be a warm and wonderful viewing experience.