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Category:    Home > Reviews > Drama > Special Interest > Sexploitation > Exploitation > Horror > Slasher > Wide Open/Australia After Dark/The ABCs Of Love And Sex/Nightmares (1975/Impulse Pictures/1975 - 78/InterVision Picture Corp./1980/Severin Films/DVDs)

Wide Open/Australia After Dark/The ABCs Of Love And Sex/Nightmares (1975/Impulse Pictures/1975 - 78/InterVision Picture Corp./1980/Severin Films)

 

Picture: C-/C-/C/C+     Sound: C+/C/C/C+     Extras: C+/C-/C-/B-     Films: C/C/C+/B

 

 

Impulse Pictures presents Wide Open – a Swedish sex romp starring the beautiful Christina Lindberg.  Films like this wouldn't go on being made for long, as this was shortly before the explosion of hardcore in the late '70s.  This one's got softcore action aplenty, though the movie can be a pretty big snooze.  There are a few bonus features, including a revealing set of interviews with Lindberg and the director, Gustav Wiklund.  It makes for an interesting watch, though a dislike for one another is apparent as they look back on the few times they had worked together.

 

Other extras include trailers for four other films of the time, but none for this feature; there's a Christina Lindberg photo gallery, too, and it includes some very tastefully done poses of her, rounding off the content of this disc rather nicely.

 

InterVision continues releasing interesting material from the early video era, but are also committed to earlier films from the '70s, such as these two from director John Lammond.

 

Australia After Dark is a Mondo-type film, showing the sexy and slightly strange side of Australian life.  It's a pleasant change from the Italian made stuff that shows jungle tribesmen and is typical of the genre.  A trailer reel is advertised as being included, however I was unable to find it, and the disc even lacks the trailers for other InterVision releases that the other DVDs have typically had.  The lone bonus feature is a commentary track with John Lammond and director of Not Quite Hollywood (reviewed elsewhere on this site), Mark Hartley.

 

The ABCs of Love and Sex is another John Lammond feature, this time with him tackling the topic of sex within the structure of an educational film.  It's a fun watch, and more enjoyable than Australia After Dark.  Those who enjoy other oddities from the Disco decade, such as The Groove Tube, will probably find this to be a good purchase.  The disc loses points for again lacking the promised trailer reel, although director commentary is included on this release as well.

 

InterVision's parent company, Severin has released another John Lammond film – Nightmares, also known as Stage Fright.  This marks a massive step up in quality from his previous two films covered here, and though “just” a slasher movie, has a lot of great editing and camera work that really add to the film.  Horror fans would be wise to add this to their must watch lists, as this rivals some of the better Italian giallo films out there, and even ups the ante in a couple respects.

 

Lammond and Hartley return for a third round of commentary, and we finally get that long promised trailer reel that the other two releases failed to deliver on.  It's a good watch, and a shame for those who don't plan on getting Nightmares that the other discs didn't include it.  A featurette is thrown in as well – A Brief History of Slasher Films.  Even at around 15 minutes, it still manages to cram a lot of information into its short runtime.  There's only a blink and you'll miss it mention of Nightmares, but it's a nice inclusion on the DVD nonetheless.

 

Wide Open is presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen with an English dub track in Dolby 2.0 Mono.  It looks and sounds merely alright, and the image seems to be lacking color. Both Australia After Dark and The ABCs of Love and Sex are presented with 1.78:1 anamorphic widescreen transfers and have Dolby 2.0 Mono soundtracks.  After Dark is definitely the lesser of these two in the looks department, with a fairly damaged print that would qualify as the worst looking out of this crop of discs.  Nightmares actually looks and sounds pretty good, and although not the best looking DVD out there, is likely a step above any other editions out there.  It is presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen with a 2.0 Dolby Digital soundtrack in mono.

 

For PAL import editions of Australia After Dark and The ABCs of Love and Sex on DVD, try this link:

 

http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/10667/Enid+Blyton+Adventure+Series+(199

 

 

-   David Milchick


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