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