Early '80s Porno Classic

[DiscoMan]

I never realized there were so many porno aficianados on this board.

I think it had more to do with the free spirited open-mindedness of the time than anything else. People are soooooo
uptight these days.

[nrgbeat]

I wonder what the porn producers will come up with next.

I'm stumped

[Videoskooter]

Originally Posted by Boodikka

Yes, the film is based on the crimes of Michael Kenyon (not the author of the same name), the real life Ilinois Bandit.

OMG, I thought you were kidding. I searched the web for info and discovered that the guy really did this to women! Reality goes beyond imagination, I suppose. "Porno" by the Limbomaniacs deals with the same story. BTW, just wanna say that today's Porn doesn't mean a thing to me. The '70's stuff was much and much better, funnier and inventive.

[DiscoMan]

Today's porn is just another example of manufacturing for the mass marketer. Young guys today like their women to have fake tits and shaved cootchies. :o I don't get it, but I've had my day so it doesn't matter...

[Boodikka]

My visit to Plato's wasn't too different from what Jussi experienced: a lot of nude people who shouldn't have been nude (think of your typical swinger's convention) and a LOT of people gawking. Actually, the music was rather good, and a lot of people were dancing. Ed Jones was there, just kind of checking out the scene.

Jeannie Silver spent a lot of her time trying to get with my friend Randy (Jamie Gillis' nephew) and drinking. There wasn't a lot of "shop talk", and I also got the feeling that they didn't watch their own or other actor's porn films much. Remember, this was the NYC porn period, and the same people worked together over and over. BTW, I remember that Helen Madigan was there, and she was as......unfortunate-looking in person as she was on film.

Jussi, I can only imagine "Water Power" in the hands of a Tinto Brass or a Lasse Braun. :o BTW, though I am sure that NOBODY here will try and buy it, at least one online site hawks a completely uncut version of "Water Power". What a joy that would be to own. :roll:

Now, to those that would question why a film like this would even be made: let's examine the history of 70s porn. The first hardcore feature "Mona" was released in 1970. The mainstream hardcore porn format doesn't exactly allow for a great deal of variation. So once they exhausted the formulas used in softcore, they had to appeal to a jaded audience. The gimmicks began: "Deep Throat", P____ Talk", "French Shampoo" etc. They also began to create sub-genres, one of which became the porn/suspense/horror/gore sub-genre. Some of these films actually had plots and passable acting: "Unwilling Lovers", "The Defiance (Of Good)", "The Story Of Joanna" and "A Woman's Torment", for example. Some were appalling misogynistic "comedies', like "Weekend Fantasy" and "Hot Skin". Some were just disgusting: "Sex Wish", "Water Power", "Femmes De Sade", "Rape Victims" and the appalling "Wet Wilderness" come to mind. The makers of these films were always tring to push the envelope, they just pushed way too far. The same thing is happening now with the Japanese shock/horror genre: they've gone way over the top (but that's another discussion entirely).

[nrgbeat]

I was just reading about "Wet Wilderness" and "Barbarian Girls" on another site.

Pretty nasty stuff. I'll save my money.

[JussiK]

Originally Posted by Boodikka

a completely uncut version of "Water Power". What a joy that would be to own. :roll:

I happen to be in possession of this - not too proud but it's a mondo cane we're living in. As visitors to our apartment tend to inspect the bookshelves and dvd/video collections as they do, I have placed it to a very visible spot, right between to Antonioni's "La Notte" and the Edwige Fenech classic "Strip Nude For Your Killer". On a few occasions some bespectacled intellectual in a severe black outfit has enquired about the title and I've stopped conversations describing the premise of the film. A good way to sort real cineastes from les diletantes or what. When noted genre journalist Maitland McDonagh from New York came over she gave her approval of this design detail, so I know I did the right thing.

Fascinating to read about those porn personalities..how are your memoirs coming along, Boodikka, soon in print? We NEED to read them, you know.

[Boodikka]

Jussi, maybe I'll start a "Six Degrees Of Separation From Porn" thread...when I think about the amount of porn stars I've met, or that people that I know have "dated", etc...It's a fairly large number. Living on the Upper East Side in the early 80s, you'd run into them all the time. Of course, hanging out with Jamie Gillis' nephews in high school didn't hurt......

[buckaroo]

Hello all,
Has anyone seen the excellent Café Flesh? I was lucky enough to see an uncut version in a London cinema some years aback. :oops:

[DiscoMan]

I've seen it the video store, though I've never watched. I will have to now. I remember that it is supposed to have a very nice musical score...?

[buckaroo]

From what I recall it had a great premise (In the future, the majority of people have an illness which makes them incapable of having sex without feeling sick, therefore they visit such venues as Café Flesh in order to see live sex shows) and decent 'acting'