Movie Review: China and Sex (1994)

Mya Communications has made it a mission to dig up some of the more bizarre, sexy and obscure Euro-cult fare over the past few years. Whether you love him or hate him there's really never enough Joe D'Amato films on DVD, so seeing that his 1994 soft-core film China and Sex get has gotten a release gives room to celebrate for fans of the Italian king of sleaze.

Buy China and Sex on DVD

China and Sex takes place mostly in a brothel located somewhere in the Orient, where a wealthy gentleman enjoys dining and throwing his riches at the prostitutes. Money ain't everything though, especially for a very mysterious dancing hooker named Tama. This high roller wants Tama, but Tama doesn't want him unless he reaches a spiritual level that's ok with her. His persistence gets her attention slightly, but never enough to lift her skirt up.

D’Amato may be using the pseudonym “Robert Yip” but China and Sex includes many of the known that you’d expect from the auteur. Nudity is in abundance here, as with most D'Amato films but some of it is of the less titillating variety. Many of the ladies featured as the prostitutes have protruding muffin-tops above they're lady parts. I will say though, the actress that plays Tama is quite lovely and nude throughout most of China and Sex, so don't be too concerned. There are all various forms of sex exhibited in the movie, as the titles suggests, and the director does take a few turns for the perverse. One act in particular takes place in the restaurant area of the brothel where the “Johns”, bored with generic soy sauce, dip their grilled shrimp into the sticky privates of the working girls. How the health department hasn't closed that place, we'll never know. This brand of sexual craziness is nothing new for the director. On numerous occasions he has showcased the glorious beauty of Laura Gemser while simultaneously mixing in the lumpy maids working the Hyatt, Santo Domingo and of course…Pedro “The Horse”.

Those of you wondering as to whether the filth-factor in China and Sex measures up to D'Amato epics like Emmanuelle in America, Exotic Malice or Erotic Nights of the Living Dead will be happy know that in addition to the rampant flesh there's even a little gore. Some of the groovy highlights include a stabbing in an asylum and one unlucky even lad gets his member graphically torn from above his nut-carriage. Typical D'Amato antics, but that's why we love him.

Aside from a trailer for the film, no real extras are included in the package. China and Sex is pure D’Amato and will surely delight completists in search of the filmmaker’s more recent works. Just be wary that there could be a little more then MSG in your take-out. Recommended!