Movie Review: A Touch of Genie (1974)

Directed by Joe Sarno                                

Nebbish Melvin Finkelfarb’s (Doug Stone) life revolves around to tending to his Antique/Junk shop, being berated by his yenta mother (Ultramax) and sneaking off to Times Square to catch the latest skin flicks. Finding a discarded vase in an alleyway, Melvin “rubs” it in an intimate manner and out pops a sprightly female genie (Chris Jordan) who grants him five wishes. Melvin’s wishes are to take the male roles in various hot sex scenes with his favorite adult actors and actresses. This is represented by such skin flick regulars as Harry Reems, Marc Stevens, Eric Edwards and plain Jane Tina Russell boffing away on a $1.98 harem set. All well and good, but these scenes are interrupted with Melvin’s mother barging her way in to join in the action! Paging Dr. Freud? All’s well that ends well.

As Joe Sarno and Doris Wishman scholar Michael Bowen points out in his interview included on this Vinegar Syndrome DVD and Blu-Ray combo, A Touch of Genie was Sarno’s second reluctant attempt at hardcore – and it shows it. Many cast and crew members hide behind pseudonyms and the actors doing the “comedic” scenes are kept separate from the actors getting to the nitty-gritty (with the exception of Ultramax and Russell, who appears briefly as a strait-laced virgin). Bowen also rightly points out that A Touch of Genie is self-reflexive on the porn genre in general, where those stuck in undeclared celibacy live vicariously through the actors on the Blue Screen.

Movie Review: Butterflies (1974)

by Greg Goodsell

Directed By Joe Sarno

Denise (Marie Forsa) is tired of her farm girl life in rural Germany and pines for the bright lights, big city. Climbing aboard her country-hick boyfriend (American porn star Eric Edwards) one last time, she packs a tube of lipstick in an exceedingly tiny suitcase and thumbs a ride to Munich. Meeting a pig-face lingerie salesman along the way, Denise hooks up with suave and de-boner nightclub owner Frank (porno icon Harry Reems – in his hottest role). Whisking her away to his penthouse apartment in Munich, Denise is wined, dined and sixty-nined under the proviso that she is aware that she is only one of a countless string of women who is lining up for Frank's precious bodily fluids. Reems fornicates with several women in many intense scenes, until Denise gets sick and tired of his fuckin' shit, hits the road and presumably thumbs a ride back to the farm.

Sarno's Inga Collection Seduces Its Way to DVD in a Special Collectors Set!

Joseph Sarno’s Acclaimed Masterpiece of Erotic Cinema is Back in

THE INGA COLLECTION

Retro Seduction Cinema’s Deluxe 3-Film, 3-Disc Collection

Available August 14, 2012

New York, NY June 4, 20120 – The newest entry in Retro Seduction Cinema’s critically acclaimed line of classic sexploitation cinema, the INGA COLLECTION, reintroduces three iconic films by NYC auteur Joseph Sarno, previously available as distinct, limited-edition numbered DVDs: INGA, SEDUCTION OF INGA and THE INDELICATE BALANCE.

Shot entirely in Sweden, INGA and SEDUCTION OF INGA swept U.S. box offices and catapulted young Swedish starlet Marie Liljedahl to international fame while securing director Joseph Sarno’s reputation as the “Ingmar Bergman of Erotic Cinema”. Also included is the lesser-known, but equally compelling Swedish production, THE INDELICATE BALANCE.

Synopsis:

Three acclaimed tales of sexual awakening and forbidden passion by sexploitation auteur Joseph Sarno, now available in a new collector’s edition release from Retro Seduction Cinema:

Inga – Marie Liljedahl is Inga, a beautiful and naïve young woman who becomes a pawn in a game of sexual manipulation and deceit after her move into her aunt’s home. To escape, she must choose between the arms of a sophisticated much-older man and those of her aunt’s younger lover.

Seduction of Inga - Alone and penniless, Inga (Marie Liljedahl) becomes the personal secretary and lover of a dashing older man. But when business takes him away, temptation proves too difficult to resist, and soon Inga must choose between her lover, his mistress and a handsome young musician.

The Indelicate Balance – A prolonged stay at his attractive and overbearing mother’s home prompts Harald and his wife Karin to question their relationship, ultimately driving Karin into the arms of another woman.

Book Review: Swedish Sensationsfilms: A Clandestine History Of Sex, Thrillers and Kicker Cinema (Daniel Ekeroth, 2011)

Personally, I'd like to thank the country of Sweden from the bottom of my perverted heart for giving the world that amazingly beautiful creature sexploitation film fans know as Christina Lindberg (Thriller: A Cruel Picture, Exponerad, Maid in Sweden). Oh and yeah, Ingmar Bergman, isn't too shabby a contribution either. I'm a big fan of Swedish cult cinema but unfortunately it’s come very late in my life. Discovering new films from one of Europe's finest countries has been a challenge.That is until I set my eyes on Daniel Ekeroth's newest book, Swedish Sensationfilms: A Clandestine History Of Sex, Thrillers and Kicker Cinema. The exploitation Gods must be smiling down on me.

Buy Swedish Sensationsfilms: A Clandestine History of Sex, Thrillers, and Kicker Cinema on Amazon.com