The Stud

Tags

1970's, Erotic Drama, Joan Collins, Oliver Tobias, Quentin Masters, Sue Lloyd, The Stud

For my second entry into the blogathon after Sea Wife, I took it upon myself to review the movie known as The Stud.

Film Title

The Stud

Director

Quentin Masters

Starring

• Joan Collins as Fontaine Khaled
• Oliver Tobias as Tony Blake
• Sue Lloyd as Vanessa Grant

The Stud is basically a soft core fantasy from a book by Jackie Collins, with no basis in reality and a let down in case of what it promises, Joan Collins at least provides some respite with a role similar to what we generally think of when her name is mentioned.

Fontaine Khaled is the beautiful wife of a wealthy businessman, who enjoys sex a lot and frequently with the manager of her nightclub. This man is Tony Blake, the eponymous stud, who can’t resist her and keeps coming back to satisfy. Fontaine knows how to play Tony like a fiddle and enjoys toying with him for her own delight. Tony also wants to start his own club, but never seems to succeed with it. While sleeping with other women, he is mostly on hand to supply the pleasure for his boss. However, Tony has grown tired of Fontaine and turns his attentions to her stepdaughter Vanessa, who resents her stepmother. Yet Fontaine is crafty and is perfectly adept at turning Tony’s life upside down when needed. Things obviously don’t turn out in a tidy fashion for Tony.

Quentin Masters contributes a muddled direction that does nothing to help the already labored movie. He can’t decide whether he wants the film to be sleazy or make a point about the lifestyles of the jet set crowd. Masters could have done better, especially as the story(what there is of it) is largely about the sex and not much else. The confusion also abounds in the visual style that is at times high key and then too dimly lit. It might have been better to just stick to one thing and not try to be something that it isn’t. The Stud is pretty laughable if it is attempting to say something, as the dialogue is stilted and unconvincingly clunky. While scenes of naughtiness are featured, but you expect more from an erotic movie than what’s presented. Yes the orgy scene is completely crazy and the lift sex is hot, but it can all feel frightfully dull. And that is one thing you don’t want with an erotic movie. The disco/funk score is pretty cool however and the various club scenes have a lot of energy and groove to them. It may smell of kitsch, but the music will get your foot tapping if nothing else.

What brings The Stud to some level of guilty pleasure is Joan Collins. This revitalised her career and established her as the go to lady for sassy and sexy vamps. Collins has this wicked gleam in her eyes and sexual energy that transcends the trite story here. Plus, she is completely comfortable with being revealing and not hiding her body, looking effortlessly fabulous and seductive throughout. Without Joan Collins, The Stud would simply be unwatchable. Oliver Tobias, while possessing a handsome face, is pretty flat and wooden as the supposed charmer. It’s pretty hard to believe that so many women fall at his feet, especially when his work is so lifeless and lacking any vigorous sexuality. Sue Lloyd is also beautiful to look at, but pretty bland in the scale of things. The main feature and the best one is Joan Collins.

No one will think of The Stud as something deep or at all plausible( it’s hardly even a good movie), but the presence of Joan Collins at her sexy, devious best is what makes it at least bearable.

Damage

Tags

1990's, Damage, Drama, Erotic Drama, Jeremy Irons, Juliette Binoche, Leslie Caron, Louis Malle, Miranda Richardson, Rupert Graves

Film Title

Damage

Director

Louis Malle

Starring

• Jeremy Irons as Stephen Fleming
• Juliette Binoche as Anna Barton
• Miranda Richardson as Ingrid Fleming
• Rupert Graves as Martyn Fleming
• Leslie Caron as Elizabeth

Erotic obsession and the devastation of infidelity are dispassionately captured in Damage, directed with clinical hands by Louis Malle and performed admirably by the cast. It’s not a film for all tastes, but for those willing to view an intense and glacial unearthing of attraction, Damage may well interest you.

Stephen Fleming is a former doctor, who is now in the sphere of British politics as a government minister. His life is largely ordered and well off, with his loving wife Ingrid and two children; grown up Martyn and young Sally. While his life is pretty impressive and successful, you get the feeling that Stephen desires more out of what he says as a slightly dull and stuffy existence. That very thing finds him when he meets Anna Barton, a new girlfriend of Martyn’s who is gorgeous yet glacial. Stephen is immediately captivated by the icy Anna, who silently allows and entices his attractions to manifest and culminate in an affair. For Stephen, he is experiencing sexual bliss and something out of the ordinary, while for Anna it is more clouded and enigmatic. She seems to enjoy this thrill of the chase when it’s on her terms, yet remains passive outside of the bedroom with her hand clearly on Stephen’s heart. knows that what he is doing is wrong, but the beautiful Anna has awakened something within him that can’t be easily tamed. It completely consumes him from every angle and his ordered world is turned upside down. The affair intensifies, even though Martyn announces that him and Anna are to be married. It is Anna who mainly seems to control what is going on, telling Stephen that she is going to marry and still have relations with him. Yet after dinner with Anna’s mother who hints at her daughter’s damaging influence, considers breaking things off with her. Before this can happen though, revelations and sadness sweep over as the affair’s impact is brutally drawn out.

Louis Malle’s direction is one of measured pacing and subtle hints, that allows Damage to move along with a sharp eye on the affair and the ways it tests everyone. A lot of the tension in the film is found in the glances between Anna and Stephen, with each thinking they know the other’s thoughts and desperately wanting to get physical. There isn’t a moralizing factor in Damage and while and Anna are obviously hurting others b their clandestine actions, Malle refuses to pass judgement and presents them as two people who just can’t quit their desire, regardless of the consequences. The view of the characters will no doubt be what the audience wants it to be, but kudos to the script that explores the depths of obsession and how incendiary desire can become on even the most decent person. Which brings me on to the sex in Damage, which is animal and messy, up close and uncomfortably personal. It isn’t movie style sex though the people aren’t without appeal, it is depicted as a lustful thing that isn’t always pleasant or earthy. That may sound like a criticism, but it isn’t because Damage shows the burgeoning affair with an uncompromising air making it fierce but ultimately  bruising. That’s why the sex in it is so different and unusual, it boasts an intimacy that never lets you look away through the cold and arresting treatment of things. Anyone going in expecting to be aroused will no doubt be disappointed, as Damage focuses more on the awkwardness and attempts to remain concealed best conveyed through body language. Sex and desire is played out as an exercise in both emotions and longings that are brought up yet slowly begin breaking through, with often compromising and ultimately tragic results in the long run. As smart and piercing as Damage is, it isn’t completely above the level of soap opera is some of its moments. Thankfully, these moments are only really a few in what is largely a successful and strangely gripping dive into the rivers of erotic longing, that wisely for the most parts rises above the need for melodrama. In fact, emotions are kept largely at simmering level until inevitable tragedy and heartache and that’s when Damage really soars, as the moments are so unexpected and emotionally violent. Some may say that the film is too cold, but that is to miss how objectively it views the characters and their actions. The music mirrors the bubbling tension and breaks in tranquility, before discovering a well of sadness that comes in handy when all is laid out on the table.

In this brewing drama of wrenching consequences, the assembled actors admirably perform with all they have got, with spectacular results. In the lead of the bewitched government minister, Jeremy Irons subtly portrays both an agonizing guilt and an almost school boy infatuation that refuses to remove itself from him. Irons is a pro at playing the stiff upper lip aspects of the part, while hitting home the deep obsession he feels whenever Anna is around him that causes him to jeopardize everything in his life he has worked hard for.  Juliette Binoche has the right seductive allure and remoteness for the role of Anna, which she plays wonderfully. The part is a difficult one because Anna is someone who holds a lot back, but when you someone as talented as Binoche, the results are compelling. Through little flickers and nuances, she hints that there may be more feeling to Anna behind her icy surface, yet we can never be quite sure as she knows how to manipulate others too and her actions are not always what you expect. Her combination of aloof poise, come hither glances and possible danger are employed in a most striking way, with Binoche a sensual yet mysterious femme fatale. It isn’t difficult to see why Stephen risks everything for the melancholy yet arousing Anna, she really is a beautiful yet complex woman( due in no small part to the intelligence and suggestion of Juliette Binoche.) Yet the real fireworks and best performance in Damage is from the always interesting and dependable Miranda Richardson. Starring as the dutiful and caring wife who slowly comes to notice little things not adding up and earning a distrust of Anna, there is an elegance and grace to Richardson’s work that soon gives way to volcanic shock. And when I say shock and anger, she really goes for the jugular when everything spills out about the affair. It’s a soaring piece of acting and one that burns into the memory, owing to how deeply felt and bravely astonishing Miranda Richardson is. Rupert Graves has probably the least engaging part of the cuckolded Martyn, but he manages to really invest a sense of being bowled over by Anna and not being able to see what is right in front of him. Leslie Caron really makes her presence known in only a couple of scenes. Playing the wise and withering mother of Anna, she exemplifies an understanding of her daughter’s actions and knows exactly what she will do if she can. I had fun seeing Caron in the film as she largely says what everyone else is thinking, laced with a toxic undercurrent of foreknowledge.

A quietly intense and measured erotic drama that packs a punch as it goes on, Damage provides a striking view of overwhelming attraction and the brutal fall out from ones actions in the name of passion.

Henry and June

Tags

1990's, Biographical Drama, Erotic Drama, Fred Ward, Henry and June, Kevin Spacey, Maria de Medeiros, Philip Kaufman, Richard E. Grant, Uma Thurman

Film Title

Henry and June

Director

Philip Kaufman

Starring

• Maria de Medeiros as Anaïs Nin
• Fred Ward as Henry Miller
• Uma Thurman as June Miller
• Richard E. Grant as Hugo
• Kevin Spacey as Osborn

Inspired by the diaries of Anaïs Nin, who documented in them her strange and intriguing relationships with author Henry Miller and his wife June, Henry and June’s casts a haunting spell and details the intense sexual encounters and impact all three had on each other.

Paris, in 1931. Anaïs Nin is an aspiring writer looking for something else. She is married to the good but somewhat dull and unenthusiastic Hugo, Anaïs craves excitement and adventure. These come knocking at her door in the form of writer Henry Miller, who is in Paris working on what would later become his first novel. Anaïs is intrigued by Henry and relates to his discussions of literacy and art. She begins to develop feelings for the boorish Henry and soon enough passion is ablaze. Also introduced into this is Henry’s bisexual wife June; a most alluring woman who begins to entrance Anaïs as well, despite her mercurial tendencies. Anaïs witnesses the temperamental relationship between the two and while she still loves her husband, the promise of a bohemian lifestyle with Henry and June is too tempting to resist. Her eyes are opened to sexual experience and her longings become very erotic as a result, culminating in an unusual love triangle with Henry and June. When the capricious June returns to America, she gives permission for the sexually blooming Anaïs to continue an affair with Henry. Anaïs continues to evolve and becomes immersed in a world of bohemian and sexual abandon with Henry, as she becomes one of the inspirations for his book(the other being June) and Anaïs does something similar with her writings. But Anaïs and Henry often disagree as the mix of sexual adventure and they critique each other’s work; much  in a similar way to how June used to criticise Henry’s work and how one of the characters is an unflattering portrait of her. Yet when June returns to Paris in typically difficult style, passions boil over as Anaïs and Henry must both contend with the fact that she forms the last point of the sexual triangle that could easily break due to the desires and passions everyone has that become complex.

As he is very much an iconoclastic director, Philip Kaufman is right at home directing something provocative and controversial like Henry and June. Kaufman clearly enjoys showcasing these complex characters and wastes no time in getting this across through expressionistic close-ups and silent era fade outs to signify the longings each of the three characters bears. While his direction is intelligent and well done, a minor flaw emerges when it comes to pace that can get grindingly slow. But with this being the only thing I can nitpick at, it’s more than safe to say that Henry and June is a success in its presentation of a dark and intense love triangle between three intriguing people. From doing research about the movie, it appears to have a big impact on the ratings system upon release as it became the first film to be certified NC-17. The rating signified that the film would have sexual content for adults only but was not given an X certificate that could have damaged people flocking to see it in theatres. And I can’t review Henry and June without talking about the sexual scenes as they are what makes up the core of the film. The scenes of a sexual nature are explicit to be sure, but they are not the stuff of skin flicks. Rather, these scenes are artfully shot and because they take basis from Anaïs’ diaries and expressions, have an intellectual, serious and observant quality to them that helps them stand out from mainstream sex scenes. I can see why they invented a new rating for this kind of film as it does deal heavily with sex, but is an artistic exploration of the three-way relationship, rather than a titillating one.By far one of the biggest draws that can be taken from Henry and June is the splendidly evocative cinematography. Bathing scenes in a sensual glow and tinged with a moody and melancholy feeling, it’s a truly marvellous visual style that really brings the passionate and most unusual story to stylish life. Coupled with the cinematography is the marvellous editing and jazz soundtrack, that helps the film gain something of a dreamlike and hypnotic impact that presses itself into the memory.

With her round eyes and elfin features that suggest a girlish innocence, Maria de Medeiros is extremely good at playing Anaïs Nin, who emerges as a passionate adventurer in all things erotic thanks to Henry and June. Maria de Medeiros is one of those people that the camera loves, but can also emote with a depth and subtlety, crafting Anaïs into a complex woman who has a core of observational passion and curiosity that consumes her little by little. I can’t picture anyone else playing Anaïs quite like de Medeiros, as she is simply marvellous in the role. Essaying the part of the controversial Henry Miller, Fred Ward plays him like a bear, full of vigour and unmissable shows of anger. Walking and talking like an old-fashioned gangster minus the Tommy gun, Ward invests Henry with a lust for life and an inability to sever himself from inevitable trouble, as it is too good to walk away from. Yet it is Uma Thurman who makes possibly the biggest and most memorable contribution to the film as one half of the titular couple. Playing so many different sides to June, from sensual and engaging, angry and bitter, tragic and unforgiving, Thurman doesn’t miss a beat and it says a lot when you miss her when she isn’t on screen. That’s a lot of clout to have and Uma Thurman makes her presence felt throughout, with her haunting presence and accent employed. Although he has probably the most thankless role of the film, Richard E. Grant does his best as the husband of Anaïs, who is safe and pleasing yet can’t quite provide the excitement that Anaïs craves. Also viewers should watch out for Kevin Spacey in a supporting role as the louche man who introduces Anaïs to Miller.

Visually splendid, well acted and benefiting from the intelligent direction of Philip Kaufman, as well as more than overcoming the sometimes overly languid pace, Henry and June is daringly adult cinema that knows how to be provocative and artistic in equal measures.

9 1/2 Weeks

Tags

1980's, 9 1/2 Weeks, Adrian Lyne, Drama, Erotic Drama, Kim Basinger, Mickey Rourke, Romance

Film Title

9 1/2 Weeks

Director

Adrian Lyne

Starring

• Kim Basinger as Elizabeth
• Mickey Rourke as John

It may have been savaged by critics upon release who saw it as nothing but a tawdry movie, but over time it is good to see that 9 1/2 Weeks has been reassessed and given a second chance. A film that touches on how addictive a union with someone can be and how it can push you over the edge, 9 1/2 Weeks masterfully casts a strange spell.

Elizabeth is an art gallery assistant who hasn’t been on a date or had a relationship since her divorce; a fact her friends seem to always remind her of. One day while out shopping, her eyes meet with suave Wall Street broker John and an immediate fire is lit. She sees him as mysterious and he slowly gains her trust, despite being a stranger, by whisking her off her feet with romantic gestures. From the start of the intense relationship, John’s preference to take charge when it comes to sex hints at the danger he’ll bring to Elizabeth, but she sees him as loving and exciting. As the union becomes bolder and the sexual games get more perverse, Elizabeth finds herself completely obsessed by John but wanting to escape his clutches. Something within her won’t let him go and as John begins to take charge of everything, she heads down a downward spiral due to John’s hypnotizing influence that threatens to engulf her if she doesn’t break free.

I have to give a lot of credit to Adrian Lyne for the way he shoots this movie and brings the strange nature of obsession to the screen. Capturing scenes in a soft focus glow and glossy finish, events seem sexy and erotic in the beginning before morphing into something unusual and uncomfortable. Lyne knows exactly how to bring erotic fire to proceedings, but as time goes by bring forth the disturbing nature of John’s dominance over Elizabeth. It must be said that while many of the scenes are graphic in terms of sexual content( for instance John using the contents of a fridge and feeding Elizabeth for satisfaction), everything takes on a different tone once John reveals his desire to be the one in control. You can feel a palpable danger growing within the film as Elizabeth becomes completely obsessed with the suave but menacing John and goes almost past the point of telling what is right and wrong, heading straight for disaster. I think critics at the time might have missed this sense of disturbing atmosphere by instead focusing on the sex scenes. Yes 9 1/2 Weeks has a lot of sex that at the start is sensual, but takes a darker turn as the relationship takes a different turn. Upon closer inspection, 9 1/2 Weeks paints a dark picture of brutal obsession and carnal desire that puts us in the shoes of Elizabeth, who knows something isn’t right but can’t walk away from the relationship that she has succumbed to. Now the movie isn’t flawless by any means; it runs a bit too long and some of the dialogue is a bit tin-eared. But even with these flaws, the film captures the attention as an unusual parable about not getting swept into something you may not be able to get out of. A well-chosen soundtrack of songs about passion and dark intensity fits 9 1/2 Weeks like a glove and furthers the heightened feelings of looming darkness that can be found in the encounters between John and Elizabeth.

A film such as 9 1/2 Weeks is can be made or broken by the casting of the leads, thankfully the two leads put it in the former category. Kim Basinger is utterly believable as the spellbound Elizabeth; presenting her as passionate yet slowly seeing the dangerous ruin the relationship could bring as she heads towards mental breakdown. We feel for the character and a lot of that is down to the excellent work from Kim Basinger. Mickey Rourke is just as good as the suave and very dangerous John, who ensnares Elizabeth in his perverse games of sexual pleasure. The best way I can think of to describe Mickey Rourke’s performance is similar to the snake in the Garden of Eden; he knows exactly what to say to be cunning and lure Basinger’s Eve like character in. Both leads have good chemistry, though it has an underlying darkness not often present with most movie couple’s chemistry and this sets it apart from many other movies.

An unusual film that is by turns erotic and disturbing, 9 1/2 is one of those movies that knows how to crawl deep under the skin with its story of a perilous sexual relationship.

Wild Orchid

Tags

1980's, Assumpta Serna, Bruce Greenwood, Carré Otis, Erotic Drama, Jacqueline Bisset, Mickey Rourke, Wild Orchid, Zalman King

Film Title

Wild Orchid

Director

Zalman King

Starring

• Carré Otis as Emily Reed
• Mickey Rourke as James Wheeler
• Jacqueline Bisset as Claudia Dennis
• Assumpta Serna as Hanna
• Bruce Greenwood as Jerome

It doesn’t capture the attention in the guilty pleasure way that Two Moon Junction did, but Wild Orchid is still an erotic film from Zalman King, although hamstrung by attempts to give depth to what is frankly a ludicrous story that needed no attempts to be serious.

Emily Reed is a young and impressionable lawyer who gets a job at a prestigious law firm. Her first assignment is to travel to Rio de Janeiro to finalize the purchase of a hotel. She works under the guidance of the quick-witted and decisive Claudia Dennis, who is a lot more experienced than the novice Emily and knows exactly how to do business. Arriving in Rio, the two set about looking over the run down hotel, that could have a promising future if they manage to save a deal that hangs in the balance. A disgruntled Claudia must go to Argentina for a few days to consult the hotel’s manager who was unaware of them coming, so proceedings are put on Emily, including attending a date with a wealthy man by the name of Frank Wheeler. The self-made millionaire is a strange man who asks personal questions to Emily and hints at a depraved mind. He further introduces her to a world of sexual decadence and carnal pleasure, which disturbs the virginal Emily. The other strange thing is that while Wheeler’s surroundings are sexual, he himself is cold and does not like to be touched even as naive Emily makes plans to get closer; instead getting his kicks from manipulating Emily into strange scenarios that get more exotic as time goes on. Emily finds herself becoming ever more bewitched by the cold and mysterious Wheeler, and can’t quite choose whether to be repulsed or aroused by the world he introduces her too, where he pulls the strings. Add to the fact that Claudia has been infatuated with him for a long time and has in many ways pushed Emily onto him to see if he rebukes her as he had done to her, and events are going to get heavy.

Zalman King with all his directing prowess does fashion a sweltering climate of sexual interaction and carnal desire that knows how to catch the eye. It’s a shame that he also attempts to conjure up some seriousness as Wild Orchid is really about the heat and sensual games being played against the backdrop of steamy Brazil. That isn’t to say that his direction is bad( far from it if truth be told) yet some parts could have done with a fixer upper and just a general sense of wild abandon to suit the story. The atmosphere is there and that’s what people want from a film like this, on that score it delivers. So I can’t for the life of me fathom why anyone on the production or writing team tried to give Wild Orchid any complexity( a movie such as Wild Orchid should really be anything but serious). All attempts at it are really lost and drag the film out for longer than needed. Also, the script is littered with corny lines and the whole exploration of Emily’s awakening does feel a bit slow, which is detriment to Wild Orchid. What people expect and want from movies like this is a sensual emanation of overripe sex and in that department Wild Orchid is very adept. Bodies are shown laced in sweat as a couple makes animalistic love under water, masks are adorned for a voyeuristic ball and Emily is initiated into a strange but tantalizing world that she never knew there was. A heady carnival score that dabbles with sexy percussion and brass lifts some languor in Wild Orchid and at least suits the erotic atmosphere of it.

Carré Otis, while being very beautiful and someone the camera loves, is unfortunately very stilted in her performance as the naive novice Emily. With stunning bright eyes, tousled hair and full lips, Otis is gorgeous and it is easy to see why she was cast in the part of the sexually unaware Emily. It must be said that she does nail the fragile innocence of the part, but her line delivery is problematically bland and needed more expression for it to be at least interesting and lift the weakness of the script. I think if another actress played the part it may have had a bit more about it instead of making the character into something of a blank cypher. Mickey Rourke fares a lot better as the manipulative, sleazy and intriguing Wheeler, who casts a spell on both women present. The role isn’t much of a stretch but Rourke plays it well nonetheless. The most fun seems to be had from Jacqueline Bisset as the silver-tongued and wild Claudia. Bisset brings energy and vigor to her and when she isn’t on screen the movie lags quite a bit. Assumpta Serna and Bruce Greenwood have roles that amount to cameos as two people caught in Wheeler’s web of sexual games.

Filled with taut flesh in various erotic positions, sensuous ambiance and the beautiful locations of Rio, Wild Orchid gets by on these three things, yet suffers from corny dialogue and not surrendering to the sheer implausibility of the story that could have made it at least a very guilty pleasure of sex. It’s safe for me to say that Wild Orchid left me with decidedly mixed feelings.

Two Moon Junction

Tags

1980's, Burl Ives, Erotic Drama, Louise Fletcher, Richard Tyson, Sherilyn Fenn, Two Moon Junction, Zalman King

Film Title

Two Moon Junction

Director

Zalman King

Starring

• Sherilyn Fenn as April Delongpre
• Richard Tyson as Perry
• Louise Fletcher as Belle
• Burl Ives as Sheriff Earl Hawkins

If you are looking for a film of depth and sophistication, Two Moon Junction will not be for you. But if you would like a guilty pleasure film of erotic atmosphere and steamy encounters, it should appeal to you. It’s a flawed movie for sure, but its sheer sexuality and style makes it very watchable indeed.

April Delongpre is the beautiful oldest daughter of a Southern Senator who is also an heiress to her family’s large fortune. She is engaged to be married to the nice enough Chad Douglas Fairchild, though we see that the marriage is a convenient one in joining with another prominent family. April feels trapped and would like to live her life before marriage, but due to her family, in particular her Grandmother Belle, all put pressure on her to honour the family name. As the days to the wedding continue to move quickly, April becomes riddled with second thoughts. While contending with these doubts, April finds herself something exciting. The thing in question is the hunky carnival hand Perry, who she meets one day while out with her two younger sisters. Initially reluctant to accept his blatant flirtations and intentions, she eventually gives into unfulfilled desire and so begins a torrid affair. The steamy affair and encounters between April and Perry take place while Chad and her family are away from home. Yet what April and Perry haven’t bargained for is Belle becoming aware of their passionate attraction and her plotting with local Sheriff Earl Hawkins to put a stop to this affair before the wedding bells begin to ring.

Zalman King has no desire to create a film of subtlety and he hammers this home from the very beginning. It must be said he is a very stylish director who can craft a balmy atmosphere of overblown passions and sexual heat and his skills are very much on show in Two Moon Junction. Everything has a sexy gloss in Two Moon Junction, best seen in the sultry soft focus cinematography and various acts of sexual activity on display. The film practically sizzles with ribald energy and verve that more that compensates for the often unintentionally hilarious dialogue and lack of believability in some quarters. The characters are not that interesting and the plot is really just an excuse to have these two attractive people make passionate love and get horizontal as much as possible. Yet with King at the helm, the film retains levels of watchability due to robust sexuality and the smoking hot desires that radiate from the film. And those love scenes are just smoking hot spectacles that get bolder as the film goes on. A reliably slinky score featuring unrelenting synths and loud saxophone is just right for this kind of soft core flick and strikes up the required atmosphere of sordid animal lust.

The cast is good enough, even if most of the characters are caricatures. Sherilyn Fenn rises above the underwritten nature of the story to play April as a conflicted girl going through sexual awakening and emerging from her virginal angelic nature to bad girl. Richard Tyson is mainly required to be virile and confident and he does this very well, as well as never seeming to wear a single shirt throughout the film. The two leads have hot chemistry to burn and their encounters are steamy as hell. Louise Fletcher and Burl Ives have their moments as the manipulative grandmother and observant Sheriff, yet they have scant material to work with and the main part of the film is the passion between the two younger and wilder lovers.

It’s often loaded with melodrama and not enough in the way of character development or material, but then again I don’t think anyone will be watching Two Moon Junction for its acting and writing. That honour goes to the sexy cinematography, sensual score and flesh on display that makes the film a real guilty pleasure if ever there was one.