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7
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
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An
heiress (Marilyn Chambers) explores her erotic fantasies...
In
an era of surgically enhanced, tattoo-ridden porno starlets,
it's a pleasure to revisit the work of Marilyn Chambers. The
Midwestern beauty made a transition to mainstream fare via David
Cronenberg's disturbing Rabid (1977),
but her reputation as the star of the seminal XXX feature Behind
the Green Door (1972) ensured that any such attempt would
be never be entirely successful. Insatiable
hit the video shelves after her credible performance in the
Canadian horror auteur's 'body horror' hit, and it would prove
to be one of her signature titles —
two sequels followed, 1984's Insatiable
II and the direct-to-video Still
Insatiable (1999), made nearly 20 years later.
The plot is slight
and incidental, but director Stu Segall uses it as a means to
string together a series of steamy sex scenes. Chambers makes
for a credible and sympathetic heroine, and she throws herself
into the action with sensual gusto. The sex scenes are all of
a high caliber, with particular highlights courtesy of a hot
tub tryst between Chambers and Serena, and a pleasingly smutty
pool table romp between Chambers and David Morris. The final
hallucinatory three-way between Chambers, Morris and legendary
porn stud John Holmes provides a fitting climax, if you'll pardon
the expression. Director Segall shows a good sense of pacing
throughout —
compared to the endless and ultimately tedious sex scenes in
many contemporary porn features, Segall doesn't allow the action
to become too padded or redundant. The performers show palpable
enthusiasm, the sex generates heat, and the staging is effective
and economical. In addition, the antics are passionate and kinky
enough without degenerating into disturbing extremes. The connecting
plot tissue doesn't get in the way, mercifully, and manages
to hold one's interest.
A fine example of
classic XXX cinema, Insatiable
provides a solid template of how to make a good porno feature.
Viewers accustomed to the tasteless "gonzo" extravaganzas and
would-be arty erotica permeating contemporary video shelves
are in for a good time, while aspiring filmmakers looking to
delve into the market would do well to use it as an example
to follow.
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Raincoat
Theater's two-disc special edition of Insatiable
is a must for smut fans. The feature is presented fully uncut
in its original fullframe aperture. The print is in very good
shape and the mastering is solid, with only some minor examples
of artifacting in evidence. Color is good, detail is as strong
as the cinematography will allow (there's a fair amount of soft-focus),
and print damage is limited to minor speckling. A pointless 5.1
remix has been included, but one would do better to stick to the
original mono track. The souped up 5.1 track doesn't add anything
to the experience — the moans and groans come across well enough
in mono. Extras begin in disc one, with two separate audio commentaries
— one by Chambers, and one by industry legend Gloria Leonard.
Both tracks are worth a listen, but Chambers' track is of particular
interest — she recalls working with her costars (notably David
Morris) with tremendous enthusiasm and shares some funny behind-the-scenes
anecdotes. Trailers for other Raincoat Theater releases (such
as Debbie
Does Dallas) round out Disc 1.
The second disc includes the softcore cable
edition of the film, in lesser quality than the main feature.
The edited version is of interest to completists, but it basically
amounts to a joke without a punchline — it's hard to imagine it
getting much play. A deleted scene, footage of the film's premiere
with commentary by Chambers, an on-camera interview with Chambers,
various trailers for the film, and a photo gallery round out the
package. 5/24/07 |
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