Vinegar Syndrome Review: Trashy Lady (1985, Steve Scott)

  (1985, dir: Steve Scott)

Dutch (Harry Reems, Deep Throat) has it all! He's the money, the looks, a happening nightclub called “The Paradise Club”, the reputation and of course; the girl. That is until his girl Jessie (Cara Lott, Taboo 2) has had enough of his attitude and lack of appreciation. Fortunately for Dutch However, a new dame isn't hard to find especially in your own club! On the same night of his split, Dutch sets his sights on the young Katharine (Ginger Lynn, New Wave Hookers), a new girl in town who sells cigarettes at the club. He soon finds out that Katherine (whom he decides to call Kitty) is a little too innocent, timid and ultimately a tad inexperienced. This leads him to reach out to the tough talking Rita (Amber Lynn, Love Bites) who he enlists to loosen up and teach Kitty a few things and hopefully turn her in to a trashy lady. She is more than happy to oblige and begins to school the impressionable Kitty, who of course is a quick learner and a natural. Unfortunately for all involved however, there's a potentially fatal problem; rival gangster Louie (Herschel Savage, Debbie Does Dallas) is Rita's man. He is soon to be released from prison and he may not be too pleased that his girl is playing for (or should that be with?) the other side. Maybe Dutch should have treated his girl a little better?

I remember seeing a trailer for Trashy Lady on one of the many trailer compilations a while back and being quite apprehensive about an adult film shot towards the end of the genre's golden age that was set around the 1920's. Boy was the younger (and slightly less corrupted.) version of me very wrong. Of course, when I found out that the film was not only shot on 35mm, but was also going to get the Vinegar Syndrome treatment, I became very excited. Thankfully, the film lives up to its award-winning and cult reputation. The story is simple, yet solidly told and has gags that genuinely work. Performances are great throughout with the foul-mouthed Rita being my personal favourite. She's trashy, independent and comes out with some fantastic lines. Of course, the bigger names likes Reems, Lynn and Savage once again prove that there was acting skill back in the day. They are backed up brilliantly with much smaller support roles with performances from the likes of Tom Byron (Lust in the Fast Lane) and Rick Savage (Hollywood Vice). To match the acting, the action is also very solid with of course, Amber and Ginger stealing the show.

The biggest thing people will notice is just how cinematic the film is. Ok, Once Upon a Time in America this is not, but for a film that was shot in two weeks, there is so much scope and attention to detail. This isn't one of these cheap looking period pieces. Right from the films opening credits sequence, you know you're in for a treat! Everything from the set design and costumes to the prop newspapers and vehicles look authentic. Even the selection of music throughout is clearly thought out. That being said, some of the interior scenes also give off that “new-romantic” vibe of the time which add another layer to this already stylish piece of sinema. Overall, Trashy Lady is one of the last true greats of the genre in almost every aspect. Not only that, but it does something that films like this often don't; it has plenty of replay value and you won't be fast-forwarding through boring set pieces. Naturally, a film of this calibre has received an equally impressive treatment from Vinegar Syndrome.

First of all there is the choice of reversible artwork which only has one problem; both covers are fantastic so good luck picking which one to use! On disc there is not one, but two commentary tracks; one with DP Tom Howard (A Portrait of Desire) and David McCabe (Creepozoids) with the other coming from Herschel Savage and Bill Margold (Dracula Sucks). Both are informative and entertaining in their own way. To top off this fantastic release there is also Steve Scott's 1971 debut feature; Coming West. Unfortunately, aside from the gorgeous Maria Arnold (Flesh Gordon), Sandy Carey (Deep Jaws) and Starlyn Simone (A Touch of Sweden), I found this tale of three women daydreaming whilst on a rod trip to be a tad dull. Oh well, at least there's a lot early hardcore nookie I suppose! Honestly, it's still great to see early hardcore efforts like this being preserved and becoming easily available to my fellow sleaze-hounds. It's still a wonderful addition and the icing on an already elegantly trashy cake (it's much better than my attempts at wit, that's for sure!) As you can probably tell, this is a must-own release for anyone with an interest in the genre and also a great release for those who still don't think there was artistry in pornography.

Trashy Lady is available as a DVD & Blu-Ray combo from Vinegar Syndrome.

PDx

23rd Century DVD Review: Thunder Squad (1985, Umberto Lenzi)

"Call it bravery... Call it courage... Call it guts. Whatever you call it, they've got it!"

Before I start the review I would like to give a few words about the DVD release of this film. From what I gather, the label 23rd Century is a grey market label based in Manchester. I am yet to do major research so you can expect a full post some time in the future. From what I read, these guys put out mainly public domain titles that are mostly ported from degraded VHS tapes. I thought I would celebrate this label and labels like that because for me personally, this is the way you should be watching these crap-tastic gems and not on sparkling blu-ray transfers. I apologise to all you HD elitist fascist types out there but that's just the way I see it. Anyway, welcome to the first 23rd Century review. If you want to see what titles this label has to offer, check out this awesome blog.

Thunder Squad is a 1985 action flick by the cult maestro, Umberto Lenzi and stars the equally iconic Antonio Sabato. The story is pretty simple. A South American rebel leader is taking refuge in Florida and finds out his son has been kidnapped! A crack team of five mercs are assigned the task of finding and rescuing the child. Once they save the kid (no it's not a spoiler... you should know the formula of these films enough by now) things get a little "complicated" to say the least and our band of grunts have to fight their way through hoards of henchmen. Will they survive? What actually happens? That's something I will leave for you to find out for yourselves! Yeah, I'm mean but what can you do?

It may not be the most action packed or violent film of it's type (It's only a 15 rated movie) but it sure kept my attention for it's run time. I would say this s a classic example of "so bad it's good" cinema. There are many moments that stand out in this one including an obscenely terrific sequence where I kid you not, psychoanalysts are used to telepathically locate where the kid is being held captive. If I didn't have a beer belly, I would have broken my jaw on the floor at how terrific that is. Another highlight for me is the absolutely terrible German accent used for Werner Pocath's character. I have no idea if the Austrian dubbed his own voice or not but either way... it's one of the most painfully awful yet amazing accents I have heard! It definitely gives the cliché Nazi evil genius voice we all know and love a run for it's money. It's another one of those films where there are just tiny moments of absurdity that will have you yelping with laughter and disbelief all the way through!

Overall, I genuinely enjoyed this piece of euro trash. It's stuff you have seen before so even though I haven't really given too much of the story away, you won't be too surprised by the plot. That being said, it's fairly solid. The DVD itself is what you would expect it to be. It's clearly a rip from some VHS so the quality of the picture isn't amazing but it's passable to those who waste time stressing about that. You are supposed to see these films like this in this way, it's part of the novelty. There are no special features at all and it boasts one of the worst DVD menus of all time which had me laughing before I even pressed play. The most important thing is that the film is uncut (from my comparing the run times to the IMDB page and various blogs. You really have no excuse not to pick this up if you see it in your local charity or pound shop. Saving pennies and enjoying cinema does not get any better than this!

Hopefully you enjoyed this little review. I am hoping to get my hands on more of these titles because it's a great way to see some really obscure gems that you can pay obscene amounts for on import. Just leave your snobbery and brain at the door for these. If anyone has some good suggestions of other 23rd Century releases or similar grey market labels, let me know!

PDx