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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: July 8th, 2014.
Director: Alan Colberg
Cast: John Holmes, Annette Haven, Desiree West, Rick Lutze
Year: 1975/1976
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The Movie:
Vinegar Syndrome presents a double dose of Alan Colberg directed adult features from the mid-seventies in this latest release from their Peekarama line of DVDs. Here's how it all plays out…
All Night Long:
The first feature tells the sordid tale of The Hearth And Home Society, an organization dedicated to male satisfaction. They're about to hand one lucky member the Golden Rod Mascot award and the two top candidates are John (John Holmes) and Ric (Ric Lutze). In order to decide who the best candidate is, both men are challenged to an evening of constant sex but they won't know what they're in for until they get there. To start things off they are each handed an envelope containing an address to head off to where they'll meet a woman who will get things started. Meanwhile, back at Hearth And Home Society headquarters, the members watch all of this through the miracle of television.
John heads off to the swanky pad of one Lotus Flower (Suzy Chung) while Ric arrives on the doorstep of Tawny Wilder (Patricia Lee) and they're off. From there, John meets up with Susan Strong (Sharon Thorpe) and Ric with Patsy Sweet (Sally Treach) four round two. Nearing exhaustion, the men solider on to their third encounters where John winds up in a three-way with 'I'm Yours' (Veronica Taylor) and 'Me Too' (Joan Devlon) and Ric gets more than he bargained for when he meets Lady Love (Toni Scott).
This is a pretty fun, breezy watch not meant to be taken too seriously. Granted, the storyline exists almost entirely to move the film from one scene of coupling to the next but the bits and pieces that do exist in between the carnal encounters are good, goofy fun. The scenes involving the members of the society are pretty amusing (look for George 'Buck' Flower to pop up in a non-sex role!) and both Holmes and Lutz seem to be having a good time here. The female cast shines, they're all quite attractive and enthusiastic and show equal levels of enjoyment when compared and contrasted with their male co-stars.
There's also some really colorful set design and wardrobe work here. Again, the scenes that involve the society may just be folding tables with drop clothes on them band curtains behind them but they're dressed in such a way that they create a pretty decent illusion. This same low budget creativity shows in the sex scenes as well, the obvious example being Lutz's encounter with Chung, the latter having been made up in what looks like some sort of kooky kabuki makeup for the occasion. Holmes spends much of the film dressed in a goofy powder blue tuxedo and his fro remains untamed throughout. Little things like that add up and make this a pretty enjoyable watch.
Tapestry Of Passion:
The second feature is actually a Johnny Wadd film, but it wasn't directed by series creator Bob Chinn. In the film Holmes once again plays the infamous private eye and this time around he's hired by a woman named Jean Osborne (Leslie Bovee) to find out who murdered her brother Tom (John Leslie). It seems he was one of multiple people involved in some kinky shenanigans to have been killed by the same murderer, or so says his foxy wife, Pat (Annette Haven). She swears that there's a connection and wants John to just drop it despite Jean's insistence. John, however, makes her change her mind when he drops her pants and convinces her that he's the man.
So Wadd hits the streets to find Tom's killer, prowling around various dens of iniquity like nudie bars and smut shops, trying to find any leads that might point him in the right direction. Eventually he winds up at a joint called The Black Widow's Nest where he meets Wytch Adder (Sharon Thorpe), a foxy woman who poisons clients in much the same way as her establishment's namesake. She and her man servant Carl (Mick Jones) are definitely up to no good. Wadd connects the dots and tracks down the widow (Patricia Lee) of one of Adder's recent conquests and investigates her in his own special way. Now sure of the connection, John gets closer to cracking the case…
This isn't the most compelling Wadd film ever made but it's a decent and well-paced Entry. Holmes is in good shape here, looking into it and actually delivering a solid performance (particularly when compared to his later years) and the ladies in the cast, Haven and Bovee, while not really challenged from an acting perspective, are consistently gorgeous. Sharon Thorpe steals the show here, however. She's got the most interesting female character to play in the film and she gives it her all, not just in terms of her sexuality but her delivery and her screen presence. As such, she's a lot of fun to watch.
Story wise, the mystery does seem to take a back seat to the sex scenes but there's enough here outside of the bumping and grinding to hold our attention. The movie is nicely shot and does contain some decent atmosphere and nice location shooting too. John Leslie is more or less wasted in a supporting role here but he's fun to watch when he is on camera. All in all, this isn't the best of the Wadd films but it's a fun watch with decent production values and a very solid cast.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Both features look great in 1.78.1 anamorphic widescreen transferred in 2k from their respective 35mm negatives. The elements used were in excellent condition and while there is a scratch or two here and there, for the most part the transfer is as clean and as colorful as you could hope for. These are solid transfers through and through, no serious print damage to complain about, sharp detail, very film like but still crisp and clean.
Both movies get the Dolby Digital Mono treatment, in English with no alternate language options or subtitles provided. Both films sound fine. Dialogue remains clear and crisp and the scores sound good. Levels are properly balanced for both features.
The only extras on the disc are static menus, chapter selection and trailers for each feature.
The Final Word:
Vinegar Syndrome's Peekarama double feature DVD release of Alan Colberg's All Night Long and Tapestry Of Passion is light on extras like most of the entries in the line so far but it comes up a winner. The pairing of the two films works well together, both are quite entertaining and feature some great performers, and the transfers are up to the label's consistently high levels of quality.
