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Released by: Vinegar Syndrome
Released on: March 27th, 2017.
Director: Zachary Youngblood
Cast: Helen Madigan, Constance Money, John Holmes, Zachary Youngblood, Veronica Taylor, Kandi Johnson
Year: 1975
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The Movie:
After an amusing opening bit wherein, a disheveled housewife magically transforms into the world's fastest house cleaner thanks to the magic of Yonkers Peanut Butter, we meet a young, heavily sideburned man named Billy (Zachary Strong a.k.a. Zachary Youngblood - credited as Rex Roman). His latest date (with Kandi Johnson) hasn't ended well, but when he stops at the local gas station for a fill up, his luck changes. Cute, bucktoothed pump jockey Priscilla (Helen Medigan as Jennifer Mason) ends her shift in ten minutes and she's more than happy to entertain Billy for a while.
So, they head back to her place where she invites him up to hang out for a while - she's got some great peanut butter that he just has to try! Once they settle in and have a drink, they get to talking and it's then that we learn about Billy's past and why he's so awkward around the fairer sex. First, we learn how, at fifteen years of age, his Aunt Opel (Jacque Hanson) brings him a peanut butter sandwich and by doing so, walks in on him pulling the pud to a nudie magazine. It doesn't take a genius to figure out what happens next, as she teaches him the ways of forbidden love with a little help from the sandwich she was bringing him. After that, we learn how he walked in on his cousin and her lesbian lover (Constance Money). Once they notice him, they handcuff him and violate him!
Priscilla then responds in kind and tells of how she was playing hide and go seek in the woods with two guys, a white guy who kind of looks like Jason Mewes and a black guy who kind of looks like Rudy Ray Moore. This leads to an interracial scene and then a three-way, after which we're back to Billy to learn how his friend Jeff (John Holmes doing the worst 'what the fuck' accent you've ever heard!) set him up for some action with a horny chess-obsessed woman named Gloria (Veronica Taylor). Of course, back in the present, Billy's completely oblivious to the fact that Priscilla has got the hots for him, but all of that soon changes…
Directed and co-written by star Youngblood, Confessions Of A Teenage Peanut Butter Freak is chock full of absurdist humor and headscratchingly bizarre moments. There's the opening commercial, a wacky scene involving a random supermarket theft, all of the peanut butter connections and some unexpectedness inherent in some of the picture's kinkier moments. It's all played for laughs and it leads up to a completely unexpected finale that showcases some truly strange editing and narrative technique.
The cast make the most of this. Youngblood is great as the male lead, he has this quirky sort of detachment to his hippie-ish character that works really well in the context of the story. Helen Madigan is also good here, quite cute in her part and providing a decent performance for an amiable character. John Holmes is on hand not just for the thirteen inches, but also for some effective comic relief. He's quite funny here. Throw in a scene featuring the truly beautiful Constance Money and, if this isn't the most scintillating adult motion picture to ever blaze its way across the silver screen, it's definitely one of the strangest.
Oh, and on top of that? We get a fantastic performance from a fuzz-rock band over the opening credits.
Video/Audio/Extras:
Vinegar Syndrome brings the film to DVD “scanned & restored in 2k from 16mm and 35mm vault elements†in its original 1.33.1 fullframe aspect ratio. Obviously taken from elements that were in less than perfect shape, Confessions Of A Teenage Peanut Butter Freak looks a little rough around the edges when compared to some of VS's other transfers, but this is likely the best we're going to get at this point. The image shows print damage, scratches and emulsion stains throughout, but it also provides a more than watchable presentation. Detail is about as good as can be expected under the circumstances and the image is free of any obvious digital manipulation like noise reduction or edge enhancement. It's all very 'film-like' in appearance.
The English language Dolby Digital Mono track replicates the quality of the video, it's imperfect but serviceable enough under the circumstances. Expect a bit of his hiss here and there and the occasional snap, crackle and pop to show up in the mix, but for the most part the dialogue is perfectly easy to understand and the levels are well balanced.
The first of the two main extras is an audio interview with: co-writer and star Zachary Youngblood, conducted by Casey Scott. Youngblood talks about getting into adult films after getting his start in the sixties after having his brain 'all fucked up' after being sexually assaulted while in the military and being in the stockade! He notes that this was a way for him to deal with what he'd been through, because he could portray sex as fun. He talks about making gay films as Fritz Gemein, then moving to straight films and working with Jo-Anne Surtees. From here he tells a few interesting stories about his days 'in the business,' the vibe of the early adult theatrical cinema experience, how he wound up in Sweden, making some short films, some of the performers that he worked with, his relationship with Jerry Abrams and what he learned from him, attempts to bring humor to some of his movies, his casting process and plenty more. This interview plays over the feature almost like a commentary and runs almost ninety-minutes.
After that, check out an audio interview wit: assistant director and assistant editor Jo-Anne Surtees, again moderated by Scott. She talks about getting her start in the industry, her experiences in Europe, spreading the shoot out over a year and shooting once they returned, having to avoid guys in unmarked cars while shooting in their studio back in the day, her relationship with Youngblood, showing Peanut Butter Freak to a friend and the response that she got when she played it, why the supermarket scene is in the film and the editing featured in the movie. She also talks about helping to break down scenes for the work print, changes that the distributor might have made to the movie when it played, some of the locations that were used, her thoughts on working with Jerry Abrams and how things changed when he had to 'go away for nine months,' the warmth and charm of late producer Habib Afif Carouba and his ways with the ladies, working on modest budgets, issues with royalties on certain projects, the benefits of shooting porn films in houses were orgies are regularly held and quite a bit more. This one also runs almost ninety-minutes. Both of these are well worth your time as they shed some very welcome light on the history of the film and the scene that it came out of.
Aside from that, we get some animated menus and chapter selection.
The Final Word:
Confessions Of A Teenage Peanut Butter Freak is every bit as bonkers as it sounds, and while it's hardly the most erotic adult picture ever made, it never falls short in the entertainment value category! An interesting cast help this one a fair bit, but it's the super strange set pieces that really stick in your craw. Vinegar Syndrome has done what we can assume is the best job possible with what elements are available, giving fans a more than watchable presentation and with some seriously interesting and extensive interviews to document the film's genuinely fascinating history.
