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Released by: Severin Films
Released on: April 29th, 2008.
Director: Alfonso Brescia (as Al Bradley)
Cast: Sirpa Lane, Vassilli Karis, Lucio Rosato, Robert Hundar, Venantino Venantini
Year: 1981
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The Beast In Space XXX Version - Movie Review:
Finnish sexpot Sirpa Lane rose to some cult prominence in 1975 when Walerian Borowczyk cast her as the female lead in his truly odd arthouse-sexploitation sasquatch smut-fest, The Beast. Unfortunately, her career never really took off after that. She appeared in Nazi Love Camp 27 and Papaya: Love Goddess Of The Cannibals but she never really hit the big time and in 1999 she passed away from AIDS. It's quite sad when you consider that influential French director Roger Vadim, who cast her in Charlotte in 1974, considered her the 'next Bardot.' Regardless, in 1980 she starred in Alfonso Brescia's 'unofficial sequel' (read: knock off) to Borowczyk's classic La bíªte, the ultra-campy and uber trashy The Beast In Space.
Captain Larry (hairy Vassili Karis of Scalps) of the Star Fleet hits the local watering hole and strikes up a talk with a strange blonde woman named Sondra (Lane). Sadly, a cantankerous merchant named Juan Cardaoso had eyes for her first and the pair gets into a brawl with Larry emerging the victor. He takes Sondra home and has sex with her. The next day is told that a vial he swiped from Juan contained a rare and valuable space mineral.
The Star Fleet powers that be set Captain Larry up with a top notch crew and a cool space ship and send them off to some strange planet to find more of that mineral. Guess who is in Larry's crew? Sondra! Oh, and Sondra has a recurring dream where she runs through the woods in a white dress and is ravaged by a hairy guy in a fancy shirt. They arrive on the planet and after watching a pair of space horses fuck (causing the ladies to rub their mounds and suck their fingers) they soon meet up with the hairy guy Sondra's dream. He tells them that the planet is controlled by a giant super robot and that this robot has the only known amounts left of the space mineral that they need.
Juan Cardoso and Captain Larry strike up some friendly competition with one another. Before you know it, Larry and his brave, horny crew are blasting strange sounding lasers at guys covered in gold body paint and guys are running around with lightsabers in an attempt to get the space mineral and make it back home safe and sound.
So what about this XXX variant of Alfonso 'Al Bradley' Brescia's unofficial sequel to Walerian Borowczyk's The Beast? The packaging for this release from Severin Films touts that the source for this transfer is the 'only complete hardcore print known to exist - recently unearthed in the basement of a condemned porno theater outside of Bologna!'
The differences between this version and the unrated version lay completely in the sex scenes. Whereas the standard version plays it safe and avoids and penetration shots, the XXX is, well, a XXX version. As such, it doesn't shy away from a little of the old in and out like its more conservative sibling. It should be noted, however, that the hardcore material contained in this version of the film is shot with other actors - it's painfully obvious that the humpy bits in the movie use other performers than those we see in the standard cut.
The XXX insertions don't really help the picture much, though they do add a little more sleaze to an already remarkably sleazy film. They're not particularly erotic and work more because of their curiosity value rather than for their artistic merits. The sex scenes all look to have been done with the same male and female performer, which adds some comedic value to scenes where the various couples who get it on in the film all appear to have identical genitalia.
The Beast In Space XXX Version - DVD Review:
The Beast In Space XXX was restored from the only known print so you'd imagine that this is probably the best possible source for the DVD. Time, however, has not been kind to the film and some obvious wear and tear has occurred. To Severin's credit, there aren't any problems with mpeg compression or heavy edge enhancement, nor is there any obvious aliasing. That said, the film looks pretty soft in some scenes and (minor) print damage and moderate grain are present throughout. Colors vary from dead on to a little flat looking, though this could be more to do with the way that the movie was shot. Overall, this transfer isn't going to blow you away but the movie is certainly more than watchable on this DVD and it's nice to see the film presented in its original 1.85.1 anamorphic aspect ratio and properly flagged for progressive scan playback.
The Italian language Dolby Digital Mono track isn't perfect - it's got a bit of hiss in a couple of spots and it's a bit flat throughout - but it's audible and easy to follow and the optional English subtitles are clean, clear and easy to read.
Supplements include 2:53 worth of deleted and/or excised hardcore bits from the film, most of which are fairly clinical. However, the 'Outrageous Otherworldly Beast Climax' clip is here. Those who have seen Borowczyk's picture will know what to expect, and those who haven't, well, they can take a look at the screen capture image below and get a pretty good idea on their own. This footage doesn't really affect the flow or quality of the film one way or another but it is interesting to see it here, especially that specific scene. This material is presented in anamorphic widescreen and the print quality is approximately the same as that of the feature contained on the DVD.
Also included is the film's lengthy Italian hardcore theatrical trailer (3:40, in anamorphic widescreen with optional English subtitles), some spiffy animated menus and chapter selection.
The Beast In Space XXX Version - The Final Word:
Deliriously trashy and way too unintentionally hilarious, The Best In Space is about as erotic as a dead cat but that said, it's also astonishingly funny for all the wrong reasons. If you've ever wondered what it'd be like if Borowczyk's The Beast met Cozzi's Starcrash, this film is for you. Severin has wisely made both cuts of The Beast In Space available so that fans can decide for themselves which version they want, but this XXX version sure is something!
