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Released by: Mondo Macabro
Released on: July 9th, 2023.
Director: Carlos Aured
Cast: Lina Romay, Ajita Wilson, Ricardo Diaz, Kati Ballari
Year: 1982
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Sex Apocalypse – Movie Review:
While Spanish filmmaker Carlos Aured is definitely more frequently associated with the films he made with horror icon Paul Naschy than with sexploitation and adult pictures, he did indeed helm 1982’s Sex Apocalypse during the years where the strict censorship put in place by the Franco Regime had begun to wane. With sex films legalized after General Franco’s death, Aured and plenty of other Spanish filmmakers took advantage of the loosening of these restrictions, and the flood fates essentially burst open.
As to the movie itself, it follows a gang of criminals - Clark (Ricardo Diaz) and his three lady-friends Liza (Ajita Wilson), Ruth (Lina Romay) and Muriel (Kati Ballari), with some help from his pal Antonio (José Ferro) – wind up in possession to the keys of a gorgeous mansion belonging to a man who is out of the country for some time. With plenty of space and lots of privacy, the gang decides to kidnap Tania (Hemy Basalo), the beautiful daughter of a wealthy business tycoon and hold her for a hefty ransom.
After abducting her using a cockamamie scheme involving and ambulance and fake uniforms, they soon realize that their latest acquisition has yet to be deflowered. Ruth and Liza, clearly as into women as they are into men, take it upon themselves to indoctrinate their hostage into the ways of Sapphic liaisons, but it isn’t long before Clark decides he wants his piece of the pie as well. As the games that the gang members play with their prey and with one another increase in both kinkiness and dangerousness, it soon becomes clear that there may be more to Tania than any of them initially realized.
Presented here in a (just barely) softcore version (a hardcore version exists and was included in the limited edition released a few months ago but not with the standard release version being reviewed here), the film is much heavier on sex than it is in plot but there is an interesting power struggle of sorts that starts to build in the second half of the film that winds up being pretty interesting by the time the movie finishes.
Still, the main draw here is going to be the cast. Eurocult cinema’s favorite post-op transsexual actress Ajita Wilson, always an intriguing screen presence, gets plenty of screen time here, sharing plenty of affections with a gorgeous Lina Romay. Both actresses spend just as much, if not more, time out of their clothes than in them but again, this is a sex film so viewers would probably be disappointed if that weren’t the case! So yeah, Wilson and Romay bring their A-game and deliver everything you’d expect them to if you’re familiar with their respective bodies of work. The rest of the cast also delivers, however, with both Kati Ballari and Hemy Basalo naked almost as often as the other two women and looking very good in their birthday suits. Ricardo Diaz plays the twisted ringleader in all of this with plenty of sleazy enthusiasm.
Sex Apocalypse – Blu-ray Review:
Sex Apocalypse arrives on Blu-ray from Mondo Macabro in an AVC encoded 1080p high definition transfer taken from a new 2K restoration from the original negative framed at 1.67.1 widescreen on a region 25GB disc. Picture quality is excellent. Colors look fantastic and skin tones, on display fairly constantly, always look lifelike and natural. We get nice, inky black levels and plenty of impressive detail evident in pretty much every frame of the movie. Compression is never an issue and the image shows no problems with noise reduction or edge enhancement, retaining proper film grain without showing any real print damage to speak of.
The only audio option on the disc is a 16-bit DTS-HD 2.0 Mono track in Spanish with optional subtitles provided in English only. Audio quality is just fine, with the track demonstrating properly balanced levels and clean clear dialogue. The score sounds good and there are no issues to note with any hiss or distortion.
An audio commentary from Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson starts off the extra features. Lots of details here about the work that Lina Romay and Ajita Wilson did in the movie as well as biographical details about both actresses, how the film is a bit of a chamber piece, the evolution of sex films in Spain in both softcore and hardcore varieties, the different cuts of the film that exist and the differences between them, the movie's release history, why the national identity of Spanish sex films were often deliberately obscured, the enthusiasm that the two leading ladies show in the sex scenes, the movie's quick shooting and production schedule, how the work here compares to the type of "high class erotica" put out by the likes of Radley Metzger and Jean Rollin, thoughts on the dubbing used on the film, thoughts on and details on the lives of the other cast and crew members that worked on the picture, some of the social commentary going on in the movie and more.
The disc also includes an interview with Carlos Aured biographer Miguel Angel Plana. This thirty-one minute talk covers Aured's life and career in the Spanish film industry, how he worked his way up, his work on Sex Apocalypse and where his career was at during the period that this movie was made, offering plenty of biographical details about the man along the way.
Lastly, we get an interview with writer and film maker Richard Reguant in which he speaks for forty-six minutes about how the death of General Franco affected Spanish cinema and allowed for more explicit productions such as this one to be made in the country, how this lead to the development of erotic cinema in Spain, his own work in the genre and his relationship with the late Jess Franco.
Sex Apocalypse - The Final Word:
Sex Apocalypse is light on plot but really heavy on sex and sleaze, making it worth checking out for fans of vintage European sex films, particularly those who have an appreciation for Lina Romay or Ajita Wilson. The Blu-ray edition from Mondo Macabro presents the softcore cut of the movie in an excellent presentation and with some nice extras that document the history of the movie and those who made it.
Click on the images below, or right click and open in a new window, for full sized Sex Apocalypse Blu-ray screen caps!
