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8
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7 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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Guest
Review by Troy
Howarth |
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Lonely
Miss Jones (Georgina Spelvin) commits suicide,
but before being condemned to Hell she is given
a chance to indulge in enough Earthly pleasures
to justify her eternal damnation...
After
making XXX film history with Deep
Throat, director Gerard Damiano concocted
this far more serious mixture of metaphysics and
carnality. Using a surprisingly gloomy and somber
narrative linchpin, Damiano thrusts the viewer
into a literal story of lust and damnation. Running
a lean 65 minutes, the film never overstays its
welcome and offers an ideal balance of story and
sexual peccadilloes.
From
its opening, unsettling suicide to its final,
despairing image of one woman's personal hell,
the film avoids the jocular tone typical of most
XXX films of the period. Miss Jones is not presented
as a free spirit romping from one bedroom to the
next —
she's a lonely, deeply unhappy soul completely
disconnected from the world around her. In a sense
the film presents the classic story of the ugly
ducking who cuts loose and discovers her inner
self, but the film doesn't present her journey
as joyful —
the fact is, she's damned from the outset, and
while her journey will allow her some carnal satisfaction,
she is ultimately condemned to a world without
pleasure. The end result is peculiarly disorienting,
flying in the face of audience expectations —
it's hard to imagine how the raincoat brigade
must have responded to this film in 1973, as it
certainly isn't the typical run of the mill sexploitation
potboiler.
That is not to suggest that
the film doesn't work as erotica, however. Part
of Damiano's accomplishment is to have made a
film that remains true to its downbeat concept
while also serving up some tremendously effective
hardcore sex sequences. In the lead role of Miss
Jones, Georgina Spelvin is a revelation. She is
hardly likely to be anybody's idea of a porn starlet
but her 'normal' appearance suits the role perfectly,
and she outdistances many younger, more superficially
attractive starlets in terms of animal ferocity
and presence; compare her with Savannah in the
recent remake of the film: Savannah is much more
'typical' as far as porn stars go, but despite
her looks she seems sedate in comparison. Spelvin
attacks her sex scenes with startling enthusiasm,
effectively tapping into the character's long-suppressed
sexual frustration. Her most notable partner in
the film is the legendary Harry Reems, cast as
her sexual "teacher", helping to unlock
her desires and teach her the tricks of the trade.
Whether draining Reems dry (literally), getting
down and dirty in a memorable lesbian tryst, or
performing in an early double penetration scene,
Spelvin is a revelation —
her dynamic presence helps to make The
Devil in Miss Jones one of the most satisfying
hardcore efforts of its period.
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Raincoat Theater's two-disc
special edition release gives the film the respect
it deserves. The first disc contains the uncut
version of the film, letterboxed at 1.66. The
transfer has limitations, notably the lack of
anamorphic enhancement, but it looks presentable
enough. Some print damage is evident, but this
is to be expected in a grindhouse feature of this
vintage. The film is fully uncut, however, and
color and detail are both adequately rendered.
The film has been given a pointless 5.1 Surround
track in addition to its original mono soundscape.
The latter is in good shape, with clear dialogue
and no discernible background hiss or distortion,
while the former doesn't add anything to the experience.
An
audio commentary with director Damiano, moderated
by Casey Scott, rounds out the first disc. Damiano
sounds appreciative of the opportunity to discuss
the film and while he is hazy on some points —
for example, noting that a piece of music sounds
like something from a Sergio Leone western, failing
to realize that it is, in fact, a pilfered cue
from Once
Upon a Time in the West (1968) —
but he has some amusing anecdotes about the film
(e.g., Spelvin, then a novice to anal sex, was
given pointers by straight-for-hire actor Mark
Stevens) and makes for an engaging commentator.
Disc
2 includes the censored cable TV version of the
film, which reduces the sex scenes to softcore
groping. The slightly letterboxed transfer is
soft and in worse shape than the uncensored edition,
but it is chiefly of interest for completists
and isn't likely to get as much play, anyway.
Bonus features on this disc include trailers for
other vintage XXX features, a still gallery and
an on-camera interview with Spelvin.
12/23/06
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