50 Shades of Erotica, 2015.
SYNOPSIS:
A collection of trailers featuring some of the best in erotic cinema from the golden age of erotica.
You’ve got to hand it to those wonderful people at Nucleus Films, for not only do they want to entertain you they wish to educate you as well. Inspired by the popularity of Fifty Shades of Grey and adopting the format of their Grindhouse Trailer Classics DVD’s, Nucleus have sought high and low to bring together fifty trailers of popular classics and forgotten gems from the 1960s through to the early 1990s that, quite frankly, puts the much hyped and inevitably disappointing Fifty Shades of Grey in the shade when it comes to titillation.
Watching a collection of trailers is a bit like watching an anthology film, as if there is something you don’t particularly care for then something else will be along shortly, and the biggest bonus is you don’t actually have to watch these films all the way through and generally just get the good bits. You can also use these collections as something of a shopping list for titles to look out for, which is a bit of fun for couples to do out on a shopping trip, although quite whether the cod-horror likes of Cruel Passion will appeal to anybody not up on their Marquis de Sade – of which there are a lot of references in these trailers – is anyone’s guess. However, the more well-known likes of Emmanuelle, Lady Chatterley’s Lover or The Story of O should provide a way in for those new to erotic cinema and from then on in you can discover the joys of Radley Metzger (Camille 2000, Score, The Lickerish Quartet), the backside fetishes of Tinto Brass (Frivolous Lola, Salon Kitty, The Key, All Ladies Do It), an early piece from director Paul Verhoeven starring Rutger Hauer (Turkish Delight), horror legend Christopher Lee popping up (so to speak) in the Jess Franco-directed Marquis de Sade’s Philosophy in the Boudoir or the striking Japanese bizarreness of Blind Beast.
The one thing that is most notable about this collection is how explicit trailers used to be – more so than the content of a lot of so-called erotic films made these days – so anybody out for a quick thrill will be left feeling very satisfied (the main feature is two hours long so do remember to pace yourselves) and may not feel the need to investigate any further. Entirely up to you of course, but in amongst all of the smut, filth and general debauchery it is worth noting that there are some really enjoyable films of varying quality that you could otherwise miss out on. If, however, these fifty trailers aren’t enough then Nucleus Films have provided a few extra treats with trailers to some more films released on their Naughty imprint – as this DVD is – plus a poster gallery for the trailers shown to give a more rounded picture of the genre. So all in all, 50 Shades of Erotica is an excellent package for fans and newbies alike, and a whole lot more authentic than the slick studio product that Hollywood thinks passes for erotic.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Chris Ward
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ONsp_bmDYXc&list=PL18yMRIfoszFLSgML6ddazw180SXMvMz5
Originally published April 6, 2015. Updated April 15, 2018.
