Ed Wood; you may know him as the legendary director of films such as Plan 9 From Outer Space and Bride of the Monster… but he was also responsible for some sex flicks and Severin have collected some of them into a 3 Disc Blu-ray set that yours cruelly is slapping a revoltin’ review on today!
First up comes 1971’s Necromania: A Tale of Weird Love…
Danny and Shirley Carpenter (Ric Lutze and 70’s porn mainstay Rene Bond) are having that ol’ trouble in the bedroom as Danny can’t seem to get it up.
Rather than bother with doctors and shit, our heroes seek help from Madame Heles (Maria Arnold) who offers a more “witchy” solution… part of which involves Heles’ comely assistant Tanya (played by Tanya… convenient) rubbing herself with a skull then having sex with some rando inhabitant/guest of the manse (of which there are two, one male one female) while Shirley and Danny continue to not get it on (though Shirley immediately has a lesbian tryst with the other house rando).
Eventually Danny screws Tanya which seems to fix him right up, but Madame Heles has more in store for her guests!
Necromania is presented in both hardcore and softcore variations, with the latter featuring an audio commentary with Ed Wood Summit host Greg Javer and author Paul Apel that provide a wealth of details and facts about the film’s production.
Disc One also contains The Only House in Town, from 1971 as well…
A gang of crazed criminals break into a house to kill the woman who snitched on them… this turns into two orgies and more softcore shenanigans until the film ends…
The plot is barely there, the dialog is absolute nonsense, and people get up to all manner of depraved actions… fans of Wood will recognize and relish those facts!
The Only House in Town features an audio commentary as well, this one courtesy of a returning Javer this time joined by Capri Show World‘s Spicy Goldman that presents another round of fascinating facts!
The film’s trailer rounds out the special features.
Disc Two brings us 1972’s The Young Marrieds…
Ben (Louis Wolf) is bored as hell with the sweet lovin’ his wife Ginny (Alice Friedland) provides so he’s always going to the strip club or banging sex workers. Eventually he decides spicing things up with Ginny which of course leads to that hoary ol’ chestnut; group sex!
By far the most entertaining thing about The Young Marrieds (which just so happens to be the last feature written and directed by Wood, and was considered lost for a time, which does result in a rather rough presentation image-wise) is the very Ed Wood-style narration (that appeared in his more “mainstream” work) that has to be heard to be believed!
Special features here include another informative and entertaining commentary from Javer (this time joined by porn archeologist Dimitri Otis, a softcore cut of the film, and a large collection of single reel, silent sex loops filmed by Wood.
Disc Three contains Shotgun Wedding… which was only written by Wood, with directing duties going to Boris Petroff (Anatomy of a Psycho)…
Two feuding clans in the Ozarks, one that lives on a dilapidated houseboat and the other on terra firma, have all manner of woman trouble from both kin folk and outsiders as well!
Shotgun Wedding is a real oddity here among the free-wheelin’ fornication of the other pics presented here, as this is a light hixploitation comedy with zero sex or nudity… but it’s an interesting curio (additionally the picture on this one is gorgeous and features plenty of detail and rich, vivid colors).
Special features here include an episode of The Incredibly Strange Film Show focusing on Wood, an examination of Wood’s later career courtesy of comedians Dana Gould and Bobcat Goldthwait, an interview with author Carl Abrahamsson discussing Wood’s oeuvre, and a chat with filmmaker Fred Olen Ray (Hollywood Chainsaw Hookers) discussing a project he was planning with Wood.
Although the subject matter may not be to everyone’s taste, Hard Wood is nevertheless a treasure trove of Ed Wood rarities!
