Seduction Cinema presents

Roxanna (1970/2002)

"She made a way of life from her craving for excitement, one thrill after another, one man after another, one woman after another."- narrator

Stars: Uschi Digart, Misty Mundae, Dariane Caine
Other Stars: Katie Jordon, Josh Robinson, Lora Renee
Director: Nick Phillips, Ted W. Crestview

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nudity, drug use, strong sexual content)
Run Time: 02h:16m:41s
Release Date: 2002-05-02
Genre: late night

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B-	C	B+	B	C+

 

DVD Review

Nick Phillips directed 80 sexploitation films during the 1960s and 1970s. Roxanna, released in 1970, is a highly obscure piece—there are no cast credits, nor any sign of it in the filmographies of those known to be involved, including the near 100 films of Swedish sex kitten Uschi Digard, (star of several Russ Meyer flicks including Cherry, Harry and Rachel, Supervixens and Beneath the Valley of the Ultravixens) who appears in Roxanna. The original is presented here with its 2002 remake, starring Seduction staple, Misty Mundae.

Roxanna (1970) 50m:08s

"Perversities of all kinds pleased her. She loved the touch of leather against her body. Roxanna was unequalled as a bizarre bed partner." - narrator

The film centers on a young girl whose lust for pleasure knows no bounds, but it is obvious that she is becoming unglued from reality. The opening features the main actress staring off into nothingness, using stylistic half shots of her face, cut by the extremes of the frame against a stark white background. Her story begins to unfold in a series of vignettes of her sexual encounters, the first of which is with the above mentioned Digard, decked in long, black leather gloves. What is interesting about this film is that it contains absolutely no dialogue from the actors, only a fragmented narration, which tells the story to a trippy period soundtrack, parts of which are reminiscent of Ummagumma-era Pink Floyd.

There isn't a lot of substance here, but the film does have a disturbing undertone of drug addiction and despair, and the soundtrack is haunting and mesmerizing. Sex scenes are frequent with a variety of partners, including one with a supposed transsexual who is clearly a woman, and fetishes play a big part. The voyeuristic nature is tempered by the apparent unhinging of the uncredited lead actress, a trait required to keep the censors from banning films which had no "message." The editing and sparse backgrounds make it unnerving, while the period interiors add historical interest. At 50 minutes, the runtime is on the short side for a feature.

Roxanna (2002) 36m:25s

"You gave me a taste baby, and I liked it." - Roxanna

The 2002 "re-imagining" takes a departure from the original with its use of dialogue and a more linear and understandable story. Here, Roxanna (Misty Mundae) is a drug addict who will do anything for her fix. She lives with her loser boyfriend who invites another girl home, hoping he'll be allowed to sleep with her. When Roxanna rejects his idea, the two girls have sex instead, which gives her a taste of the wild life, and from there she is unstoppable. A parade of women including Seduction regulars Katie Kordan, Darien Caine, and Barbara Joyce share her bed, but her boyfriend is left out in the cold. While trying to maintain some of the tone of the 1970 version, this lacks the same atmosphere. It manages to be an above average effort, but doesn't have a classic quality to it, and frankly, it's hard to compete with any film with Uschi Digard in it. Despite being half the length of the original, it also relies on rehashed footage to make up the final five minutes.

Unlike other films in Seduction Cinema's Retro catalog, the 2002 remake of Roxanna is presented as the main feature, and marks the first of several vintage Nick Phillips releases being revisited in new versions. Plans are in the works for titles like Pleasures of a Woman, Fire Under Her Bed, Le Chic, Siv: A Swedish Girl and Wendy's Naughty Night, which should allow Seduction's stable of actresses to play more dynamic roles than found in many of their parodies.

Rating for Style: B-
Rating for Substance: C

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	no

Image Transfer Review: Both features are in their original 1.33:1 aspect ratios. The 1970 version is in surprisingly good shape, but does look like a film from that era. Colors are good, black levels proper. There is a well rendered grain, and the image has a natural, just slightly soft look to it. Detail level is fine, and print defects are present but minimal.

The 2002 version looks like the standard video based quality seen in most of Seduction's work. The production is reasonably well lit, so colors and detail are good, but highlights tend to blow out, and the look is often fairly flat. There is a bit of murkiness on occasion, and some aliasing artifacts, but overall this is quite acceptable.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
DS 2.0	English	no

Audio Transfer Review: sion features a strong mono soundtrack. Frequency response is fine, though the narration tends to be a bit on the thin and edgy side. The 2002 version is in stereo, with all dialogue recorded on location, and hiss is prominent throughout, aggravated by changes in level at each cut. This is less noticible during the sex scenes, which are accompanied by music.

Audio Transfer Grade: B 

Disc Extras

Static menu with music
1 Original Trailer(s)
14 Other Trailer(s) featuring Misty Mundae: Mummy Raider, Erotic Vampire in Paris, Gladiator Eroticvs, Erotic Survivor 2, Vampire Obsession, Erotic Mirror, Sexy 6th Sense, 2069: A Sexy Odyssey, Naughty Stewardesses, Female Animal, Masters Plaything, Seduction of Inga, I Like Girls Who Do, and Possession of Nurse Sherri.
1 Documentaries
1 Feature/Episode commentary by Johnny Crash, Ted W. Crestview, Misty Mundae, Dariane Caine
Packaging: unmarked keepcase
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extra Extras:

1. Interview
2. Bonus Mark Baranowski short Despair

Extras Review: A combined trailer for the two versions of Roxanne is included.

A feature-length commentary track is available on the 2002 remake, which is a roundtable-style discussion featuring post production editor Johnny Crash, director and writer Ted W. Crestview, and Seduction actresses Misty Mundae and Darian Caine. While Johnny and Ted try to keep the commentary on a serious vein, Darian, who has obviously never seen the film before, is holding a background party, continually bursting into laughter and commenting on the actors on screen. Misty answers Johnny's prompts, but more often than not, with a different response than seems is expected. This is very much an off-the-cuff session, with mics dropping, and no rehearsal.

On Roxanna is a 07m:10s interview with 42nd Street Pete, a self-professed expert on 1970s porn, who discusses some of the history surrounding the feature and its director.

"You selfish bastard. You couldn't even leave me a note." - Yvette (Rylie Morgan)

A VHS quality, 34m:11s bonus short, Despair, is also included. A struggling artist decides to take his own life, leaving his wife and rabbit behind. She in turn commits suicide after swallowing razor blades while sitting naked in a candlelit trance. (The least she could have done is let the poor rabbit out of its cage.) And the moral is?

A trailer archive is broken into two menus. Seduction Cinema is a collection of recent, made for video erotica: Misty Mundae: Mummy Raider, Erotic Vampire in Paris, Gladiator Eroticvs, Erotic Survivor 2, Vampire Obsession, Erotic Mirror, and Sexy 6th Sense. The Retro-Seduction Cinema section is for older films including 2069: A Sexy Odyssey, Naughty Stewardesses, Female Animal, Master's Plaything, Seduction of Inga, I Like Girls Who Do, and Possession of Nurse Sherri.

Extras Grade: C+
 

Final Comments

A strange 1970s grindhouse flick and its 2002 Seduction Cinema remake are presented as a double feature. A less campy subject matter marks this obscure feature, coupled with some historical background and a not so serious commentary for extras.

Jeff Ulmer 2002-07-16