massageparlorwife

Harry Novak served as executive producer on this one right in the prime of his sleazy career. The tide was turning now towards far more explicit fare than he had previously been invloved in with films like Kiss Me Quick and Mantis in Lace. This one is a good and fun example of the type of film that Box Office International was releasing at the time but still a nice break from the gaggle of farm themed movies that were being churned out all around it (Pigkeeper's Daughter, Country Cuzzins, Tobacco Roody etc). I know I say this with all of these types of movies that I review, but I have to say it again anyway: This is as close to hardcore you can get with out crossing the line!

Like is usually the case with these films, the story is rather simple. Jen Gillian was cast well in the title role, she is very attractive with a good voice to play the part of the nieve but naughty lead. It really is a shame that she appears to have not been in any other films; she looks a little like the gorgeous Brigitte Lahaie in the face. Well, back to the story: Gillian and her husband Tom (played by the utterly amazing Steve Rogers with heroic gusto) seem to be happily married. Unbeknownst to Tom though, his wife though has been very bored while he's at work. She takes some career placement training and lands a job in the local massage parlor. Some jealous thoughts creepy in to Tom's mind but he tries not to acknowlege it as he's convinced that he has a happy marriage. His wife has every intention of staying faithfull but gets caught up in the moment of her first client. When the man turns over on his back he has a raging boner, at which point she dutifully gives him a nice hand job (mostly off camera, but if you have quick eyes you can catch some action before the camera pans away).

Egging on Tom is his assistant at the gas station Ethyl, a pretty young redhead who has been trying to 'ball' Tom for a year now. Suspicious now, Tom calls his macho friend to find out what he knows about massage parlors. This guy claims to know it all, and tells a peculiar story involving an ice cube to prove it. Eventually Ethyl convinces Tom to take part in a little experiment she concocted to catch his wife in the act. All the while, his wife is at the parlor spiraling further down into the perils of infidelity. The film builds to a hilarious climax and succeeds all around in being a good example of this golden era of sleaze. Throw in a steamy dream sequence for good measure and you've got a pretty good evening's worth of entertainment on your hands!

Director Barry J. Spinello does a fine job of keeping the camera in interesting places while avoiding the goodies enough to keep this slightly on the softcore side of that extremely thin line. It is mostly the two leads though that are responsible for the high entertainment value of this movie. I already pointed out the best aspects of Gillian's performance. Surprisingly though, the real superstar here is Steve Rogers. His character was hilarious. Iwas rolling on the ground at his expressions on the phone and I laughed so hard I almost busted in my pants when he storms on the screen butt naked and greased up!

This one was released by Something Weird Video on VHS but hasn't seen the light of DVD. I'm not sure how likely it is that it will happen any time soon as some of the scenes are really close to being hardcore. The video isn't especially easy to find, but you can order it over at Cinebizarre and the print looks pretty good (not jumpy, as some SWV titles are on video). It also includes that fabulous opening that comes with all SWV titles and the regular array of trailers and a still gallery with radio spots. Pretty damn good for a VHS I'd say. The only thing I would say is that it can sometimes get repetative seeing the same trailers over and over again. Then again, they could have been tight asses and only put one extra trailer or so on each video. All around, I think sleaze fans should be thanking their lucky stars for SWV!