Sexploitation as a B-movie genre basically went the way of the natural bosom when hardcore pornography hit the mainstream nearly 30 years ago. Why watch a fleshy tease picture when Deep Throat and Behind the Green Door are playing around the corner? And the home video boom, just 10 years later, wouldn’t help matters. But it’s a resilient genre that has adapted as it has pressed on through the years, especially in the early ’90s when "erotica" or the "couples-oriented" feature was king. These were the slick, polished and romance-fueled fodder of late-night cable, and perhaps best crafted by Zalman King. Today, the worm has turned. Schlockmeister John Bacchus and E.I. Independent Cinema have put the S-L-E-A-Z-E back into sexploitation with a crush of morally reprehensible and damned entertaining spoofs of pop-culture phenoms. Button up your raincoats, CineSchlockers, as we explore Erotic Survivor and the sequel to Bacchus’ breakout hit Erotic Witch Project 2: Book of Seduction (2001, 74 minutes).
The movie: When last we left our intrepid documentarians, they were possessed by the Erotic Witch and writhing in ecstasy by the light of a campfire — all the while under the watchful gaze of an escaped gorilla named Kimbo. Fans of the first film have descended on the woods near Bacchusville in search of the Erotic Witch and the three missing young coeds. The Khan Institute for Mental Health has secretly held Darian Caine and Kimbo under tight security in the hope of unraveling the mystery. Still lost within the power of the witch, Darian howls sexual demands and struggles to free herself from her straightjacket, completely unable, or unwilling to respond to the questions of her doctors UNLESS they’re of a lewd nature. Katie Jordon plays the unscrupulous TV reporter determined to find Darian to advance her broadcasting career, but instead she is also overcome by the spirit of the Erotic Witch. In keeping with Blair Witch 2: Book of Shadows — there is no Book of Seduction as its title implies. But unlike its mainstream template, there’s lots and lots of lesbian lovin’ — nearly HALF its total running time. CineSchlockers should be warned that Part III is planned for release in 2002.
Notables: 10 breasts. No corpses. Drooling. Stiletto suckling. Mass masturbation. Gratuitous ping pong match. Group groping. Monkey-talk-to-English translation helmet. Advanced lesbian tongue rassling.
Quotables: Darian recites an admonishment from the nuns, "I’ll keep one leg on the ground at all times." The Polish cameraman is bashful, "It’s against my religion to sleep naked … I might get mistaken for a bear. I’m very hairy." The good doctor believes that if you can’t stop an orgy, join one, "Well, it IS my break time."
Time codes: Darian channels Linda Blair of The Exorcist (5:18). TV reporter and cameraman play Truth or Dare (37:00). Kimbo escapes and runs free through the Seduction Cinema offices, er, the sanitarium (52:55).
Final thought: Easily the schlockiest of the Bacchus pictures, yet not without its titillating charms.