Mondo Macabro
Blu-ray Release: July 9th, 2024
Video: 1.67:1/1080p/Color
Audio: Spanish DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
Subtitles: English
Run Time: 77:46
Director: Carlos Aured
Clark (Ricardo Díaz), Ruth (Lina Romay), Liza (Ajita Wilson), Tania (Hemy Basalo), and Antonio (José Ferro) are a small-time gang hoping to make a major score. They hatch a plan to kidnap a rich guy's daughter, Muriel (Kati Ballari) and hold her for ransom. However, the gang aren't just looking to score financially; they also take a certain pleasure in trying to open up the virginal Muriel to sexual experiences she hasn't had thanks to her sheltered upbringing. Clark pretends to be different than the others, to help lure Muriel into a sense of safety, but Muriel has been secretly making plans of her own.
I hate to go all "woke moralist" on anyone, especially given Sex Apocalypse is both part of a specific new Mondo Macabro line of Spanish films released in the 1970s with the "S" rating, which were specifically given the label for the possibility that they would offend viewer's sensibilities and Macabro even warns potential buyers right on the box copy that this is "a film that should not be watched by the easily offended," but while others may have a great time with this Blu-ray, I can't say I had much fun watching this sleazy kidnapping story, which devotes over half of its running time to rape scenes. In my defense, though, it's not just that a big chunk of this supposedly sexy movie is kinda gross: the movie also manages to feel impressively padded despite being less than 80 minutes long.
The plot is paper-thin: the group kidnaps a girl, and then they wait for her father to pay up, while she plots an escape. Other than some basic interpersonal conflicts, and the movie's numerous, essentially plot-free sex scenes, there's really nothing else going on in this movie, with each scene feeling like it's trying to squeeze five to ten minutes out of a single idea or line of dialogue. I can't say that interpersonal material is especially interesting either, as the movie makes it pretty clear that all of these characters are awful people, with the exception of poor Muriel, and there's just not that much drama or tension to mine out of the possibility that one or more of them might decide to stab another in the back. A perfect example of all of these problems comes near the end of the film, when a character listening at a door catches onto two other members' plan to assassinate him...and then he stands there continuing to listen for five more minutes as the would-be killers have sex instead of acting on this revelation in any way.
As one will no doubt expect, the nudity and sexual content is plentiful, although one thing that's sort of funny is that this version of Sex Apocalypse isn't actually a hardcore feature. During the movie's fairly constant lesbian sex scenes, there's quite a bit of time spent near the crotch licking the legs and stomach, only for the actors to literally beat around the bush, and I can't remember the last time I saw so much nipple licking and sucking in a movie. At one point, two of the women even spend two whole minutes making out with a soda bottle, before finally switching gears to make out with each other, and in another there's some underwater nonsense playing around with a pool pipe. That said, anyone who's simply hoping to see the movie's as much of the movie's four leading ladies (or the two men) will certainly get their money's worth, with all four of them spending the vast majority of the movie completely or partially nude.
As far as the filmmaking goes, most of the sex stuff is pretty basic; more functional than erotic even though all the women are gorgeous. The one part where the film comes alive and Carlos Aured's direction really makes an impression arrives at the very end, when the kidnappers go to pick up the ransom, which is a surprisingly thrilling and pretty well-staged action sequence (despite one blatant continuity error). There is also a wild finale with one particularly gruesome death, although the film sets the stage for it at the very beginning. Had the filmmakers made the characters a little richer (especially Muriel, who has almost zero personality despite being the character we're presumably meant to care about), and used that as a springboard for a few more dramatic scenes rather than spending so much time spinning its wheels, it could've been more effective as a movie outside of its softcore ambitions.
Video
Right from the beginning, this new presentation of Sex Apocalypse, created using a 2K scan of the original camera negative, looks fantastic. Film grain is evident without being intrusive, fine detail is outstanding, depth is impressive, and the colors are particularly vibrant and offer no evidence of contemporary revisionism. There is also no sign of print damage. Frankly, there's not much to say: this is exactly what new restorations from film should look like.
Audio
The film's Spanish 2.0 DTS-HD Master Audio track is not nearly as impressive, offering an aural presentation that varies between muted and muffled music and much clearer dialogue that was likely looped, but these are the limitations of the original audio, not an issue with the disc. English subtitles are also included.
Extras
Mondo Macabro has produced three new extras for this Blu-ray release of Sex Apocalypse.
Audio commentary by film historians Troy Howarth and Nathaniel Thompson - Howarth and Thompson are predictably well-researched on the film's cast and crew, how the movie fits into the genre at the time and compares to the work of other filmmakers such as Jean Rollin and Radley Metzger, differences between this cut and the alternate cut of the film (see the paragraph below this section), and much, much more.
Interview with Spanish writer and filmmaker Richard Reguant (45:42) - Requant, who as the introductory card explains, is a director, actor, playwright, screenwriter, and film and television director, is the host of this lengthy program about the "S" rating in Spain, as well as his own part in establishing the rating. Two Francos play a role in the discussion: the dictator Francisco Franco, whose death in 1975 contributed to the birth of a new liberated movement of sex films in Spain, and Jess Franco, whose work eventually comes into the picture as the subgenre takes off. A pretty great overview of adult filmmaking in Spain.
Interview with Carlos Aured biographer Miguel Angel Plana (30:45) - As one can guess from the subject, this is a biographical overview of director Carlos Aured, covering his whole career up to Sex Apocalypse and beyond, as well as contextualizing the film within his filmography.
In addition to the standard release sent to Genre Grinder, there is a Limited 2-Disc Slipcover Edition available exclusively on Mondo Macabro's website. Not only does this feature a slip, a booklet by Spanish film expert Ismael Fernandez, and reversible uncensored artwork, it also includes a second Blu-ray with the Italian cut of the film, which features additional hardcore footage compiled from 3 VHS sources, which runs a whopping 19 minutes longer than the Spanish theatrical cut included here. That version is limited to 2000 copies. As of this writing, the Limited Edition is still available.
Conclusion
Although I didn't particularly care for Sex Apocalypse, my guess is that the vast majority of the viewers who will be excited about this disc have already seen and made up their mind about the film itself, and the Blu-ray delivers on the A/V quality and provides some unexpectedly substantial extras. Furthermore, what I received for review isn't even the maximum amount of content that one can get for the film, with a significantly extended alternate cut available from Mondo Macabro themselves. On that level, this release is recommended.
The images on this page are taken from the Blu-ray edition of this release and sized for the page. Larger versions can be viewed by clicking the images.
Comments