Review of Black Venus

Introduction

Somebody with a pot of cash must have bank-rolled this dull early eighties soft-core offering. Its production values are considerable with striking sets, lavish costumes, countless scene changes, glossy lighting and an extensive cast.

The question is: why?

The answer can only be found by rewinding to a bygone era when late night adult cable is in its infancy and when VHS brought the delights of soft-core into the living rooms of respectable UK citizens for the first time.

This was a pre-web world where interest in censor-pleasing porn was at its height.
It was an era that demanded that its slight thrills were securely wrapped in the pretence of a movie proper. So here we supposedly have a cultural treat in the guise of a short story by Balzac.

The movie is set in nineteenth century Paris where Martinique (aka Venus, played by real-life Miss Bahamas `79, Jacqueline Jones) arrives fresh from the Bahamas.

Bearded art dealer Jacques (Emiliano Redondo) becomes enchanted by here when he sees her in a bordello peep show. (After being shown around by none other than Mandy Rice Davies).

He takes her to a ball where she falls for the smouldering charms of an artist (Armand played by Jose Antonio Ceinos) who is determined to produce a sculpture of her. His research and attention to detail is second to none!

They team up and `Venus` supports them financially by modelling in posh shops, which seem to attract nothing but posh lesbians, resulting in some fairly dreary posh lesbian shenanigans.

Naturally, all doesn`t go well for the couple, and Armand turns to the bottle, turning violent with his muse.

The highlight of the film is where he drunkenly dreams that his statue of Venus comes alive and makes love to him, though in truth, even this is likely to raise not much more than an eyebrow.

Video

Full-frame 4:3, and a little soft round the edges, in keeping with the favoured `look` of this genre with oodles of tasteful backlight.

Audio

Respectable 2.0 Mono. Nothing special.

Features

Not a sausage. And I mean that literally.

Conclusion

Watching `Black Venus`, I wonder who on God`s earth is the intended audience for this DVD release? With such a proliferation of great movies and DVD`s available (as well as a plethora of sleaze and tease for those with such proclivities) where does this dreary, half-baked, poorly acted, woefully inadequate piece of soft-core fit in?

I`m guessing that DVD duplication and distribution is now so inexpensive that it`s worth a punt with any asset - however unlikely.

However, I suppose it`s only fair to give credit where it`s due. `Black Venus` has reasonable production values, with lavish sets, wonderful period costumes and chocolate box lid lighting. It oozes expense, probably as a consequence of the blossoming VHS and cable opportunities at the time of its original release (1983).

But unless the movie conjures up some inexplicable nostalgic memories for you, it remains a fairly poor example of the standard soft-core VHS rental fodder that flooded the UK market in the early eighties - a period and genre best forgotten.

Avoid.