HER NAME WAS LISA (1980) Blu-ray/DVD combo
Director: Roger Watkins (as Richard Mahler)
Vinegar Syndrome

Vinegar Syndrome memorializes Roger Watkins' HER NAME WAS LISA with a Blu-ray/DVD combo.

"Entertainer" Lisa (Samantha Fox, LIQUID A$$ETS) is now dead, but her memory lives on in those who she captivated, starting with photographer Paul (Rick Iverson, SUNNY) who "discovered" her in a massage parlor and showcased her in a series of sadomasochistic photospreads. Despite their sexual yet strictly business arrangement, Paul becomes jealous when Lisa comes to the notice of Paul's publisher Stephen Sweet (David Pierce, DEBBIE DOES DALLAS) who furnishes her with an apartment and accessories to be available at his whim (which includes a yen for masochistic bondage). Lisa is fine with this arrangement until Sweet makes her available to his friends (BARBARA BROADCAST's Bobby Astyr and SEXBOAT's Randy West) for some rougher sex; whereupon she finds not only comfort with lesbian Carmen (Vanessa del Rio, HOUSE OF DE SADE) but also a means of turning the tables on Sweet. As Lisa becomes more and more dependent on drugs to deaden her emotional pain, however, she becomes vulnerable to the unwelcome attentions of others who would profit off of her body.

Director Roger Watkins' first pornographic feature after his compromised feature debut LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET and his lesser-seen SHADOWS OF THE MIND, HER NAME WAS LISA better demonstrates his visual style cultivated from childhood short films and working under the likes of Nicholas Ray and Freddie Francis in England. Although not quite as slick as his later CORRUPTION, the film makes the most of its production value and porno-chic imagery, with Paul's photo shoots just as easily inspired by Alain Robbe-Grillet as THE EYES OF LAURA MARS (and it is indeed possible that Watkins could have seen Robbe-Grillet's films theatrically in New York arthouses). While not as grueling as LAST HOUSE, it is effectively downbeat – thanks largely to the lead performances of Fox and del Rio – while the sex scenes are photographed in an appealing if not particularly flashy fashion to arouse the viewer (apart from a strap-on rape scene that is surprising in a straight porn film). Ron Hudd (SATISFIERS OF ALPHA BLUE) and Robin Byrd (LADY LUST) draw a drug-addled Lisa into a nonconsensual threesome.

Released on VHS in both cut and uncut versions by VCX, HER NAME WAS LISA comes to Blu-ray/DVD combo from Vinegar Syndrome in a 1080p24 MPEG-4 AVC 1.85:1 widescreen encode of a 2K scan of the 35mm original camera negative which is virtually spotless and colorful throughout apart from some speckling at the reel changes, giving the film the look of a more expensive mainstream production that anticipates the quality of Watkins' subsequent adult films. The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track is clean with dialogue well-recorded and music – which includes unauthorized usage of Konga's cover of "Gimme Some Lovin'", Led Zeppelin's "Dazed and Confused", along with some Kraftwerk to score the photo shoot sequence which includes the film's flashiest editing – mixed rather low. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided.

The key extra is “His Name Was Roger” (30:55), an interview with Art Ettinger, Roger Watkins’ historian and friend, editor of Ultra Violent, who recalls seeing LAST HOUSE ON DEAD END STREET as a child and discovering years later that Watkins was the man behind the pseudonyms for director and star. He was requested to do an interview with Watkins for a fanzine that did not get off the ground, and the eighteen-page results were subsequently published in Ultra Violent. He recalls meeting him in the flesh, learning of his mainstream work as an assistant director, and his opinions that not all classic porn was better for their plots and production value, but that these became important to his own work in the genre. He reveals that producer David Darby shot the sex scenes for this film and THE PINK LADIES, and that Watkins would shoot his own from CORRUPTION onward because of his dissatisfaction with them. Ettinger not only discusses the film - drawing parallels with LAST HOUSE and expressing bewilderment that audiences would be aroused by the storyline as a whole - but also reveals that he recorded a new commentary with Watkins before his death that was meant to be included on the British DVD of LAST HOUSE (it would subsequently appear on a German edition) as well as a track for AMERICAN BABYLON which he hopes will one day be released. Some comments made elsewhere in the featurette suggest that it was shot to be included on CORRUPTION rather than this disc. The disc also includes a still gallery (0:50) and the film's theatrical trailer (4:05). The Blu-ray/DVD combo comes packaged with a reversible cover. (Eric Cotenas)

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