MATINEE
IDOL (1984) Blu-ray/DVD comboDirector: Henri Pachard
Vinegar Syndrome
MATINEE
IDOL (1984) Blu-ray/DVD comboBLOOD FEAST producer David F. Friedman goes hardcore with MATINEE IDOL, on Blu-ray/DVD combo from Vinegar Syndrome.
The enmity between porn power couple Lance Hardy (John Leslie, NEVER SLEEP ALONE) and Linda Hand (Jesie St. James, HER WICKED WAYS) goes from backbiting to "front-biting" when an onset skirmish causes both to walk off the set, searing never to work with one another again. Hoping to recoup the investment in their latest production, producers Bernard Kuntz (Friedman) and Harvey Cox (Elmo Lavino, SADIE) plan to send both difficult performers packing after they have auditioned replacement partners for both of them. When Linda is "serviced" by pool maintenance man Bud (Herschel Savage, PRETTY PEACHES 2), she hits upon the scheme to get rid of Lance and make Bud her new leading man. Unbeknownst to Linda, Lance has hit it off with Kuntz's new starlet Daisy (the truly stunning Angel, FOR YOUR THIGHS ONLY). Both performers attempt conceal their jealousy, but a screen test between Bud and Daisy could leave both seasoned vets in the lurch.
"If
Hollywood ever made a porno film, this would be it," so touts the advertising
of MATINEE IDOL, a well-mounted but restrained hardcore film that mixes a bright
1970s look, very eighties hair, clothes, and music, and scenes of light comedy
out of a 1930s or 1940s Hollywood film (including a penultimate scene in which
in which the formally-attired Leslie and James actually look and act as if they
are in older screwball comedy). Friedman and Lavino are as fun to watch going
through their comic schtick as dependable presences like Savage, Kay Parker
(TABOO), and Colleen Brennan (LADY DYNAMITE) are doing what they usually do.
Leslie and St. James do generate some heat in their final hardcore sex scene,
and the film is surprising in that some of the encounters are softcore (seemingly
not so much out of a reticence on the part of softcore exploiter Friedman as
the dramatic demands of a scene like the actual final sex scene between the
two stars).
Released
on tape by VCA and the on unauthorized DVD by Alpha Blue Archives (in a Kay
Parker triple bill), MATINEE IDOL comes to Vinegar Syndrome Blu-ray/DVD combo
in a restoration from a 2K scan of the original camera negative. Apart from
reel change marks, the presentation looks virtually spotless throughout, colorful,
and sharp throughout (enough to notice the posters of other Friedman productions
on the walls of his character's office). The DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 mono track
has some faint hiss but it does not interfere with the dialogue or the music.
Friedman appears on a telephone audio interview in which he discusses his work
for the Adult Film Association of America, his four hardcore effects (including
7 INTO SNOWY), and the transition point where hardcore overtook softcore in
the film market. He distinguishes his experiences between the two as a matter
of comradery and fun while making the softcore productions that was absent in
the latter. The disc also includes the film's theatrical trailer (1:26). The
reverse of the cover is a nice piece of rectangular poster artwork for the film.
(Eric Cotenas)