Search - Psychotronica Collection 1(Delinquent Schoolgirls / Dream No Evil / Mondokeyhole / The Raw Ones / The Mermaids of Tiburon / Cry of the Bewitched on DVD

Swine before Pearls

rareoopdvds | San Diego, CA United States | 11/27/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"This is a 3-dvd, 6-film collection featuring some of the weirdest and quite interesting cult films of the 60's. All of the films are mastered from the original 35mm widescreen negatives, so you are getting, at least, what is the best can be expected for now.

Volume 1 is the double feature DELINQUENT SCHOOLGIRLS and DREAM NO EVIL. The first feature is, perhaps, the most fun and pleasurable to watch. Lots of nudity of big breasted women including Sharon Kelly (billed as Colleen Brennan) and a rare appearance of Roberta Pedron. An alternate title was used for this film as CARNAL MADNESS, which probably says more about the film than its current slate. Needless to say, the film is a thin plot of 3 escaped convicts, each with their own sexual hang-up (a rapist, a gay, and a baseball player). Once out of prison, they eventually come to this poorly controlled school for girls who wear loose fitting t-shirts and no bras practicing various physical exercises that are good for the camera, but I am not sure how good they are to stay in shape. There is a touch of comedy in this feature, but it does get pretty gruesome and serious towards the end. But you can never take it completely serious with this level of acting.

The second feature, DREAM NO EVIL, deals with a type of psychic nightmare. I am not really sure how to explain this one, but it is not as titillating as the first one, so it does not follow as well (or at least, my attention to it did not). What tried to be a giallo type horror, ends up being a sort of mish-mash of strange incidents that do not add up to much. Fun to watch for its rarity, but you will probably only keep it because its coupled with the movie DELINQUENT SCHOOLGIRLS.

Volume 2 features MONDO KEYHOLE and THE RAW ONES. Mondo Keyhole is directed by Jack Hill (Spider Baby, Big Doll House, and many more!) and was released in 1966. The story deals basically with a husband who eventually becomes a rapist. Not sure how these events lead to each other, but I am sure it made more sense when they were thinking about it. Needless to say, it is kind of boring and slow, while a narrator blasts off in the beginning to give you something "deep" to think about. The second feature, THE RAW ONES, is a ground-breaking film as it was the first film to test the Supreme Court's ruling that "nudity is not a crime". So, here we are basically treated to a gaggle of nudies doing various activities that are just nice to watch, but nothing amounts to anything. Important historically, but otherwise, its an easily forgotten film.

To finish off the collection is Volume 3 which features THE MERMAIDS OF TIBURON and YAMBAO: CRY OF THE BEWITCHED. The first title is actually beautifully shot by writer, director and cinematographer John Lamb (Sexual Freedom in Denmark and Sexual Freedom Now). We see many great underwater shots off the coast of California (at least that's where they said they were). The story is flimsy and irrelevant. But basically its about an underwater diver who was paid to go to Tiburon to get some large pearls. Following suit is Timothy Carey (Paths of Glory) who wants the pearls for himself. It takes a long time for these guys to get moving on the story. But in the meantime, sit back and see the luscious underwater scenery. Amidst all of this underwaterness are beautiful naked girls (huh?). Yeah, these are the mermaids. They are not as abundant in the film as you might expect from a director who eventually went on to direct porn, but the restraint he showed to expose his art works out for the better. This film has an interesting history as it was originally released without nudity. Then, like 10 years later, Lamb went and reedited the film with the nude sequences and released it as "The Nude Version". Both versions are present on this set. The second feature, YAMBAO: THE CRY OF THE BEWITCHED has a better tile than a film. Sometimes I wonder if companies would just make cool trailers and forget about the film. It would be much more cost effective, and the films would be more entertaining in our imaginations and any realization. This film falls into that category. Lots of crying going on in this film. I dont mean emotional crying, but like a banshee type of crying. Lots of cultural dancing and strange voodoo mysticism. When you add all of that up you get Yambao.

Each disc has some form of extra feature, a little light, but whats to be expected with these rare films. All of them come with cool trailers, some for the films themselves, but there are other films not in this collection. There is also commentary by Jack Hill and Elliah Drenner and Bob Minor.

The PSYCHOTRONICA COLLECTION is a fun set to own and share with your friends. Each of these titles are available individually, but I think for the money, the collection seemed most worthwhile. I dont think the retail price of $49.99 really gives you the mileage you were hoping for, but if you can get it somewhere near 50% off for a new copy, you are in good hands."