Search - Private Parts on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Violence, Nudity, Adult Situations, Strong Sexual Content, Not For Children Movie Release: 1972 DVD Release: 10/04/2005 Format: DVD - Color,Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV Edition: Dual Layered Audio Tracks: English Subtitles: English, French, Spanish SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 26 mins Studio: Warner Home Video Members Wishing: 0 Genres: Comedy, Satire, Black Comedy

A teenage runaway gets more than she bargained for when she moves into an old hotel in this wildly offbeat shocker from director Paul Bartel. Cheryl (Ayn Ruymen) fled an unhappy home in Ohio for the sunny skies of California with her best friend in tow; however, after they have a falling out, Cheryl is left with no place to stay. Remembering that her Aunt Martha (Lucille Benson) runs a hotel, Cheryl arrives at the King Edward, a decaying residential inn located in one of L.A.'s less desirable neighborhoods, and persuades Martha to give her a room for a few days. Cheryl soon discovers the King Edward is home to a wide variety of eccentrics -- defrocked priests with muscle-men fetishes, falling-down alcoholics, senile old women, and a voyeuristic photographer named George (John Ventantonio). Cheryl, who indulges her own voyeuristic impulses by sneaking into the rooms of her fellow boarders, is attracted to George and enjoys playing dress-up as he watches her though a peephole, despite Aunt Martha's warnings not to interact with the other guests. But when Cheryl decides to cross the line into physical action with George, she learns his obsessions are more dangerous than she imagined -- and that both he and Aunt Martha have some rather surprising secrets. Private Parts was cult figure Paul Bartel's first feature film; it was produced for MGM, but was released through their Premier Productions subsidiary, perhaps in deference to the film's kinky sexual content. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide

Paul Bartel's superbly creepy and twisted thriller would probably have a bigger cult following if more people had seen it, and this welcome DVD release of the film from Warner Home Video will hopefully help spread the word about one of the strangest major studio films of the early '70s (which is saying a lot). Private Parts has been given a letterboxed transfer to disc in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.85:1; the transfer looks great, with just the slightest hint of era-appropriate grain and respect shown to the film's muted color scheme and shadowy visuals. The audio has been mastered in Dolby Digital Mono, and sounds quite good considering its vintage. The dialogue is in English, with optional subtitles included in English, Spanish, and French. The only bonus included with this edition is the film's original trailer, but while it would have been nice to have more background on the movie, at very least it's good for fans of strange cinema that Private Parts is finally available on home video again, and in a DVD that's significantly superior to the picture's previous VHS release. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide