Search - Strawberries Need Rain on DVD

Pretty good release of rare Monica Gayle/Larry Buchanan film

John Black | REDMOND, WA United States | 11/03/2009

(4 out of 5 stars)

"First, the "sticky" stuff: I'm not certain if this film is in the public domain or not, so I can't comment about the legitimacy of this release. I'll have to leave that to the legal scholars.

The DVD's image is better than I expected. It's even letterboxed somewhere between 1:66-1 and 1:85-1. The color is slightly faded, but this film was originally shot on the cheap by low-budget filmmaker Larry Buchanan.

The film is about a beautiful young virgin, who is given one day to experience emotional and physical love before Death will claim her. She meets three different men, one of whom becomes special to her. It's a light drama which probably plays best to those who worship at the altar of Monica Gayle. There is some nudity, but nothing heavy. Filmed in 1970, the film is a perfect example of that era's softcore product.

Overall, the DVD is worth having, especially for Monica Gayle completists and softcore film enthusiasts. Compared to a horrible-quality gray market copy that's been floating around for years, this new DVD is much better. The only downside is that the DVD is missing about two minutes of footage from one of the softcore sequences, as though the previous owner of the master print deleted some footage for his "private collection." There are a few stray markings such as print scratches that further indicate that the new DVD may have been struck from a pretty good 16mm print."