Erotic Inferno

Last updated

Erotic Inferno
Erotic Inferno film Theatrical release poster (1975).png
Theatrical release poster
Directed byTrevor Wrenn
Written byJon York
Produced byBachoo Sen
Starring Chris Chittell
Jennifer Westbrook
Michael Watkins
Karl Lanchbury
Jeannie Collings
Heather Deeley
Mary Millington
Release date
  • 1975 (1975)
Running time
80 minutes
CountryUnited Kingdom
Language English

Erotic Inferno, also known as Adam and Nicole, Adam & Nicole, and Naked and Willing, is a 1975 British sex film directed by Trevor Wrenn, and starring Chris Chittell, Karl Lanchbury, Jennifer Westbrook, Heather Deeley and Mary Millington. [1]

Contents

Erotic Inferno is notable for being one of the few British sex films to have been viewed by moral reformer Lord Longford, who saw the film and two others in 1975 in order to gain first hand experience of sex films. Longford saw the film on a double bill with Hot Acts of Love (1975, dir. Jean-Marie Pallardy) at the Astral Cinema complex in Soho; he later went to see How to Seduce A Virgin (1974, dir. Jess Franco), but walked out. These three films were all later reviewed in Cinema X magazine under the banner "Lord Longford – We rate his selection".[ citation needed ]

Plot

When Old Man Barnard, a millionaire, is reported drowned at sea his gold digging sons Paul and Martin come looking for their inheritance. Arriving at the Barnard family estate they renew an old enemy in Adam, their father's butler. He tells them the Barnard mansion has to remain locked and bolted until the will is read. Begrudgingly all three men and their girlfriends will have to stay in the neighbouring farmhouse over the weekend. Unbeknown to him Adam is Old Man Barnard's illegitimate son, a fact Paul and Martin are determined to keep from him. Secretly they fear the whole inheritance will go to Adam. With their privileged lifestyles hanging by a thread the Brothers Barnard decide to pursue Adam's fiancée Nicole, reasoning that she will know where Adam has hidden the keys to the mansion, so that they can break in and destroy evidence of Adam's parentage.

Cast

Production

The making of the film was documented by the BBC programme Man Alive, in an episode about the British sex and horror film industry of the mid-seventies, titled "Man Alive: Xploitation". The programme shows producer Bachoo Sen and director Trevor Wrenn trying to cast the role of "an English rose who can ride a horse" (presumably the role played by Heather Deeley in the film). A screening of the dailies in the programme shows the film to have been shot in the "Italian style" of having the director talk to the performers whilst they act, meaning the film would have to be later re-dubbed. The programme also reveals the film's writer "Jon York", was actually a student at York University, and is seen writing the script in the university's library. The film is referred to by its shooting titles The Will and The Willing Sex during the programme.[ citation needed ]

Shooting started on 8 February 1975, and the film was released on 8 May 1975. The house used in the film was at the time owned by a famous racing driver.[ citation needed ]

Critical reception

The Monthly Film Bulletin wrote: "A rudimentary plot only occasionally gets in the way of Erotic Inferno's preponderance of sex scenes (about sixty of the film's eighty minutes consist of half a dozen actors sighing and grunting their way through simulated sex acts). Due, no doubt, to the brevity of the shooting schedule, one of these is very much like another, and despite the director's valiant efforts to make the single setting – a large estate – look as attractive as possible, boredom sets in early on." [2]

Alternate versions

Three different edits of the film are known to exist;[ citation needed ] a version with the onscreen title Erotic Inferno, issued on UK video by Hokushin in 1980 (approx 86 mins), Adam and Nicole (approx 78 mins), released on UK video in the late 1980s, and a version (approx 83 minutes), released on video in America, copyrighted 1981.

The UK Hokushin video release is the original uncut (pre-BBFC approved) version.

In addition the film was also released on UK video in a short version, titled Private Shots presents Erotic Inferno, running 14 minutes, 49 seconds. A second US video release called Maid in Chains (issued by T-Z video) is the same edit as the previous US video, but has further cuts to the sex scene between Brenda and Martin and Adam's assault on Brenda in the bathroom.

Related Research Articles

<i>The Deer Hunter</i> 1978 film directed by Michael Cimino

The Deer Hunter is a 1978 American epic war drama film co-written and directed by Michael Cimino about a trio of Slavic-American steelworkers whose lives are upended after fighting in the Vietnam War. The three soldiers are played by Robert De Niro, Christopher Walken and John Savage, with John Cazale, Meryl Streep and George Dzundza in supporting roles. The story takes place in Clairton, Pennsylvania, a working-class town on the Monongahela River south of Pittsburgh, and in Vietnam.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mary Millington</span> English model and pornographic actress (1945–1979)

Mary Ruth Maxted, known professionally as Mary Millington from 1974 onwards, was an English model and pornographic actress. Her appearance in the short softcore film Sex is My Business led to her meeting magazine publisher David Sullivan, who promoted her widely as a model and featured her in the 1977 softcore comedy Come Play With Me, which ran for a record-breaking four years at the same cinema.

In film, nudity may be either graphic or suggestive, such as when a person appears to be naked but is covered by a sheet. Since the birth of film, depictions of any form of sexuality have been controversial, and in the case of most nude scenes, had to be justified as part of the story.

Christopher John Chittell is an English actor, known for his role as Eric Pollard in the ITV soap opera Emmerdale. He has portrayed the role since 1986, making him the longest-serving cast member in the soap's history.

Derek Ford was an English film director and writer, most famous for sexploitation films such as The Wife Swappers (1970), Suburban Wives (1971), Commuter Husbands (1972), Keep It Up, Jack (1973), Sex Express (1975), What's Up Nurse! (1977) and What's Up Superdoc! (1978).

<i>Female Vampire</i> 1975 film

Female Vampire is a horror film written, directed, and co-edited by Jesús Franco. It was produced in 1973, but was only theatrically distributed in 1975. The film is set in Madeira and stars actress Lina Romay as Irina von Karlstein, a vampire who has sex with both male and female victims. In an unusual variation of the vampire myth, Karlstein performs oral sex on her victims until they die, draining them of their sexual fluids.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Golden Age of Porn</span> Era of mainstream success for sexually explicit films (1969–1984)

The term "Golden Age of Porn", or "porno chic", refers to a 15-year period (1969–1984) in commercial American pornography, in which sexually explicit films experienced positive attention from mainstream cinemas, movie critics, and the general public. This American period, which had subsequently spread internationally, and that began before the legalization of pornography in Denmark on July 1, 1969, started on June 12, 1969, with the theatrical release of the film Blue Movie directed by Andy Warhol, and, somewhat later, with the release of the 1970 film Mona produced by Bill Osco. These films were the first adult erotic films depicting explicit sex to receive wide theatrical release in the United States. Both influenced the making of films such as 1972's Deep Throat starring Linda Lovelace and directed by Gerard Damiano, Behind the Green Door starring Marilyn Chambers and directed by the Mitchell brothers, 1973's The Devil in Miss Jones also by Damiano, and 1976's The Opening of Misty Beethoven by Radley Metzger, the "crown jewel" of the Golden Age, according to award-winning author Toni Bentley. According to Andy Warhol, his Blue Movie film was a major influence in the making of Last Tango in Paris, an internationally controversial erotic drama film, starring Marlon Brando, and released in 1972, three years after Blue Movie was shown in theaters.

<i>Eskimo Nell</i> (film) 1975 British film by Martin Campbell

Eskimo Nell, is a 1975 British sex comedy film directed by Martin Campbell and starring Roy Kinnear and Christopher Timothy. It was produced by Stanley Long. Though inspired by "The Ballad of Eskimo Nell", the movie owes little to the original bawdy song. Long called it "my definitive statement about the sex films". The film features little nudity.

<i>Emmanuelle 5</i> 1987 French film

Emmanuelle 5 is a 1987 English-language French film directed by Walerian Borowczyk. It is a sequel to 1984's Emmanuelle 4 and the fifth installment in the film series of the same name. It was followed by a sequel, Emmanuelle 6, released in 1988.

<i>The Sex Thief</i> 1973 British film by Martin Campbell

The Sex Thief is a 1973 British sex comedy film directed by Martin Campbell and starring David Warbeck, Diane Keen and Christopher Biggins. The film was written by Tudor Gates and Michael Armstrong under the name Edward Hyde.

<i>Come Play with Me</i> (1977 film) 1977 film by Harrison Marks

Come Play with Me is a 1977 British softcore pornographic film, starring Mary Millington and directed by George Harrison Marks. Its cast list contains many well-known British character actors who were not known for appearing in such films. The film is regarded by many as the most successful of the British sex comedies of the seventies. It ran continuously at the Moulin Cinema in Great Windmill Street, Soho, London for 201 weeks, from April 1977 to March 1981, which is listed in the Guinness Book Of World Records as the longest-running screening in Britain. A blue plaque on the former cinema's site commemorates this.

<i>Conduct Unbecoming</i> (1975 film) 1975 film directed by Michael Anderson

Conduct Unbecoming is a 1975 British period legal drama film directed by Michael Anderson and adapted by Robert Enders from Barry England's play of the same name. It features an ensemble cast, starring Michael York, Richard Attenborough, Trevor Howard, Stacy Keach, Christopher Plummer and Susannah York. Set in a British Indian Army barracks in the late 19th-century, the film centers on an impromptu court-martial following the assault of an officer's widow.

<i>Emmanuelle</i> Fictional character

Emmanuelle is the lead character in a series of French erotic films based on the protagonist in the novel of the same name, by Emmanuelle Arsan, written in 1959 and published in 1967.

<i>A Virgin Among the Living Dead</i> 1973 film

A Virgin Among the Living Dead is a 1973 European erotic horror film directed by Jesús Franco. Franco shot the film in 1971, but it was only released in 1973 after some additional erotic footage was added to the film without Franco's involvement. It was later re-cut with some extra zombie footage and redistributed to theaters again in 1981 as a zombie film. It has since been restored on DVD to Franco's original director's cut.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sex in film</span> Sex in mainstream film

Sex in film, the presentation of aspects of sexuality in film, especially human sexuality, has been controversial since the development of the medium. Films which display or suggest sexual behavior have been criticized by religious groups or have been banned or censored by governments, although attitudes have changed much along the years and a more permissive social environment has developed in certain parts of the world, notably in Europe, North America, Australia and New Zealand. In countries with a film rating system, films which contain explicit sex scenes typically receive a restricted classification. Nudity in film may be regarded as sexual or as non-sexual.

<i>A Young Mans World</i> 2000 American film

Kevin Clarke's A Young Man's World is a 2000 American gay pornographic film written and directed by Kevin Clarke and starring Joe Landon and Ashton Ryan. It was produced and cinematographed by Barry Knight and Russell Moore of Delta Productions and distributed by Paladin Video. The film's duration is two hours; its date of production is July 22, 2000, and it was shot on high-definition video.

<i>Mind Twister</i> 1994 American film

Mind Twister is a 1994 American erotic thriller film directed by Fred Olen Ray, written by Mark Thomas McGee, and produced by Luigi Cingolani and Smart Egg Pictures.

The 7th AVN Awards ceremony, organized by Adult Video News (AVN), took place on January 8, 1990, at the Tropicana Hotel & Casino in Paradise, Nevada. During the ceremony, AVN Awards were presented in 44 categories honoring pornographic films released the previous year. Actor Rick Savage hosted the show with segment co-hosts Christy Canyon, Barbara Dare and Nina Hartley. Portions of the show were taped for a segment on Entertainment Tonight.

<i>Intimate Games</i> 1976 British film by Tudor Gates

Intimate Games is a 1976 British sex comedy directed by Tudor Gates and Martin Campbell and starring George Baker, Anna Bergman and Ian Hendry.

Body Chemistry II: The Voice of a Stranger is a 1991 erotic thriller sequel directed by Adam Simon and written by Jackson Barr and Christopher Wooden. It is the second film in the Body Chemistry franchise, following the character of psychotic psychiatrist Dr. Claire Archer, here played again by Lisa Pescia.

References

  1. "Erotic Inferno". British Film Institute Collections Search. Retrieved 5 December 2023.
  2. "Erotic Inferno". The Monthly Film Bulletin . 42 (492): 134. 1 January 1975 via ProQuest.