Avon Triple Feature: Savage Sadists / Den of Dominance / Daughters of Discipline (Vinegar Syndrome) Review

Avon Triple Feature: Savage Sadists / Den of Dominance / Daughters of Discipline

An adult movie review by Flash

Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome Edition Details: Standard DVD Release Specs: Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Murray Offen's notorious Avon theater chain was known for producing the nastiest of the roughies bring produced. Phil Prince, who's life was as tragic as his films, was known for creating the nastiest of the films produced by Avon and was reportedly listed by the Meese Commission as being the worst of the worst. For an interesting history of Avon and the people involved including Prince, read “The Avon Dynasty“ by Bill Landis and Michelle Clifford in METASEX. This collection by Vinegar Syndrome has two of Phil Prince's films Den of Dominance and Daughters of Discipline, and one film that Prince denies making, Savage Sadists. None of these films are among Prince's best, however it is nice to see his work coming out in such great shape. Hopefully this is just the beginning and Vinegar Syndrome will be releasing more of Prince's films and Avon's films.

Vinegar Syndrome hasn't included any extras at all on this release. It is too bad they didn't get the rights to put Brian O'Hara's (probably better known in the adult film world as editor Maxim H. Housenbold) short-film documentary “The Prince of Porn” on this release, which gives some — but not a lot — of insight into Phil Prince.

If you choose not to read all the reviews, you can jump to the review of Savage Sadists, Den of Dominance, or the review of Daughters of Discipline.

Savage Sadists

Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film Run Time: 38 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1980 Director: Brian O'Hara Written by: Brian O'Hara Cast: Bibi, Ginger Roberts, Dan Stephens, David Christopher, Martin Patton, Nicole Bernard Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1

The Movie

Savage Sadists is the long believed to be the first film by notorious Avon director Phil Prince; however, Prince denies having made this film. Savage Sadists boasts the most complete story out of the three films contained on this release. In this outing, Mrs. Greenberg (Nicole Bernard) gets attacked and raped by two thugs (Dan Stephens and David Christopher) who were sent by Big Lou to get the money her pornographer husband (Martin Patton) owes him. She escapes and runs to her husband's office who is having an affair with one of his secretaries Janet (Ginger Roberts).

Savage Sadists is an odd film, the tenderness of Patton and Roberts scene is juxtaposed with the brutality of the rape of Bernard by Stephens and Christopher as the two scenes go back and forth. The film was obviously made on the cheap, there is only one outdoor establishing shot and then two or three indoor locations — there is the Greenberg's living room and the office. The office desk and the Saint Andrew's cross which is supposed to be in the same room appear to be two different sets. Not much of any of the rooms are shown, however the film is nicely shot, making the most out of the available space.

The script is rather bad and the acting isn't great either. The whole film is miles from good. The story itself is rather contrived with many holes and sports a far nicer ending than I would have expected from Prince. The finality of the film itself is a fart sound, which is rather popular for Prince. I don't know if it is a juvenile joke of some sort of something else, but farting appears in several of his films. However, the existence of the fart sound may indicate that Brian O'Hara was the auteur behind Savage Sadists since he edited Prince's films as well.

Despite this being the darkest movie on this release, and the only one to contain rape, Savage Sadists is the best of the three films.

The Edition

Savage Sadists is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The print used contains dirt and artifacts as well as plenty of grain. However, the picture is rather amazing — especially if you have seen past releases of this film that were barely watchable — offering a picture clear enough that you can read the writing on the posters on the wall. Savage Sadists is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural soundtrack, which sounds nice throughout. No extras have been included for the film.

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Den of Dominance

Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film Run Time: 36 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1980 Director: Phil Prince Written by: Phil Prince Cast: Bibi, Ginger Roberts, Dan Stephens, David Christopher, Martin Patton, Nicole Bernard, Greg Lyle Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1

The Movie

Den of Dominance really doesn't offer the viewer much in the way of a plot, more of just a location. A man (Martin Patton) goes to a bar looking for a good time. The bartender (David Christopher) tells him there is no hard liquor but offers him Bibi (Bibi) if he has the funds. Den of Dominance comes across as rather tame for Avon. There is an S&M scene for the second half of the film, but the film doesn't get into anything else of a taboo nature. There isn't much for writing here, the film is just the man's visit to the bar. There are two instances of a fart sound in the movie, one about halfway through and one at the ending. Like with Savage Sadists, I am not sure if this was a juvenile joke because Prince found the sound funny or if there was something more to it. Only two rooms are used for this film and they both seem less cramped than some of the sets that Prince uses for his films.

The Edition

Den of Dominance is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. Out of the three films on this release, Den of Dominance offers the worst picture quality. The print has some print damage as well as dirt and grain. There are places where the flesh tones turn completely white I am assuming due to some sort of damage to the print. While the print is the worst of the three, it is still in very good condition and far better than previous releases. Den of Dominance is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural soundtrack which is clear and easy to hear. There are no extras on the disc for this film.

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Daughters of Discipline

Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film Also known as: Daughters of Disclipline — Part 2 Run Time: 42 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1980 Director: Phil Prince Written by: Phil Prince Cast: Stable Cruz, Victoria Sands, Robin Thorn, Dave Ruby, David Christopher Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1

The Movie

Daughters of Discipline, like Den of Domination, doesn't really have a plot to it. Sisters Glenda (Victoria Sands) and Rhoda (Robin Thorn), while back from college break, play with each other after viewing their parents bondage girlie magazine. When they get bored with that they call over friend John (David Christopher). Out of the three films contained on the disc, this is probably the least enjoyable. Over the top acting by David Ruby (as the girls' dad) and poor acting by the rest of the cast along with featuring the least attractive girls in the collection work the most against this title. In addition to the bondage theme, the incest theme is pushed hard but is never quite believable. Like the other films in this collection, the sets are limited with two indoor cramped rooms and an outdoor establishing shot and an outdoor arrival shot. Had the characters been established better this film might have been more enjoyable.

The Edition

Daughters of Discipline is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The print is in good shape sporting grain, some print damage, artifacts, and dirt. The video presentation should please all viewers of the film with good looking colors and good detail. Daughters of Discipline is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track, which is more than acceptable for the film. There are no extras included on the disc for the film.

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Final Thoughts

This collection from Vinegar Syndrome gives us two of Phil Prince's shorter films for Avon and one film from an unknown director. None of the films in this collection are the best that Prince created during his short film making career before the Avon empire collapsed but they are still interesting to view. As per their normal, Vinegar Syndrome has good prints that they used for this release.

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If you have questions or comments, feel free to e-mail me at adtflash@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: The views presented in the review are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of Adult DVD Talk. Details in “The Movie” section are about the movie in general whereas the details in “The Edition” section are specific to the exact release reviewed. Box cover images are copyrighted by the releasing studio and are used under 17 US Code § 107 Fair Use.