Babyface (Blu-Ray + DVD) Review

Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome Edition Details: Standard Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film Also known as: Baby Face Run Time: 106 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1977 Director: Alex de Renzy (as Alex deRenzy) Written by: John Milligan Cast: Carla Harwood, Molly Seagrim, Rudy Graham, Blair Harris, Angela Haze, Kristine Heller, Amber Hunt, John Leslie, Turk Lyon, Lyn Malone, Sandy Pinney, Amber Rae, Kathryn Reed, Dan Roberts, Ken Scudder, Joey Silvera, Otis Sistruck, Paul Thomas, Desiree West, Linda Wong Release Specs: Audio: English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 Mono (Blu-ray), English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono (DVD) Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: Blu-ray/DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1 Blu-ray, 1 DVD

Babyface is a great film to have come from the golden age of adult films and director Alex de Renzy. The film tells the story of Dan (Dan Roberts), who gets caught seducing the underage Priscilla (Lyn Malone) by her mother Molly (Molly Seagrim). Dan barely escapes, gets rescued, and ends up at The Training Camp, a male brothel where he hides from Molly and the law.

John Milligan does a great job of revealing the story through the film. Instead of starting at the beginning, the story starts out at The Training Camp with Dan already in hiding. Through his time there the story of how he ended up hiding out there is told, then the story goes forward. Not only is this a great way to tell the story, but it allows for numerous sex scenes, all fitting within the narrative, to be within the film.

The sex scenes are well done. Alex de Renzy has done a great job shooting them, as he did with the non-sex portions of the film. The cast does a good job with the sex with not just visually appealing scenes but also with staying in character during the scenes. Alex de Renzy utilized some great locations while making Babyface. The end result is an intriguing adult film which never gets old throughout the run time and shows why Alex de Renzy is thought of as one of the great directors from the golden age of adult films.

Vinegar Syndrome has done an amazing job with their Blu-ray/DVD combination pack release of Babyface. Babyface is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 on both the Blu-ray and the DVD. On the Blu-ray, the film is presented in 1080p and on the DVD the film is presented in 480p. Babyface was shot on film and Vinegar Syndrome has used 35mm vault elements for this release. The film looks absolutely stunning on this release. Vinegar Syndrome has placed a warning at the beginning of the film notifying the viewer that reel five of the film sustained some water damage. The film contains print damage, artifacts, and grain. The water damaged portion has white splotches that appear on the left-hand side of the screen for a few minutes. Colors look beautiful. This is the best that Babyface has looked since we have entered the digital age and is a major improvement over the past DVD releases of the film.

Babyface is presented on the Blu-ray with an English DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 monaural audio track and on the DVD with an English Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural audio track. For the majority of the film, the audio is nearly flawless. There is some distortion in the audio during the few minutes of water damaged film. While the distortion is noticeable, it doesn't affect the ability to understand the dialog. The dialog is clear and can be understood at all times.

Vinegar Syndrome has included a few extras on this release. There is a 70-minute audio interview by Casey Scott with Molly Seagrim. Alex deRenzy's 13-minute 1975 short film “Parochial Passion Princess” starring David Book and Justine Taylor is also included on the release, in its entirety from a beautiful print.

Babyface is one of the best films that Alex de Renzy made with a good plot, some great sex scenes, and the weirdness that de Renzy tends to have in his older films. Vinegar Syndrome has done an amazing job with their Blu-ray/DVD combination pack release of Babyface with a stunning image, beautiful sound, and even some extras. This is a release that is definitely worth picking up.

Past Reviews Interviews