Blow Dry (Halo Park) Review

Distributor: Halo Park Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Comedy, Golden Age Classic Also known as: Blowdry Run Time: 73 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1976 Director: David Secter (as Laser Scepter) Written by: Sam Kitt Cast: Helen Madigan, Victor Colicchio (as Pepe), Jamie Gillis, Peonies Jong, Ultramax (as Ultra Max), Crystal Sync, R. Bolla (as Richard Bolla), Kristin Steen (as Marie Roberts), Michael Gaunt, Eddie Haskell, Sheila Stahr, Riki Atkinson, Lisa Beatty, Joey Vincent, Ruth Selnick, Shari Patrick, James Harris, Gandi Sanders, Katina Kaffington Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.66:1 (non-anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Blow Dry is an excellent madcap comedy that manages to blend comedy with sex with amazing results. Warren Piece (Victor Colicchio) is a hairstylist who has a dream of opening his own salon, Public Hair. As he tries to sleep his way into making his dream come true, his girlfriend Maggie (Helen Madigan) is trying to make it as an actress.

The comedy and the sex work hand-in-hand and without either element, Blow Dry would never work. The film features short sex scenes that are fully integrated into the plot. Since the film is designed as an actual feature, there are plotted portions during the sex scenes. The end result is that the sex scenes aren't a break in the story and giving the film a full movie feeling. The ending of Robert Kerman and Crystal Sync's sex scene on the copy machine briefly breaks the fourth wall making fun of external cum shots. An interesting note is the appearance of several fart sounds reminiscent of those that would later appear in some of Phil Prince's work.

The story itself is well done. It is a take off of sorts of Shampoo but the end result is more like Shampoo got crossed with 1968's Candy. I have to give some respect to the financier of the film. Had someone come to me with this script I would have never suspected that it would have worked in the end.

The cast does an exceptional job with both the sexual and non-sexual material. Colicchio is great in his role and as per his normal Robert Kerman does an excellent job. Madigan is perfect as Colicchio's girlfriend. The stand-out performance is Jamie Gillis in his non-sexual role as a gay hairstylist. All in all Blow Dry is an excellent screwball comedy that never manages to take itself seriously and shouldn't be missed.

Halo Park Pictures has taken a great adult film and absolutely ruined the release. Blow Dry is presented in the widescreen aspect ratio of 1.66:1 but has chosen to make the disc non-anamorphic for some unknown reason. There is absolutely no reason for this and it negatively impacts the presentation. The image presented on the disc is horrific. The master used was clearly video but the problems with the image go way past the limitations of a video master. The picture presents low chroma which results in washed out colors. There are periods where black presents itself as dark gray. The picture is soft heavily lacking in definition. There are glitches in the video along with artifacts and print damage. The presentation of the film is unacceptable.

Blow Dry features an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural track. Given the age of the film the audio sounds as I would expect it to. The dialog is clear and the audio appears to be damage free.

Halo Park Pictures has only included one extra on the disc. There is a feature length commentary track with Robert Kerman. In the track he rips on the current adult industry, talks about his career, and talks about the film itself.

Blow Dry is a well done funny adult film with some great performances in it. It even manages to poke fun of itself and the adult film industry itself. Halo Park Pictures has done a horrific job with this release with an unacceptable presentation of the film.

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