Desiree Cousteau Triple Feature (GAM) Review

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

The Desiree Cousteau Triple Feature collection from Golden Age Media contains the films Getting Off, Pretty Peaches, and Summer in Heat. All three films, quite obviously, star Desiree Cousteau portraying a rather major character. The set contains some major issues with the transfers of the films included so, depending on what you are specifically looking for on the set, the Desiree Cousteau Triple Feature may or may not be worth picking up. Pretty Peaches is in the worst shape by far and Summer in Heat is in the best shape.

Getting Off is a loop carrier by Ed DePriest that is a fair to middling S&M adult loop carrier. Pretty Peaches, by Alex de Renzy, and Summer in Heat, by Christy McCabe, are two good feature films that are on the darker side; Pretty Peaches is a Candide-like dark comedy and Summer in Heat is a roughie thriller.

The release itself is poorly designed with all three films on one roughly four-hour track instead of making each film a separate title on the release. Golden Age Media also hasn't included any extras on the release. You can jump to the review of Getting Off, Pretty Peaches, or Summer in Heat or one can just keep reading to read all of them.

Getting Off is a loop carrier, in the true sense of the term, by writer and director Ed DePriest. Ed DePriest made Getting Off as a feature-style loop carrier so that there are some plotted portions connecting the random sex scenes, instead of just having random sex scenes that are completely unconnected. The bulk of the footage was originally shot on 16mm film by Ed DePriest for the Ultra Girls (also known as San Franciso's Ultra Girls) adult film loop series. There are five loops used within Getting Off, one of which is Ultra Girls 4 “Amanda and Conny” and one which is Ultra Girls 5 “Serena.” The other three loops have not yet been identified. The only material that is original in Getting Off is the material with Desiree Cousteau, John Leslie, and Pat Manning.

The plot for Getting Off is that Alex (Pat Manning) and Julian (John Leslie) train female sex slaves. They are training their current slave-to-be Marpessa (Desiree Cousteau) and reminisce about past sex slaves that they have trained. Alex and Julian's reminiscing is shown through the loops that are sewn into the film. There really isn't much to the plot, just some sexual seques into the next loop with the expected finale with the seque cast.

The character of Julian is, well to be honest, really annoying. John Leslie is an accomplished actor, he has proven that in film after film. However, in this film, his character just spends the film oddly laughing at everything that Alex makes Marpessa do. Honestly, this gets grating fast.

The sex scenes aren't bad; the kinkiest of which was shot by Ed DePriest for this film specifically and not in most of the loops. This actually is what makes the loops fit not as well as they could since they often seem much tamer than the material shot for this film, making them seem out of place. This isn't to imply that the sex scenes aren't enjoyable. The cast does a great job with them and they look nice; the only issue is that they don't fit within the narrative the greatest.

Getting Off is a fair to middling loop carrier; the film will neither enthrall you nor disappoint you. The Sex scenes are nice but the plot really doesn't even get established. Obviously, fans of the stars will get more from the film than those who are indifferent to the cast members. Getting Off is definitely a film that one will want to rent before outright purchasing.

Golden Age Media has done a decent job with their DVD release of Getting Off. Getting Off was shot on film — portions were definitely shot on 16mm film and some may have been shot on 35mm film — and Golden Age Media has used a 3/4” video master made in the early 80s for this release. The 3/4” video master appears to have been made from the camera negative. Getting Off is presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The video quality isn't bad but obviously isn't as good as it would be had a film master been used. The image contains artifacts and print damage along with very occasional video glitches. The colors are a bit on the drab side and don't pop like they should which is common with the 3/4” video masters made during this period.

Getting Off is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track for which the quality is far worse than the video quality. The audio, for an inexplicable reason, was encoded for the right speaker, not the left so you only get audio on the right side and nothing from the left side causing poor audio reproduction. There are pops and crackles present in the audio. The dialog in the film is clear and can be understood at all times.

Pretty Peaches is a version, of sorts, of Voltaire's Candide. The plot isn't at all similar to that of Candide, but keeps the same theme where a naïve heroine, instead of a hero as in Candide, goes on a journey, fraught with tragedy, beyond her control. Peaches (Desiree Cousteau) goes to her father Hugh's (John Leslie) wedding in Virginia City, Nevada. Feeling ignored by Hugh and his new bride Lily (Flower), Peaches takes off, inebriated, and ends up crashing her Jeep. She is found by Jesse (Ken Scudder) and Kid (Joey Silvera). After Kid rapes her, she regains consciousness and has amnesia. Jesse and Kid take her to San Francisco where Peaches ends up on a journey beyond her control while trying to remember who she is.

Pretty Peaches could be a very ugly and disturbing film, especially where it depicts rapes, an enema, and incest, but like Candide, all the vile acts are done in a dark comedic fashion which reduces the impact of them. The story is well done and while one could argue that some of the sex scenes within the film are arbitrary, they all fit into the story and the viewer is not left feeling like the scenes were just stuck in to add to the sexual content of the film. All in all, the story creates a film designed to be in the adult film medium, that works as a complete package.

The film is beautifully shot with a more cinematic feel that one usually gets from an adult film. The film is shot like a mainstream film, utilizing indoor and outdoor locations. The film doesn't appear to have been shot without preparation either, especially considering that Alex deRenzy obviously utilized at least one stuntman in the creation of the film. That isn't to say that the film isn't without mistakes. A few shots were not quite in focus, the stuntman is obvious in one scene, and a boom microphone enters the frame at one point. But all together, the film looks nice and feels like a real film with thought behind it instead of a quickly shot sex film.

Pretty Peaches is a film that is unlikely to have been made today. It introduces some frowned upon themes and will likely turn off some viewers completely due to the content. However, for viewers that are okay with darker content, this is a film that should be seen.

Golden Age Media has done a poor job with their DVD release of Pretty Peaches. Pretty Peaches was shot on film and it looks like Golden Age Media has used a 3/4” video master from a rather beat up film print that was never properly remastered. Pretty Peaches is presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The image is in rather bad shape with artifacts and print damage that is rather heavy at times. The image appears to be overly light making some scenes hard to watch. There are jumps throughout the film and a vertical yellow bar on the left-hand side of the screen. During the enema scene, there is a Golden Age Media bug on the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Honestly, this is a hard release to watch due to the poor video quality.

Pretty Peaches is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track. While the audio quality is better than the video quality the audio quality still isn't good; it just isn't as bad as the video. The audio has jumps, pops, and crackles. Even worse there is a distortion present throughout the film. The dialog is clear and can be understood at all times but Pretty Peaches isn't fun to listen to.

Summer in Heat is a roughie that is directed and co-written by Christy McCabe (Carlos De Santos' sister), not Alex de Renzy as the film is often attributed to. Summer in Heat is a twisted revenge roughie that will reward viewers looking for a plot-based adult film.

The plot for Summer in Heat is that Liz (Delania Raffino) recounts to Patrick (Jamie Gillis) the story of how her ex-husband Senator Jack (Jack Wrangler) built a dam at Lake Shasta despite many locals losing their homes and crops and how she, Jack, and his family took a trip to the newly formed Lake Shasta and the brutal revenge Jack and his family ended up suffering at the hands of some of the unwillingly displaced.

The story, despite being slow to play out, is well-done giving time for character development and lulling the viewer into a false sense of security before unleashing hell on all the characters in the film. The cast does a great job with their characters as well, however, that shouldn't come as a surprise to any viewer who is familiar with the cast. In an interesting turn, Jamie Gillis plays one of the well-adjusted characters — not a psychopath — in the film.

The sex scenes are hit or miss. The consensual sex scenes are enjoyable whereas the non-consensual sex scenes are not as enjoyable. The cast does a great job with all of them staying in character throughout. Christy McCabe has utilized excellent locations within the film as well that really give the film a remote feel.

Viewers that like an adult film for the plot and enjoy the roughies will definitely enjoy this film. Viewers that are looking for jerk off material will find much of Summer in Heat to be a waste. Summer in Heat is recommended viewing.

Golden Age Media has done a decent job with their DVD release of Summer in Heat. Summer in Heat was shot on film and it looks like Golden Age Media used a 3/4” video master made from the camera negative. Summer in Heat is presented in the Academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The image is misframed with a black bar on the left-hand side of the screen and on the bottom of the screen. The image contains artifacts and print damage. There is also obvious combing. The colors in the film are good but dark scenes can look a little too dark. There are also a few instances of what appears to be a glitch in the video.

Summer in Heat is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track. The audio for the film sounds fine with no noticeable issues and the dialog is clear and easy to understand at all times.

Golden Age Media's release of the Desiree Cousteau Triple Feature contains the films Getting Off, Pretty Peaches, and Summer in Heat. Getting Off is a rather standard loop carrier by Ed DePriest, and Pretty Peaches is an enjoyable feature by Alex de Renzy, and Summer in Heat is an enjoyable film from Christy McCabe. Whether the Desiree Cousteau Triple Feature is right for you depends on what film(s) you are interested in from the three film collection. All three films appear to be sourced from 3/4” video masters. Getting Off has decent video quality but problematic audio quality, Pretty Peaches has poor video and audio quality, and Summer in Heat has decent video and audio quality.

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