High Rise (Video X Pix) Review

Distributor: Video-X-Pix Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Classic, Feature Film, Comedy Run Time: 65 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1972 Director: Danny Steinmann (as Danny Stone) Written by: Danny Steinmann (as Danny Stone), Andy Warhol (some concepts) Cast: Tamie Trevor, John Clemens (as Gregory Pecker), Jamie Gillis (as James Kleeman), Jutta David, Mireille Renaud, Barbara Benner (as Samantha Whitney), Harry Reems (as Richard Hunt), Geri Miller, Sylvia Beenenfeld, Bertha Boobs, Gina De Angelis, Perry Gewirtz (as Sam Ellis), Ilse Epple, Tamara Gusick, Dave Heenan, Darby Lloyd Rains (as Tara Holland), Wally Hughes, Cindy West (as Lori Lake), Martin Maislin, Jan Marshall, Allie Schellander, Stephanie Skura, Arlana Blue (as Angel Spirit), Arthur Stalano, Marc Stevens, Rita Bennett (as Elizabeth Sunburst), Mark Suben (as Guy Thomas), Paco Vega, Tony Benedetto Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

Danny Steinmann has left us with precious few films in a variety of genres, only two of which actually bear his name on them. The horror film, The Unseen, which bears the pseudonym Peter Foleg because Steinmann wasn't happy with the final cut, the exploitation film Savage Streets, which does bear his name, the fifth entry into the Friday the 13^th series Friday the 13^th: A New Beginning, and High Rise, his only known venture in the adult industry. High Rise, his first film, was made seven years before The Unseen. His last film, Friday the 13^th: A New Beginning, was made a scant five years after The Unseen. As to why Steinmann only made one film within the adult industry I don't know. However, it is unfortunate.

High Rise is a goofball adult film that sometimes crosses the line of being a film and the making of a film. High Rise never takes itself too seriously and all manages to come together as a very cute adult film, which is genuinely funny. There is nothing overly substantial presented within the film nor is there really that much to the story at all, yet somehow the film flies by and feels over way too soon.

Susie (Tamie Trevor) is seeing a psychiatrist (John Clemens) because of problems she is having sexually with her husband Michael. The psychiatrist recommends that Susie gets some new sexual experiences that she can use with Michael. Susie was supposed to go apartment hunting that day as well so instead she hops from apartment to apartment gaining different sexual experiences.

The film opens with a great montage of footage from NYC during the opening credits. The sex scenes fit in perfectly with the plot and the comedy fits in perfectly with the sex scenes. Steinmann picked a great construction format for the film. The pretense of using each apartment as a different sexual experience allows an easy way to go from one scene to the next and since each apartment is different, it allows for an easier way to set up the humor without trying to figure out how to make it fit within a larger story arc, giving himself far more room to play with the film.

The sex scenes are shot nicely. There are some potential issues with the sex scenes, depending on how one feels. The party scene sometimes loses the sex with everything else that is going on and being shown that is not sex related. The party scene also feels like it goes on a bit longer than it should have and that it would have benefited from some tighter editing. The final sex scene with Susie and her husband Michael seems very rushed and appears to be 100% softcore as well. Harry Reems is awesome in his role as Herbie, playing the train engineer with his model train set. And the sex scene is well done yet highly amusing — a hard combination to actually pull off. Jamie Gillis' scene is great opening with him in a white and black plaid room, on a white and black striped couch reading sex stories from a magazine.

The film sports some great original music, by Jacques Urbont, and some catchy original songs sung by Rhetta Hughes, who was an accomplished R&B singer who made the R&B top 40 and opened for Bill Cosby, and Bobby Hill. The ending could have used a little more narrative, suddenly Susie is driving home from the apartment building which seems abrupt. Given the fun that Steinmann had with the rest of the film I feel he could have done something to bridge this in a far better way.

Video-X-Pix has done a disappointing job with the release of High Rise. High Rise is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. The transfer isn't so bad that it isn't watchable but it leaves a lot to be desired. The master appears to have been a video source not a film print with the transfer sporting glitches in the video, grain, a lack of definition, artifacts, print damage, and a murky picture at times. The pictures sometimes jitters. The colors have issues. Black often is reproduced as red. Portions of the party scene are hard to see where the red bleeds on the screen losing much of what is in the image. About 16 minutes into the film, the film seems to completely cut out to a black then green screen before the film resumes again. Video-X-Pix has marred the transfer with a VXP bug in the lower right hand corner that comes and goes throughout the film.

High Rise is presented with an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural track. The track shows its age with some light background hiss but overall it is in good shape and dialog can be heard throughout the film.

Video-X-Pix hasn't included any extras on this release.

High Rise is a fun and lighthearted adult film from the early 70s which never manages to take itself seriously. There isn't much of a plot in the film but High Rise never fails to entertain the viewer from the start to the finish. Video-X-Pix dropped the ball on this release with a subpar transfer and no extras.

Past Reviews Interviews