Hot Summer In the City (Alpha Blue Archives) Review

Distributor: Alpha Blue Archives Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Roughie, Feature Film, Blacksploitation, Thriller Run Time: 58 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1976 Director: Harry Mohney (as The Hare) Written by: T. James Write Cast: Lisa Baker, Duke Johnson, Shorty Roberts, Stitch Umbas, Coke Cain, Bruce Darcy, Linda Hoffman, Dan Timens, Bill Murphy, Tony Rizzi, Black Orchid Release Specs: Audio: English MPEG 1.0 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

Hot Summer in the City from director Harry Mahney is a rarity in the adult film industry, it is a blacksploitation roughie that appears to have been shot in Detroit, Michigan — which was certainly not a hot spot for adult filmmaking at that time or anytime for that matter. Most places attribute the direction to Gail Palmer, however, writer Peter Segal found, when researching Palmer, that Mohney, her boyfriend at the time, actually directed the films using her name. Although Gail Palmer is often attributed as the writer of Hot Summer in the City, she didn't pen the script. Hot Summer in the City was actually penned by the pseudonymous T. James Write, who would co-write several films later with Gail Palmer.

Hot Summer in the City takes place in Detroit Michigan in July of 1967. Debby (Lisa Baker), who is saving herself for marriage much to the chagrin of her fiancé Bill Evans (Bruce Darcy) catches her mom (Linda Hoffman) having a threesome with Bill's father (Bill Murphy) and Mr. Grover (Dan Timens). Debby takes off into the Detroit night and ends up being kidnapped by Duke (Duke Johnson), Shorty (Shorty Roberts), Stitch (Stitch Umbas), and Coke (Coke Cain) who bring her to a remote cabin.

There is a subplot about Duke and his gang being hired by the man (Tony Rizzi) to stage a race war for an insurance scam. However, the subplot really ends up being aborted before the film ends. A lot of the issues within the film arise from the story and characters. With a roughie, this reviewer feels that the movie itself needs to be strong enough to support being a roughie. Hot Summer in the City isn't that movie. The film is slow moving and the plot is weak. The characters in the film make leaps that aren't really supported by what is going on. Maybe the film could have been better if the subplot had been fully developed and worked into the rest of the film but as it exists, Hot Summer in the City has too many plot issues and lack of reasons for existing to make for a good watch.

The sex scenes are a major issue as well, they are not erotic unless one is a fan of non-consensual sex. Mercifully the sex scenes are rather short. There is only one truly consensual sex scene in the film, the first one with Debby's mom. There is one more sex scene that one could argue is consensual or could argue is non-consensual depending on exactly how you interpret situations at that moment in the film. Either way, it means that the bulk of the sex scenes aren't pleasurable to watch.

The technical aspects of the film are also an issue. The film is very awkwardly shot looking as if the camera operator wasn't sure what they really should be doing at some times. There are periods when the camera isn't in focus. The film also suffers from poor editing. All of these seriously harm the end product.

This isn't to say that Hot Summer in the City is all bad. It is nice to see an adult film set somewhere other than New York, Florida, or California for a change. The concept behind the film is solid, a roughie going on amongst the 60s race riots. The cabin made for a good hideout location. It is just too bad that the rest of the film could have been done better.

Overall, it is hard to recommend Hot Summer in the City to anyone since it is a roughie with plot and technical problems. If you like non-consensual films, you may love this but for anyone else, it probably isn't worth watching.

Alpha Blue Archives has done a poor job with their DVD release of Hot Summer in the City. Hot Summer in the City was shot on film and it looks as if Alpha Blue Archives has utilized a miniDV master for their release. Hot Summer in the City is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 480i. The visual presentation for Hot Summer in the City is lacking. The image contains print damage, artifacts, and numerous jumps. Some scenes contain soft colors others contain bleeding of colors. Dark scenes, which the film has many of, are murky. The film is also missing a total of 11 minutes of footage. Most viewers will find the visual presentation to be poor.

Hot Summer in the City is presented with an English MPEG 1.0 monaural audio track. The audio contains plenty of cracks, pops as well as numerous jumps. The dialog is often able to be understood although there are some portions that are not due to jumps in the audio. Overall, the audio isn't that great but is acceptable.

Alpha Blue Archives has included a few extras on the release. There are two 8mm black rape-themed loops. “Black Rape” from Party Girls (1) with Jonathan Younger which runs for 11 minutes and “The Militant” from an unknown company that runs for eight minutes. Both loops have a crashing punk soundtrack over them that is clearly not original to the loops. Neither one is in overly good condition. The original theatrical trailer is on the release. There is also some text information on the film in the release.

Hot Summer in the City is a blacksploitation roughie from Harry Mahney that despite a few clever portions isn't really worth watching. The film suffers from aborted subplots, poor character development, and poor filming and editing. The negative aspects within Hot Summer in the City, unfortunately, outweigh the positive aspects. Alpha Blue Archives has done a poor job with their DVD release of Hot Summer in the City with poor video and audio quality.

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