Love Slaves, The (Vinegar Syndrome) Review

Distributor: Vinegar Syndrome Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film Also known as: Love Slaves Run Time: 88 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1976 Director: Bob Chinn (as Robert Husong) Written by: Michael Klinger (screenplay), Masao Adachi (based on an original screenplay by) Cast: John Leslie, Enjil von Bergdorfe, Desiree West (as Pat Lee), Laura Bourbon, Vicky Lyon (as Alexandra Lyon), Tanya Shea, Veronica Taylor, Alain Patrick (as Pierre Delon), Turk Lyon, Sharon Thorpe, Janis Lake, Astrid Gordon, Georges Malu, Bob Chinn, Ken Scudder Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 1.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Widescreen, 1.78:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

When Bob Chinn set out to make The Love Slaves, producer Bob Cresse requested that Chinn make a hardcore version of Kôji Wakamatsu's 1966 film The Love Robots. The resulting film, The Love Slaves, is a dark, gritty, and, at times, nasty adult feature.

In The Love Slaves, a rash of kidnappings in San Francisco over the course of a few days along with increased narcotic traffic causes Steve Blake (John Leslie), a special investigator for the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, to investigate the happenings. Both are caused by Dr. Paul Severin (Alain Patrick), who is hypnotizing the abductees to be sexualized killers. When Blake gets too close, Severin kidnaps Karen (Tanya Shea), Blake's sister.

What makes The Love Slaves works so well is due to how Chinn handles the material. The Love Slaves has a strong, and engrossing, story that isn't just a throwaway plot to fit between the sex scenes. The sex works with the story, instead of against it, resulting in a great plotted adult film. On top of that, the story itself is interesting and would hold up, without the sex, as a grindhouse film.

The cast handles the material well. Leslie steals the show as Steve Blake putting in his normal strong performance with the non-sexual and sexual material proving why he was one of the heavy-hitting male stars from this era. Alain Patrick makes an excellent villain in the film and it is easy to see why Chinn cast him in the role. Most of the female cast members play hypnotized women, so there wasn't much to their roles, however, those with dimensional characters, like Tanya Shea, do great.

The sex scenes are well done. As to whether the viewer likes them or not is due to how much the viewer likes sex scenes where cast members stay in character. Many of the sex scenes occur with hypnotized women and the actresses in these roles play them well. There is also a non-consensual scene in the film, which obviously isn't the most erotic. However, other scenes, like the opening scene with Leslie and Veronica Taylor, are excellent and erotic.

The Love Slaves is beautifully shot with some very inventive camera work and great sets and locations giving the film an appropriately gritty feel that fits with the mood of the overall film. The film has nice and tight editing resulting in a visually appealing seedy adult feature that could have only come out of the 70s.

The Love Slaves is an excellent adult feature film from the 1970s that isn't as well-known as some of its counterparts but is just as worth watching as they are. The film has an engrossing story, nice camera work, and a solid cast that doesn't let the viewer down in either the sex or the acting. The Love Slaves is highly recommended for fans of the genre.

Vinegar Syndrome has done a great job with their DVD release of The Love Slaves. The Love Slaves was shot on film and Vinegar Syndrome has used a 2K scan of 35mm archival elements for their master of this release. The Love Slaves is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 480p. The image contains grain and some print damage and artifacts. All to be expected. What isn't expected is how clean and crisp the image looks. Colors are beautiful and the image is sharp, which is good considering that many of the scenes have low lighting and a murky release would have rendered the film unwatchable.

The Love Slaves is presented with an English Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural audio release. There is a low hiss present on the audio track but this doesn't detract from the viewing experience. The dialog is clear and easy to understand throughout the film.

Vinegar Syndrome has included a few extras on the release. There is a brief introduction by Bob Chinn that plays before the film. There is also the eleven minute “Bob Chinn on Love Slaves” featurette that features an interview with Bob Chinn.

The Love Slaves is an excellent roughie that was made by renown adult filmmaker Bob Chinn. The Love Slaves features a well-done story, great acting, and some excellent sex scenes. Fans of the genre will want to seek this film out. Vinegar Syndrome has done an excellent job with their release with a beautiful image and good audio with a few extras.

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