Necromania (Fleshbot Films) Review

Distributor: Fleshbot Films Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Classic, Feature Film, Horror Also known as: Necromania: A Tale of Weird Love Run Time: 54 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1971 Director: Edward D. Wood, Jr. (as Don Miller) Written by: Edward D. Wood, Jr. Cast: Rene Bond, Ric Lutze, Maria Arnold 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 Disc: DVD 5 (SS, SL) Special Features: Softcore Version, Booklet, About Necromania DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
Danny (Ric Lutz) and Shirley (Rene Bond) are having a problem with their relationship. Danny is having a problem getting wood and it is threatening to break them up. They go to Madame Heles (Maria Aronoff), a necromancer, against Danny's wishes to see if she can help them with Danny's problem.

Audio/Video:
Necromania is presented with an English 2.0 Mono track. Production issues aside, the audio track is in great shape, much better than I expected it to be. The dialog, along with the music, are clear and easy to hear without signs of deterioration or drop outs present. This is probably as good as the film sounded when it was originally shown theatrically. Fleshbot Films hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options for the feature film.

Necromania is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. I'm not sure what the original aspect ratio of the film was but if it has been cropped for this presentation, there are no obvious signs of it. As can be expected for a film of this age, especially one that was lost for roughly 30 years, the print is full of artifacts and glitches. There are places that the artifacts are heavy but it is no worse than I expected it to be. On the unfortunate side, the bit rate is set slightly too low which results in the appearance of minor pixels in some places. The color levels are correctly set. Other than the bit rate problem, the video is in better shape than I expected it to be.

Special Features:
Fleshbot Films hasn't included many extras on the disc, but the first one is by far one of the best that any company could ever include. The softcore version, dubbed the “Hot! Version” by Ed Wood, is included in its entirety on the disc and runs for 51 minutes. This is the first time that I am aware of that an adult DVD has included the softcore version of the feature film. Hopefully more companies will learn from this example as not only does it allow the viewer to see the alternate version, it helps preserve it for future generations to be able to see. The video and audio are in great shape in the presentation of the softcore version, looking better than the adult version. Unfortunately, there are no chapter stops included for the softcore version. There is also a booklet that comes with the disc which gives the history of how Ed Wood got into skin flicks and some history on this film along with some of his other softcore titles. “About Necromania” is a text piece on the disc that repeats the information that is given in the booklet.

Disc Design/Navigation:
The disc is designed with simple non-animated menus that contain no background music. The menus may not be fancy, but they look nice and are easy to navigate. There are nineteen chapters available from the chapter menu for the feature film. The chapters are identified by a still frame and a scene description that appears when you are selecting the still frame. There are nineteen chapter stops within the feature film itself as well. There is a time code encoded on the disc for the feature film.

General Review:
Edward D. Wood, Jr., commonly known as Ed Wood, is commonly known as the worst film maker of all time. He started his career with mainstream films and made such memorable films as Plan 9 From Outer Space. Towards the end of his career he couldn't get funding for his mainstream film attempts so he turned to writing sex stories under a variety of pseudonyms and making softcore skin flicks. During that final stage of his career and life, Wood made two hardcore adult films. Take it out in Trade, which is believed to be lost, and Necromania. Necromania was originally made in two versions, a softcore version dubbed the “Hot! Version” and a hardcore version dubbed the “Hot! Hot! Hot! Version.” The softcore version of Necromania has been available for years but until 2001 the hardcore version was believed to be lost. On this disc from Fleshbot Films both the hardcore version, the main feature, and the softcore version, as an extra, are presented. The film is based on Ed's book The Only House, which he also used to make the film The Only House, which Fleshbot Films will be releasing in the future.

Depending on why you watch this film it will either be a giant letdown or an excellent viewing experience. If you watch the film as a hardcore film withe the hopes that it will arouse you, you are in for a letdown. Despite the fact the film stars seventies adult star Rene Bond, the film manages to convey no eroticism. Much of that is due to how the film was made. Two different cinematographers were used for the film. Hal Guthu was used for most of the film but refused to do the hardcore portions for which Ted Gorley was utilized. The actual hardcore segments are short and the softcore portions are used to flesh out the scenes. So the scenes build up with the softcore portions where there is no contact with the genitalia to the hardcore shots that are mixed in to present the actual sex. Ed's ineptitude as a film maker heavily shows here especially in the construct of the sex scenes. The film would have worked far better as an adult film if he shot entirely different footage for the sex scenes as it seems rather silly when someone is licking carefully around the pubic area and then suddenly starts eating the pussy. His one shot, whether flawed or not, technique is obvious here, especially in the sex scene where the actor goes to enter the woman vaginally and ends up shooting his load on her ass. Instead of filming the scene again, he left it as is. Even for the period that the film was made, the sex scenes are incredibly short and focus mostly on one or two sexual acts only.

About the only thing that Ed Wood did right with this film is his choice in casting. Many of the films from this period feature women that are not so easy on the eyes. For the time period, the women featured here are relatively good looking. They don't look like the adult film stars of today, but for the time they are a good choice. Especially the very easy on the eyes pre-boob job adult film star Rene Bond, who is one of the most underrated adult stars of the seventies in my opinion. Unfortunately, most of the stars in the film are unknown to me and they are credited in the film as “wish to stay anonymous.” Although the title suggests that the film will heavily feature black magic, there is very little of it in evidence in the film. And most of that is odd little rituals that are more comical than truly dark in nature. The overall film is very light hearted especially when compared to other adult films from the time that focus on black magic and Satanism, so viewers that are concerned due to the title that they are going to end up with a film like The Devil Inside Her or Hard Gore can rest assured they won't end up with that style film.

The incompetence goes on with the audio track. You can hear the actors on the voice dubs for the sex scenes breathing onto the microphone itself. It also appears that he made one main audio track, which was designed for the softcore version and then only slightly modified it for the hardcore version. The end result is lines show up at very inappropriate places during the sex scenes. For instance during one scene, the unknown actress playing Tanya says “You taste so good,” when she has Ric Lutz's cock deep in her mouth. This is just one example and there are plenty more in the film of instances where such style events happen. The sexual themes in the film are vaginal sex with pussy eating, blow jobs and lesbianism. Viewers that care about condom use will be happy to know there are no condoms used in the film.

Most of the film is filmed in one room with the dressing changed. Since there isn't that much dressing for the set, it won't take long for viewers to notice this fact. One interesting item to note, when watching both versions you'll notice that the picture is flipped for most of the hardcore version so the action takes place on the other side of the room from where it happened on the softcore version. It isn't that two completely different versions were filmed, the picture is just shown flipped. The music used for the film is incredibly inappropriate as well. Even though you are watching a hardcore adult film, Wood chose music that would be more appropriate for cartoons and early Disney films than here.

All of this put together make this film a horrible choice to watch as an erotic film, however, if you are into campy, unintentionally hilarious films, as many of Ed Wood's films are, this film makes a great viewing choice. All the reasons that this film doesn't work as an erotic film make it work great as a fun schlock film. Wood would have far better off marketing the film as a spoof of seventies adult films than an actual adult film as if audiences thought he was making fun of adult films this film would have probably gone over much better than it did. Then again, most of Ed's films are better as viewed as a parody of the genre they are supposed to be than to be an actual genre film.

Scene Synopsis:
Scene 1: an unknown woman, an unknown man
The first scene brings us an unknown female and an unknown male and the scene starts out with the male eating the female's pussy. Then the female gives the male a blow job. The two go to start the vaginal sex but before the male enters the female, he cums on her ass.

Scene 2: Rene Bond, Ric Lutz
The second scene gives us Rene Bond and Ric Lutz and the scene consists of Ric eating Rene's pussy. There is no cum shot at the end of the scene.

Scene 3: Rene Bond, an unknown woman
The third scene is interlaced with the fourth scene and features Rene Bond and an unknown female and is a girl/girl scene. The unknown female and Rene lick each others bodies and grind their pussies into each other's legs. Then the unknown female eats Rene's pussy. Then Rene eats the unknown female's pussy until the scene ends.

Scene 4: an unknown woman, Ric Lutz
The fourth scene is interlaced with the third scene and brings us an unknown female (the same one from the first scene) and Ric Lutz. The unknown female gives Ric a blow job. Then Ric eats her pussy. Then the two go into the vaginal sex. There is no cum shot to end the scene.

Scene 5: Maria Aronoff, Ric Lutz
The fifth and final scene in the film gives us Maria Aronoff and Ric Lutz. The scene consists of Maria giving Ric a blow job. At the end of the scene, Ric cums on Maria's hand and himself.

Parting Thoughts:
If you are into campy, cheesy films then you'll probably get a kick out of watching this one, however if you go into it looking for an erotic film you are going to be sorely disappointed even if you are a fan of the stars. The sex scenes are short and somehow manage to contain no real eroticism. If you like the film, this is most likely the best presentation that you'll ever see of it as Fleshbot Films has given the film a better DVD edition than it ever deserved and has included both versions of the film on the disc. Now it's time for someone to try and locate Ed Wood's other lost hardcore adult film Take it out in Trade.

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