Passions of Carol, The (Platinum Elite Collection) Review

Distributor: Video-X-Pix Edition Details: Platinum Elite Collection DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic (1970s Shot on Film), Feature Film, Christmas Run Time: 77 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1975 Director: Shaun Costello (as Amanda Barton) Written by: Shaun Costello (as Amanda Barton) Director of Photography: Bill Markle (as David Measles) Cast: Mary Stuart (as Merrie Holiday), Kim Pope, Jamie Gillis, Arturo Millhouse, Kevin André, Shaun Costello (as Helmuth Richler), Susan Sloan (as Rose Cranston), Day Jason (as Daniela Di Orici), Toni Scott (as Angela Dermer), Marc Stevens, Sonny Landham, Alan Marlow (as Alan Barow), Ashley Moore (as Stuart Dickerson), Carter Stevens (as Alan Grodin) Release Specs: Audio: English Dolby Digital 2.0 Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Screen, 1.37:1 (anamorphic) Video Format: NTSC Format: DVD Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): 0 (All) Number of discs: 1

The Passions of Carol is Shaun Costello's take on Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol. Wisely instead of just trying to take Dickens' classic Christmas tale scene for scene and trying to figure out how to stick in sex scenes, Costello has written his own version of the classic moving it into the adult realm. Costello stays true to the theme that Dickens presented in his tale.

In Costello's version, Carol Scrooge (Mary Stuart), who makes Bob Hatchet (Jamie Gillis) rework his layout for Biva Magazine on Christmas eve, gets visited by her late former business partner Lance Marley (Marc Stevens). Marley tells Carol that she will be visited by three ghosts over the course of the night.

There is a dearth of Christmas themed adult films, probably due to the very limited market it would serve only coming into use once a year when one should be visiting family and not watching adult films. However, even if there wasn't a shortage of Christmas adult films, The Passions of Carol would still sit at the top.

This is due to Costello's smart script. It keeps a fun feeling going through the film with enough material to entertain the viewer. Then comes the sex scenes, they are well done, feature some great performers, and fit in with the story. Add onto that the good acting and The Passions of Carol is a winner on all fronts. Costello has even included a score composed mostly of Christmas music, which can be downright hilarious at times. Picture Mary Stuart giving Carter Stevens a blow job to the tune of “Santa Claus is Coming to Town,” and you get the picture.

All in all, The Passions of Carol is a great Christmas themed adult film that should become a yearly viewing tradition for fans of classic adult films.

Video-X-Pix has rectified the wrongs from their previous release of The Passions of Carol with their new Platinum Elite release. The Passions of Carol is presented in the anamorphic almost full screen aspect ratio of 1.37:1. While not perfect, the release looks great. There is heavy grain throughout along with some artifacts, print damage, and a few jumps in the transfer. This release is miles from their previous release. The colors look nice and vibrant.

The Passions of Carol is presented with an English 2.0 Dolby Digital monaural track. There are some issues with the audio. There is buzz and garble in a few places. There are some pops in the audio. However, overall the audio sounds very good. The dialog is clear and easy to hear.

Video-X-Pix has included several extras on the disc. “Christmas on Eighth Avenue: Squeezing the 'Dickens' out of Teddy and Tom” is a twenty page booklet written by Shaun Costello documenting the actually rather complicated process of making The Passions of Carol and its eventual flop. The last page of the booklet talks about the transfer for The Passions of Carol. There is a feature length commentary by Shaun Costello and Joe Rubin, of Vinegar Sydrome, on the making of The Passions of Carol. Also included on the disc a four minute featurette “42nd Street: Yesterday & Today,” which is the only extra that doesn't relate to the feature film. The feature is silent with black and white photographs of the old adult theaters of NYC with some information on them with some color pictures of their locations now.

The Passions of Carol is a great Christmas film by Shaun Costello. It takes on Dickens' classic Christmas tale and moves it into the adult film world, with surprising success. Video-X-Pix has done a great job with the Platinum Elite edition, which should please all fans of the film.

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