Scorpion Review

Distributor: Gentlemen's Video Edition Details: Special Edition Director's Cut DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Feature Film, Bondage Run Time: 58 minutes Rated: XXX Release Year: 1986 Director: John Howard Written by: John Howard (as Antoine Herzog) Cast: Christina Cardan (as Marilyn Gaede), Linnea Quigley (as Jesse Dalton), R. Eric Huxley (as Mark Leonetti), Kari Foxx (as Debra Lee), Hollis Edward, Bruce Wayne Release Specs: Audio: English Mono Subtitles: none Video: Full Frame, 1.33:1 Video Format: NTSC Format: Streaming Regional Code (for DVD/Blu-ray): N/A Number of discs: N/A

Scorpion is a cheap and quickly made shot on video movie from the mid-80s. John Howard churned out several bondage movies, most of them with little apparent effort behind them and Scorpion is no different.

Lea (Linnea Quigley), code name Agent Scorpion, quits the agency when she is sent to eliminate her friend Martina (Christina Cardan), code name Agent Widow because Martina's boyfriend Dexter (R. Eric Huxley), an ex-football player, is really a KGB agent. KGB agent Roshana has Dexter kidnap Martina and Lea tries to save her friend falling into Roshana's clutches.

As far as plot goes, Scorpion is severely lacking. What could have been a good story about spies and torture was instead used as just a vehicle to allow Lea and Martina to become prisoners at which point the movie turns essentially into an all sex movie. Fans of features will be disappointed by what is offered here as far as the plot is concerned. Apparently when the movie was made there were plans for a sequel since the movie ends with “to be continued.” For whatever reason, the sequel doesn't ever appear to have been made.

The bondage scenes aren't well done either. They are rather typical with no real flair to them. Everyone in the cast just seems to be going through the motions as far as the bondage scenes go.

Not much effort was put into the production of the movie either. Sets aren't very well done and were obviously hastily assembled. The cinematography in the movie is poor and often relies on a stationary camera that doesn't move. Shots are sometimes very tight, I assume to hide the rest of the room or set.

All of this makes for a rather poor overall movie. Scorpion isn't really worth watching whether you are a fan of feature movies, bondage movies, or of any of the stars in the movie.

California Star has done a poor job with their VOD release of Scorpion. This version of Scorpion was watched via HotMovies. A DVD-MOD release of Scorpion is also available from California Star. To the best of my knowledge, it uses the exact same master as the VOD release.

Scorpion is presented in the academy aspect ratio of 1.33:1 in 250i and was shot on video. The master used for this release was clearly a poor quality video, likely a VHS tape. The image is unnaturally dark. There are glitches in the video and bands across the bottom of the image. The video is very poor quality.

Scorpion is presented with an English monaural audio track. The volume for Scorpion is low and can be hard to hear. The dialog can be discerned despite the volume issues. The audio track for Scorpion is definitely a letdown.

Scorpion is a disappointing bondage feature movie from California Star. Despite what sounds like an intriguing plot, the plot is quickly dismissed for the bondage scenes which will frustrate fans of feature adult movies. The bondage scenes present here are standard fare for the period. Add into the mix the low production values and cheap nature of the movie and you have Scorpion. California Star has done a poor job with their release of Scorpion with a subpar audio and video presentation.

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