Teenage Cruisers (VCX) Review

Distributor: VCX Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Golden Age Classic, Feature Film, Comedy Also known as: Young Hot N' Nasty Teenage Cruisers, Cruisin' For Sex Run Time: 83 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1977 Director: Johnny Legend (as Martin Margulies and Tom Denucci) Written by: Johnny Legend Cast: Serena, Tony Conn, Christine De Shaffer, Lynne Margulies (as Lynne Margulies and Lynne Elaine), Rollin' Colin Winsky, Jerry Sikorski, Mabel Joy, Laszlo Ozlips, Joe Barr, Jeanette Dilger, Larry Conn, Tracy Handfuss (as Tracy Hanfuss), Victor Rainbow, Anita Rangoon, John Holmes, Bernie Margulies, Rick Cassidy, William Margold, John Galt, Johnny Legend, Starlyn Simone, Andy Bellamy, Carmen Olivera, George Peters, Kelly Guthrie, Chuck Higgins, Mac Curtis, Kid Tomas, Alvis Wayne, Charlie Feathers, Ray Campi, Jackie Lee 'Waukeen' Cochran, Kevin Bradley, Matt Tuttle, Glenn Bray, Paul Hajewski, Susie Snackmeat, Bill Malin, Chris Hajewski, Amy, Lisa, Sue, Sheryl, Marilyn Voices: Bob Harris, Lady Zoom, Stephanie Anderson 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

Teenage Cruisers is a film that feels as if it was important to Johnny Legend, although not important enough to put his name on at the time. Original theatrical prints credited the film to Martin Margulies and Tom Denucci. Current prints from Legend, but not this one, now list him as the sole director as well as the writer and producer. It is less likely to be important to anyone else.

The film was made on the cheap, apparently using cameras that were rented from the production team for Dolemite while they weren't using them. I am not sure if it was an attempt to save money for the production or for other reasons but several of the sex scenes were never filmed for this production. They were loops that had been made earlier that Legend has integrated into the film. This never quite works, especially since the loops weren't in the greatest shape when Legend acquired them so the quality difference is instantaneously noticeable.

I am not sure as to why Legend made Teenage Cruisers as an adult film, as it seems from the film that he wasn't that interested in making an adult film. The cum shots that were filmed by him and not in the loops are all faked, poorly. This certainly gives the impression that he didn't care about the actual sex within the adult film.

What it does look like he wanted to make was a rockabilly nostalgia film, in a vein similar to American Graffiti and the later-to-come Dazed and Confused. There is no real connective tissue within Teenage Cruisers though, except for KRUZ DJ Mambo Remus (Legend) who is broadcasting throughout the film. There are side plots that come and go such as escaped mental patient Babsy Beaudine (Christine De Shaffer) who is terrorizing the town.

While this meandering style story worked for American Graffiti and Dazed and Confused, it does not work here. I think a lot of that comes down to Legend's use of the loops for the sexual footage. Had he shot his own footage, that worked more with the material he shot, he could have potentially created this feel. The result he ended up with is just an oddball comedy that never appears to become comfortable with itself.

Legend did do a great job with the soundtrack that runs through the film. This is an area where he was able to excel over a lot of adult films. Some of the soundtrack is overused, however, I think that he managed to put together one that truly fit the mood he was looking for for the film, which makes it all the more unfortunate that he couldn't manage to get the rest of the film to ever really come together.

VCX hasn't done as bad a job as they often do with the presentation of Teenage Cruisers. The image quality itself appears to be the same as the Raunchy Tonk Video release. The image is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of approximately 1.33:1. The picture offers a lack of fine detail and is probably from a video master. While the colors are usually vibrant, it looks like the image suffers from too high of chroma level causing oversatuation of color in portions of the film. The picture is decent for a video master and besides the limitations of the master there are artifacts and print damage present. Darker scenes seem to suffer from too low a chroma level resulting in very washed out colors.

There is a slight difference in the versions of the film used by VCX and Raunchy Tonk Video. The VCX version has the beginning credits in baby blue on a black background. The Raunchy Tonk Video version has the same credits but in white on a black background. The real oddity is on a commentary track on the Raunchy Tonk release Johnny Legend discusses the credits being white on black.

Teenage Cruisers features an English Dolby Digital 2.0 monaural audio track. The audio track also appears to be the same as on the Raunchy Tonk release. The original rockabilly soundtrack sounds good. Dialog is clear and easy to hear. Nothing pops out at you, but that would be expected from a monaural track from this time.

VCX hasn't included any special features on the release at all.

Teenage Cruisers is an oddball of a film. It tries very hard to be a rockabilly nostalgia film, but ultimately is a failure. Faked cum shots, loops inserted into the story, missed comedy, and a general failure of a direction for the film pull it down. VCX hasn't attempted to do much with the release with a presentation that manages to be acceptable and no extras at all.

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