Tomatoes Review

Distributor: VCX Edition Details: Standard DVD Movie Specs: Genres: Classic, Feature Film Also known as: Hot Tomatoes Run Time: 69 minutes Rated: X Release Year: 1970 Director: Joseph F. Robertson (as Joel Robert) Written by: Joseph F. Robertson (as Joel Robert) Cast: Tommy Toole, Heather Starr (as Sheila Galore), Donna Stanley (as Donna Pussie), Anna Travers, Donna Rustle, Jennifer Jordan, Stephanie Sarver, Reb Sawitz, Patti Snyder 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: Preview Scenes DVD-ROM Special Features: none

Synopsis:
Stanley Jones (Tommy Toole) gets a job working for Mr. Watson as a rent collector. Before he begins, he is warned by Mr. Watson that the Hollywood types who live there will do anything to get out of paying the rent. As Stanley tries to collect the rent he finds that the horny tenants are willing to find alternatives to paying the rent.

Audio/Video:
Tomatoes is presented with an English 2.0 Mono track, which is all that is needed for the film considering its age and the quality of the source material. There are pops present in the audio and light background hiss but neither is a surprise considering the age of the film. There are also some jumps in the audio track, which I assume is due to original editing problems or problems with frames in the master. Overall, the film sounds about as good as it ever will. VCX hasn't included any foreign language tracks or subtitle options for the feature film.

Tomatoes is presented in the full screen aspect ratio of 1.33:1. I'm not sure what the aspect ratio of the original presentation was and due to the low budget nature of the film it is impossible to determine if it has been cropped or not. For the age of the film, it is in very good shape. There are numerous artifacts though out the film, but not as bad as I would have expected. The colors are good though out most of the film. There are a few places where the color levels change for a few seconds, but none of them are long or very distracting. The film is rather jumpy, but I assume that is due to how it was originally edited not due to a problem with the master. It could have been due to damaged frames here and there though. Either way, no one should have complaints about the video quality on the disc.

Reportedly, this edition of Tomatoes has been altered from its original version. Reportedly, several scenes have been truncated and a scene has been added with Reb Sawitz and a female that was never in the original film.

Special Features:
Like most discs from VCX the extras are scant here, but at least they have put something on this one. There are preview scenes from the VCX Diamond Collection, which includes two complete scenes from the collection; “Fire Down Below,” which runs for 8 minutes and “Doctor in the House,” which runs for seven minutes.

Disc Design/Navigation:
The disc is designed with simple menus, most of which are not animated but contain background music. The only animated menu is the chapter menu, which contains seven chapters which are identified by a video clip from the scene. There are seven chapter stops within the feature film itself. There is a time code encoded on the disc for the feature film.

General Review:
Tomatoes is an odd underground adult film from roughly 1970. The film could be from a few years earlier though, I'm not sure, especially since there doesn't appear to be any record of when the film was actually released and the original copyright information, if there ever was any, has been removed.

The film is an early attempt at creating a feature length adult film, which doesn't end up working very well on any level. The film is cheaply made, but that isn't why it ultimately ends up failing. The problems lie in the two areas most important for a feature style adult film, the story and the sex.

I'm a fan of cheesy old adult films. I love them and eat them up. However, Tomatoes isn't cheesy in its plot and script, it's just plain bad. Maybe, for the time, it was hoping to get by on shock value, due to themes present that I'm sure were taboo for the time. For the audiences of today, there is no shock value. Everything shown here theme wise is tamer than you would find in a Vivid movie today.

The film could have made it through the bad story if the sex scenes had been decent. However, they are lacking too. Like many films from the early seventies, the sex scenes are short, which isn't a problem for me. If they fit in the film and are short, that is fine. The problem here is that all but one of the scenes felt very incomplete. There is only one scene that features a cum shot in it. That isn't why the other scenes seem incomplete though. They start out decent but then just get forgotten about. Some have a conclusion of sorts to them but others just get cut away from and the story goes on.

The cast looks better than average for the time period the film was made. This isn't to say that you will like all the cast members as some weren't to my tastes but more than I expected were. The leading male also looks good. Most of the sex scenes are lacking. Some of the acts shown in some of the scenes aren't graphic and there are other scenes which don't show any graphic material at all. The only scene that seems complete is the seventh scene, which actually shows all acts and features a cumshot. The sexual themes in the film are vaginal sex with blow jobs, hand jobs, pussy eating, pussy fingering, lesbianism, vaginal toy use, female masturbation, male masturbation, and orgy. For those who care about condom use, there are no condoms used in the film.

Scene Synopsis:
Scene 1: an unknown female, Tommy Toole
The first scene brings us Tommy Toole and an unknown female and the scene starts with the female using whipped cream on Tommy. Then she gives him a blow job. Tommy, towards the end of the scene, eats her out (which isn't graphically shown) as she continues to blow him. There is no cum shot to end the scene.

Scene 2: an unknown female, an unknown male
The second scene is interlaced with the third and fourth scenes and brings us an unknown female and an unknown male. The female gives the male a brief hand job then the male spreads the female's pussy lips. Then he eats her (which isn't graphically shown) while she gives him a hand job. They go into some vaginal sex (most of which isn't graphically shown). Then the female gives the male a blow job. There is no cum shot to end the scene.

Scene 3: two unknown females, Tommy Toole
The third scene is interlaced with the second scene and features two unknown females and Tommy Toole. At the beginning of the scene only the two females are present and ones uses a dildo on the other one. Then Tommy enters the scene and eats one of the women while the other one blows him. Then he eats the other woman as the first one blows him. There is no cum shot to end the scene.

Scene 4: an unknown female, Tommy Toole
The fourth scene is interlaced with the second scene and features an unknown female and Tommy Toole. The female gives Tommy a blow job then Tommy eats her pussy (which isn't graphically shown). Then they have sex (which isn't graphically shown). There is no cum shot to end the scene.

Scene 5: an unknown female, an unknown male, Tommy Toole
The fifth scene features an unknown female, an unknown male and Tommy Toole. The unknown female starts out by giving Tommy a blow job and a hand job while the unknown male, who is dressed in women's underwear and make-up, watches and masturbates. Then Tommy eats the woman's pussy before he fucks her (which is not graphically shown). She briefly gives the unknown male a blow job then she fucks the unknown male (which is not graphically shown) and she blows Tommy. There are no cum shots to end the scene.

Scene 6: two unknown females, Tommy Toole
The sixth scene features two unknown females and Tommy Toole and the scene starts out with one of the unknown females and Tommy Toole only. The female plays with Tommy's dick then Tommy eats her out. Then the female gives Tommy a blow job and then they have vaginal sex. Then Tommy briefly has vaginal sex with the other woman, who entered the scene not that long ago. There is no cum shot to end the scene.

Scene 7: an unknown female, Tommy Toole
The seventh scene gives us an unknown female and Tommy Toole and the scene starts out with the woman, who is alone, and masturbating and using a variety of toys on herself vaginally. Then Tommy enters the scene and he eats her pussy. Then the woman gives Tommy a blow job. Then Tommy eats her as she continues to blow him. Then they go into the vaginal sex. At the end of the scene Tommy cums on her stomach.

Scene 8: six unknown females, two unknown males, Tommy Toole
The eighth and final scene brings us roughly six unknown females, two unknown males and Tommy Toole and is an orgy scene that includes blow jobs, pussy eating, vaginal toy use and a male to male blow job (which is not graphically shown). There are no cum shots to end the scene.

Parting Thoughts:
If you are curious to see an early feature length adult film you might want to give this title a rent, however I wouldn't advise purchasing the film unless you know that you like it. For the films age, the transfer here is better than expected, so viewers shouldn't be disappointed. Viewers who are looking for a film with a full story or full sex scenes should skip this title.

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