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Seduction Cinema presents

Lustful Addiction: SE (2002)

"What's this perverse obsession with over stimulation and instant gratification?"- Ruby (Ruby LaRocca)

Stars: Misty Mundae, Ruby LaRocca
Other Stars: Darian Caine
Director: Misty Mundae, Nick Philips

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for nudity, drug use and strong sexual content
Run Time: 01h:13m:40s
Release Date: 2003-03-25
Genre: late night

Style
Grade
Substance
Grade
Image Transfer
Grade
Audio Transfer
Grade
Extras
Grade
B+ B-B+B A

 

DVD Review

Operating under their hip Retro-Seduction banner, Seduction Cinema has once again sired a modern remake of a late 1960s Nick Philips erotica/sexploitation classic. As they did with Roxanna and Pleasures of a Woman, this time around it is Philips' 1969 Lustful Addiction, a wanton tale of sex, drugs and more drugs. Packaged as part of a limited edition set of 20,000, the Lustful Addiction: SE is a two-disc set that features both Philips' original film and the Retro-Seduction remake (directed by Misty Mundae) on one, and the trippy cool soundtrack from The Tomorrows and The Pink Delicates on the other. The Retro-Seduction titles represent the serious side of Seduction, and are miles away from the sex-fueled goofiness of some of their better comic outings like The Lord of the G-Strings.

Mundae's directorial gig (for some reason spelled "Lustfull" in the credits) does a fairly fine job of aping the essence of the Philips' film, at least up until the climax. Heroin has been replaced by cocaine in the Retro-Seduction version, and the familiar story follows poor young Ruby (Ruby LaRocca), a substance-abuser who does a post-coital swipe of drugs and money from a nasty dealer. She sets off alone, comes across angelic Opal (Mundae) in a field, and the two proceed to spend much of the remainder of the film engaged in excessive drug use and wild lesbian sex with each other, all set to a hip folkie-grindhouse score from Tim Tomorrows.

In the Philips' black & white cult classic, the lesbianism is kind of downplayed initially, as the Opal character is actually a naïve young chap named Tad, and Ruby is named Jean. It's not until the appearance of an uninhibited hooker late in the story (who in the Retro-Seduction version is played by sultry Darian Caine) does Philips dish out some free-swinging girl-on-girl moments. Philips' version intercuts a lot of the narrative with over-exposed shots of monkeys in cages, adding a certain level of experimental weirdness to the whole affair.

There isn't a lot of deep-meaning substance in either of these two films, and both really exist as exercises in prolonged moments of drug-induced sex, something that Mundae and crew do exceedingly well, even while borrowing liberally from Philips. The sex scenes between Mundae and LaRocca are some of the most highly-charged stuff I've seen from Seduction in quite a while (that is what these films are all about, after all), and when the thigh-high black leather boots came out I knew everything was going to be alright. Both have dark, downbeat final acts (though dramatically different), and both rely only on the voice-over narration of the lead character (Ruby/Jean) to tell the story.

The Retro-Seduction version runs 01h:13m:40s, and the Nick Philips' original runs 01h:10m:10s.

Rating for Style: B+
Rating for Substance: B-

 

Image Transfer

 One
Aspect Ratio1.33:1 - Full Frame
Original Aspect Rationo
Anamorphicno


Image Transfer Review: The remake is presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, and was shot on digital video (as opposed to film stock for the original). Colors and fleshtones are warm and well-saturated, and image detail is especially crisp and clear. No evidence of pixelation or artifacting of any kind.

The black & white Nick Philips' film is also in 1.33:1 full-frame, and was transferred from the original 35mm negative. For a 1969 grindhouse title, this print looks truly fabulous. Very little in the way of dirt or specks, and the contrast levels are solid.

Considering the budgets and origins, both transfers look exceptional.

Image Transfer Grade: B+
 

Audio Transfer

 LanguageRemote Access
MonoEnglishno
DS 2.0Englishyes


Audio Transfer Review: Both films feature clean, easy to understand dialogue tracks with no apparent hiss or crackle on either. The Seduction version is presented in 2.0 stereo, and is noticeably fuller than the mono track on the Philips' film.

Audio Transfer Grade:

Disc Extras

Full Motion menu with music
Scene Access with 11 cues and remote access
2 Original Trailer(s)
15 Other Trailer(s) featuring Roxanna, Pleasures of a Woman, Mean Mother, Black Heat, Female Animal, Master's Plaything, Inga, Seduction of Inga, Play-Mate of the Apes, Witchbabe: Erotic Witch III, Erotic Mirror, Mummy Raider, Satan's School for Lust, Gladiator Eroticus, An Erotic Vampire In Paris, Mistress Frankenstein
Production Notes
Isolated Music Score
1 Featurette(s)
Packaging: Gladiator style 2-pack
Picture Disc
2 Discs
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: The best part about the extras on this set is disc number two, which is a 17-song audio CD from The Tomorrows and The Pink Delicates. There are 11 tracks from Lustful Addiction, and 6 from Roxanna, another Nick Philips remake. The music is smoky, trippy acoustic retro-goodness, and is probably the finest supplement Seduction has come up with to date. The audio disc is almost worth the purchase on its own.

Also included here is the Johnny Crash-directed Lustful Addiction: Old and New Revisited (12m:35s), hosted by seedy film historian 42nd Street Pete. In between a quick history of the retro scene by Pete, Misty Mundae sheds a little background on the project and offers her 23-year-old view on the remake.

There is also a full-color 11-page insert booklet with words and wisdom from Mundae, as well as a history of retro cinema from 42nd Street Pete.

Aside from a batch of trailers, the disc is cut into 11 chapters, and does not feature subtitles of any kind.

Extras Grade: A
 

Final Comments

It's great to see a group that appreciates the campy goodness of the arty sexploitation classics of the late 1960s/early 1970s as much as Retro-Seduction does. This 2-disc limited edition has the original and remake, including a 17-song CD from The Tomorrows and The Pink Delicates.

Plus, at the very least, we have Misty Mundae in thigh-high leather boots.

Recommended.

Rich Rosell 2003-04-08