Impulse presents

Schoolgirl Report Volume #1: What Parents Don't Think Is Possible (1970)

"This film will open many parents' eyes, because it shows what many parents don't think is possible."- narrator

Stars: Gunther Kieslich, Wolf Harnisch, Helga Kruck
Other Stars: Frederich Von Thun, Alexander Miller
Director: Ernst Hofbauer

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nudity, language, sexuality)
Run Time: 01h:23m:20s
Release Date: 2007-04-24
Genre: foreign

Style Grade	Substance Grade	Image Transfer Grade	Audio Transfer Grade	Extras Grade
B-	C+	B-	B-	F

 

DVD Review

The series of thirteen German Schulmädchen-Report (Schoolgirl Report) films filled a weird niche in the realm of 1970s sexploitation, serving as a collection of pseudo-documentaries on the blossoming sexual appetites of teenage girls. It seems the kind of topic that in our right-leaning world would get a person locked up nowadays just for talking about it, but by wrapping these films up under the thin guise of education, the not-so-subtle voyeuristic elements perhaps didn't seem so prurient. Or at least that's what you could tell yourself.

Directed by Ernst Hofbauer (he also directed a number of the sequels in the series), Schoolgirl Report Volume #1: What Parents Don't Think Is Possible was released in 1970, presented as an offshoot of Gunther Hunold's book of the same name. The film tries to appear like an educational excursion, one that purports to examine the "new morality without hypocrisy" that seemingly was rampant in hipster 1907s Euro-teens, and using Hunold's compiled sexual reports Hofbauer strings together a series of sex-themed vignettes, interrupted periodically by man-on-the-street interviews about sexual habits and the like. The often blunt answers (some appear natural, others clearly staged) are obviously meant to be startling in their honesty, though the 37 years since this film was made have sort of watered down the shock value a little.

At just under 84 minutes, the actual onscreen sex is rather sparse, with much of the time spent talking about lusty things, rather than doing them. A segment where a young girl intentionally verbally teases a hunky priest in a confessional is both bizarre and erotic, even though it never really goes where you think it will go. On the other side, a beefy lifeguard gets to take on three nubile girls in nighttime pool pile-on, and here there's an abundance of lazy soft-core grinding and bare flesh. Ditto for the pretty blonde gymnast and her coach, though the buildup to the eventual coupling gets more screentime than the sex. It's almost like Hofbauer and the Schulmädchen-Report series is just a grand tease, promising the audience things that can never quite get delivered the way it seems they should. In other words, well executed sexploitation.

Yet that's the base appeal for the Schulmädchen-Report films, hidden under a veneer of wafer-thin education is the promise of a frank discussion and portrayal of the sexual habits of attractive young girls. It's kind of a nudge-nudge-wink-wink sort of ploy, and considering there were thirteen of these films made over a decade says there was no doubt an audience. Looking back on these sexploitation titles today adds a layer of naughty comic campness to the whole shebang, and in a way adds another deceptive level of legitimacy to modern-day fans of the Schulmädchen-Report genre. The acting is often ridiculously stiff, and the attempt at shocking viewers with topics like masturbation now seems almost tame, but there's a plethora of groovy fashions and pretty (occasionally nude) girls.

In what I hope is a trend for future Schulmädchen-Report releases, Impulse has presented this in the original uncut German version, with a set of newly translated English subtitles. While not as sexually graphic as one might assume, this uncut print still will give sexploitation buffs the chance to take in Hofbauer's report au natural.

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

 

Image Transfer

	One
Aspect Ratio	1.66:1 - Widescreen
Original Aspect Ratio	yes
Anamorphic	yes

Image Transfer Review: Impulse has released School Report Volume #1 in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen. The print appears to be surprisingly clean, with only minimal specking and dirt, although grain is a constant. In general, colors and fleshtones look slightly washed out—the boon of many of an early 1970s title—but occasional moments do seem to carry noticeably deeper hues. Edge details are a bit soft throughout, as well.

Image Transfer Grade: B-
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Mono	German	no

Audio Transfer Review: Audio is presented in the original German, issued here in 2.0 Dolby Digital mono. There is some moderate hiss, but voice quality is generally clear, albeit largely unremarkable in any way. Very atypical of the 1970s exploitation genre, and the presentation here is more than adequate.

Audio Transfer Grade: B- 

Disc Extras

Static menu
Scene Access with 12 cues and remote access
Subtitles/Captions in English with remote access
Packaging: Amaray
Picture Disc
1 Disc
1-Sided disc(s)
Layers: single

Extras Review: Sadly no extras here, just optional English subs and a dozen chapter stops.

Extras Grade: F
 

Final Comments

This sexy retro-curiosity from 1970 comes from Impulse in the original uncut German version, and naturally the opportunity to see this intact will be the selling point for sexploitation fans. More of a soft-core tease than anything approaching porn, Ernst Hofbauer's once-randy-now-rather-mild expose on teen sexuality may provide more titters than titillation, but the girls are cute and the dialogue is often unintentionally comic.

Rich Rosell 2007-05-01