Impulse presents

Schoogirl Report Vol. 2: What Keeps Parents Awake At Night (1971)

"Minor. A taboo in our society. Why?"- Friedrich Von Thun

Stars: Friedrich von Thun
Other Stars: Christine Synder, Rosi Mayr, Hans Helking
Director: Ernst Hofbauer

MPAA Rating: Not Rated for (nudity, sexuality, language)
Run Time: 01h:28m:57s
Release Date: 2007-09-25
Genre: foreign

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

 

DVD Review

This installment in the German-made Schulmädchen-Report (Schoolgirl Report) films from the early 1970s follows Volume 1's What Parents Don't Think Is Possible with the equally troublesome-sounding Volume 2's What Keeps Parents Awake At Night.

The titles have a vague educational tone to them, mixed with an outright boatload of shock value sex and nudity designed to appeal to the international exploitation crowd. Once again helmed by director Ernst Hofbauer, though it's not like these are particularly erudite pieces of filmmaking that demand an especially skilled hand. It's all campy sex and titillation geared around girls who are implied to be underage, and as part of the thirteen film series, Volume 2 delivers more of the same old same old.

Big-haired Friedrich Von Thun returns as our concerned narrator and host, providing ominous intros and analysis, most of which point to the spiraling sexual degradation of teenagers. In between the sexy vignettes (the real meat and potatoes), Hofbauer tosses in a few "experts" to reinforce the message, and has Von Thun interview hapless Berliners on the street to solicit their sometimes frank opinions on topics such as when girls should learn the facts of life and whether they would sleep with a teacher.

We're told we're being shown "things that would leave you speechless," when in reality it's just a diverse set of scenarios that try to mix-and-match as many varied combos of teenage lustiness and still make it interesting. There's a dandy about a group of horny schoolgirls who blackmail their professor with incriminating photos, the young teens who learn about hardcore lovin' from a book up in the hayloft, and the strange tale of a couple who have their clothes stolen while flopping on one another in the woods and have to sing to get their duds back. We're also shown drug trouble, a three-way of sorts, nude modeling, and the occasional bath.

It seems that Hofbauer has tried to best Volume 1 simply on skin content, as there appears to much more all-natural acreage of undressed females this time around. None of them really appear to be as young as they're supposed to be, but that's just part of the titillation/fantasy factor that exploitation filmmakers focus on. I doubt concerned parents walked away with any real lessons from these films, and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out these were made for to be erotic, yet somehow forbidden. That taboo aura of young flesh is the bread-and-butter of this particular genre, and these Schulmädchen-Reports milk it mercilessly.

Impulse Pictures has once again issued this installment in the series in the uncut German version, with a set of newly translated English subtitles. Volume 2 is certainly more sexually adventurous than Volume 1, which only makes me wonder what's on tap for the remaining entries.

Rating for Style: C+
Rating for Substance: C

 

Image Transfer

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

Image Transfer Review: Volume 2, like its predecessor, has been presented in 1.66:1 anamorphic widescreen. This one is a little rougher looking than Volume 1, with plenty of scratches, specks. debris, and the occasional splice, and colors tend to appear very washed out. Overall the transfer really shows its age, and doesn't look anywhere as good as the screenshots do on the back cover.

Image Transfer Grade: C+
 

Audio Transfer

	Language	Remote Access
Mono	German	no

Audio Transfer Review: Pretty plain presentation, with audio delivered in the original German, issued in 2.0 Dolby Digital mono. All of the moderate crackly hiss one might expect of an early 1970s foreign exploitation title is evident, though the voice quality is never overpowered by the imperfections.

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: As with Volume 1, all that's here are optional English subs and a dozen chapter stops.

Extras Grade: F
 

Final Comments

Not content with just one volume, director Ernst Hofbauer continues his foray into theoretical teenage T&A with another skin-filled bit of 1970s European voyeurism. The attempt at legitimizing the message with comments from "experts" is almost as comical as the acting, but a film like this is really just an excuse to show naked girls pretending to be younger than they are, and there's a bunch here.

Rich Rosell 2007-09-26