Emanuelle in America (1977)

Any director whose claim to fame is the "scummiest, sleaziest ever to peer through a camera lens" deserves further investigation. With that recommendation in mind I logged onto IMDb in search of further info on another Italian overlord of bad taste, the late 'great' Joe D'amato. Just a quick perusal of his accomplishments confirmed yet another treasure of Euro trash cinema. The titles alone promised new forays into Pasta-land chunk blowing: PORNO HOLOCAUST? EMANUELLE & THE LAST CANNIBALS? EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD!? That last one immediately conjured up mental snapshots of decaying corpses not just content to eat their prey but exploit collective states of Rigor Mortis in creative ways.... Until I'm privileged by the sight of copulating cadavers I'll have to settle with one of D'amato's more conventional movies, which isn't to say EIA isn't overflowing with enough outrageous material to put a backed up septic tank to shame. Joe was a true scuzz bag, free of pretension and willing to pump every filth encrusted cent for all it was worth. He did have some talent but like contemporary sleaze master Jess Franco, was choosy about utilizing it. EIA though remains an inspired, disturbing, breezy classic of trash cinema that admirably hoodwinks its audience, constantly alternating between arousing and repellent.If a film embodied the exploitation ethic, this is it; an amalgamation of plot threads, taboos & genres, EIA seems to go everywhere and nowhere. Really a series colourful vignettes as opposed to a plot, an anthology of loosely connected perversions with our heroine starring in each(the better to cover so much base territory in 110 minutes.) It begins on a perfect note with Manhattan pin-ups parading around nude for the benefit of shutterbug Gemser. And then its off from one bizarre encounter to the next: snuff films, personal harems, stud mills- Emmanuel is there for all of it, ready to bed down at a moment's notice like the liberated woman she thinks she is, starting with a gun-toting Fundy out to save the world from uninhibited sexuality ("The cause of all the disasters of this century!"). E thinks quickly, and in perfect example of grind house logic, unzips her assailant's pants to show him what he's been missing (hilarious, but perfectly reasonable from the vacuum of porn rationale). After fellating herself to freedom she's off on her first assignment, infiltrating the private harem of a reclusive millionaire (there should've included titles for each segment) extending her thighs-wide-open policy to the other gals (including a nicely lensed underwater interlude replete with a wealth of gynaecological shots and sapphic gropings a 'plenty) before witnessing the wealthy libertine's illegal source of income (firearms) & one woman's seduction of a horse.Truly a jaw-dropping spectacle, even I can't dispute uncle Joe reaches a pinnacle of ultra-bad taste here, inducting us into the annals of bestiality with a scene so disgusting and campy, its almost funny in that John Waters sorta way("Yes Pedro, I'm coming, I heard you call....").WTFIt all comes to a grinding, puzzling halt by the time of E's snuff coverage and other hardcore frivolity. The graphic but unobtrusive style is refreshing. It recalls the golden age of smut and not the video wasteland of today. He captures the hi-jinx with verve, the polar opposite of today's wham-bam thank you ma'am approach. I wrote halt and not 'end' because that is exactly what it feels like, a dead, screeching halt. EIA has starting pt. and stopping pt. but no true beginning or end. Since it doesn't work itself up to a full-fledged plot I suppose this approach is appropriate. It's a slice of X-rated life which doesn't feature tidy resolutions or pat denouements. The topic of each tangent, sexual gratification and the increasing lengths characters go for it is simply paraded in the film's rambling method. The snuff sequence is just the natural endpoint really to this slippery 70's slope of 'anything goes' and this sequence alone qualifies EIA for chunk blower status. It's similar to the POV shots from SALO(another cheerful look into what gets the ruling class off) events recorded on once-removed, 8mm silent film that just emphasize it's brutal verisimilitude. It's uncomfortable and eerie how fast & skillfully the film mutates into something far thornier. Sneakily, Joe starts out mildly cheesecake then takes the sexual liberation rhetoric to its logical extreme (cheesecake>orgies>bestiality>snuff) indicting the entire shallow 'Free'Love movement for the self serving hedonism it became. The hallucinatory set-up, E being shown the unsavoury snuff ropes by a prominent US senator touring a banana republic is something out of a horror film. We've traipsed into an entirely different movie by this point. Here, the super-elite allow Emmanuel the commoner a glimpse behind the curtain into their preferred brand of R & R: Little girl, you ain't seen nuthin yet. The rotten core beneath the sunny outer front, just as fast drawing the blinds back with a wolfish smile- witnessing the depravity of bankers and suits almost daily now, snuff doesn't exactly seem far fetched.D'amato wasn't known for pacing so the episodic structure frees him from traditional narrative constraints (which might account for his uncharacteristic energy as he rushes from one outlandish sequence to the next). Some will still find it plodding no doubt but compared to something like EMANUELLE & THE LAST CANNIBALS this wad of sleaze is practically bouncing off the wall with horn-dog enthusiasm. As a capsule of the bygone era of grind house gold, EIA deserves a look-see for adventurous viewers on the look out for forgotten works of the Italian exploitation renaissance. It's a boundary ignorant piece of provocation that only could've been excreted during the 70's. And check out that soundtrack!

This is the best in the Emanuelle series. Laura Gemser is perfection in this film. Some are taken a back by the horse scene, but it's not as bad as described. In fact, the Caligula movie by D'amato is much more perverse. Regardless, this is a must see in the sexploitation genre. It does have a nice bit of social commentary about the treatment of women, so if you're smart enough and have read enough Judith Butler, there's a chance you can interpret this film beyond the sleaze element. Awesome film. Watch it! Plus the soundtrack is amazing. Nico Fidenco is at his best to say the least. If you're a fan of Jess Franco you will enjoy this movie. On the other hand it is not recommended for a first date with a prudish girl.

Many many movies are labeled as "exploitation" or "Sleaze", yet only contain brief moments of nudity or violence to back up the claim. Emanuelle in America on the other hand more than lives up to the billing as one of the most notorious exploitation films ever made. The bottom line for me is this, if a movie is too sadistic and sleazy for me to show my wife, then it's an exploitation classic. One feels like they are breaking the law when watching Pedro the horse get pleasured, or the snuff film scenes. Again, the mark of a movie that not only pushes the envelope, but rips it up and burns it as well.Don't expect much from the plot, even though there is a thread that holds this movie together. Don't expect much from the acting, even though it is much better than most films of its type. Do expect sexy scene after sexy scene under the most unusual of circumstances. The much talked about hardcore scenes are just that, hardcore, and give this film the extra push into total infamy. Being a fan movies that are unafraid to go for the throat I enjoyed Emanuelle in America for the boundaries it pushes. If you are looking for quality film making with life affirming messages, look elsewhere. If you are looking for a sleazy good time and the ability to say you saw a real exploitation gem then find this and enjoy.

Smut King Joe D'Amato does it again!!! Smokin' hot exotic beauty, Laura Gemser, plays a globetrotting nympho journalist in this incredible installment of the Emanuelle films. This one has everything - sleazy sex and lesbianism, insanely cheesy music and dialogue, simulated snuff footage, even some beastiality for you true sickos out there - it really doesn't get much better than this. EMANUELLE IN America should be THE sleaze standard that all other exploitation films aim to match.Emanuelle begins her adventures by going "undercover" (pun absolutely intended...) and infiltrating a harem run by a wealthy businessman. Lots of tits and ass ensue, including several soft-core lesbo scenes. The Boss is a man of pretty discriminating tastes as we're treated to the first real "shock" of the film - and a doozy it is - a voyeuristic "peep" at a chick graphically jerking off a horse named Pedro!!! Inside the harem, our heroine meets an Italian aristocrat and decides to use him as her next journalistic feature. After escaping the harem, Emanuelle goes to visit this refined gent, just to find that he too is a pervert with a pension for counterfeit artwork and orgy dinner parties. This scene gives us an opportunity to view our first "hard-core" action of the film, a pretty protracted blow-job scene. While at the party, our hardworking hottie learns of a secret brothel where women can indulge in any freakish fantasy...for a price. Of course Emanuelle smells another juicy scoop, so off to the meat-farm it is. There we get a few actual hard-core porn scenes, including a little Tarzan and Jane role-playing, and some 2-on-1 interracial action for one lucky young lady. While peeping in on the going's on at the brothel, Emanuelle comes across a room where a lady is getting boned while she's watching some snuff material on a projector. This piques our randy reporter's interest and she heads back to headquarters to consult her boss about tracking down some more snuff films for an exclusive story. Her boss gives Emanuelle a guy's name who's known to run in those circles, and our sexy scribe does what she does best - seduces this poor joker into giving her the info she wants. This scene has some pretty rough simulated snuff material in it, including: hot-tar dildo force-feeding, vaginal hook impalement, and some pretty graphic forced breast reduction. Emanuelle takes her findings back to her boss who tells her the material can never be released due to it's super-controversial nature. Peeved about the cover-up, Emanuelle heads to the jungle with her sometimes boyfriend Bill for some R&R - this scene feels pretty out of place and nothing of any real note goes on here - and that's about it.There are definitely some strange continuity faults with this film - such as the fact that all of the sex scenes in the beginning of the film are pretty light and standard 70's soft-core (with the exception of the stallion hand-job...), and then towards the middle and end, all the sudden we're treated to some pretty hardcore full on penetration sex action. Also the violence at the end is totally out of place with the rest of the film - but honestly, I find these quirks kind of endearing and actually help the overall "build-up" of the film. I also liked how tips from one undercover investigation made a smooth segue into the next investigation. My only real gripe is that the insanely hot Gemser is not shown in any of the hard-core sex scenes...this would have been a true "plearsure" and would have shot this film up to an 11. Personally I loved this film and hold it at the very top of the 70's exploitation genre out of all of the films of this type that I've seen so far. A definite must-see for fans of extreme sleaze - Highly recommended - 9/10