VINTAGE LESBIAN EROTICA

What a fantastically evocative title!

Cult Epics, home of such DVD triumphs as the films of Fernando Arrabal (VIVA LA MUERTE, I WILL WALK LIKE A CRAZY HORSE etc), the 2-disc Special Edition of Abel Ferrara's iconic THE DRILLER KILLER and a whole shitload of uncut female-arse-loving Tinto Brass loveliness - amongst many other wonders - here present 23 short films revelling in the always-entertaining prospect of girl-on-girl fun.

For this particular package, the shorts contained are culled from between the silent home movie era of 1920 and 1960.

They begin with an incredibly shaky, scratchy affair that depicts topless women stroking each other in non-contentious areas in-between sucking on a huge pipe in an opium den.

Then we're off to a park in France (the bulk of these appear to be Gallic), and a woman who probably looks like your Gran as a young lady rows a boat on the park lake, legs akimbo so we can spy her gusset. Her female friend, meanwhile, enjoys the ride while lying back and exposing her own kecks.

Both of the above are surprisingly brief affairs. But then the shorts start to get a little longer ...

Next up is an account of two topless women helping each other dress. Check out those belly-whackers. Crikey. Could it get any less sexy? Oh yeah, one of the lasses even has hairy armpits. Just when you're thinking all is lost though, she gets her minge out - the first sight of a rat in the entire set. It peaks when it reaches the point where we get both women naked and cavorting (wanking, cunnilingus) on a white bedspread.

The fourth film documents two happy ladies getting it on in the woods in broad daylight. No matter that one of them looks like a bloke in drag: this is a fun excursion with both women fiddling each other like troopers. It's fantastic, and it's very funny.

The next short offers some spanking in a field. Again, it's claimed to be of French origin. Ooh la la.

Following that, we get a bit of on-stage artiness that soon leads into flagellation and more tits. And on and on it goes, this succession of cheekily naughty monochrome shorts that, between them, offer no plots or characters - just a succession of tame, albeit enjoyably authentic female trysts on camera.

Falling very firmly under the bracket of soft-core, these are still worthy of a watch for anyone with even a passing interest in erotica. In fact, they are genuinely sexy on many an occasion. Just so long as you're not expecting the full, in-your-face, hardcore experience.

But, hey, when has lesbianism ever been dull?! There's something about the hairy bushes here, candid camera set-ups and gleeful performances of the women contained herein that makes this all very sexy indeed.

The films are each presented in 1.33:1 full-frame, and look surprisingly good for their age. Generally well-preserved, what you'll find in these new film transfers are bright and relatively clean presentations. Although specks and minor grain are evident throughout, they are highly watchable indeed.

They are, of course, all presented in black-and-white. Vertical lines are present for the entire duration, but if you're familiar with After Hours Cinema's output and are happy with it, then you'll have no problem with this either.

Although the films have no original sound, they have been graced with a mono soundtrack for this release. This includes lots of dodgy jazz and doop sounds, along with some more situation-specific strains (the oriental meanderings of the opening short, for example). But, will you really be listening to the background music that intently?!

The disc opens with a static main menu page that allows you to either play all films as one singular 2-hour fest, or from there you can opt for the similarly static "Film Selections" route.

The "Film Selections" menu pages are divided into decades - Anno 1940, Anno 1950 etc.

There are no extras.

The disc is region-free too, so it'll happily play in UK DVD players - or even in UK blu-ray players, if you fancy upscaling a bit of priceless ancient smut (the back cover worryingly states that this is "a look behind the erotic curtain of our grandmothers" ... woah!!).

Pushing any barf factor of considering your Nan was ever a slut aside though, VINTAGE LESBIAN EROTICA couldn't have been titled better. That is precisely what you get. The soundtrack may test your endurance, but if you're wise you'll put the TV on mute and stick a CD of your choice on while savouring the delights of hairy, natural women of yesteryear (all with class figures, I'll add) getting it on with each other. Yum yum.

Cult Epics continue to thrive when many thought they had fallen to the wayside. I for one am extremely pleased that they haven't and I hope, through interesting releases such as this and their recent second batch of brilliant Fernando Arrabal films, that they will continue to thrill us for quite some time to come.

Review by Stu Willis