EURO-VIXEN COLLECTION

Based on her girl-next-door appearance and mischievous attitude to sex, Misty Mundae has built up a considerable following around the world. The on screen persona that sees her turn her back on bland boyfriends and pull the bustiest of sluts is appealing to both straight male and lesbian fantasy, but due to shoddy production values and repetitive scenes of nipple-and-clit stroking, the formula wears thin well before we have slogged through 'classics' like VAMPIRE VIXENS, MUMMY RAIDER, SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR LUST and ROXANNA.

VAMPIRE VIXENS

(2003, directed by John Bacchus)

When the anorak clad Eugene (Zack Snygg) resurrects the Dracoola (Mia Copia), he gets far more than he bargained for. Instead of getting the hot sex he expected, Eugene becomes a minion of the evil vamp, and is sent to kill the modern incarnation of Dracoola's enemy, Wally Van Helsing (JP Fedele). Eugene spends too much time spying on Mary (Mundae), as she frolics with European women behind her dull boyfriend's back, to do the job effectively. After a curse causes Wally to lose his position as CEO of Big Business Inc., the age-old foes confront one another and a healthy amount of sex goes on in the background…

Wide-eyed, pig tailed and naturally pretty, Misty Mundae has a definite presence, but one can't help but feel she's too good for the film she's in. Although she stands in a neat contrast to the curvier, bigger breasted and more conventionally pretty female co-stars, the encounters between them are unremittingly tedious. Nipple sucking and clitty rubbing are all very nice, but when the camera stops dead for five minutes the robotic movements lose their impact. The love scenes are indeed more repetitive than sensual, though the absurd lack of story and pathetic acting from the male actors (including a retarded turn from Snygg) makes the kinky encounters welcome. In spite of this, the relationship between story and set pieces is an uneasy one, the threadbare narrative being totally out of proportion to the girly action. Furthermore, plot threads are connected very poorly, and for the bulk of the film Misty - the star of this poor show - has very little to do with the who-gives-a-damn Van Helsing-Dracoola conflict. Not a great way to kick off, but it's good to get the worst out of the way.

MUMMY RAIDER

(2002, directed by Brian Paulin)

Misty Mundae recounts her introduction to the world of sex and espionage, harking back to the time when she lost her innocence to the mummy (sporting a permanent erection) found in her father's study. She survived the incident in which her vaginal fluids raised the creature from the dead, the experience of which changed her life forever. Back to the present, Misty travels to Berlin to save her girlfriend Kristen (the stunning Darian Caine) from the clutches of modern day Nazi Dr Humboldt (Ruby LaRocca), who plans to raise King Tut's mummy in order to aid her in her plans to consolidate a Fourth Reich and take over the world.

You know you're in trouble when Brian Paulin's the culprit, although MUMMY RAIDER is far easier to watch than his horror 'efforts' like BONE SICKNESS. With Misty in the central role, it's far better than the previous, and we at least get to see her get up and into some action - even if it's of the low rent variety. The action scenes are about as high tech and pulsating as those seen in Paulin's AT DAWN THEY SLEEP, not much, then, even for a badly edited SOV feature. Just as the gunplay doesn't set us ablaze, neither does the kinky stuff - watching Misty, for example, soaping her tits in the shower is great, but we've already seen her fingering them while sleeping in the previous scene. There's only so much titillation we can get out of it. As such, it's a limited experience, and despite the confidence with which Mundae performs, we should abhor her attempt at an English accent. However, Caine decorates the scenery nicely, and there's a cheeky little scene near the end in which she and the Lara Croft alike pacify the villain by allowing her into their bed for some TLC.

SATAN'S SCHOOL FOR LUST

(2002, directed by Terry West)

With her father far away at work, Primula Cooper (Mundae) is sent to the infamous Diablo School For Girls. Run by Ms Beezle (Barbara Joyce), it is a sinister place filled with repressive lesbianism and sudden murder. The pretty Linda Forrest (Suzi Lorraine) is doing a paper on the "rash of disappearances" that occurs annually, but is killed after sticking her nose in too far. When she arrives at Diablo, Primula has feverish dreams of the latex clad Satan (Caine), whom Primula 'sees' fucking her with a crucifix, and is seduced by her roommate Phoenix (LaRocca)…

More stylised than the previous two films, SSFL is also kinkier and more perverse. Using dry ice and coloured lighting is no great shakes, but this creative choice distinguishes this film from VAMPIRE VIXENS and SSFL. It also allows for a more feverish experience, and Primula's dreams of Satan carry a more perverse weight: this delirium reaches its apex when we see the satanic slut shove the crucifix between Misty's legs. As Satan, Caine looks magnificent: with her smeared lipstick she looks like a trashy slut, but is not without glamour, her tight smooth body and big tits making sure of this. Also worth mentioning is the scene in which one of those wet boyfriend characters is strangled while fucking his girlfriend, his death rattle making the sex better for the lass underneath. The quieter scenes, however, are as drably shot as anything in the previous movies, although there are some great shots of the school grounds, filled with autumnal trees coated in the falling light of the day. Much of the film can still be considered relentless tedium, but viewers may find themselves enduring, if for no other reason than do experience the nastier sex on display.

ROXANNA

(2002, directed by Ted W Crestview)

At the Seocin Institute, Dr Sarah Lawrence (Suzi Lorraine) concludes that her subject Roxanna Miles (Mundae) is suffering from a drug addiction that stems from sexual repression. In flashback, we see the incident that Roxanna's changing sexuality pivots on. Roxanna's boyfriend Todd (Josh Robinson) brings a woman home to have sex with. Not giving him permission to do so, Roxanna has sex with the woman herself and gains a taste for tender, kinky encounters with those of her own sex. Thankfully, horny lesbians aren't in short supply, but her actions trigger a tragedy involving her increasingly jealous and possessive bloke.

Misty's pallid, spaced visage has finally been given a fitting subject, although her drug problem is simply an excuse to justify her character's lesbian addiction. With the type of useless boyfriend that she has it's not surprising. It's nice to see the actress in sleazy and disorientated mode, and she copes far better with the demands than most soft-core starlets. Indeed, camera and lighting are used here to give her a more moody look, and the off centre framing of the imagery (we often see just part of her face at the very edge or corner of the screen) reinforces this off-kilter ambience. The film is above average to look at, and the hazy soft focus work is very effective. Some of the camera placement reminds one of Paul Morrissey films like FLESH; often the camera will tightly focus on one face during group scenes, which adds to the sexual tension when Todd spies on Roxanna and the girl he wanted to screw. The Offscreen moans allow us to experience the exclusion and desire he feels. Sex scenes are an improvement, being less mechanical and more believable in their body rhythms, though a lack of variety toward the end contributes to a numbing overkill.

Review by Matthew Sanderson