Hideout in the Sun

Doris Wishman is well known within genre circles for her copious output of low-budget exploitation features. I have to admit to being rather unfamiliar with her work, save for having 'experienced' A Night to Dismember, which was memorable for all the wrong reasons! But, I had a great time with it, so I was quite eager to sample the contents of this DVD - which is a bells-and-whistles Special Edition, no less.

The story, what little there is of one, concerns two brothers, Duke and Steve, who having just committed a daring bank robbery, look for a place to hideout. The original plan being to head off to Cuba, but when this becomes untenable, they unexpectedly stumble across a nudist camp, which seems like the perfect refuge. So with a suitcase of stolen cash, they hole up at the camp and sit tight until they can make a clean getaway. Oh, and they also have a hostage with them, in the shape of the comely Dorothy, just to complicate matters. It's not long, though, before Steve and Dorothy start getting cosy with each other, which angers Duke, who has other plans entirely…

The film is full of unlikely plot turns and is poorly acted and badly scripted, but this just all adds to the charm of it. Whilst the film is full of nudity, it somehow all seems rather quaint and never feels gratuitous or offensive. Saying that, in its day, I imagine it was quite envelope-pushing and pretty daring! Even though I knew this was never going to be a good film, it still managed to hold my interest and keep me entertained - Wishman may well have been limited by budgetary constraints, but she seems to know how to construct a movie and deliver what is expected. So although she may well be notorious for making bad movies, I don't really think she's a bad filmmaker - there is a difference, in my opinion.

The package that Retro-Seduction Cinema delivers is excellent and real value for money. It's a nice-looking 2-disc set with an outer slipcase. Inside is a packed booklet (including a text interview with Doris Wishman) and tells you pretty everything you'll ever need to know about Doris Wishman. It's nicely laid out and easy to read. Then on Disc 1 you'll find a full-frame version of the movie accompanied by a commentary track featuring Doris Wishman and her biographer, Michael J. Bowen. Doris is lively and it's a great listen, she's equally entertaining on the commentary track for A Night to Dismember, so this was no surprise. Also to be found on Disc 1 are informative interviews with Doris Wishman and David Friedman. Then on Disc 2 is a 16x9 presentation of the film, which actually works quite well in this framing, but there is no commentary accompanying this version.

Also on Disc 2 is the short feature Postcards from a Nudist Camp, another movie that is also very much a product of its time, but again, it has a certain naive charm. There's also a bonus newsreel feature from 1960 and a whole host of trailers for other Retro-Seduction Cinema releases, which look equally entertaining. Overall it's an impressive package and will make fans of the 'nudie cutie' exploitation genre very happy indeed. Retro-Seduction Cinema have put a lot of care and attention into this release and it shows. Both presentations of the film look gorgeous considering the age and budget, and I doubt they'll ever look better. The audio is also very good, a vibrant mono audio track that more than gets the job done - and you'll love the crooning title track!

Review by CJ Otter