NEW YORK GRINDHOUSE SUPERSTARS

... In which After Hours Cinema treat us to three Golden Era films from legendary auteur Shaun Costello.

The first film is a nifty little kidnap drama from 1973 entitled THE TYCOON'S DAUGHTER.

In it, "three unknown desperados" kidnap millionaire Hugh Howard's fifteen-year-old daughter Martha. Bound and gagged, the girl sits petrified in the back of an open-topped car as the two men and one woman - led by long-haired lover Dick (Marc Stevens) - drive through Ottawa and decide to head towards Des Moines before calling her Daddy with a ransom demand.

Set to a speeding bluegrass tune and punctuated by poor hick humour, these early scenes bring to mind Wes Craven's THE LAST HOUSE ON THE LEFT. Given that it was made a mere year after LAST HOUSE, and that Costello showed a penchant for mixing sex and horror in subsequent films such as FORCED ENTRY and WATERPOWER, it's entirely feasible that the exploits of Krug and company were a direct influence on THE TYCOON'S DAUGHTER.

It certainly seems to be headed that way with the female of the kidnappers, Trish (Mary Stewart), coming across very much like a Sadie character, and Stevens doing the nasty bit - dragging Martha into the woods, tying her up between two trees and expressing a desire to "beat the shit" out of her.

But when he and Trish race off to a nearby farm to make the ransom demand, the film changes direction as Martha offers to show the remaining John (Ashley Moore) a good time - if only he'd untie her. This he does, and pyramid-titted Martha makes good of her offer with an impromptu blowjob. Don't worry, the woman playing her is clearly not fifteen.

It's gobbles all round, in fact, as Dick reaches the farm and insists on Trish blowing his horn before they approach the owners - who, themselves, have already been seen to be a randy couple given to sucking and shagging in the open air.

Also starring Judy Craven and Jeffrey Hurst as the furiously fucking farm couple, and featuring a couple of brief cameos from the director, THE TYCOON'S DAUGHTER begins intriguingly but soon halts all aspirations of exploitation sickie and moves into outdoor porno territory instead. Not that that's a bad thing: the sex is genuinely erotic, with the participants clearly getting off on getting off with each other.

Costello has a naturalistic way of filming which allows performers to grow confident in front of his camera, and the results are great - both in terms of ad-libbed dialogue and, more pertinently, the spirited, thoroughly-enjoyed-by-everyone sex.

Well served by natural light, some nicely captured jizz jobs and Stevens' infamously huge cock (such a better performer than John Holmes ever was), THE TYCOON'S DAUGHTER is a great porno-drama that suddenly remembers its plot in fits and starts, and comes full-circle to provide an agreeably downbeat finale - all within a 58-minute running time.

SCHOOL FOR THE SEXUAL ARTS follows, originally released in 1975.

As with DAUGHTER, this was not originally credited to Costello (or, indeed, anyone) but has enough points of interest to be worthy of holding his hand up and claiming ownership of.

This exceptionally worn 45-minute film homes in on an art class where the male subjects appear nude for the benefit of their female students. It unfortunately necessitates inserted titles and music cues courtesy of After Hours Cinema, but does at least star the comely CJ Laing.

She portrays Audrey, one of three young ladies in class who offend their camp teacher when they reveal their sketches of the latest life model: each one has drawn an explicit picture of a huge cock erupting. "It's what I want!" Audrey exclaims.

"Out of the question," protests the teacher ... but he soon wavers and gives the girls access to the men that they want (look out for Costello again, in another cameo).

The women are game and any sense of fun that the movie puts across definitely comes from their bubbly, convincingly horny performances. Elsewhere the sex is okay but so-so, and the story has absolutely nowhere to go. As if that latter point mattered!

Shot indoors and looking less filmic that DAUGHTER as a result, SCHOOL does however demonstrate Costello's knack for smooth editing and good camera angles, as well as reinforcing his unforced manner in eliciting the best from his cast.

The set is completed by KATHY'S GRADUATION PRESENT (also 1975).

Again, it's a grainy affair that relies on new titles and score from After Hours. You can't have it all.

This one begins with an agreeable lesbian coupling (complete with ludicrously dubbed panting during the cunnilingus scenes) before Kathy (Cedar Houston) bails out on girlfriend Anita (Annie Sprinkle), saying she's not in the mood.

Anita has a plan. Kathy's obviously upset that her parents can't be in town for her graduation. So, Anita rings round a few pals and organises a party for her instead. And with friends like Jamie Gillis and Leo Lovemore, you can imagine what kind of shindig we're talking about!

Frisky and fun, this 53-minute quickie is more light-hearted than the two predecessors and ends proceedings nicely. Some hot sex and hirsute couplings hardly distinguish it from the first two films, but the arrival of genre icons such as Gillis and Sprinkle ensure it's always going to be of interest to fans.

Each film is presented uncut in 1.33:1, in what purport to be brand new telecine transfers from original film elements. Scratches, specks, grain and vertical lines are a given throughout. But they only serve to further authenticate the mood of prime 70s sleaze that permeates through every frame. Colours are bold, images are sharp and film-like: the films look as good as they realistically should.

English mono audio in all three films is generally clear, with only minor background noise joining the mix at times.

An animated main menu allows direct access to each film. Although there are no scene-selection menus, each film has its own share of chapters: DAUGHTER (6 chapters); SCHOOL (6 chapters); GRADUATION (6 chapters).

While none of these films are on par with Costello's most renowned or notorious works (the aforementioned WATERPOWER and FORCED ENTRY chiefly), they are solid examples of agreeable, good natured sex from the early 1970s - and are hotter than a million "She takes it in the ass!" hits on YouPorn.

After Hours Cinema continue to do great work, unearthing a seemingly endless supply of vintage smut for the discerning aficionado.

Review by Stuart Willis