SLEAZY 70S STAGS

From After Hours Cinema (who else?!), comes another generous helping of rare 8mm loops from yesteryear that shamelessly celebrate the female form. What's not to like?

It all starts off with a colourful animated main menu page playing out to trashy lounge music. From there, you get the option of watching all 24 loops in one consecutive run - or accessing them via a static scene-selection menu that offers to take you direct to the girl of choice (each loop is named after the kitten in question).

The fun begins with Keli, one of the many interchangeable but happily natural fillies on offer. She has big jugs (almost all of them do, truth be told) and likes to wiggle them about. No complaints here.

Loop number 4 held my attention for a while with buxom brunette Dolly lying on her stomach and performing lip service with her bum hole. It reminded me of that bloke with the singing arse in PINK FLAMINGOS, only this woman's derriere was much prettier.

Number 6 - Jaki - is notable only for sporting a truly weird tan-line across her chest and pelvic region, which kept me transfixed for 4 minutes.

The star of the 7th loop is the attractive black girl Carla, who sports a cute gap between her front teeth and enjoys licking her huge nipples. Not as much as I enjoyed watching, perhaps.

Fans of sluts of the flame-haired variety should skip straight to loop number 8 where starlet Teree wastes no time in getting her knickers off and giving herself a good caressing.

I could go on. You get the idea. In all, these loops run for a whopping 144 minutes and last on average between 4 and 6 minutes each.

Each short features women stripping off for the benefit of a handheld camera and giving themselves a good rub while writhing around on a bed. The decor is decidedly bohemian in each case. The hairstyles range from the surprisingly contemporary to the downright bizarre. Pubic hair is, of course, present in abundance. And the boobies? As mentioned earlier, all of these women seem to be very well endowed.

Despite owning a name that doesn't scream out "sexuality", Edna is a highlight - a wild-looking mare with a permanent smile and a great rack. She really seems to get into playing with herself for the camera.

But the real stars of the show, the ones that are going to help this disc appeal to the more discerning grindhouse connoisseur, are loops number 5 and 17's Uschi Digard (SUPERVIXENS), loop 18's Rene Bond (CHIC 69) and Candy Samples (FLESH GORDON) who turns up in loop 23.

The latter is good fun because (a) Candy's tits are ridiculously huge, and (b) there appears to be a hint of a storyline going on, with (soft-core) fucking and all.

The loops are touted as being "brand new telecine (transfers) from the original film elements". Although they look fairly battered and grainy, they do their job well in so far as retaining the natural edge of 8mm film. Specks and dirt abound, but it's all perfectly watchable - and to see them in any other condition would surely rob them of their dubious charm.

Each loop is presented in colour, in its original 1.33:1 aspect ratio.

Audio is a moot point. Well, make that mute point: there isn't any. Save for a token piece of stock music that opens with the brief title card to each loop, the action here all plays out silently. It's not that the audio has been lost or destroyed, these shorts were recorded silently. At least After Hours haven't done what their sister company Secret Key Motion Pictures sometimes do and dub annoyingly repetitive jazz music over the top of each loop.

The only extras on the disc are a whopping 27 trailers for other salacious titles. These include the likes of BOTTOMS UP, CURIOUS OBSESSIONS, NIGHT OF PERVERTED PLEASURES, THE SEXPLOITERS and SWINGING IN THE 70S. They're all soft-core.

Okay, so there's nothing much more here than a bunch of old-school women getting naked for the camera and rubbing themselves up. A bit of labia here, the odd exposed arsehole there and a whole shitload of pubes. Not to mention big natural breasts. The loops are all silent so, kick back with a few beers and choose whatever CD you feel would best complement them.

SLEAZY 70S STAGS is an odd assortment that works as an ultra-obscure party piece. Outside of that, it will most likely appeal to die-hard completists of Digard, Bond and Samples. Other than that, I'm not sure who it's aimed at ... but I had fun watching it regardless.

Review by Stuart Willis