ZODIAC RAPIST

(a.k.a. SAM DOBBS MEETS THE ZODIAC KILLER)

The tone is set immediately as the film opens with the sight of a pretty young woman in her garden, bending over to prune some plants. A rake handle is pointing towards her gusset area (knickerless, naturally) and starts to pleasure her when it rubs against her fanny.

From the bushes, the Zodiac rapist (John Holmes, INSATIABLE) is watching. He sneaks up and replaces the rake handle with his penis. Far from being a traumatic experience, the woman thrives on this particular "rape" and indulges in a lengthy (annoyingly edited) rut with her aggressor.

Next, a newspaper heading advises us "Zodiac Rapist Baffles Detective Dobbs". ]

We meet Dobbs in his office, getting it on with his personal secretary. Zodiac - aware that Dobbs is keen to nail him - sneaks up on the office and watches through the window as Dobbs and his attractive female employee suck and fuck each other to orgasm.

Their shagging is interrupted by the arrival of a brunette who wants a job as Dobbs' receptionist. Dobbs advises her that her job will involve posing as bait for Zodiac. He asks if she's up for the task - if she can be sexy - and, of course, this leads to more sex as he assumes the role of Zodiac and "rapes" the woman on his office floor. Zodiac spies again, this time peeping through the office door (weirdly, he also wedges his penis in the door - for pleasure?!).

Clearly wanting a bit of the brunette for himself, Zodiac later follows her home then climbs up the wall of her apartment. Breaking into her bedroom, he disturbs her and her girlfriend from an afternoon snooze and shags the pair of them.

Somehow suspicious of this happening, Dobbs turns up - but he's a little too late and Zodiac has already done a runner. Which leaves Dobbs to finish off Zodiac's job and give the two ladies a good seeing to.

And so ZODIAC RAPIST continues - Zodiac disturbs Dobbs mid-blowjob by ringing him with a clue as to who his next victim will be, Dobbs turns up a little too late again …

It doesn't really lead us anywhere, but it's mildly diverting fun along the way. Holmes once again displays a likeable persona, and gets into his role with amusing gurning and even doing his own stunts. It's only when he's naked (what an ugly body!) that Holmes becomes less interesting.

The rest of the cast are unknown to me and I suspect that's with good reason: no-one here is particularly attractive or talented (if you know what I mean).

The film's aesthetic values are largely negligible, although it is worth mentioning a well-lit underwater sex scene and a novel "cum-into-camera" shot that I've only seen used elsewhere in FORCED ENTRY.

All in all, ZODIAC RAPIST is a mildly entertaining, cheap and occasionally inspired slice of 70s pornography. It could have done without the annoying BATMAN-type editing gimmicks during the sex scenes though. And, I must say, a surprising amount of the sex scenes don't deliver their "logical conclusion" …

For this 2-disc SE, After Hours Cinema have paired ZODIAC RAPIST with another Sam Dobbs porno: SAM DOBBS AND THE GURU GANGBANG.

Predating ZODIAC RAPIST by 2 years, GANGBANG is presented in disc 2 here - eclipsed no doubt by the inclusion of Holmes in it's sequel's cast.

GANGBANG opens with Dobbs (the same actor who plays the detective in RAPIST) receiving a blowjob from his secretary (Judy Angel), only to be disturbed by a telephone call … they never learn, do they?!

Dobbs' friend Julie is on the line, begging him to go straight round as she's discovered a dead man laid beside her swimming pool.

Dobbs visits Julie's home, spies the corpse and offers to help … for a fee. The fee is paid in kind, as Julie takes Dobbs into the garden and gives him a good seeing to. Meanwhile, her blonde housekeeper decides to make use of the empty house and drags the TV repairman into the bedroom for a spot of how's-your-father.

Once Dobbs and Julie have finished rutting, they hear strange noises coming from the house and go to investigate. Happening upon the housemaid and her beau, she invites Dobbs and Julie to join in - and so, a sweaty foursome ensues.

After all of this, Dobbs finally remembers there's a corpse outside, and goes to inspect it. Sure enough, he finds a piece of paper in the dead man's pockets, advising that he was supposed to meet the "lovebirds" at 2pm to exchange some money.

Dobbs decides to make the meeting himself, and is picked by two hippy chicks in a van at 2pm. The girls are horny, of course, so they both have their wicked way with the detective in the back of the van, while driving him to a secret drugs 'n' sex den where he will come face to face with the "Guru" …

GANGBANG is an extension of RAPIST. It's not as competently made, and lacks the freak value of Holmes, but does benefit from an extraordinary final 30 minutes of psychedelic visual effects, group sex and a bizarre subplot concerning a comet approaching the Earth. It also includes a notable cameo from Suzanne Fields, who turns up giggling for a spot of lesbian action with Angel.

Both films are presented uncut in 1.78:1, and enhanced for 16x9 TV sets. In both cases, the transfers are solid in terms of colour, grain and contrast. But they do suffer from source print damage - those with an aversion to vertical lines and onscreen specks are warned.

The English mono audio offered on each film is reliable throughout, with only minor hissing on occasion.

Although there are no scene-selection menus on these discs, each film can be navigated through by using your remote handset. RAPIST has 13 chapters, while GANGBANG has 15 chapters.

Extras on disc one consist of a mammoth 26 trailers, for titles that include FORCED ENTRY and LE CHIC.

The only extras on disc two are trailers for SEXUAL FREEDOM IN DENMARK, SEXUAL LIBERTY NOW, CHASTITY, VAMPIRE STRANGLER, SEX SLAVES OF THE SS and THE STARLETS ("in Quadra Vision 4D"!).

There's also a 4-page booklet with liner notes from the enigmatic After Hours Collector.

A must for 1970s pornophiles. Possibly also worth a look for the more casual viewer.

Review by Stuart Willis