Warning: this review contains graphic depictions of sex and nudity
AKA: Black Emanuelle - Stunden wilder Lust (West Germany)
Dir: Joe D'Amato
Starring: Laura Gemser, Gabriele Tinti, Lorraine De Selle
You want sleaze? Well look no further, as director JoeD’Amato serves up this infamous slice of sexploitation from 1977. The fourth
and the last (for now) in my D’Amato series sees the lascivious Laura Gemser
return as intrepid photojournalist Emanuelle as she explores the seedy parties
of Americas rich and famous in order to bag that “big scoop”, while mixing business
with pleasure.
Emanuelle in America is
also the fourth instalment in the Black
Emanuelle series of films. With the intention of cashing-in on the popular
French sex film Emmanuelle (1974)
starring Sylvia Kristel, director Bitto Albertini released Black Emanuelle (dropping an ‘m’ to avoid copyright) in 1975 and
cast Laura Gemser in the lead role. The
plan worked and the film was a big hit in Europe and, as a consequence spawned
several ‘sequels’. After Albertini’s Black Emanuelle 2 (starring Shulamith Lasri in the title role) Joe D’Amato took over the series, directing five
further films: Emanuelle in Bangkok (1976),
Emanuelle Around the World (1977), Emanuelle and the Last Cannibals (1977)
[see my review here], Emanuelle and the White Slave Trade (1978) and this film. Nearly all of these films feature a
very episodic plot, following the hedonistic journalist as she jumps from one
scenario to the next throughout the movie. With each successive release came even more
sex and sleaze.
Emanuelle in America is
the sleaziest of the lot and is probably the most well-known (notorious) of the
series. It’s most infamous scene comes a
quarter of the way through the film. As Emanuelle infiltrates a modern day
harem, she witnesses a woman entering a stable and masturbating a horse. Where
this movie is different from the rest of the series is that it is set in the
developed west, while the other films whisked our heroine off to strange,
remote locations in the developing world. This can be viewed as a bit of social
commentary on excess and debauchery of more affluent states.
One thing I always liked about these movies is the titular
female character. Emanuelle is a strong independent woman who is successful in
her work and, of course, loves sex. Without
jumping into a feminist rant here, the character of Emanuelle is a faithful
portrayal of many women in contemporary society – something that is not always captured
accurately on screen.
Things take an unexpected and dark turn towards the end of
the film as Emanuelle infiltrates an underground snuff film ring and only just
walks away with her life. This storyline
comes out of nowhere and is totally out of touch with the rest of the film.
Emanuelle in America does
contain a lot of sex but is not pornography. There are only one or two scenes
of hardcore footage, such as close-ups of fellatio and the aforementioned horse
masturbation scene, but these are very brief. Indeed, so is most of the sex in
this film. The sex scenes only last a couple of minutes each, which does help
the film’s pacing. A special mention to Lorraine De Selle (Cannibal Ferox), one of my favourite grindhouse beauties, who
cameos here in a steamy (but brief) lesbian scene.
For fans of 1970s Euro sleaze, Emanuelle in America is at the forefront of the sub-genre. I’ve
enjoyed this mini-series of D’Amato reviews but I’m going end it right there
for the time being to post about some different types of movies. But I will
return to D’Amato as he’s one of my favourite directors of exploitation films.
