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2.0 out of 5 stars
Boring movie, with some impressive simulated snuff, Aug 30 2006
Emanuelle in America is no better than any other softcore porno from the '60s or '70s. It has an incredibly preposterous plot, acting that ranges from bad to mediocre, and endless sex scenes. The only thing that sets it apart is the insanely violent "snuff" scenes, and some good background music. I should also add that Laura Gemser's performance wasn't that bad, as far as softcore porno goes. Gemser is an enchanting actress, and her exotic looks give her a powerful screen presence. She may be nice to look at, but when all she does is haul off her clothes for the duration of the entire movie, then even the prospect of seeing Gemser nude won't be enough to keep viewers interested in the film. By the way, there's also some hardcore porno in this movie. But it involved women who were too old and unattractive for my liking. So I found those scenes revolting.
This movie had such a notorious reputation for the "snuff" scenes that I had to add it to my growing collection of exploitation flicks. I don't regret buying it, but I am disappointed with this film. The violence is very brief (lasting a few minutes at the most), and the rest of the movie is just endless sex scenes (which quickly become tiresome). I usually skip over all the boring parts (which encompass almost the entire movie) and go straight to the snuff. Another problem is that there's no subtitles and the English dubbing is HORRIBLE. Take my word for it - the movie is a lot less annoying when you watch it in Italian. But Blue Underground did include some good featurettes for this DVD with lots information about Joe D'Amato, Laura Gemser, and the "Black Emanuelle" series.
Joe D'Amato wasn't the best director in the world, but it's apparent he had a real knack for depicting onscreen violence. D'Amato's simulated snuff scenes include depictions of mass rape, strangulation, branding, whipping, and forced ingestion of acid. The part where a guy uses a big knife to saw off a big chunk of a woman's breast looked so real it made a chill go down my spine. The spiked dildo is equally unpleasant. There's a brief close-up of it in use, with a huge gob of blood dripping (but it happens so fast you'll need to use slow-motion on your DVD player to notice it). And what they do with that meat hook is just plain SICK. But I was disappointed that we didn't get to see the blowtorch used on anyone - even the old classic The Battle of Algiers depicted blowtorch torture. But keep in mind that the snuff images are so brief, that it requires repeated viewings to notice everything that's happening onscreen. And it's important to note that all of the violence in the snuff footage is committed by men against women. Judging by the way those guys are dressed, I'd say they're supposed to be government soldiers in an unnamed Latin American country. Considering all the human rights atrocities and massacres that many Latin American governments committed against their own people over the years, I can't say I'm surprised D'Amato would set this part of the movie in that part of the world. And I find it interesting that the US senator seemed to be a good friend of the torturers. This may have been D'Amato's way of criticizing the US government, which armed and trained many of these barbaric armies to terrorize the local populace. But what I found odd is that the victims in the snuff film were supposed to be women abducted from America. So if D'Amato was trying to criticize the American and Latin American governments, he went about it the wrong way. Instead of depicting the real-life atrocities in Latin America, D'Amato decided to portray a completely absurd international snuff film conspiracy. But the snuff footage sure looks real, so you can imagine why some people thought D'Amato filmed actual murders.
The other main reason for this movie's notoriety is a scene of "bestiality". But to set the record straight, no one has sex with any animals, simulated or otherwise. All it shows is a girl masturbating a horse. I can't say the sight of a horse getting an erection and making some horrible whinnying noises did anything for me. It was a sight that not only made me want to vomit, but I also felt sorry for the horse.
So aside from the "snuff" and "horse" highlights, what do you have left? An incredibly dull and boring movie, that's what. It's just one improbable situation after another: Emanuelle infiltrates a harem, then travels to Venice with an aristocrat and hangs out with his friends, then travels to a resort where wealthy women pay lots of money to have sex with younger men, then hangs out with a US senator who enjoys snuff films, then quits her job and goes to live on a tropical island. Along the way, she seduces lots of men and women. And when Emanuelle isn't having sex, she's watching everyone else have sex (and photographing them without their knowledge). You'd think all that would add up to an interesting movie, but it doesn't. Even when a guy has a gun to Emanuelle's head, there's no suspense whatsoever. You just know she'll get lucky and find a way to escape, as she does every single time she gets into trouble. And as for what Emanuelle does to the gunman, it pretty much amounts to sexual assault (not that he didn't like it). And the final scene on the tropical island was incredibly annoying. Are we supposed to believe that all those actors on the island were in character even when THERE WAS NO MOVIE SHOOTING? However, I look forward to seeing Gemser in some of the other Emanuelle movies. I just hope those films focus more on extreme violence rather than tedious sex scenes. That was this movie's downfall.
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1.0 out of 5 stars
Disturbing, Feb 9 2004
By A Customer
A friend of mine showed this video to me. The only words that describe this movie is "Disturbing." I hope every part of the "snuff" scenes were fake. I could barely stomach any of those scenes. The sad thing is that stuff like this actually happens. Anyone who finds that entertaining should be shot. All you people that get off from watching this stuff and would prefer the "uncut" version of this movie because of the snuff scenes should be shot as well. Movies like this are helping these sick [people] watch their snuff legally.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
it certainly has its moments....yeah...it goes there!, Oct 13 2003
By A Customer
I admit I was sceptical about how good this '70's erotic movie would be. Unfortunately it was a slow moving film until the final 30 minutes or so. The main actress is less than exciting, its all about the situations she gets into that make this movie worth watching. There are some actual hard core sex scenes that are welcome to the viewer, by the time you get through seeing so many phony "soft core" sequences. Again...towards the end of the film the real hard core scenes present themselves. Of course its simulated "snuff" action...but what action! Its unfortunate the director didn't show more than snipetts of those very strong scenes! I was impressed by the reality of the snuff stuff...I would have enjoyed more raw sex with the star participating, however she came across as frigid as a dead cod for sale in a fish market! If it wasn't for the tension of certain parts of this film, it would be a zero star film. The very hot hard core sex scenes and the snuff movies being shown in the background gives this film 5 stars from me!
I don't anticipate seeing anything else quite like it...made during the 1970's or anytime before or after this film. Hollywood may be making billions from the porn industry these days, but they sure don't make erotic films like this one, or the best one ever, "The Image". This film may be too strong at some times for your girlfriends to watch with you, however, if they are very "freaky" little pigs....they'll get wet all over the couch with you!
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