Black Venus (1983) from Tuna

Black Venus is a work of typical 80s erotica supposedly based on a Balzac story. It decidedly has the feel of Victorian-era erotica. The film begins in a fancy house, where Emiliano Redondo is given a tour of the two-way mirrors into the themed rooms, He sees a face he knows and then relates her tale.

Exotic Venus (Josephine Jacqueline Jones) meets a starving sculptor, and the two fall instantly in love. She becomes the inspiration he was looking for and he begins work on her statue. Unfortunately, he is broke, and when the landlord tries to rape her in exchange for the rent money, she decides to go to work as a model. Models can earn lots of money, provided that they do more than modeling. The sculptor can't cope with being a kept man, and tosses her out. She ends up kept by a married lesbian (Karin Schubert), until the sister's hubby returns with a tart of his own (Florence Guérin) and forces Venus to bed her. This is not a problem, but she finally balks when he returns with several party guests, intending to turn them into an orgy featuring Venus. Meanwhile, Venus has made a friend for life. The sculptor has now finished his masterpiece, but refuses to sell it, and is losing everything including his health as he broods. Venus again meets up with Florence Guérin, who convinces her to come to work in a brothel, whose employee list includes a 20-year-old Monique Gabrielle, who looks stunning. Finally, Emiliano Redondo buys freedom for the two of them and takes them to Spain.

This film aired in an 80 minute version on cable, and the same bowdlerized version has long been available on VHS. It is finally being released on DVD October 31, 2006 in an uncut and remastered 95 minute version. The DVD has been produced by a new distribution company called Private Screening, a spin-off of Severin (who brought us the U.S. release of Gwendoline). They will concentrate on international erotica, and are off to a running start. If they continue with equally worthy material and decent transfers, they will be getting a lot of my money.

Black Venus features wall-to-wall full frontal and rear nudity in a good transfer. It has a lovely cast, some exotic locations, and claims literary parentage. What more could you ask for in a soft-core?

 

DVD INFO

  • no features
  • no widescreen
  • uncut version, good transfer

NUDITY REPORT

Josephine Jacqueline Jones, who shows everything, was born in the Bahamas, and was Miss Bahamas in 1979.

There are also full monties from Florence Guérin, Monique Gabrielle, Karin Schubert, and various unknowns.

The Critics Vote ...

  • No major reviews online

 

The People Vote ...

  • IMDB summary. IMDb rates this 4.4, but that is based on the incomprehensible and chopped-up 80 minute version.
The meaning of the IMDb score: 7.5 usually indicates a level of excellence equivalent to about three and a half stars from the critics. 6.0 usually indicates lukewarm watchability, comparable to approximately two and a half stars from the critics. The fives are generally not worthwhile unless they are really your kind of material, equivalent to about a two star rating from the critics, or a C- from our system. Films rated below five are generally awful even if you like that kind of film - this score is roughly equivalent to one and a half stars from the critics or a D on our scale. (Possibly even less, depending on just how far below five the rating is.

Our own guideline:

  • A means the movie is so good it will appeal to you even if you hate the genre.
  • B means the movie is not good enough to win you over if you hate the genre, but is good enough to do so if you have an open mind about this type of film. Any film rated B- or better is recommended for just about anyone. In order to rate at least a B-, a film should be both a critical and commercial success. Exceptions: (1) We will occasionally rate a film B- with good popular acceptance and bad reviews, if we believe the critics have severely underrated a film. (2) We may also assign a B- or better to a well-reviewed film which did not do well at the box office if we feel that the fault lay in the marketing of the film, and that the film might have been a hit if people had known about it. (Like, for example, The Waterdance.)
  • C+ means it has no crossover appeal, but will be considered excellent by people who enjoy this kind of movie. If this is your kind of movie, a C+ and an A are indistinguishable to you.
  • C means it is competent, but uninspired genre fare. People who like this kind of movie will think it satisfactory. Others probably will not.
  • C- indicates that it we found it to be a poor movie, but genre addicts find it watchable. Any film rated C- or better is recommended for fans of that type of film, but films with this rating should be approached with caution by mainstream audiences, who may find them incompetent or repulsive or both. If this is NOT your kind of movie, a C- and an E are indistinguishable to you.
  • D means you'll hate it even if you like the genre. We don't score films below C- that often, because we like movies and we think that most of them have at least a solid niche audience. Now that you know that, you should have serious reservations about any movie below C-. Films rated below C- generally have both bad reviews and poor popular acceptance.
  • E means that you'll hate it even if you love the genre.
  • F means that the film is not only unappealing across-the-board, but technically inept as well.

 

Based on this description, this film is a C+, top-notch genre fare.

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