JOE SARNO’s German DVD Trilogy: The Girl Meet Girl Collection
Vampire Ecstasy – Girl Meets Girl – Buterflies (1974)
Produced by Chris D. Nebe
Box Kindly submitted by Retro Seduction Cinema
Retro Seduction Cinema, puts a brand new box on the market featering three Joseph Sarno movies and bonus CD full of music. The movies, nicknamed the German Trilogy, are produced by Chris D. Nebe for Monarex AG (a Swiss company based in Munich)
Nebe a German himself, returned from New York in 1965 with a brief education in motion pictures and some savings on the bank. During the years to follow, Nebe acquired the rights to some foreign movies. He also followed the trend that the German cinemas were more interested in, that of the erotic productions. After seeing the 1968 erotic cult hit Inga , Nebe quickly asked his US contacts to locate more Joseph Sarno movies. Within no time the German public was introduced to “The Naked Fog”, “The Swap and How to make it”, “Thigh of Satan” and many others. Ironically, while Nebe was importing these US movies, Joseph and his wife Peggy where mostly filming in Denmark or Sweden for their American producers. This was mainly ‘cause the US market was veering into explicit sex while the Scandinavian atmosphere was still into soft-core movies.
Somewhere during 1972, Nebe finally approached Joseph Sarno and asked him to direct a feature in Germany. Sarno was delighted and cemented a deal for one explicitly soft-core movie. This might sound strange for many of you but you have to know that the American movie “Deep Throat” (1972) changed a lot for American moviemakers. Not only was it legally possible to produce hardcore sex movies, the audiences really wanted to see more explicit on-screen sex. Of course this meant that the typical underground sexploitation movies were coming to an end and that big companies wouldn’t be ashamed anymore to produce adult orientated movies. So in one or another way you can say that Sarno was delighted to come to Germany and by doing so, escaped the hardcore scene that was approaching.
The idea for the first movie, had been formed during that first meeting, when Nebe mentioned that his Uncle, Baron Malsen, had a 12th century castle that could be used for a movie location. Sarno immediately saw the possibilities about this location and started to think about a supernatural erotic movie. By early 1973, when the Sarno’s arrived at Munich the project was named “Veil of Blood” (later renamed for an American release as “Vampire ecstasy”).
At Joseph Sarnos suggestion, Nebe contacted an unknown Swedish actress Marie Forsä to star in his erotic cult hit. Unknown what the future would hold for them, “a Veil of Blood” started a series of unseen events, including Joseph Sarno making two more movies with Nebe in Germany.Calling “A Veil of Blood” a classic horror flick, would be too much, but it sure captures all elements from the early horror movies and is spiced up with some erotic soft core bonking.
The plot is rather simple: The legend tells us about a Baroness Varga, who was killed because of her hunger for female blood. Upon here dead the Baroness uttered a curse that she would one day return to forever satisfy her unnatural lust. Years later, 3 young girls are invited to the castle. They are told they stand to inherit from a late aunt. Almost at the same time a brother and sister arrive at the castle with car trouble, seeking for a shelter for the night. They all soon learn about the hidden cult and the secret rites that are held in the castle to revive the 400-year-old Baroness.
Up to now “a Veil of Blood” is still one of the better movies of Joseph Sarno, but it’s also a rare one, cause vampirism is something unusual in Sarno’s oeuvre.
Starring in a Nebe-Sarno production didn’t need a lot of experience, actually the one thing that was required was to speak English. Logically if you know that at that time the main buyers could be found in the UK or US. The movie however, was only released on the US market in 1978 and in the UK (released as The Devil’s Plaything) the film was slashed to 87 minutes instead of the original 102. In Germany, the movie was ironically dubbed in German and released as “Der Fluch der schwarzen Schwestern” and soon other countries followed.
Even before A Veil of Blood was finished, Nebe decided to make a second feature with Joe Sarno. This time Sarno decided on a more common style for him: A contemporary erotic movie. The source for this decision had become clear to him, during shooting “A Veil of blood”. The story goes that except for the director, everybody involved in the movie male or female alike instigated sexual dalliances with Miss Forsä. Marie exhibited an unquenchable sexual appetite. Soon as Sarno discovered this, he knew he had to make a “real” erotic movie with Marie. The plot was kept simple. A young girl Bibi (named after Nebe’s mother) travels to a big city to stay with her aunt. However during her stay she encounters many sexual adventures that eventually will rupture her aunt’s social circle.
The plot was thin, the movie looked like a series of sexual encounters without the cohesion Sarno’s movie usually have. The reason for this was simple. While in Europe soft-core movies sold good. The US market begged for something heavier. Although a judge had ruled “Deep Throat” as indisputable obscene in 1973, the hardcore market in the States had established some good roots. To compete with the American market of sexploitation movies (hoping to sell the movie in the US) Nebe doubled the soft-core scenes. It helped to sell the movie in some countries, but in others it didn’t. For instance in the UK, the original 104 minutes version was butchered to a mere 57 minutes movie by removing all lesbian scenes and (the very light) sadomasochistic references. Oddly enough it were these scenes that the movie a hit in Japan.
By 1975, the “Deep Throat“ effect had become real. Sexploitation was death and had been replaced by a giant monster, (in the eye of the sexploitation film makers ) called pornography. Around the same time over here in Europe, most countries changed their laws, making hardcore sex movies legal in some way or another. Butterflies was the last German movie Joe Sarno did with Nebe. Sarno had just finished (under a pseudonym) his first Triple X feature “Sleepy Head” when Chris Nebe asked him to make a third instalment to his in Germany made movies. Originally released as Butterfly, this was a more explicit movie then his previous films but it never turns into hard-core porn. Both Sarno and Nebe knew they had to close the gap between the older tradition of soft-core sex movies and the newer hard-core porn films. It was the only way to make some money with this movie. So, they decided to call in some American X-rated stars (Harry Reems & Eric Edwards) to give the movie another dimension. And of course they cast Marie Forsä to sort of reflect on the European softcore scene.
Butterflies can be simply described as “a bored country girl does the city”. Denise (Marie Frosä) is bored with her life on the farm and decides to leave everything behind to go to Munich, hoping to become a model. Hitchhiking her way to Munich she’s picked up by Frank (Harry Reems) a nightclub owner. He takes Denise home with him and within no time she becomes his new plaything. Frank is a real ladies man with an immense desire in sex. He engages in a handful of affaires with other girls, forcing Denise into a defensive posture. Soon she realise that the big city has some very nasty sides, she sets off back home.
There’s definitely a world of difference between the first movie “ Veil of Blood ” and the other two German prints. “Veil of Blood” is an a-typical Sarno movie, yet one, that is surely worth the time of both horror and erotic fans. In “Veil of Blood” Sarno creates without many difficulties the atmosphere that Jess Franco (or many other Italian horror directors) are known to craft, though without the plot twists. The sets, the costumes are all very gothic, the script however is definitely aimed on the erotic market.“Bibi” and “Butterfly” are more typical Sarno productions, with a thin plot but a lot of visual excitements.
The music score for both Bibi & Butterfly are done by the Germans Günther Moll and Ewald Warning, who are very much cashing in on the early seventies music styles. Actually both songs could have easily made it on a compilation CD from that time. I guess the people from Retro seduction cinema realised this and decided to add these songs as a bonus to this DVD box, on a fourth disc that includes the music of the movies. Although this CD can be described as very rare, it’s a pity that the songs were transferred directly from the movie soundtrack thus including random noises, such as sighs and background noises. Another disappointment (as the music collector I am) is the fact that I couldn’t find any info on the used tunes or what so ever. For instance the absence of song titles and writing credits make me sad.
The Girl Meets Girl box is a wonderful Thingy with optional comments by producer Chris Nebe on all three films, a 15 page booklet full of rare productions stills and some mini documentaries with interviews to each movie with director Joseph Sarno and producer Chris Nebe. Of course you’ll find a handful of trailers to other Retro Seduction Features on these discs .
This box is an excellent addition to your Joe Sarno collection or the kick-start to one. “Girl meets Girl” and “Butterflies” are typical Joe Sarno movies; while “Veil of blood” was more an oddity in his movie-making career. The fact that "Veil of blood" is included, makes the German trilogy of Chris Nebe and Joseph Sarno something that will interest many cult followers as well as lovers of retro-erotica. The inclusion of the bonus CD with the music from the movies makes it even more attractive. This is definitely a well-produced box, with eye for detail! Well-done Retro Seduction Cinema!
more info on :
http://www.retroseductioncinema.com