Original poster for Gojira tai Hedorâ, known in the West as Godzilla vs. The Smog Monster. It premiered in Tokyo today in 1971. 

Thus watching Claudia Jennings in Dynamite Women is a surprise. Despite the hype about her beauty, you would never think—initially at least—that she could be a centerfold. With her long nose, sharp chin and expansive forehead, she looks more like the type you’d find serving burgers in a small town diner. But the more you observe, the more you’re drawn to her. The smile, the attitude, and the big, expressive eyes begin to weave a spell. While Dynamite Women’s tale of two female bank robbers isn’t Oscar material, the script does give Jennings a lot to work with—she’s allowed to express a wide range of emotions, is asked to getphysical, and does well with both. As in other counterculture films, Jennings’ character soon finds herself in way too deep as the police pick up her trail. She wants to stop robbing banks, but of course needs one more big score to get away clean. In the end she and her partner Ellie-Jo (played by Jocelyn Jones, who resembles Jennings so strongly they could be sisters) must somehow survive a final stand-off against the cops if they hope to escape to Mexico.

It’s reasonable to assume Claudia Jennings would never have gotten a break in Hollywood if not for her Playboy appearances, but in at least one case—trying out for a role on Charlie’s Angels—she was passed over because of her nude modeling. Jennings never got the chance to prove one way or the other whether it was her talent or Playboy’s backing that sustained her career because, sadly, she was killed in an automobile accident in October 1979, at the age of twenty-nine. She had appeared in eighteen movies, including cult favorites Gator Bait and Deathsport, but had never been given a chance to shine in a truly important role. Dynamite Women might be the closest. While not great, it is entertaining, and by the end, we understood why Jennings has an internet cult. Based on what we’ve seen, she deserves one.     

Above we have two striking Italian one-sheets for the French porn production La fille à la fourrure, aka I porno zombi, aka Naked Lovers, aka The Girl in the Fur Coat, aka Starship Eros, released in 1977. That’s a lot of akas, but the plot here is really simple. Aliens from planet Eros come to Earth and re-animate the bodies of the recently deceased in order to do some kinky sexual experimentation with humans. We find all this out when two newlyweds honeymooning at a secluded cabin are rudely interrupted by the groom’s former wife, who’s supposed to be six feet under. He chases her into the woods, discovers she’s actually a resurrected corpse and, well, cue the synthesizer music. As a side note, you may have noticed that the posters list an actress named Barbara Moose. With a name like that, we knew you’d want to know more, so we located a shot of the elusive Moose in her snowy habitat. These creatures can tip the scales at up to 1,400 pounds, but strangely, this one looks like it weighs less than a tenth that amount. Probably climate change has endangered her food supply. So next time you start up your SUV remember this sad photo and recognize—we’ve got to learn to share the planet. 

Amanti d’oltretomba, aka Love from Beyond the Tomb, aka Nightmare Castle proves true what we’ve always said—inheriting an old castle is never the stroke of good luck it seems. Suddenly you’re rich, yes, but with the wealth comes nightmares, disembodied maniacal laughter, and lots of creepy-ass organ music. And an old portrait of your dead relative whose eyes seem so… realistic. Oh, and a tomb. Let’s not forget the tomb. We decided this film should be called Nightmare Dialogue, especially after these lines were delivered with a straight face: “This is a case that makes one think very seriously about the frailty of human life. Only ten minutes ago that man was the picture of health, and now he’s ready for the worm.” Are you ready for Amanti d’oltretomba? It premiered in Italy today in 1965. 

We’ve been watching a lot of these old Japanese films lately because, well, they’re usually pretty fun. Today we have Toei Studios’ comedic romp Onsen suppon geisha, aka Hot Springs Kiss Geisha, and to cut right to the chase here, Miki Sugimioto stars as a character known as Prostitute with Strong Vagina Muscles. Seriously. But it’s all in good fun. Which reminds us, we feel we’ve been remiss in pointing out to those unfamiliar with pinku, Roman porno and the like that these flicks aren’t pornographic. Sexually discomfitting? Yes. Absurd? Usually. In terrible taste? Almost always. But they aren’t pornographic. Everything is accomplished through suggestion, camera angles and clever editing. Onsen suppon geisha was part of a Hot Springs series, with Sugimoto having debuted in the first installment in 1971. In this one, she’s so good at using that super strong vagina of hers that she can fuck guys to death. In the end, she’s pitted against a sexual superman and a showdown ensues. There’s also a subplot about a mad scientist type who needs vaginal juices to create a potion designed to turn Japanese girls black—see below. Is this where the ganguro trend began? We have no idea. Onsen suppon geisha opened in Japan today in 1972. 

One good pinku deserves another, and such is the case with Koyu Ohara’s True Story of a Woman Condemned: Sex Hell. It was released in March 1975, and the follow-up, for which you see the promo poster above, appeared a mere three months later. It’s almost like they planned to make a sequel all along. Anyway, installment two was called Zoku jituroku onna kanbetsusho, aka True Story of a Woman Condemned Continues, and mainly focuses on new and more devious tortures for Hitomi Kozue and her female co-stars to endure. All we can say it isn’t quite our cup of pee, but we give creativity points—we’ve never seen a woman sodomized with a plant before. Zoku jituroku onna kanbetsusho premiered in Tokyo today in 1975. 

Above is a promo poster from the former Yugoslavia for 1965’s The Cincinnati Kid, with Steve McQueen and Ann-Margret. The movie is actually set not in Cincinnati, but in depression-era New Orleans, with McQueen playing an up and coming poker player whose goal is to be recognized as the best in the world. But one man stands in his way—invincible poker master Lancey Howard, played by Edward G. Robinson. It’s The Hustler with cards. Highly recommended.  

Above you see a killer promo poster for an unknown Roman porno flick made by Nikkatsu Studios, circa 1978, starring Miyako Yamaguchi. When we say unknown, we mean it had no western release, thus has no English title we can use to refer to it. But we can make one up. Based on the characters we recognize, we’re going to give this the English name “Desire in a Grassy Place”. Doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue, we know, but “Tiger’s Wood” was already taken. 

Above are two promo posters for the British sci-fi romp The Love Factor, aka Zeta One, and while it is not our intention to pose as film reviewers, when we watch these movies we can’t help but share our thoughts. We had high hopes this one would be a bit like Barbarella, and it is—if you can imagine an earthbound version made with a fraction of the budget and none of the sets or special effects. But we do dig the poster, and certainly have no problem with the likes of Yutte Stensgaard, Anna Gaël, Carol Hawkins, and Valerie Leon running around in minimal to zero costuming. In fact, the film is possibly worth a screening just to see Stensgaard in the scene where she burns a coq au vin. After making a nude sprint to save the doomed chicken, she returns to the bedroom and tells her companion, “The cock’s ruined.” Aspiring screenwriters take note—that’s how it’s done. And now below, for no other reason than because we found some cool photos, we have a feature we’re calling "The Women of The Love Factor." Top to bottom, you have Brigitte Skay, Hawkins, Leon, Stensgaard, and Gaël. Made in 1969, The Love Factor opened in the U.S. today in 1975. 

If there’s one indisputably true statement about Japanese cinema, it’s this: they will try anything. 1974’s Hana to hebi, aka Flower and Snake, is a bondage comedy based on a novel by Oniroku Dan, who specialized in S&M fiction. For the screen version, Nikkatsu Studios recruited reliable sexploitation queen Naomi Tani, who had already appeared in a previous version of the same film entitled Hana to hebi yori: niku no shiiku, aka Flower and Snake: Rearing the Flesh. Where that version was a mere pinku film, this new version would be a Roman porno—which simply meant Nikkatsu would spend more money in an effort to elevate the genre into something mainstream Japanese would accept. In the film, Tani plays an aristocratic wife who asks for a divorce but instead is forced into bondage and submission by a man hired for the task by her husband. She experiences a sexual awakening, the employee forms an emotional bond, and complications ensue from there. We haven’t read the novel, but apparently it’s very different from the film and its adaptation was a source of friction between studio and author. But it didn’t matter—Hana to hebi was a smash. It was the first of Nikkatsu’s many Roman porno flicks, and the first of what would become a Hana to hebi franchise. It premiered in Japan today in 1974.