| Vintage Pulp | Apr 10 2017 |
Schubert runs into trouble Nero and far.
Shot in the Dominican Republic, Il pavone nero is one of those voodoo and sex cocktails that were popular in international b-cinema during the 1970s. In fact, its English title is Voodoo Sexy, which tells you everything you need to know, just in case the promo poster doesn't. Other examples from this fertile genre discussed here on Pulp Intl. include Porno Shock, aka Voodoo Passion, and Al tropico del cancro, aka Tropic of Cancer. And of course queen b Laura Gemser had a few run-ins with santería as well.
In Il pavone nero an Italian engineer goes to Santo Domingo to help build a dam. His wife—the lovely Karin Schubert—surprises him in his hotel after he thought he'd left her in Italy. It's the first of many surprises. Rather than stay in the hotel the couple opt to inhabit an isolated beach shack on the border with Haiti, a domicile that was occupied by the previous dam engineer, who inexplicably disappeared. Uh oh. This is a classic case of thumbing one's nose at fate.
We quickly find that ethnic Haitians in the region are against the dam, and that voodoo rites are their weapon of choice to prevent its construction. But their leader Balaga, played by U.S. actor, musician, and sexploitation go-to voodoo guy Don Powell, carves out a little time from his resistance activities to pursue Schubert, possibly drawn by her astounding whitegirl afro. She in turn is drawn by the local santería rituals, which involve a bit of chicken chopping—poor chickens—and some humping of the fully explicit variety, depending on which version of the film you watch. Though Schubert would later delve into porn, her scenes here were performed by a body double.
Il pavone nero ends with the arrest of the voodoo environmentalists, which means the dam is no longer in danger. Can't stop progress, after all. There may be an environmental message buried in this film, or an anti-colonial message, or a racial harmony message, or even a spiritual message, but those are all secondary to the real point—for audiences to enjoy some vanilla Schubert getting freaky with the locals. The movie delivers ample opportunities, as you can see in the promo images below. Also, there's a cockfight. There's always a cockfight. Poor chickens. Il pavone nero premiered in Italy today in 1975.
ItalyDominican RepublicSanto DomingoIl pavone neroVoodoo SexyKarin SchubertDon Powellposter artcinemasexploitationxxxmovie review
| Sex Files | Feb 17 2015 |
Giving in to the inevitable.
German actress Karin Schubert is an interesting figure in international cinema—she began in mainstream films in the late 1960s, appearing in efforts by acclaimed directors such as Edward Dmytryk and Yves Boisset, then transitioned into adult cinema. Usually actresses attempt to do the reverse. Some of Schubert’s early roles, such 1975’s Black Emmanuelle, were of the sexploitation variety, but it wasn’t until 1985 when she was aged 41 that she starred in her first hardcore film, Double Desire. Some sources say there are rare prints of 1975’s Il Pavone nero, aka Voodoo Sexy that show Schubert in x-rated action, but those sources are wrong—as was common at the time, down and dirty scenes performed by a body double were added later. However, Schubert did shoot fully hardcore magazine spreads earlier than her entry into adult cinema.
She last acted in 1994, and since then has dropped completely out of sight. We got curious what happened to her, and in our wanderings visited a forum where a user claimed he spoke to a former adult film colleague of hers at a porn convention. According to the user, Schubert’s colleague said she died, but we doubt that’s true. Schubert was a significant star. Notices of a woman who had the unusual distinction of working with both film noir icon Edward Dmytryk and porn stallion John C. Holmes would have appeared somewhere in the German—if not global—press. We checked, and there was no word anywhere. As for the supposed info provided by her old colleague, picture this exchange:
“Say, Karin, I’m going to the adult film expo in Hamburg this year. You going?”
“Hell fucking no, and if anyone asks about me please tell them I died.”
The photo at top shows Schubert from around 1975, and below are some of her many covers for the West German magazine Wochenend. You can also see a nice Ciné-Revue cover of her here. We’ll try to get into some of her non-x-rated films later and report back.
West GermanyWochenendBlack EmmanuelleDouble DesireIl Pavone neroVoodoo SexyKarin SchubertEdward DmytrykYves Boissetcinemaxxx
