HOT SUMMER IN THE CITY

Of all the roughies Alpha Blue Archives have released, it sometimes seems as if their other releases (Climax of Blue Power, Hardgore, Sex Wish) get far more attention than the highly underrated and shocking, Hot Summer in the City. Where the main objective of most roughies is to dump the viewer with the occasional shock, Hot Summer in the City offers an infinite dumping of shock that should provide the viewer much more than the fleeting shock most roughies depict. The unnerving and disturbing reaction which one feels when watching Hot Summer in the City can be much harder to wash off when compared to other adult films of the same genre - it was for me, at least. After 31 years of Hot Summer in the City, it still remains one of the most sadistic and cruel adult masterpieces of all time and one that is filmed superbly in a documentary style, which should please the pervert who wishes to view a very realistic adult film that occasionally merges other genres into the picture. Hot Summer in the City can also be viewed as an exploitation and blaxploitation film.

Filmed in 1974 on a minute budget, Hot Summer in the City was directed by Gail Palmer, the man behind the 1979 fun classic, Candy goes to Hollywood. It is hard to deem the guy who directed such a friendly adult classic could have also directed something the exact the opposite; the opposite in this instance being Hot Summer in the City. Considering that both Candy goes to Hollywood and Hot Summer in the City are adult films, the two are completely different when it comes to being erotic. Where Candy goes to Hollywood gives the viewer a blood pumping hard-on, Hot Summer in the City grants us nauseating shock and an exploitive sentiment during the forced and cruel sex scenes. Some of the sex scenes are portrayed in a sickening manner. For this reason, I shall only describe a minority of the sex scenes as this should be sufficient enough to give you a dirty taste of what you can expect when you discover a parcel from Alpha Blue Archives containing Hot Summer in the City lying on your hallway floor. However, please do be warned that Hot Summer in the City is a disturbing adult film, one that most will never forget for as long as they continue to hunt down the many reels of malicious material from the dark side of adult cinema. If there was ever a top one hundred list of disturbing adult films from the classic era, Hot Summer in the City would be in the top ten.

I first read about this roughie in the summer of 2002. It was then that I discovered a whole new genre of adult films that I thought was not feasible to exist. If it wasn't for me discovering how censored and repressed we were by the British censors and HM Customs and Excise, I highly doubt I would have developed this sporadic interest in the dark side of adult cinema. When I was browsing the internet and writing down a list of horror films to collect in 2002, I discovered the Video Dungeon website (which has vanished for some peculiar reason) and was awestruck at some of the titles they were selling. Hot Summer in the City stood out like a sore thumb when viewing the screenshots. Obviously when I began reading the horror stories on the Melon Farmers website about our glorious HM Customs and Excise seizing adult material and raiding entire houses for importing something that has no evidence of causing harm (in my opinion), I became wary of importing a title containing material of a shocking and pornographic nature. Despite my worry, I remained far more shocked at discovering that not all adult films were the friendly waste of film reels they tend to be now. I decided to give Hot Summer in the City a try and it became the first of my many imports.

The VHS copy I imported had terrible quality; trying to figure out what was happening was almost impossible. I soon imported from another website (Bizarro Video) after discovering more screenshots. One screenshot had a pale white woman on her hands and knees being raped by two black men, one in her vagina and the other in her mouth. I imported Hot Summer once again after the excitement of seeing this screenshot. That might make me seem sadistic, but I was still very much fascinated in discovering this new genre of horrific adult films and eager to see what they were like. The first version of Hot Summer in the City was barely watchable, yet the second version I imported was an overall improvement in regards to picture quality and audio. But after viewing the second video, I immediately threw it away and continued to collect banned and controversial horror films instead. It's only now I realised that back then I considered all adult films to be glossy pictures produced on a big budget and this was a huge mistake to make. That is why you shouldn't expect a well-made adult film when importing Hot summer in the City. Where modern adult films are crystal clear and glossy, Hot Summer in the City is gritty and raw. I'm sure we can all agree that when we first saw the notorious horror and exploitation films that unite our interest in collecting DVDs (Emanuelle in America, Erotic Nights of the Living Dead, etc.), we were left wanting more as we thought the atrocities in each film to be as shocking as possible, only to have those thoughts dashed as the atrocities weren't as shocking as we expected them to be. I was the same with Hot Summer in the City. As it became the first roughie I ever saw I was somehow disappointed with it not being as shocking as I imagined. Then last year when I saw the DVD release by Alpha Blue Archives, I thought I would import the DVD and give Hot Summer in the City another chance. I learnt my lesson not to expect the most shocking of atrocities and what I got instead of disappointment was actually a shocking experience. The second viewing was far more intense than the first.

The female victim in Hot Summer in the City is played by former 1967 Playboy Playmate of the Year and 1966 Playboy Playmate of the Month November, Lisa Baker. Despite Hot Summer in the City being the only porn film to her name, her performance has been growing quite a cult following over the years on many internet websites that sell the uncut version. Alpha Blue Archives is correct when describing her screen presence as mute and ghostlike. During the scenes of sadistic violation, she manages to pull off a genuine performance of a female victim being raped and abused by a gang of black men. Most acting performances in roughies tend to be poor replicas of what they would be in reality, but Lisa Baker's performance seems to be the exact replica of what would happen to a real victim if she had been hurled into the same situation. It is her performance especially which gives Hot Summer in the City an edge when compared to other roughies. The acting by the other characters also contains solid performances, enhancing the realism provided by the performance of Lisa Baker and the documentary style direction of Gail Palmer.

The character which Lisa Baker plays is called Debbie. Debbie is a Christian girl and is strongly committed in not encaging in sex before marriage. After being fondled by her fianc� in his car and refusing his advances, Debbie enters her home after he drops her off. Once inside she hears moaning noises from inside her mother's bedroom. While investigating, she suddenly discovers her mother on her bed with her legs wrapped around a man who is giving her a good screw while she sucks off another man who is telling his friend to hurry up so her can fuck her. Debbie flees the house in a state of shock as her mother sucks the man off to orgasm on her chin. She solemnly walks down a dark road, erupting tears. She begins to receive taunts by a gang of four black men in a Cadillac driving in tune with her walking speed. Realising she's in danger after one of the men starts gloating how he would love to get his hands on her cute little ass, she dashes across a lawn in an attempt to escape. However, she cannot outrun the gang and so gets abducted. She screams in an attempt to raise alarm of her abduction, but the man who opens his backdoor to see what the all noise is about suddenly closes the door and allows the two black men abduct her. Debbie is taken to their Cadillac where the black men abuse her verbally. One of the men cannot keep his dick in his pants any longer and decides to rape her from behind. He shoots his cum over her back. One of the disturbing images from this scene is the retard in the passenger side of the Cadillac, mesmerised by the rape. The facial features suggest that the retard is supposed to be a young boy. He glares at the rape taking place with an abundance of fascination.

Debbie is taken to a country cabin where she is forced to clean, wash, cook and fetch beers for the black gang. The leader of the gang is called Duke, and he intends to keep Debbie within his possession, warning the others that they cannot touch her. The gang refuses to allow Duke to have Debbie all to himself and they all agree to have a game of poker. The winner will have Debbie for themselves for the night. The Duke loses and retires to his bed early. Debbie refuses to be used by one of the gang members; however, she changes her mind after she is continuously and ferociously whipped by one of them, soon begging them to fuck her as she squeals in pain. She is then raped by two of the gang members, vaginally and orally (this was the screenshot I saw a few months before and still remains a disturbing experience when viewed a multiple of times).

Things start heating up when the Duke's black lady shows up, threatening to slit Debbie's throat. Throughout the remainder of the film, the Duke grows protective of Debbie despite his woman, Black Orchid, taking a dislike to her. The Duke then punishes Black Orchid by telling his gang to fuck her. Debbie soon realises that it isn't the men who abducted her that's the problem, but Black Orchid and the retarded boy taking great fascination in the rape of Debbie and Black Orchid herself. The plot then escalates to a bloody climax.

The scenes of rape are highly disturbing and the scenes where the retarded kid masturbates and rape the women after being encouraged to do so by the gang members is unsettling to say the least. Hot Summer in the City plays like a documentary and occasionally crosses over the border into reality. The individual performances of each member of the black gang, who are attempting to create a race riot, is genuine. The hooker-looking Black Orchid is sexy as she is vicious. Debbie is phenomenal as playing the victim. When these performances are merged together you get one hour of disturbing material. If you do get an erection I highly doubt it would last considering most of the scenes consist of rape and ugly sex (some of the scenes are quite erotic, especially when Black Orchid fellates one of the black men to orgasm inside her mouth whilst the Duke seduces Debbie in the only friendly scene of the film). The great thing about Hot Summer in the City, though, is the music. You get all the oldies you thought you would never hear again, such as Robert Knights "Everlasting Love," The Lovin' Spoonfuls "Summer in the City," The Beach Boys "Good Vibrations," The Supremes' "The Happening," The Four Tops "I Can't Help Myself" and The Shangri-Las' "Leader of the pack." If there was ever a porno film for your grandparents to watch then this is it! Send them a copy, I'm sure they'll appreciate it!

The DVD is loaded with extras. You get an entertaining trailer for Hot Summer in the City. Other trailers include Dominatrix Without Mercy (the roughest of roughies!), Sex Wish, Climax of Blue Power, Hardgore, Sadistic 70's, Satanic Sickies, Teenage Lust and Big Tit Superstars. But it is the two 8mm rape loops in the extras section that makes Hot Summer in the City the best Alpha Blue Archive DVD to purchase. The loops are called "Black Rape" and "The Militant." Both include a black guy raping a white woman. Each loop includes sadistic rape, wet fucking and gooey cumshots in mouths and over pale white flesh. Each loop contains a hardcore 70's punk soundtrack that is as entertaining as the loops themselves. You also get a few pages of taglines for Hot Summer in the City, a chapter selection and an info section.

Hot Summer in the City is presented in full frame. The quality is rather bad with glitches and the occasional colour fading. There is the occasional jump cut, but these don't disrupt the sex scenes in any way. The print is damaged quite significantly that it almost seems impossible to polish it up to modern standards. But when comparing the DVD to the two previous video versions I had, the DVD is an improvement, especially the audio which was almost non existent on the old video copies. The jump cuts are print damage and not intended cuts. Other than that, Hot Summer in the City is uncut and unapologetic in its ferocity. The AC-3 Encoded Audio is fine. The Region-All DVD will play on any DVD player.

The Keywords for Hot summer in the City are: abuse/humiliation; oral sex; cast's look - cute; cock sizes - big, thick; breast sizes - average; controversial/disturbing; cumshots - in the mouth, on the body; detailed plot; dirty talk; verbal abuse; punishment; hair colour - blonde, black; interracial sex; all black sex; rape/forced sex; rough sex; whipping; bloody violence; racism.

Hot Summer is highly disturbing and extremely menacing. It didn't shock me upon the first viewing due to the fact that I was expecting the most graphic, evil, vulgar and perverse adult film I would ever see. I suppose in a way it is the most graphic and perverse adult film I've ever seen, especially after viewing the DVD version with it's improved audio and picture quality. But I have now come to terms that all roughies are poor quality adult films, at least when compared to the bug budget productions which populate the modern industry. I actually like watching roughies that don't have the clearest picture because at least then it still retains the sleazy atmosphere that makes these adult films fascinating experiences. If Hot Summer in the City was re-mastered and presented with clear picture quality I highly doubt it would be as shocking. When these films were shown in adult theatres across the United States in the 1970's they weren't good quality. I am rather satisfied that they still remain that way.

This DVD version of Hot Summer in the City is a must own, not only because you get the full version if the film, but also two 8mm loops that haven't seen the light of day until now. If you're a fan of these type of films then you cannot go wrong with Hot Summer in the City. If you're a fan of exploitation films then you cannot go wrong with Hot Summer in the City. If you're a fan of blaxploitation films then you cannot go wrong with Hot Summer in the City. For these three reasons, Hot Summer in the City is a must, although shocking, experience.

Happy Nightmares.

Reviewed by Pryce