Video Business
8/28/2003 by Ed Hulse
| DOCUMENTARY Color/B&W, NR (mature themes, language, nudity, sexual situations, gore), 80 min., VHS $24.95, DVD $29.95 DVD: two commentaries, art/trailers collection, soundtrack samples Street: Oct. 7, Prebook: Sept. 16 First Run: L, April, 2001, <$1 mil. Director: Ted Bonnitt 7TH PLANET PRODUCTIONS Aside from being a valuable addition to the library of film history, this loosely organized tribute to two pioneers of cinematic exploitation is one of the most engaging documentaries we've seen in quite a while. Shot in 2000, Mau Mau Sex Sex features the reminiscences of 84-year-old Dan Sonney and 76-year-old Dave Friedman, filmmakers and distributors who for decades thrived on movies that existed at the industry's margins: nudie frolics, salacious sex dramas and cheesy gore flicks. Clips from such gems as The Defilers, Blood Feast and Mau Mau are sprinkled liberally throughout Bonnitt's unabashedly affectionate exploration of a bygone era. The interview footage is revelatory. Sleazemeister Sonney is shown to be a devoted family man who remained married to one woman and raised four daughters, each of whom attended a Catholic grade school across the street from a fleapit theater that showed his movies; septuagenarian huckster Friedman, meanwhile, having returned to his "carny" roots, displays unseemly glee at the prospect of fleecing a new generation of suckers. Film buff and director Frank Henenlotter (Basket Case, Brain Damage) lends historical context to this mélange of clips and recollections, although his comments are occasionally superfluous. All in all, this is a delightful documentary on a segment of the movie industry that heretofore has been given short shrift by historians. |
|||
 |