Scandalous Emanuelle (1986)

Scandalous Emanuelle (1986). 1h 31m

“You have to hand it to the late Joe Du0026#39;Amato: unlike his fellow prolific Euro-exploitation hack Jess Franco, he certainly could not be accused of making the same movie over and over again. Case in point: this 80u0026#39;s softcore porn film which for about the first half seems like a Douglas Sirk melodrama about a neglected housewife (Jenny Tamburi) who has a love affair with a friend of her husbandu0026#39;s (albeit with a few fully-clothed sex scenes and a bizarre scene where her voyeuristic husband watches her u0026quot;fresheningu0026quot; herself in the bidet). This movie, at least at first, is a far cry from the lurid sex and violence, weu0026#39;ve come to expect from the infamous Joe D. Finally, though the movie takes several implausible turns when her lover takes her to a brothel and convinces her to service a number of (uniformly unattractive) strange men, and we finally get to see the impressive female cast (Tamburi, Lili Karati, and Laura Gemser) naked.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis movie is obviously another knock-off of Luis Bunuelu0026#39;s u0026quot;Belle du Jouru0026quot;, but its more original than most. It turns out, for instance, that the whole thing has been masterminded by the voyeuristic husband and he has convinced his friend (who is apparently the u0026quot;gigolou0026quot; of the English title, although none of this movie actually takes place at u0026quot;midnightu0026quot;)to help out since he is the co-owner of this brothel. Complications ensue when the friend falls in love with the wife, which in turn raises the ire of his female partner and lover (Lili Karati).u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eAlthough very atypical for Du0026#39;Amato, this movie is not a total failure largely because he has a much better cast than usual. Jenny Tamburi was always a very underrated actress, even if it is strange seeing her play a mature woman here as opposed to the teenage u0026quot;Lolitau0026quot; roles she was typecast throughout almost the entire decade of the 70u0026#39;s. She is perhaps a little past her prime physically, but still quite sexy. Lili Karati looks pretty much as hot as ever, but she seems to have matured as an actress here from when she started out in the late u0026#39;70u0026#39;s (it was unfortunate that this was about the time hardcore drug abuse led her into the hardcore porn industry). Exploitation legend and perennial Du0026#39;Amato collaborator Laura Gemser has a completely superfluous supporting role, but sheu0026#39;s about the same as ever. A bit strange, but worth seeing if youu0026#39;re a fan of any of these people.”