Angel of H.E.A.T.

Some movies I see, the mind just boggles. At moments through Angel Of Heat (a far stretch from what Marilyn Chambers normally does, a further stretch was of course, Rabid) this boring misfire of an action dud, had me opting to watch Insatiable. You've got a porn star, and we know the course Marilyn's acting takes. She's a sham, but if you're gonna make an action, sort of sci fi film, it needs to have action and involvement. The weight of description of story through dialogue, without much happening really made this one a bore, I was mystified and dumbfounded. I knew what this film was like, as having seen it years ago, and before that, and my opinion hasn't changed, one iota. If anything, it reminded me, just how bad this movie was. Each viewing always disappoints, (god knows what goes through execs minds at script conferences) Most of the actors for their performances, ought to be clobbered. One such disappointment was Woronov. The uptight head of the agency and Albert, the lead villain and mad scientific genius, who has a whole squad of humans under his command, where under their skin, they're actually robots, composed of different parts, a beautiful clever facade, were really the only two acting. Discounting Angel (Marilyn) who ends up with this elite duo, Woronov and hunky Johnson, are summoned by their boss, on a new mission, to track down this evil formula, used on our guinea pig robots, so the fate of the world are in these two people's hand. The title song is great and in the last scene, Chambers does, what she does best, and it's not acting. If you are seeking an action film, and a chance to ogle over a manifold of scenes of seeing Marilyn nude, you'll strike out on both cylinders here, particular the action factor. Honestly just rent Robocop again.

Adult-film-star Marilyn Chambers makes an attempt at an R-rated comedy-adventure in "Angel of H.E.A.T." I don't know if this movie actually played theatrically or went straight to video. I only remember it from the Vestron Video, now defunct, release on tape and disc from the early '80s and have never seen it appear since on video.

There is a fair amount of nudity from Marilyn, but the film really centers on its story and not on sexual situations. The story seems a bit hard to follow and somewhat choppy. Marilyn is sent on an undercover mission to stop a world takeover plot. It sounds better than it actually plays out however and this feature ends up seeming longer than its actual 90+ minutes. I assume the LaserDisc represents the best this movie ever looked, though its transfer is pretty soft and blurry making one strain to make out details in the movie's many night/dark scenes. The movie is presented full-frame with mono sound.

I would say it is required viewing strictly for hardcore Marilyn Chambers fans, no pun intended, to see her in a non-hardcore movie. The only other non-xXx or mainstream feature I know from her is the 1978 horror movie "Rabid." "Rabid" is certainly Marilyn's best non-adult performance, but "Angel of H.E.A.T" is a semi-interesting curiosity item.

One very funny,sexy movie. Miss Chambers is as beautiful as always, it's nice to see an adult film actress that takes her looks and career professionally. And Mary Woronov at 40 looking 15 years at least younger holds her own with Marilyn this was my first time seeing Miss Woronov and have been a die-hard fan since. The movie is pure escapism, just fun nothing to be taken seriously. My only issues are I can't find an affordable copy that is as clear and in focus and maybe it's just me but the way it was cut it gave me the impression that there was an X-Rated version that was cut down to an R-Rating, the mud wrestling scene in particular but still a very watchable and still very sexy movie. So as hard as I've looked for it (no pun intended) it has to be an amazing film.

Filmed in 1981 (and retaining its original shooting title as a subtitle "The Protectors Book #1"), "Angel of H. E. A. T." is a softcore sex science-fiction comedy failing to establish porn star Marilyn Chambers, in her second R-rated opus after "Rabid", as a female James Bond. Same territory was covered a decade ago in the successful "Ginger" series starring Cheri Caffaro, but the theatrical market has changed, leaving "H. E. A. T." unreleased and currently being telecast as cable-tv filler, as well as a homevideo title.

Stuck with an unfunny, sniggering screenplay, filmmaker Myrfl A. Schreibman goes for a silly tongue-in-cheek approach reminiscent of the spy spoofs of the 1960s, but the cast's arch readings become tiresome. His previous sci-fier (made with director Robert Fiveson) "Parts: The Clonus Horror", was also silly, but at least played straight Hokey plotting, which features numerous pauses in the action for verbal plot exposition, recaps and even a final wrapp, provides a surplus of good guys and a paucity of villains. Angel Harmony (Marilyn Chambers) leads a special unit of 'The Protectors', ex-intelligence agents turned international vigilantes, called "H. E. A. T. (acronym undefined), while Mark Wisdom (Stephen Johnson) and Samantha Vitesse (Mary Woronov) are government agents working parallel to her on the same mission.

Everyone's goal is to stop megalomaniacal scientist Albert Shockley (Dan Jesse), who is out to control the world with the aid of his android henchmen and high-frequency communications. Preposterous gimmick has his dwarf aide Randy Small (Jerry Riley) fronting a casino in Lake Tahoe where lab employees are bilked, forcing them to steal micro-circuits to pay their gambling debts and thus facilitate Shockley's Earth takeover bid.

Unfortunately, film wanders for the first few reels, with lots of dumb puns, bare breasts and failed gags, such as subtitles (with Yiddish words) for an all-American guy who talks with a Chinese accent and German accent for an oriental martial arts expert. There's also mud wrestling as a diversion and sex-crazed androids but precious little attention to the story.

Martial arts action scenes are poorly-executed, with the picture lacking the budget to compete with James Bond in stunts and special effects gimmickry. Chambers is convincingly sexy but the R-rated format restricts her and the film to teasing only. Interesting casting has the star of "Eating Raoul", Mary Woronov, who vaguely resembles Chambers physically (but is much taller) cast opposite her as a rival agent and later teammate. A surprisingly amoral touch has Woronov's lesbian role treated quite matter-of-factly.

Tech credits are good, with attractive lensing by Jacques Haitkin in the Lake Tahoe region. As lightweight, low-involvement entertainment, feature could work on the drive-in circuit or overseas where Bond imitations have an audience.

My review was written in July 1983 after watching the film on Cinemax.

Combining Marilyn Chambers and Mary Woronov into one film was a great idea. Woronov is one of the most underrated actresses in modern times. She's pretty funny when she wants to be and she's really got a killer body. The whole story is sort of convoluted like most of the 70s & 80s spy films. Other than Chambers and Woronov, the rest of the cast is full of period character actors and X-rated film stars doing some mainstream on their weekend off. There's lots of silly intrigue and excuses for Marilyn and Mary to take off their clothes. Maybe it should be a classic now that I think of it. It's out now and DVD and definitely worth watching.