Sexpraxis '74

Drop Out Wife (1972)

** (out of 4)

Director Stephens once again teams up with screenwriter Edward D. Wood, Jr. to shine a light on swinging. In the film a once happy couple find their marriage starts to get boring so they wonder into the world of swinging. Soon the wife begins to go out of control, which costs her her children, husband and friends. If you tackle the sexploitation genre then you're going to find a lot of films that deal with swinging or women out of control but this one here really stands out due to the wild dialogue from Wood. I'm going to go on the record by saying he was a great screenwriter because I've yet to see a film that features one of his screenplays that is ever boring. I've seen this same story in dozens of sexploitation pictures but Wood's wacky screenplay really makes the material fresh, entertaining and funny. It goes without saying that all of the performances are way below average but this does bring a certain documentary like quality to the film, which works well with the ugly cinematography. The soundtrack is laughable throughout but the story never gets boring. We get countless softcore sex scenes and plenty of nudity to keep things moving. The highlight has to be the first swingers party, which was filmed in a psychedelic way but it also seems to be one long take of women jumping around from men to men.

This has to be Stephen Apostolof's best. The plot follows a woman's journey from marriage, to sexual frigidity, to disillusionment of marriage, swinging, disillusionment with swinging, and men in general. Granted the men are despicable but she allows herself to be used all the same. Angela Carnon is a potent mix of good looks, nastiness and a modicum of acting ability which exceeds the directors ability to maximize her performance. The film repeats itself and makes the lead a recidivist but the plot is interesting nonetheless. The lunchtime pep talks with Carnon and her friend played by Sandy Carey are wonderfully bad 70s philosophy. You just gotta live your life and have a good time. Which means just do IT, baby! This leads the conscience-ridden Carnon to look at herself in the mirror and see what a wreck she's become. " You've aged ten years in a month!"

yes ed wood wrote most the lines. cool as in 1972 he he... and i do see it as his best work. very deep story with good attempts at special effects like color changes to match the mood of the Sean and groovy camera work in the orgy Sean. it goes from loving couple to wild swingers and back to reality and a chance for a new start at the end. you will love this little masterpiece of 1972 indie. to bad ed wood only got a slight mention at the end. acting is good and 1972 cool as well:) hope you can see this awesome film!!! more films of this style were made in the same time frame and show same coolness combo of stephen and ed.