Sex Appeal

It's one thing to start watching a movie and think "hey, I've seen this before...this is so familiar" and then to look up the people behind the film and look at their body of work and realize it's not just a remake, it's a remake by the same people. Chuck Vincent rehashes a film from the hard side of the industry that he made back in 1980 and simply takes the hard core aspects out with newer and even less capable actors in the main roles. Ron Jeremy played the main character in FASCINATION from 1980 and the overbearing mom was there, the philandering father, the obnoxious sis, all of it. The same supporting characters are there too...some of them reprising their roles from the FIRST!

This is not worth the views people. The acting is totally uninspired, the film making skills are totally void and the fact that CV remade it and did it WORSE is rather criminal. AVOID. I would demand my money back if there were money involved.

Imagine if someone tried to film a sex comedy version of The Apartment but forgot to include: plot, laughs, likeable characters, ANYTHING resembling a joke. BUT they did manage to include heavy New YAWK accents, boobs of all shapes and sizes, and a short run time. Normally, boobs would be worth at least two stars, but this was so unfunny that it was nearly unwatchable.

I couldn't stop laughing throughout this whole movie.

My review was written in July 1986 after watching the movie at a Times Square screening room.

"Sex Appeal" is a farcical comedy let down by its script. Yet another opus about a young man trying anything to get laid, picture went into regional release in May but is best suited to the less demanding ancillary markets.

Filmmaker Chuck Vincent has remade his 1980 hardcore porn production "Fascination" (which was directed by Larry Revene, who returns as cinematographer this time) that starred Ron Jeremy as a Jewish kid consulting a how-to book on getting dates. This time around Louie Bonanno toplines as Tony Cannelloni, an Italian kid from New Jersey who buys the book "Sex Appeal" as a guide to sexual conquests. Key element of the strategy is to move out of his parents' home to a bachelor pad in Manhattan, where his landlord/neighbor Donald (Jeff Eagle a/k/a Jeffrey Hurst) eavesdrops and uses Tony's misadventures as the basis for writing a lucrative series of articles for Playhouse magazine about the New Jersey Casanova.

Film briefly moves into the territory of Billy Wilder's "The Apartment" as Tony's father and sister separately try to use his pad for their own secret trysts, but essentially it's a bedroom farce without enough laughs. Early scenes at home around the dinner table are particularly flat, in the vein of "Saturday Night Fever" ethnicity.

A supporting cast loaded with talent familiar from Adult films turns in good performances, particularly two actresses who also appeared in "Fascination": Merle Michaels, cute as a nonstop talker with a Judy Holliday accent, and Veronica Hart ("Fascination" was her screen debut), hilariously spoofing the false passion of erotic scenes as she squeals loudly and endlessly at the slightest touch. Lead actor Bonanno is not very interesting and his terrifically-built leading lady Tally Brittany (a/k/a Tally Chanel) is unfortunately consigned to a small role that is more tease than necessary.

Cast employs a variety of pseudonyms, real names and alternate stage names arising from each thesp's attitude to the demarcation between Adult and mainstream filmmaking. Fans will easily sort it all out by recognizing familiar faces.

Okay, so there were some issues with the ending, and it was a bit of a slow start. However, overall it was an amusing, sexy, silly comedy. Typical of this style of comedy, the poor guy can't catch a break, and various scenarios ensue. I found it quite entertaining. If you are looking for high quality comedy, this isn't it. However, if you want 1980's style adult oriented laughs, yes, this does deliver.

The ending, sadly, seemed rushed, and I'd hoped it would be a bit more funny. However, the rest was pretty entertaining. I was considering giving it an 8 up until the last 10 minutes or so, but I guess it needed to be a 6.9 considering the style of movie it is.

I actually saw one of the actresses from this in another film today that was awful. Her character in this wasn't particularly much better. I saw some other reviews and information that this is basically an adult film toned down remake or at least based on one? I am curious about the original. That being said, I based my review on the movie I just watched, as I wasn't aware of the connection to the X rated movie until afterwards.