Passion in Hot Hollows

Unheralded 60s auteur Joseph Sarno moves his internecine psychological wars to backwoods America to great effect in this opus. As usual, the writer-director's strategy is to reveal the characters and their relationships through brief dialogue scenes and sexual liaisons, gradually interweaving the plot threads, upping the intensity and revealing the sordid intentions lurking beneath the surface. A few of the method actors are rather unconvincing in their accents and mannerisms, and the scenes tend to be static due to the extreme low budget. But the Dreyer-like chiaroscuro lighting, the insinuating bongo-driven jazz score, and the intense portrayals make this one of his most compelling dramas, fitting well within the experimental art cinema of the 60s despite the exploitation pedigree. The eroticism is more intense than in his better-known earlier films, and the betrayals crueler than ever. A must-see piece of the Sarno puzzle.

Starts innocuously enough with a number of characters introduced and some routine b/w humping but this becomes more interesting and finally downright subversive. Most things crop up in this b/w sex fest as the couplings develop into threesomes, foursomes and even more somes. Just when you think you have the measure of the predictability of the flick Sarno pulls yet another shocking surprise. There is something rather unpleasant running through this as one sister taunts another and once again in a Sarno film cuddly toys get rather more than a cuddling! Overall though much to enjoy and even if the sex does take up a bit too much of the proceedings some of the impressionistic photography is most effective, some good scenes and well worth seeing.

Passion in Hot Hollows (1969)

** (out of 4)

Norma Sue and her husband return to the small Southern town she grew up in. Are they wanting to freshen up their lives? Help former family and friends? No, this is a Joe Sarno movie so Norma Sue plans on causing her sister Norma Jean to expose her dirty sexual thoughts and show the world that she too is a pervert.

I might have made the plot a bit more simple than it really is but if you're familiar with the work of Sarno then you already know that he quite often has a lot more plot than most films like this do. It seems that sexpoitation pictures either have no story at all and exist just to show off naked women or they have way too much plot, which is the case here.

Overall this is a mildly entertaining movie that fans of Sarno will enjoy but I doubt too many others get into the picture. I did like the setting and the idea that the "good" sister pleasures herself to the naughty stuff of the "bad" sister was a rather fun twist and some of the scenes were interesting to say the least. The performances were good for the most part and there's certainly some nice cinematography.