Black Emanuelle en Amérique

EMANUELLE IN AMERICA is clearly a testament to the declining CineCitta film industry of this time. Exploitation film-makers were being forced to throw genres together in bizarre hybrids to try and cover as many commercial bases as possible.

This film, without doubt, is the flat out WEIRDEST example of that I've ever seen. The first 50 minutes or so play like a typically flaccid D'Amato softcore sex movie, before kicking into high octane with hardcore bestiality footage, hardcore porn, and pretty grueling "snuff" footage (shot in a verite, hand-held and shaky style that reminds me of the latter half of CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST). None of it really fits together well within the narrative (particularly the XXX footage which is clearly spliced in from another film) and all the excessive stuff is quite brief. I don't really understand what the commercial motivation for the production of this film was, but that certainly interests me. The whole film has an air of not being complete, especially when you consider the bizarrely truncated ending.

An interesting and VERY sleazy watch, but don't expect the rest of the film to be anything but appalling. D'Amato's straight horror (specifically BLUE OMEGA and ABSURD) do the job way more for me, and I usually love sleaze with all my grimy heart. Before anyone yells at me, the copy I own is the "fully uncut" Venezuelan print so I really don't think I'm missing anything here.

This is probably about as extreme as exploitation gets (even when compared to such gory masterpieces as Nekromantik and Cannibal Holocaust). What makes it so extreme are that all the images on display as used in the context of sexual fantasy.

The infamous scene of a naked girl masterbating a horse is shown for the purposes of titillation and arousal.

The snuff footage is extremely nasty and difficult to watch and again plays to an audience looking for sexual arousal.

The film also contains numerous hard-core sex scenes and various lesbian scenes.

All in all a classic in its own right, surely only D'Amato could get away with such a film - hunt it high and low and get hold of a copy now!

You might be disgusted, but you won't be disappointed!

After reading the reviews to this film and being a huge Joe D´Amato-fan since a long time my expectations were more than immense! The story is about beautiful reporter Emanuelle (played by D´Amato-darling Laura Gemser) who wants to write a sensational story about perverse sexual practicals of America´s high society. Meeting (and even more than that..!) an influential politician Emuanuelle finds a trail to the legendary/notorious snuff-movies where real humans are tortured and killed on film...

A very interesting story, but sadly the execution is only average, because "Emanuelle in America" is nothing else but typical 1970s standard soft sex! When you´ve seen one example of the endless Emanuelle-series you´ve seen´em all - this movie is no exception! In my opinion, the sickest scene is featured in the 30th minute when a naked girl caresses the dick of a horse. Then nothing´s gonna happen... After one hour the first blow job-scene is brought on and in the last third the movie there are some short hardcore takes filmed.

And then at the very end you´ve got to see those notorious snuff-sequences..! Yes, they are extremely violent! Yes, they are extremely disturbing!! However they have a pretty short running time from about 15 seconds all together and they are quite similar to those featured in Pasolini´s "Salo". And I can´t get rid of that feeling director Joe D´Amato only added them to give this after all very tame movie some shocking and provoking impulses..!

If you want to see a real sick Joe D´Amato-movie watch his splatterfest "Buio Omega" instead!!!

"Emanuelle in America" has the reputation of being one of the sleaziest, most vile films ever made. Well, having watched it a couple of times I have to say that its reputation is a tad overblown. Yes, the average movie-going public would probably be offended by many parts of EIA but when you think about those objectionable scenes, they're not that freaky. There is much worse on the internet right now than what is seen, briefly, in EIA. EIA was made during the greatest period of exploitation films, a period, which alas, will never be recreated again. The mores of the 1970s made it possible for films to explore the sleaziest, darkest part of the human psyche. Remember, these films were released theatrically. There's almost no chance today for a film like EIA to be released on the big screen, no matter how many sleazy or super violent films have been made recently, like, hmm, "Passion of the Christ"? Arf!

Anyway, there's something backwards and ahead of its time about "Emanuelle in America". It's painfully backwards in the attempts the producers tried to shock jaded 42nd ave viewers with bestiality and such but forward thinking in the way sex is shown so carefree and dare I say fun? It's like the realization of a silly Penthouse forum story made come to life...seriously, the film is sexy in only the way 1970s can be. The beginning is great. Seeing Laura walking around New York, which the groovy theme song, makes EIA look like an adult version of the MARY TYLER MOORE show intro: Laura is a free woman (who's almost always in control), a career woman and is sexually active. The only thing missing in the intro is Laura tossing a hat in the air.

The biggest problem with "Emanuelle in America" is the script. Films like this are not known to have solid scripts but the producers actually tried to create a semblance of an interesting story, amidst the sleaze and lurid goings on, but then completely forgot a satisfactory ending for this. I love the fact that film suddenly veered into snuff-like territory at the very end but it became sorta pointless without a proper conclusion to that last minute plot line.

All in all, I think "Emanuelle in America" is a masterpiece of 1970s exploitation. It has almost every exploitation element in it (the only thing missing, like most of exploitation films, is male homosexuality). Laura Gemser is hot. The music is amazing and the cinematography is actually pretty good. I only give it 8 because of the missing ending and because of some boring, drawn-out spots.

If want to see a film that captures the warped side of the 1970s in all its Euro-cult glory, make sure to watch "Emanuelle in America".

A good film by sleaze-master Joe D'Amato? No chance. Wait a minute, this one actually isn't too bad. Emanuelle's (notice, one "m", not Emmanuelle ©) forays into the aristocratic decay lifestyle get weirder and sleazier, culminating in the snuff footage in the end (modeled after Pasolini's "Salo", how ironical). It's not all bleak however, as Joe has a sense of humor. Case in point, Emanuelle and cohort having sex in the next room to an orchestra playing, and hysterically editing the sex with close-ups of the geek musos playing Ludwig's fifth. Or what about the ending? Emanuelle getting a vacation as a reward for her investigative journalism, only it turns to be a movie decor. It is only a movie after all. Hah.