Abigail Leslie Is Back in Town

Joe Sarno was a prolific & respected Writer/Director of numerous sexploitation films. A genre that is often misunderstood. This is one of Sarno's best and an example of how sexploitation can be a quality movie, not just fluff. This is strictly soft-core, sex is more plot and character development. Even if you never watched or purposely avoided watching a sexploitation movie before, you might want to try this gem. Abigail Lesley has a cast of actors mainly known for hardcore, but as proven here, they actually can act. It often is not common knowledge that many started or had aspirations of Broadway plays or Hollywood films. There are some good quality albeit not Oscar winning performances. The script & story written by Joe Sarno is very engaging. The story definitely comes before the sex (again strictly soft-core) in importance although as often the case with his movies, sex though not necessarily the act, is what drives the story. Sarno also has a habit of strong woman characters as here contrary to what Hollywood has done until recently. Often the sex does not make sense without following the dialogue, one of the traits of a quality sexploitation film. It should be noted this movie was done on a very small budget, filmed in days not months. Yet as an example of how great Sarno was as a Director, it does not play as such. The character of Abigail Lesley is who drives the plot and binds together all the other characters. She returns to the town to cause trouble of course. But the main character is Priscilla played by Rebecca Brooke who has also been credited as Mary Mendum in other films. She started performing in plays and shows her acting ability here. The rest of the cast including Eric Edwards, Jamie Gillis and others also give very credible performances. This is an excellent movie even if the sex scenes were removed although they are a definite part of the story. It also is a fantastic example of the work of Joseph W. Sarno. Give it a watch!

She hightailed it after a scandal but now ABIGAIL LESLEY IS BACK IN TOWN and the old gang's creamin' their jeans, let me tell ya. They all knew each other back in high school when they either lusted after or had sex with each other and now, ten years later, it's happening all over again, their marriages be damned...

Joe Sarno's oneiric 1975 (im)morality tale has a number of superstars from The Golden Age Of Porn (Jamie Gillis, Jennifer Welles, Eric Edwards) doing softcore (where a modicum of acting replaces penetration) and guess what- nobody breaks the suspension of disbelief or embarrassed themselves. This may be softcore porn but it inhabits the same universe as it's XXX brethren -a world where sexual fulfillment is the most important thing in life. It's the only thing, in fact, and if it isn't, there's something wrong with you, like Priscilla (Rebecca Brooke). I was down with it but tremors began to crack the terrain when a couple of characters professed their love at the end (Abigail to Priscilla, Priscilla & Chester to each other) and I had a Scarlett O'Hara moment when I thought, "But where will they go? What will they do?" because not one of them worked or did much of anything besides think or worry about sex when they weren't actually having it.

In this universe there's nothing wrong (as Priscilla found out) that a little liberation can't cure so I was gobsmacked when Priscilla told Chester that the only way they could be happy was to "leave this place". Why? Are they running from a past they had no trouble embracing in more ways than one? That revelation turned this universe on its ear and my comprehension crumbled along with it. The cock-blocking mixed message confounded me but the film's anatomical and pastoral (a New England fishing village) tableaux were so nice to look at, I didn't care. It was filmed in Amityville, Long Island but I'm not reel sure what possessed writer/director Sarno. Not that it matters, of course -I was spellbound. I was surprised beautiful leading lady Rebecca Brooke (aka Mary Mendum) wasn't the titular vixen but her Priscilla was the film's focal point and she its star. Brooke was found floating in a Boca Raton, Florida canal a couple of years ago, "accidently drowned" but I can't find out anything more about it.

Great movie to watch for it is of the classic type movie to watch and Abigail proves it all she is good in films.

Effective and ultimately rather engaging soft core from Mr Sarno. I think it should be said right away that 'soft core' here means something a little more than the usual mincing about that one might imagine. I reckon but stand to be corrected that some of this is real sex without us actually being shown the graphic detail. Anyway, suffice to say the sex scenes are believable and erotic. I am not as stunned by the acting as some seem to be but, I guess for the type of film this is, the acting is surprisingly good. I don't really know whether the film is a bit stilted at the beginning with its slightly awkward flashbacks or it just took me a little while to get into things but the film certainly seems to get better as it progresses. By the end when Abigail has managed to 'engage' with the whole cast and encourage almost everyone to also go with each other, in twos, threes and more the fire is well alight. There are also some pointed observations and I particularly liked a scene where one of the more retiring girls asks Abigail to help her become free like her, Abigail replies, 'You may not like being free'. Very enjoyable and not one scene that seems too long - some achievement!

I thought this was a normal movie. I put it on in the background while I was practicing yoga and trying to relax. About 15 minutes in, Abigail and a friend are having a conversation on the couch, and Abigail casually says something about how the woman used to masturbate and tell her dirty fantasies when she was 12 years old. It was, at that moment, that I knew I had stumbled upon a special film.

This is, basically, pornography with a better story and more characters. I'm not complaining, and I think it's a good movie, but it's porn. So, don't spin the wheel at the family Christmas party and put this on as a random film... of coarse, there is a surprise incest subplot, so...

There is some artistic direction here - like the beach scenes and some of the sex. There is some decent acting here, too. The last 20 minutes or so are rather muddled. The ending feels like the writers got a little lost, and it seems abrupt in some places and drawn out in others. The screenplay wasn't perfect, but the final product is compelling. This is a good datenight film for a couple that already have a sexual relationship. However, this film is so shocking that you'll give someone on a blind date a panic attack and send them running into traffic.

RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria: Acting - 1/1; Casting - 1/1; Directing - 1/1; Story - 1/1; Writing/Screenplay - 0.5/1;

Total Base Score = 4.5

Modifiers (+ or -): Originality: +0.5 (An old story, retold with very, um, 'physical' acting);

Exceptionally Sexy (new category): +1 (I mean, it's kind of porn...);

Total RealReview Rating: 6