Hot Chili

Definatly one of those hit the bong, shrooms, alcohol and go back in time for 80's cinephiles of teenspolitation. 3 teens work as bellboys in a Mexican Hacienda resort over the summer and get into typical adventures on a quest to serve odd guests and their hedonistic sexual needs while trying to stay out of trouble and keep their jobs.

When a quartet of high school graduates take on jobs at a Mexican resort, in lieu of the traditional summer vacation, they hope to take advantage of some residual fringe benefits as the assortment of oddball guests pile in for the season. What follows is a fun, brainless romp of sex and adultery, typical of the soft-porn comedies that were a fad of the eighties.

Think "Porky's", "Meatballs", "Private Lessons" or "Joysticks", multiply the debauchery tenfold, and you'll come close to "Hot Chili". The guests are diverse, and their characterisations honed for maximum ham value, incorporating some cracker dialogue that won't soon be forgotten. There's Herr Fritz (Bromilow), the Ruger-clutching Bavarian chasing fat boy Arney (Rubbo) around the resort screaming "where are you salami boy?" after he catches him with his nymphomaniac Frau Brigitte, herself incessantly moaning "I am bekomming!" as she climaxes at every given opportunity.

But if that's not austere enough for your moral compass, you might prefer the nudist music instructor (Fiedler) always willing to give intimate cello lessons to visitors, or, the sleazy hotel manager (Lazarus) who's too busy chasing tail to notice his establishment has become a brothel in which the randy guests are knocking each other off like guinea pigs on heat. Unbeknownst to them all, their sordid escapades are being covertly taped, and a litany of affairs is exposed in an hilarious highlight reel at the film's conclusion.

Louisa Moritz might be the cast's biggest name (Ferdy Mayne's role is very brief), which gives you an idea of the scale, although Federico Gonzales is particularly amusing as the sleepy taco, with little interest in the promiscuous activity of the guests.

Obviously if you're not accustomed to the teen sex comedy styling of the eighties, you might be offended by the content, although it's pretty tame by today's standards. William Sachs ("The Incredible Melting Man" being his piece de resistance) directs this tongue-in-cheek tale with little attention to narrative, poring maximum emphasis on T&A for the adolescent male audience to enjoy. If you were going to sample this genre from the 80's halcyon era, "Hot Chili" must certainly be mandatory viewing.

Ever since I saw a VHS tape cover of this very movie, I've long been curious to see this especially since it never played in theatres in Baton Rouge, LA, where I lived as a teen then and I still do now. It's from Cannon Films as represented by producers Menahem Golan and Yoram Globus, the same people who remade their Israeli-made Lemon Popsicle into The Last American Virgin. Two players from that last one-Joseph Rubbo and Louisa Moritz-also appear here. Rubbo is one of four teens taking a job at a Mexican resort where they encounter many willing women. I'll stop there and just say the whole thing was silly and ridiculous to the extreme with plenty of predictable stereotyped-characters and occasionally sentimental moments that would either go down easily or just make one wish it was over very soon! I myself felt both emotions several times while looking at the timer on YouTube. I'm guessing this didn't do particularly well as no one in this film seem to have gone on to anything better...

Made by the folks at Cannon, this film is just a rehash, or should I say, rip-off of the brilliant Last American Virgin, The (1982), even featuring Joe Rubbo, who played the hapless David in the original. Four randy teens head to Mexico for the summer taking employment in a hotel resort, each of course, hoping to get women into the infamous sack. Plenty of T & A to keep the youthful ones happy, but really, it's no wonder why the teen sex comedy genre died in the ass!

In many respects, Hot Chili is a typical teenage sex comedy: lots of T&A, lots of slapstick humour, lots of ridiculed adults, some destroyed property, and a little bit of teenage romance to give our heros a more likeable personality.

The story resolves around 4 American (male) teenagers who go to Mexico for a holiday job in a hotel. Needless to say they also try to get laid and succeed in that ambition. Of course, they have to overcome some difficulties, like escaping the claws of the blood-and-sex thirsty dominatrix Brigitte or avoiding being shot by her jealous husband.

The film does not it take itself seriously for one minute and that alone makes it a lot more watchable than most films of this genre. The comedy element is unsophisticated but in its own way appropriate. Hot Chili does not really have any sex scenes but plenty of nudity and suggested sex. The acting honours go to people in supporting parts who deliver their one-liners quite nicely: "First I kill Salami boy, then I'll play the drums. "

Still, Hot Chili is a film directly aimed at young (about 14 to 24) male viewers; it has little to offer for a wider audience.