SexWorld

The plot of Michael Crichton's Westworld was ripe for having a porno spoof made out of it; I'm just surprised it took them five years to get around to it. SexWorld is the result, and while the film plays up to it's central idea well; I do have to say that the whole thing hasn't worked out as well as it could have done considering the vast scope for ingenuity regarding the sex scenes. The premise of the film works from the idea of a group of people going to 'SexWorld' - a place where they are allowed to live out any sexual fantasy they desire - no matter how strange. We focus on a bus full of people (single and couples) that go to SexWorld hoping for a good time. After the film has established a few back stories via flashback, the group enter SexWorld where they are asked to fill out a form, before a few men in white coats press some buttons and end up making their fantasies come true by pairing them off with the perfect sexual partner. We then cycle through various customers' sessions...

My main gripe with this is that none of the customers really ask for anything strange. There are a million different fetishes out there, but this film doesn't go any further than girl on girl; which is great don't get me wrong, but I could pretty much pick up any XXX film and see some women getting it on together. Another criticism of the film is that the story doesn't really go anywhere; we watch their fantasies and that's about it - would a little malfunction a la Westworld really have been too much to ask for as an ending? Obviously the main draw of this film is the sex scenes; and they are plentiful. The film doesn't dwell on just one or two much either; and we do get to see several. Some of the fantasies are really well done; a scene with a racist white man and a black woman is one of the best. The film is obviously meant to be something of a psychological study and, to give credit where credit is due, it is certainly a lot deeper than most other adult films; although it wont win any awards for depth. Overall, this is a worthwhile flick and porn fans will likely want to track it down, if only to see how the Westworld plot line turns out.

I saw this movie when it was first released. It was great then and I hope just as good now

Depending on my mood, SEX WORLD is forever vying for top spot with THE DANCERS and NOTHING TO HIDE as the late Sam Weston's finest film, with EASY and TALK DIRTY TO ME as all time runners-up. So let's just consider these as his top five personal best then. Like those other titles, SEX WORLD stands as an adult classic that truly seems to have everything going for it.

The screenplay, consisting of intertwining story lines involving a large group of exceptionally well-played characters, is realistic and rich with incisive observation . Production values are on a par with anything pouring out of mainstream studios at the time. Editing in particular – with artistically composed and juxtaposed imagery – could very well be the best ever witnessed in the adult field. But holding it all together is Weston's subtle guidance, picking out tiny details that throw a whole new light on a dramatic situation and teasing once in a lifetime performances out of a superstar cast.

As the original ads proclaimed at the time of the film's original release, SEX WORLD picks up where pop science fiction flicks WESTWORLD and FUTUREWORLD left off with a theme park aimed squarely at adults. The promise of being able to set up every possible sexual scenario attracts a disparate bunch of characters whose stories are followed from the flashback drudgery of daily life to the exhilaration (and, tellingly, in one case disenchantment) that comes with finding their deepest longings satisfied.

Lust legend Lesllie Bovee, an exquisite light comedienne in movies like Chris Warfield's CHAMPAGNE FOR BREAKFAST, and fly by night performer Kent Hall who had bit parts in Stu Segall's YOUNG STUDENTS and THE SPIRIT OF SEVENTY-SEX have an endearing chemistry as the happy couple seeking to spice up their marriage, only to be confronted with doubt and insecurity. As a painter of female nudes, Lesllie harbors suppressed lesbian tendencies so a passionate encounter with gorgeous next door neighbor Abigail Clayton (star of Antonio Shepherd's 7 INTO SNOWY) is in order. For the less complex husband there's a threesome with giggly Chinese chick Carol Tong and cult favorite Amber Hunt who'd delivered a standout performance in Weston's CRY FOR CINDY, her adult film debut. Comic relief comes from the director's male muse, John Leslie (who has of course starred in most of Weston's masterpieces), as a loudmouthed racist who gets a tumble with the only black female superstar of the '70s, Desirée West (a/k/a Pat Lee) who's resolved to prove that "his spigot ain't no bigot !" Momma's boy Jack Wright, an outstanding character actor (mostly for Weston but also in Alan B. Colberg's NAKED AFTERNOON) forever rumored to have resorted to a studly stand-in for his hardcore footage (though he certainly did perform with Jesie St. James in EASY), and belligerent spouse Kay Parker – making her porn debut following a non-sex performance as Madame Jacinda in Gary Graver's V - THE HOT ONE – provide a much darker shade of humor with their incessant mind games. Watching his wife being taken by force (by longtime actor Joey Silvera, still active today) from behind a two-way mirror, Wright finds solace in the arms of little-seen Maureen Spring whose only starring role was in Jesse Pearson's LEGEND OF LADY BLUE.

It's back to Heartbreak City with Annette Haven, the uncrowned Empress of Erotica and perhaps the most beautiful adult actress of all time (surely the only possible choice for the role of the alluring Sheherazade in Edwin Brown's A THOUSAND AND ONE EROTIC NIGHTS), as a Sapphic recluse who has just broken up with her girlfriend of five years (blonde amazon Cris Cassidy, billed as "Suzette Holland", making a fleeting debut before knocking viewers flat on their backsides as one of Bob Chinn's CANDY STRIPERS) in search of male companionship.

Saving the best for last, AFAA Best Actress Sharon Thorpe (too frequently overlooked but she should be high on any real dirty movie devotee's list of people to enjoy in movies like Gary Graver's 3 A.M.) burns up the screen as a mousy secretary trying to break free from her lonely existence through a scorching romp with big black stud Johnnie Keyes wearing his iconic white peekaboo BEHIND THE GREEN DOOR outfit, though her sad phone sex conversation with Peter Johns earlier on is just as riveting.

With such a vast number of characters running and playing around, SEX WORLD risked becoming just a long series of sex scenes with little time left for plot development. Fine filmmaker that he was, Weston effortlessly managed to sidestep this probability by encouraging his talented cast to make love in character. Too many people still seem to think that just because the sex is for real, and instinctively we all know how great that can feel and how it can make you forget all that is going on around you, surely there can be no room for any acting left, as if an actor's capacities were somehow magically zapped away at the moment of penetration. My spelling it out should prove once and for all just how ludicrous that notion really is. Sadly, even critically acclaimed yet occasionally explicit art-house movies like Marco Bellocchio's DEVIL IN THE FLESH or Patrice Chéreau's INTIMACY have done little to alter that perception for the average viewer.

Nearly three decades ago, SEX WORLD achieved an audience's full interest, nay, involvement in the plight of its set of characters whose story's effectively furthered through the sex. Not wanting to come across as an apologist (i.e. someone who feels the need to find a legitimate reason, other than his penchant for looking at pretty naked people, for viewing and enjoying pornography), I would have to say that SEX WORLD accomplishes its goal of being a complete cinematic experience – looks like a real film, sounds like a real film, so it must be a real film – far better than most XXX movies made since.

I like the idea of sometime in the late 1970s a bus was going round San Francisco with a banner for SexWorld on the side.

Inspired by the television series Fantasy Island crossed with the Michael Crichton film, Westworld. Guests hop on the bus to take them to a hi tech palace where all kinds of sexual fantasies can be fulfilled.

Anthony Spinelli creates scenarios with his scientists so guests leave the resort in a better frame of mind and maybe learn something about themselves.

When her long term girlfriend walks out on her, Annette Haven decides she wants to have sex with a young Latino man.

Sharon Thorpe is a lonely spinster who cannot find satisfaction with phone sex or dirty movies. She wants to be noticed and have someone be kind to her, SexWorld programmers find that what she wants is Johnnie Keyes straight out of Behind the Green Door.

There is a comic story of a racist John Leslie finds it is more fun to have sex with a black woman, Desiree West.

The film is regarded as a classic of the Golden Age of Porn with numerous famous performers from that period but I did not find it the best example of late 1970s porn. At least there is a cheesy theme song, an attempt at a story and the acting is pretty good.

SexWorld (1978)

*** (out of 4)

As the title suggests, this here is a porn take-off on WESTWORLD where people travel by bus to a secret location where all of their sexual desires can come true. We meet a number of couples and characters who want to express themselves sexually and SexWorld allows that to happen.

Anthony Spinelli's SEXWORLD is considered by many people to be the greatest adult movie ever made. I personally wouldn't go that far but there's no question that it's one of the best the genre has to offer and there's enough going on here that even people who aren't fans of the genre could enjoy it. I was really surprised to see how well-made this movie was as it features a great cast, some wonderful set design and there's no doubt that Spinelli has everything under control.

The film basically introduces us to a variety of people, we learn about what their desires are and then we see them acted out. What's so surprising is the fact that all of the characters are people you wouldn't mind knowing and this here adds another layer to things. It's good that we can enjoy the people that we are watching and we're also given some pretty funny scenarios including one honky who doesn't want a black woman but Desiree West wins him over. We also have Amber Hunt, Annette Haven, Kay Parker and Abigail Clayton among others.

Again, this is a very good film but at the same time I don't think it's nearly as good as some others that the genre has to offer. On a technical level it's certainly right up there with the very best and it's an all around entertaining picture.