The Sinful Pleasures of Reverend Star

There are at least two kinds of true cult films: the Rocky Horror/Eraserhead/El Topo breed, which made their name initially underground, often at midnight screenings, before becoming household names/cultural icons; and the film about a cult, e.g., Jamestown, Branch Davidians, etc.

This stinker belongs to the latter group, a Frisco-made amateurish porn film about the uninteresting antics of the title character. Its DVD reissue is for diehards.

The thinnest of plot lines is delivered as an excuse to present wall-to-wall sex footage. Opening credits in fact are scrawled on a wall, to save optical printing costs.

Interracial cast makes for mixed combo action -very very popular in the late '70s on screen. Unfortunately, the sex depicted here is 100% mechanical, with zero passion.

Casting director was careful to choose women with attractive nipples, and oddest fetish is one girl covered up in saran wrap. An incredibly boring orgy is included to kill time.

Brief scenes out on the street are shot guerrilla style, with the unknowing extras staring bewildered at the camera (I doubt if any consent forms were handed out). Soundtrack includes the sounds of Chinese New Year fireworks -a local color benefit of shooting in S.F.

A nonsensical plot twist has guys with medallions instantly hypnotizing cult girls to have sex with them. The hero looks like Weird Al Jankovic, and gets the deep throat treatment at film's climax.

The shill writing the booklet included in the After Hours Cinema DVD wonders at length about an odd special effect. It's actually a defect in the surviving print used for telecine transfer: an annoying red light flashes rhythmically during most of the film, caused by some age-related decomposition of the film emulsion. Yes, we live in an era where motion picture film and its peculiar characteristics are completely unknown to new generations of vidiots.