I mavri Emmanouella

`That girl' Laura Gemser was permanently plastered across adult cinema screens in the 70s. Hardly a great actress but an absolute stunner, the Javanese-born former model came to international attention in the 1975 smash Black Emanuelle (that's one M to avoid prosecution). She also guested with Sylvia Krystal the same year in Emmanelle 2 as a masseuse, then made five more `official' Black Emanuelle sequels for the notorious `Joe D'Amato'/Aristide Massaccesi, including the gut-munching sleaze of Emanuelle And The Last Cannibals. Countless other titles in Gemser's 50-plus filmography have been retitled to cash in on her fame. Emanuelle's Daughter started out as `Sexy Moon', certainly not one of Gemser's best - my pick is Divine Emanuelle (aka Love Camp, 1980), a ludicrous Jonestown-style musical (!).

An often turgid softcore soap opera and travelogue, it was filmed in Cyprus at the height of the Euro-disco craze (you can see the Village People perform `YMCA' on a TV set!). A rich industrialist dies under mysterious circumstances, and his widow ‘Emanuelle' returns to his estate in control of his fortune and his young rebellious daughter. It appears Emanuelle was subject to her husband's perverted whims, and now seeks revenge on his partners-in-crime with the help of the vicious womanizing disco king Mario (Gemser's long-time husband Gabriele Tinti). The film explores the daughter's budding sexuality; Cyprus must have a lower age of consent, as she looks about 14 with her gear off. Familiar face Gordon Mitchell, former muscleman and star of countless westerns and Hercules films, plays one of the husband's cronies, and is dubbed by the voice of Bud Spencer - I keep expecting him to down 14 hotdogs and clock Gemser on the nut! Passable disco tail-waver.

Although several cuts above the average Emanuelle opus, the only character who generates any interest here is Haris Tryfonas as Mario, the hit-man hired by Emannuelle to bump off her wealthy perverted husband by arranging a fatal accident. Most of the film centers on Mario's continuous casual but very passionate conquests of the fair sex and he is mostly responsible for the film's erotic scenes as he trails Emanuelle to blackmail her. A couple of these scenes are with a woman he met on the plane to Cyprus and they're both erotic and humorous: as soon as she puts some eggs in the frying pan or some fresh coffee on to boil when he arrives, he inevitably "has at her." The eggs heat up and explode, or the coffee boils over and splatters, a perfect accompaniment to their hot, passionate sex bouts. Mario is actually pretty cool in demeanor until his vicious side comes out...and his brutal, graphic rape of the spoiled pubescent stepdaughter destroys any feelings of approval one might have formed for him. Emannuelle in this film is just as immoral and coldblooded, mean and vicious.The abrupt ending only hints at her ambitions coming to an end when her part as instigator in the murder plot is revealed. Worth watching for Tryfonas' performance which is the only element in this that hold one's interest. With his memorable portrayal of the sinister but sexy lady-killer with the fresh daily rose in his teeth, Tryfonas alone raises it to a 7. Without him there would be no film at all, and it would rate barely a 3.

Complete nonsense with awful dialogue but above average as a sex movie. Gemser, of course is as lovely as ever, but given a little too much to do here and what with the rambling of the script she has little chance, even if she fares better than most who seem to take it in turns to under act and over act. Taking the storyline seriously is a bad mistake but the many and varied sex sequences are fine. If you don't mind sex mixed with more than a little violence that is. Here we get rape and near rape, an extraordinary scene where a medallion wearing gentleman disturbs a woman in his flat, knocks her about a bit and then considers that sex would be a good idea and the couple fall into each other's arms, and other almost jaw dropping moments. Unbelievable shots of Gemser nude astride a horse deep in the sea which may or may not be supposed to contrast with a later rape of a young girl in the shallow surf!

Here's another of these misguided sexploitation films that never really hits it's mark, and falls weary like a lot of these dramas. This Emanuelle has some nasty violence mixed in, the daughter is hot indeed (the nude shower scene stays in my head) This is typically a revenge film, of Emanuelle settling some old ugly scores, the daughter oblivious of her activity. The daughter falls is love also. It's that age. A dangerous mafia figure gets to know the daughter too, where in the end, he gives it to her old. ED is just another of these muddled Italia sex pics, good for birdwatching. The daughter is one of very few reasons to watch this, in an adult pic that delivers on nudity and sex, but not much else I'm afraid.

The "Black Emanuelle" series went from pointless erotica ("Black Emanuelle") to the most crass and tasteless Italian exploitation ("Emanuelle in America")without ever actually achieving any drama or a real plot. This is about the closest the series ever came to a real movie. Gemser has a meatier-than-usual role as a trophy wife who has knocked off her rich, jaded husband, but is being blackmailed by the sleazy character she hired to do it. She falls in love with her late husband's industrialist partner (played by Gemser's real husband Gabrielle Tinti), and for some reason keeps around her husband's busty mistress, who had helped him sexually torture her and who begins plotting with the blackmailer against her. On the other, she seems genuinely devoted to her husband's teenage daughter, Livia (thus this movie was alternately called "Emmanuelle's Daughter" to capture the lucrative pervert market). The blackmailer, a sleazy looking Greek guy who always has a rose between teeth, makes his way sexually through the entire female cast, but isn't necessarily a very intimidating villain.

The ending of this movie is abrupt and incredibly stupid, but up until then there is some genuine dramatic tension, making this slightly more interesting than the typical Emanuelle flick. It's not nearly as transgressive and disturbing as some of the Joe D'Amato Emanuelle films (although the Italian sleazemeister was peripherally involved in this on the production end). There is one unpleasantly graphic, but not entirely gratuitous, rape scene involving an actress of an indeterminate, but probably pretty young, age--but no "snuff film" footage, equine masturbation, or cannibalism here.

Gemser, on the other hand, looks great and really gets a chance to act for change. Definitely recommended for Gemser/Emanuelle fans. As for everyone else. . .well, why are you reading this anyway?