Girls for Rent

Porn legend Georgina Spelvin, fresh off her success in "The Devil in Miss Jones", got cast in this decent, frequently amusing exploitation-actioner from B movie veteran Al Adamson. Spelvin plays Sandra Tate, career criminal who's sprung from a prison work detail in Mexico to work for crime kingpin Joseph Moreno (Kent Taylor, "Brides of Blood"). Her first order of business is a hit, but Sandra chooses exactly the wrong person to help her carry it out: prostitute Donna Taylor (Susie Ewing, "Smokey and the Bandit"). Sandra is aghast at being party to murder, so she takes it on the lam, with Sandra and Morenos' lackey Erica (Rosalind Miles, "Friday Foster") in hot pursuit.

I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit: it's a sordid and sleazy little flick in which Ewing supplies most of the T & A (although Spelvin does take her top off twice). It's nice to see a movie like this where a lot of the humor WAS intentional; Adamson and his longtime cohort / producer Samuel Sherman were wise not to take this too, too seriously. The acting, too, was better than expected; at the least, it didn't always have me rolling my eyes. It's also a little twisted, as we see at about the 70 minute mark as it's revealed just how nasty Sandra is capable of being.

Granted, the stock music used was variable, in another case of the score working at some points and not at others. But I laughed heartily at how Sandra & Erica were really put through their paces trying to put a couple of bullets into Donna. And there's even a bit of heart, as Donna connects with the helpful Chuck (Preston Pierce, "Whiskey Mountain"). The big chase finish is fairly well done, as well.

Overall, this was fun to watch, although Spelvin herself disliked the experience enough that she went straight back to doing adult films (although she DID do two of the "Police Academy" movies in the 80s).

Seven out of 10.

Considering that the film has a score of 2.1 and it was made by Al Adamson, you'd expect the film to be a lot worse. Now I am NOT saying it was good--it really does suck. But the film isn't nearly as bad as I'd assume--and I definitely assume the worst when I see an Adamson film!! He definitely ranks in the top 10 of worst film directors of all time--along with such great "auteurs" as Ed Wood, Ted Mikels, Hershell Gordon Lewis, William Grefe, Ray Dennis Steckler and the like. If you don't believe me, try watching Adamson's Dracula VS. FRANKENSTEIN, HORROR OF THE BLOOD MONSTERS, HELL'S BLOODY DEVILS and FIVE BLOODY GRAVES (the only one I listed that I managed to rate as high as 2 and most of his films have overall ratings in the range of 1.5-2.5). He truly was a genius at creating garbage--and bad film fans like me enjoy laughing at the ineptitude of the man and his films. But, as I was saying, this film isn't nearly as bad as this list of dreck...though, naturally, it still is dreck! The film is about a team of two female assassins who use a prostitute to kill a man. THe prostitute has no idea she's being used when she slips a pill into the man's drink for the assassins. When the man then dies, the prostitute takes off for Mexico. But, the assassins' boss is a careful man and he orders the two to follow her and kill her--he wants no witnesses. The rest of the film is a cross-country journey to complete this hit.

At no point in the film is there any real excitement or thrills. The chases are amazingly low-speed, dull and filled with Ford Pinto vehicles (now THAT'S the perfect chase car!). As a result, the best the film can deliver is a mild break from the tedium. This break from the tedium also occurs when the ladies in the film inexplicably take off their clothes--often at the most inopportune and ridiculous moment. The worst example is the sick and degenerate scene involving one of the lady assassins raping a retarded guy and shooting him in the head during this! It's not funny but gross and even Adamson should have been ashamed of himself for this outrage. But, even with this sick touch, the film manages to entertain at times (particularly at the film's climax--no pun intended), though this is quite accidental. I'd score this one a 2 and because of the retarded rape scene, I DON'T recommend you see it--some things are better left unseen.

"Girls for Rent" is an example of sexploitation movies, so don't expect much from it. But still, one should not neglect the ill-conceived moves in the scenario. The film is full with illogical actions from every point of view. I'll save them for the viewer who will still want to watch the movie, but there's no way you try to shoot a stationary person from 30 yards, miss him, and then hit a speeding car and the man in it both times with two shots while driving along dirt road, barely staying in the bouncing car.

There are many other such moments in which you say to yourself "Ah, this is impossible!", "How did it turn out exactly like that?", "Is the hero really so stupid as to act so unwisely?", which spoils the impression of otherwise the good idea and the dynamic action.

This film begins in Mexico with a small group of female convicts being transported outside of the prison walls to work on a detail. Having conspired with one another beforehand, they then create a diversion which allows one of the women named "Sandra" (Georgina Spelvin) to escape on foot where another woman named "Erica" (Rosalind Miles) is waiting in a car for her. Erica then takes her to a large house where a mob boss by the name of "Moreno" (Kent Taylor) introduces himself and then explains that he wants her to kill a local politician by the name of "Halloran" (Hugh Warden). Sandra agrees and with the help of Erica they convince another one of Moreno's female employees named "Donna" (Susan McIver) to seduce Halloran and, in the process, slip a pill into his drink which will put him to sleep. Although Donna is initially reluctant, both Sandra and Erica convince her that everything will be okay. However, once Donna does as she is told, she discovers that the pill she put in Halloran's drink was extremely deadly and that she had just been tricked into committing murder. Needless to say, this terrifies her and in a state of sheer panic she decides to escape from Moreno's organization by hastily attempting to drive to Mexico. What she doesn't know, however, is that one of Moreno's henchmen had bugged her phone and as a result both Sandra and Erica have now been sent to silence her--once and for all. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that, for a low-budget production, this film wasn't nearly as bad as I initially expected. To that effect, I thought that both Georgina Spelvin and Susan McIver performed quite well, all things considered. Unfortunately, I have to admit that some of the other actors didn't do nearly as well and the film suffered because of it. That being said, while this movie wasn't terribly bad, it wasn't without its flaws and I have rated it accordingly. Slightly below average.

You may have put aside all the trash from trash video distributors like, you know, the ones behind this; you may think you won't give Al Adamson (director) or Samuel Sherman (producer) a second chance to trip you into a poor evening watching cheap soft-core, but!... This jewel of a cheap, quick movie here, made up in 60 days, has superb acting, reasonable direction, well photographed mountain and desert scenarios, creditable script (with not that many goofs), and - being a crime movie, action, thriller - a surprise ending. No, I won't reveal if it's better for you to drive into the desert with a car full of petrol, or without it. You shall find by yourself. If you can find this videotape somewhere, rent it, buy it, or rob it. If you had seen it, you'd opt for the third option, for sure :-))