Fantasm

Fantasm (1976)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

This here is best remembered for being the first softcore film to be shown in Australia as well as it featuring some very big stars. The film has a Professor talking to the camera and explaining various female fantasies. From here we see ten different stories dealing with women and their sexual fantasies.

FANTASM basically has ten vignettes and I personally found the majority of them quite boring. I think the history behind this film is the main reason that it is remembered because there's really nothing overly special here in regards to the direction or the stories. I say this because by 1976 America was fully into hardcore pictures and softcore ones like this were pretty much being forgotten. Had FANTASM been released to America I doubt it would have done much but since this was a first in Austrlia it has a bit of history to it.

The main reason to watch the film is for the variety of stars that show up. There are some very famous faces that pop up throughout the ten stories and this includes John Holmes, Rene Bond, Candy Samples, Serena as well as Uschi Digard among many others. The Holmes segment has a woman fantasizing about him as well as him using food in a sexual way. The Digard sequence shows off her "best parts" but the story is pretty lacking. I love Rene Bond and she's my favorite actress but I must say that she isn't too good here. She's part of a rape sequence where she takes on a black boxer. I'll just leave it that Bond doesn't come across too good here.

I must say that the Candy Samples sequence stands out the most because she fantasizes about her son and taking a bath with him. This here was done years before the hardcore film TABOO so this segment does stand out among the others. As I said, I thought the stories for most were rather weak and I didn't think they were well-directed either. The main reason to watch this is for the number of American stars who show up.

Directed by Richard Franklin (whom would go onto better things with "Psycho 2" and "Roadgames"), comes this tawdry number wherein Professor Jurgen Notafreud (John Bluthal from Dark City, and the Fifth Element) reveals the 'top ten womens' fantasies' in this porn mockumenty. The fantasies include, a girl lusting for her hairdresser, wife swapping at a strip poker game, strap-on, rape, sex with John Holmes, incest, prostitution, school play and religious sacrilege. This is a VERY mixed back. The doctor is supremely unfunny and cringe-inducing, some of the 'fantasies' are great, but some are awful. All of them are hard soft-core by the way. Plus you get some extremely top heavy women and of course John Holmes, that in itself is worthy enough to give this one at least a rent. It was followed by a severely lacking sequel to quickly cash-in on this film's success.

My Grade: C-

DVD Extras: Commentary by Antony Ginnane (one of the most interesting and informative ones I've heard); almost 23 minute retrospective featurette 'Fantasm Penetrated'; and theatrical trailer

Eye Candy: more full frontal and ass than you can shake a stick at (in one viewing at least) Serena, Shayne, Maria Aronoff, Rene Bond, Roxanne Brewer, Wendy Cavanaugh, Uschi Digard, Gretchen Gayle, Dee Dee Levitt, Maria Lutra, Helen O'Connell, Candy Samples, and Maria Welton all bare all; plus some girls I don't know show a lot as well

For the Ladies: a few balls and peni (plural of penis)

this is a pretty good soft-core sex comedy, with some pretty hot women (and a few not so hot). the 'professor' guy is pretty goofy and induces a few chuckles, and some scenes are genuinely funny. the emphasis is on sex, but the director seems to be of an indecisive mind (unless something's missing from the current DVD version of the film): some scenes are so tame, they're hardly R material, while some are more intense, including one with John Holmes that crosses over into hardcore X territory (but fleetingly, and it's all underwater)!

there's a lot more explicit nudity and sexual heat in the film than most of the current or recent soft-core films, and most of the women are naturally beautiful. on the minus side, the technical aspects are a bit shoddy, and the whole thing is (intentionally) lame-brained. but it's definitely worth checking out if you like this sort of stuff.

The recent documentary, Not Quite Hollywood, has inspired me to see every movie featured in it. Recently I was lucky enough to receive for my birthday 12 Ozploitation flicks, this being one of them. I did not go into this expecting much, and I did not get it. Although it has some genuinely funny moments, and some 'what the hell' scenes, the rest was just random and nonsensical. There is very little plot in this movie, as it is based around a Professor explaining 10 common female fantasies. Of course, these are all acted out for us, some very explicit, others not so much.

I suppose you have to be in the right mood to get into Fantasm, and although it is not overly bad, it is nothing to write home about. Richard Franklin is a competent director (he did a great job of Psycho II and the Hitchcockian thriller Roadgames) and it shows here. The film flows well and never really gets boring, just odd. Fantasm is only recommended to those who want to see every Ozploitation film or someone who is just looking for a cheap laugh.

2½/5