Sexual Response

The world of double-bills can be a curious thing: "Robocop" and "Cherry 2000," yes. But I saw this paired with Mark Frost's subdued but interesting "Storyville," "Sexual Response" was subdued for sure, but not interesting.

You have to hand it to Shannon Tweed, though - not many Penthouse Pets/Playmates et al have managed to carve out such a long career in this field. The only things I remember for sure about this movie are a) Shannon's frequent nudity, and b) an encounter with a guy in a field. And stuff about her being a radio psychiatrist... and indeed, anyone watching this movie for reasons other than being a Tweed-ologist would need their head examined. (Too bad we've never had Shannon Tweed and Shannon Whirry together - that would be either a very good movie or a very bad one. Probably the latter.)

Miss Tweed,all naked and having sex as a ginger,mixed with a cozy little sexual thriller plot involving a sexually dissatisfied married radio psychologist(Tweed,who else?)who decides to have an affair with a high-strung--and possibly violent--loner she meets(Emile Leviseti),is pretty much the sum total of this film's appeal. It does bother to have a plot and,up until the laughably contrived conclusion,it DOES draw the viewer along. Believe it or not,Zalman King(best known for the "Red Shoes Diaries" series and various skin-tastic movies,some featuring Tweed) had nothing to do with this,but you'll still get the "Old school" (i.e.early nineties,straight to video attempts at "legitimate" cinema) Skinemax treatment here. A cheap rental somewhere,though I have no clue if this has made it to DVD yet.

"Sexual Response" IMHO the best "erotic thriller" that I have seen. It stars a pre-implant Shannon Tweed as a radio talk-show host and sex therapist who listens to call-in guests and dispenses sexual advice over the air. (This is a great big cliche now, but the idea was fairly original when this movie was released.) Shannon's character is somewhat repressed herself, and she gets involved with a "dangerman" who turns out to have ulterior motives.

In contrast to the usual R-rated B-movie where the sexual situations are completely unrealistic, people grinding to bad jazz music with their privates in different zip-codes, those in "Sexual Response" are rather believable. The story is quite a good one and the acting very acceptable indeed. This is a movie definitely worth checking out. Many people who usually don't like B-erotic thrillers like this one. This could easily be a mainstream release with a little packaging. I recommend it highly. BTW, make sure to get the unrated version.

Magnus.

This film essentially begins with a psychologist by the name of "Dr. Eve Anderson" (Shannon Tweed) hosting a radio show in which she gives advice to those listeners who need help in their relationships. Her problem is that, even though she can help other people, she seems to be experiencing some difficulty in her own relationship with her husband "Philip" (Vernon Wells). To that effect, upon meeting a young man known simply as "Edge" (Emile B. Levisetti) at a bar, she is easily seduced by him and, to her surprise, doesn't seem to know what to do from that point on. Complicating matters even further, it isn't long until her husband becomes suspicious about her affair while, at the same time, Edge becomes more and more possessive--and both of them have violent tendencies. Now, rather than reveal any more, I will just say that Shannon Tweed starred in a number of erotic-thrillers during the 80's and 90's with this particular film being neither better nor worse than most. On the plus side, she still looks great, and her performance was quite solid as well. On the other hand, I cannot say the same for the performances of either Vernon Wells or Emile B. Levisetti as neither of them seemed very convincing in their roles. But that's just my opinion. In any case, although I don't consider this to be one of Shannon Tweed's better films, it still passed the time well enough, and I have rated it accordingly. Average.

As someone who fell into Shannon Tweed's catalog of flicks much later on in life, 'Sexual Response' surprised me. Not only because she doesn't sport her traditional blonde look, but because real effort was put into it's plot device before it was well worn territory. The thriller melodrama is decently done, a few predictable cliches and the T&A certainly here.

Dr. Eve Robinson (Tweed) is the host of a popular relationship radio show where she doles out truths to callers, listeners while unhappy in her personal life. She's married to wealthy Phillip (Vernon Wells) but feels unfulfilled sexually and neglected. This leads her to mysterious younger artist Edge (Emile Levisetti) as the sex amps up, the cheating is at risk of being discovered and other truths come to light.

Flicks like these - the entire genre - quickly became wham bam thank you ma'am style of erotica. Get to the juicy parts - female nudity - and everything else (story, characters, atmosphere) is secondary. Here it's a slow build, the simulated sex scenes don't feel forced or just thrown in and they don't come at the price of neutering the story. Different sides of Eve are shown and not always complimentary to her. Tweed made a name for herself getting naked, but it's a pic like this that reminds you she wasn't a bad actress too. Wells does a decent job of portraying a stuffy gentlemen who also isn't stupid.

'Sexual Response' won't change how you feel about this genre if you already loathe / dislike it, but the spicy romance offers a few surprises and ending is solid. Good musical score, camera work too. If you're a fan of Tweed check this out. She supplies all the nudity.