Same Time Every Year

Fred Lincoln does a workmanlike job with SAME TIME NEXT YEAR, a one-note porn film blessed with a superior femme cast. Like many other Adult hall of famers (I'm thinking currently of Carter Stevens as prime example), FJL gets lauded for longevity, not achievement.

Weak script credited to Fred and script girl Kathy Karwoski, takes a serviceable gimmick but goes nowhere with it. Three husbands and best friends leave their wives for an annual convention, instead playing around with other women. Since the wives figured this out long ago and horse around themselves, there's no tension, conflict, character development, nothing. Just a vague excuse for lots of sex scenes.

Why this is watchable is because the women involved, not only wives and mistresses but incidental humpees, are beautiful and talented. Lead role Loni Sanders (billed mysteriously and repeatedly here with an obscure nickname "Haiku", presumably to honor her Japanese mom) has a couple of sex scenes - with real-life hubby Mike Ranger and later with gardener Herschel Savage. Lynx Canon has sex with good old Paul Thomas; chauffeur Ron Jeremy gets it on at a hot tub and pool with buxom Holly McCall and attractive China Leigh, while a quality lesbian turn is provided by horse lady Starr Wood and British fave Kathy Harcourt. Tiffany Clark also has a prominent role, while guest star Lee Carrol does a striptease.

The 3 guys aren't very interesting: PT, Michael Morrison and Ranger; and the film's construction is dull, with sex scenes clumsily knitted together to give the illusion of story telling, when connective footage of Ron and his limo is about the only forward movement. It's a shame, because with this big-budget cast, nice locations and a tolerable premise, more talented hands behind the camera could have concocted drama, farce or anything more memorable than Lincoln handed in.

This is one great adult flick. Loni Sanders is gorgeous in her small role. And that is a shame because Ms. Sanders is one great actress, as evident in her 2 scorching scenes in this flick. Big bad Ron Jeremy lays down the pipe in a great jacuzzi scene while one of the wives gets more than her car serviced by 2 car mechanics. Overall, a cool "old school" flick worth checking out!

Same Time Every Year (1981)

* 1/2 (out of 4)

Place for Shame, A (1981)

** (out of 4)

Fred Lincoln will always be best remembered for his role as Weasel in Wes Craven's 1972 shocker but what most people don't know is that Lincoln has over three-hundred director credits to his name. These are all hardcore flicks with these two being released as a double-feature from Alpha Blue Archives.

SAME TIME EVERY YEAR has three male friends going on the same business trip each and every year. That's just what they tell their wives as they're really getting away to have some fun with other women. Their wives aren't very faithful either. A PLACE BEYOND SHAME features Seka playing, well herself, a woman who can't stand to have a man touch her. Her best friend recommends she go see a shrink and before long she's back in action.

Neither one of these films are going to be talked about as hardcore classics but I guess, to be fair, their are prime examples of those low-budget items that were probably making a killing on VHS back in the early part of the 80s. Neither film has anything that really stands out in terms of quality so if you're looking for story, direction or any type of style then it's best to look elsewhere. Of the two films I'd say A PLACE FOR SHAME is a little better as Seka is at least easy on the eyes. I found the story of her being scared to have sex rather funny and her acting makes for a few good laughs especially the scene where the shrink and her friend try to teach her how to have sex. SAME TIME EVERY YEAR is pretty much wall-to-wall sex with very little in terms of a story. We're told what the story is early on and then after that it's hard to keep up with who's sleeping with who. Ron Jeremy makes a quick stop here so fans of his might want to check this out.