Symphony of Love

Dick Randall was one of the flashy hucksters of yesteryear's indie cinema, fondly remembered by connoisseurs of trash. EROS PERVERSON (not to be confused with a NYC Ron Wertheim film of the same name & time frame) is one of his worst.

It has been revived by video company Mya Communications, known for their series of low quality Italian imports. This one makes their much-disparaged earlier releases look good.

It's a very tired, and very late in the day, "Mondo" styled fake documentary, revolving around the unfunny antics of a poor comedian and voyeur named Domenico. The action is sort of Allen Funt "candid camera" style, with plenty of dull soft porn and hints of the hard stuff, since this was co-directed by British XXX specialist Derek Ford. The other director, Luigi Batzella, is noted for at least a couple of decent horror/porn outings (NUDE FOR Satan and THE DEVIL'S WEDDING NIGHT).

I counted over 20 vignettes, none of them funny, interesting or sexy. They were just stupid exercises in slapstick plus nudity, the cheapest ways of entertaining an undemanding, low-brow audience.

To cite just a few examples, there are several segments harking back to nudies over 20 years before, as an Italian traffic cop ogles a full-frontal nude woman, or Domenico as an orchestra's kettle drum player imagines a female violinist nude. His wife is obese and ugly -a cheap shot figure of fun with sloppy eating habits too.

A wax museum with Hitler and horror statues is the setting for an ultra busty woman Natalie to appear nude. He imagines a blonde masseuse working on him, turning into a grotesque guy pummeling him instead. Instead of beauties, his daydreams turn to ugly, top-heavy plumpers dancing around.

Ajita Wilson cameos as a lesbian in one of many peeping tom scenes in a hotel where Domenico peers through many keyholes. IMDb has Wilson also credited as portraying "Antonia" in Wertheim's film EROS PERVERSION too, quite a coincidence or merely an erroneous credit.

Very choppy editing here (we often see him looking, but don't get to see what he's looking at) plus the DVD's abbreviated 66-minute running time hint at missing hardcore or at least stronger footage.

There is full-frontal male nudity too in a silly S.O.L.I. (semi-obligatory lyrical interlude -a late '60s movie cliché) where a beauty strips in front of a waterfall and is chased by a stud.

It all adds up to nothing -desultory porn filler. As with much of Randall's product, just a shuck.