Cris d'extase

Even in its minimalist approach (to sets, locations, etc.), this combo sci-fi/porn film seems quite ambitious compared to other genre-mashing early '70s movies. However, unknown (for good reason) auteur Antony Weber muffs the job (pun intended).

IMDb helpfully informs us that he had earlier made another porn/action movie called SAVAGE CONNECTION which would be considered a lost film if anyone were looking for it. That picture has the same leads as this one: Sandy Carey and Michael Abbott.

I won't belabor Weber's plot spine (it's not really much of a screenplay), detailed adequately in the Something Weird Video liner notes for the DVD version. What it leaves out is the fact that the print used for video transfer appears incomplete -the final reel is shredded and incomprehensible.

Up until that point Weber presents a potentially interesting mixture: cheapo MAD MAX automobile to accompany motor cycles as post-apocalyptic mode of transportation (several years before George Miller made Mel Gibson a star); stark desert landscape of the future (even before L.Q. Jones' take on Harlan Ellison's classic A BOY AND HIS DOG starring Don Johhson) plus porn.

And it is porn that dominates the proceedings, kicked off by lovely (but stuck with tons of makeup and unbecoming futuristic costuming) Sandy Carey and fellow X veteran Malta in leading roles. Michael Abbott in the lead role of a general lording it over a budget- constricted tiny cast, is a poor actor and not much of a sex simulator, accounting for the fact that his entire list of credits is comprised of the Weber-directed pair of movies.

As usual Uschi Digard fills up the screen with her massive ta-tas, but add this to the seemingly endless list of credits that bait her fans to watch but turn out to be unworthy of her presence. Most of the women in Weber's cast are attractive but he's not the man to pilot them.

The other genre he manages to inject is the then extremely popular martial arts craze, of which FIVE FINGERS OF DEATH and Bruce Lee were about to make a tremendous impact at the U.S. box office. Male ingénue lead here John Martin shows off his martial arts skills and even gets a credit for same in addition to his non-acting. It's billed as karate, because kung-fu specifically was not yet in general circulation apparently when this movie was shot. He even has a battle with cute Dianne Bishop (another never-made-it thesp), cast as a deaf-mute babe auditioning for a new PREHISTORIÇ WOMEN craze which unfortunately never happened (that genre was winding down back in England at the time).

With its lack of continuity and inattention to proper plot development, CRIES would still have made a passable drive-in time killer, but it was never booked near me during my early '70s mania for taking in as many double or triple bills at the Cleveland, Akron or Canton ozoners as possible. I doubt if either of Weber's movies got many bookings at all.

The splicy nature of this print makes it unclear whether CRIES was soft or hardcore. Uschi often appeared in XXX movies while still retaining her cherry, and star Sandy Carey went both ways. But Weber's poorly staged groping moments looked to me as strictly soft, regardless of editing or CINEMA PARADISO style projectionist tampering.

Cries of Ecstasy, Blows of Death (1973)

** (out of 4)

Set in the year 2062, this post-apocalyptic tale shows a group of survivors who don't have much to do except have simulated sex.

That's the only plot description I'm giving this low-budget softcore film because, well, to be honest, there's really not much of a plot. With that said, director Antony Weber deserves a lot of credit for at least trying to do something fresh and original with the material. You see, this isn't your typical softcore film as this one here tries to be science fiction and you know what, it actually looks very good for that type of thing.

One must remember that this here was years before MAD MAX and the various other rip-offs that followed. This film has a very low-budget but at the same time you can tell that there was at least some thought and imagination put into the wasteland and the various "futuristic" items that we see throughout the picture. Even if the film is only a "C" quality I'd still give it an A+ for effort.

The cast has a few familiar faces including Uschi Digard who appears towards the later end of the film. Plot wise there's really nothing ground-breaking here but that's not overly important since these types of films really didn't have much plot anyways. Some of the simulated sex scenes are laughable and especially a sixty-niner between a couple ladies where you can clearly see one woman's face far away from her "target" point.

Largely unwatchable, apocalyptic, movie with unidentified people on motorcycles or in yellow gowns running around with gas masks kiling people.

Why they need gas masks when they freely take them off to speak is never discussed.

Some hot girls in these see thru bubble structures, naked doing stuff is the only saving grace. In fact, I only sat thru this to see Uchi Digard who had the be the hottest woman on Earth back in the 70's.

The Something Weird version I saw was only 58 minutes long. A blessing in a way in that the movie really stinks.

The writing is horrible. The acting just dismal and the direction -- well let's just say the guy who directed this directed only two movies. You can tell why.

The many sex scenes are completely gratuitous and not very sexy. I said earlier I sat thru this just to see Uchi Digard -- all 30 seconds worth. Big let down. She should have been the star.

A very low budgeted apocalyptic movie which takes place in the desert, ravaged by pollution in which fresh air is in limited supply motivating people to live in plastic air domes. Making life much more difficult is that the area is divided into 3 different factions between the marauders riding motorbikes, the enforcement crew who drive and 2 different residents who live in domes with a borderline drawn in between them.

I do not know if this was the first, but it's least entertaining and least desirable, which even the action is quite lousy. I've seen some of the fights like this similar in some blaxploitation movies like Coffy and "Foxy Brown" and so forth when it's obvious that the fights looked very fake but at least theirs some originality.

100 years in the future the earth is ravaged by (pollution, nuclear tests, rockets, etc.) and the remaining people live in bubbles out in the desert under the auspices of some kind of police state.

From 1973, this may be the first post-apocalyptic-dystopian-society-in-the-desert-with-crazy-vehicles-and-outfits. So this film is truly groundbreaking. There were plenty of grim sci-fi tales from the early 70s, but this could be the first in that desert landscape.

Although obviously low budget, the sets and costumes are well thought out and work well given the limitations. The location is also chosen well, and the color of the outer robes makes sense when you see the rest of the film. Everyone needs to wear a breathing mask outside (army surplus, but it works) or after a (never really determined) period of exposure you'll die.

Under the robes, the women wear exceptionally sexy stringy things, when they wear anything, and the men wear only tight pants, when they wear anything. There's a lot of sex, violence, and post-apocalyptic doom and gloom, along with some well choreographed martial arts by both male and female characters. The fight scenes are really well done. The sex and violence (which are not too graphic) work into the plot given who are "good guys" and "bad guys" although there's also an underpinning of a totalitarian society.

It's thin on plot but does a good job of creating an overall sense of despair. The motivations of the characters in the bubbles (especially the sex) makes sense and there isn't always a bright line between "good guys" and "bad guys."

Sandy Carey and Uschi Digard are mostly known for porn/sexploitation, but this does transcend that genre. It clocks in a 75 minutes. There could be missing footage, but it seems complete enough. The stock footage of cityscapes, rockets, and nuclear tests is more distracting than helpful.

EDIT: the version shown on Tubi is cut by about 25 minutes and it adds the stock footage. It still works truncated like that.