The Sex Machine (Aka Conviene Far Bene L'Amore) is a mid-70s Italian sex comedy Sci-fi set in a future where the Oil Supply has run out, with the world sent back to the Middle Ages with horse-drawn transport. But a plucky professor has an idea to create power by natural human sexual friction.  It’s a film that blends comedy, sci-fi, satire & farce- for an entertaining, amusing, and at points rather thought-provoking venture.  Here from Cheezy Movies is a region-free DVD release of the picture.

The Sex Machine is from the year 1975. It was written & directed Melfi, Basilicata born Pasquale Festa Campanile.  Between the early 60’s and early 80’s, he had forty-one features to his name. These go from 18th-century Rome-set comedy White Voices (1964),  and WWI-set comedy-drama The Girl & The General( 1967). Through slapstick sex comedy  How To Lose A Wife And Find A Lover(1978),  onto 1920s set crime- drama Uno Scandalo Perbene(1984).

The film opens with a voice-over detailing how the world's oil supply ran out in the late 80’s. It shows us the now of 2000s Italy- where there is only house-drawn transport,  families still gather around the dead TV sets in the evenings, and some folks sit in cars pretending they still work. We see the bearded, scarf-wearing, and twink-in-his-eye Prof. Enrico Coppola( Gigi Proietti)  on his horse making his way to his lab- he like many scientists is trying to find a way to re-power the world, and he has an idea- to see if he can harness sexually active to create electricity.

He starts off small ( for want of a better word!) getting his male lab assistant to rub a nude female college's ear lobs, neck, and of course, the obvious places- and eureka it works, and he creates a few watts of power. He next goes & buys light bulbs from the local antique dealer- managing to light one with his experiments.

As the world the characters now live in is very closely monitored/ recorded regarding people's wants & needs- they manage to locate two of the country's most sexually active people - there’s dark-haired hotel manager Daniele(Christian De Sica) who is very popular with his female guests, and Franessa( Agostina Belli) who has had into double number children with her husband.

The professor's team set up to knock down both Daniele & Francesca with their horse-drawn carriage. Then bring them into one of the rooms of their lab, which they disguise as two run-of-the-mill hospital beds.  One thing leads to another, they power a few lights blubs, a chandelier, then the street lights outside their lab. So can the professor further his experiment, will those in charge show interest in the cause, and can he also do his bit!

The film is light on the fleshy side of things, really been a very low-key softcore.  It’s called a sex comedy, but in reality it’s a sci-fi comedy with light saucy undercurrents.  Acting-wise Proietti is perfect as our lead- balancing well his passion to help the world and his initial awkwardness about what he’s doing.  Both Sica & Belli show a good mix of comic timing/ reaction & drama.

The film runs at just over the one hour and forty-minute mark- this is maybe a tad too long, as towards the end it feels like it’s maybe overstretched things- though we do get some telling & thought-provoking points made in its last quarter- so maybe a little trim up of some of the midway scenes would have made the film flow slightly better- but this is a minor quibble- as largely it’s both an entertaining and well-convinced plot/ film.

Moving onto this DVD release, and as with all the releases on Cheezy Movies- we get just the film & trailer reel. The subtitled Italian language scan looks fairly good- with little/ no damage, generally good picture clarity and well-defined subs.

The Sex Machine will appeal to those who enjoy a 1970s mix of comedy & Sci-fi, with the whole thing being largely well-realized & executed…just don’t expect much flesh!. Another great reissue of a lesser-known/ lost film from the folks at Cheezy Movies. I wanted to give this a three & a half mark, but as we only do whole marks here, I’ve gone for a three.