The Bitch was the sequel to popular 1970’s British sexploitation drama The Stud. Both films are set in and around London club-land, following the exploits of randy and devious high-class chancer Fontaine(Joan Collins). Here from Screenbound is a region free DVD release of the film- bringing together a new print of the picture, and a few extras.

The Bitch appeared in 1979, and was based on a short story by Collins sister Jackie. It was directed by  Englishman Gerry O'Hara, who has twelve feature-length credits to his name. These go from VD focused sexploitation of That Kind Of Girl(1963), fashion industry set spy thriller Maroc 7(1967), romantic drama Leopard In The Snow(1978), Period set sexploitation rom-com Fanny Hill (1983). The Bitch is well enough scoped, with some well-shot disco dancing sequences. Unfortunately, much of the good stuff from The Stud is missing/ fleeting- devious bitch-ness, selection of amusingly sleazed characters, and entertaining soft-core set-ups.

The film kicks off in New York City with Fontaine in bed with one of her lovers, red roses are delivered, & she quickly dresses making her way to the airport. Here we get introduced to the films other lead character moustached Italian gambler Nico(Antonio Cantafora)- he hooks onto Fontaine in the 1st class seats of the plane, placing a ring in her fur jacket so she can get it through UK customs without been search. Unfortunately Nico loses track of her as they leave the plane in the UK- meaning he has to try & track her down. Back in London at her high-class pad, Fontaine is seducing Ricky(Pete Wright) her new chauffeur- taking off her fur coat to reveal a bask, stockings & suspenders. Fairly soon we find out Fontaine is burning through money like no one's business, with little or no money coming in from her disco club The Hobo. As the film moves on Nico tracks down Fontaine- but unfortunately brings in his mafia connections into both of their lives- as he owes big to the mob.

From the off the film seems to lack the spark of The Stud, firstly there’s little or no of quipping & sleazed dialogue, and the soft-core sex scenes are even tamer & more subdued. But lastly/ most important is that Fontaine isn’t really that bitchy or manipulative, with a lot of the film finding Collins seemingly having little or no spark, or passion for the character. This time around the more high-class soap side of things come out even more, as do the club scenes- which are not just in the updated Hobo( with an underlit disco floor), but in a few other London clubs. As mentioned early the soft-core side of things are even tamer than The Stud, with only a latter swim pool orgy showing any flesh- though it lacks the unbalancing hedonistic danger of a similar scene in The Stud.  Also, the plotting/ flow of The Bitch seems very loose & unappealing, with lots of club/ casino scenes that really don’t progress the film. Along with Collins we get a few returning characters from The Stud, in the shape of two club going buddies- Sammy( Doug Fisher) and Terry(Chris Jagger), the former been the jailbait tracking cheeky charmer & the latter being the swinging chancer- but neither are really given little or no decent dialogue. Where the film does shine, is been very vapid & the more dance club scene focused- so if that’s your thing in 70’s exploration you may get a kick out of this, but there’s little else to recommend the film.

Moving onto this new region free DVD- and we get a good new scan of the film, which really works well on the more sparkly disco bound moments. On the extras front, we get two onscreen interviews- the first is with the film's producer Edward Simons & it runs around fourteen minutes. He starts off talking about the success of The Stud, and due to this they decided to do the sequel- he approached Collins she was on board, but unfortunately, her co-star from the first film Oliver Tobias wasn’t interested. So they had to think about how to continue the story without him, going to Jackie Collins to get a twelve-page story to base the film on. He goes onto discuss the films production/ filming, talking about the film playing at Cannes, and his bizarre idea for a third film called Son Of A Bitch, which was to feature Collins & cheeky slapstick UK comedian Benny Hill as her son- Hill wasn’t interested so it never got made. Next, we get an interview with the film's director Gerry O'Hara- this runs around seventeen minutes. He starts off talking about how he got into the film industry, moving onto talk about how he got the job on The  Bitch. He discusses about its filming, issues with the cast, and interesting stories relating to the film production. Both interviews are well worth a play, pushing the whole package up a bit more.

In finishing The Bitch really is a rather underwhelming follow-up to The Stud- as it lacks the devious bitch-ness, effective enough soft-core set-ups, and the edge of the first film. If you enjoy soapy 70’s drama, with lots of disco bound scenes you may get something from it. And this Screenbound DVD is good- certainly worth a punt if you’ve already brought The Stud DVD.