The Pink Ladies — The Pink Ladies( Blu Ray & DVD)
The Pink Ladies( aka Sexual Pink Ladies) focuses in on a group of four New York couples, and their sexual fantasies, and those of a few people around them. The film is a bright & lightly scoped feature- with a series of fantasies unfolding in a fairly creative and varied manner. Through-out the films seventy-two-minutes runtime Watkins certainly shows himself as a very cable of capturing the sexual encounters in a clear, balanced & planned out manner. When the screen isn’t filled with flesh he manages to weave in a semi plot/ flow to the whole thing, and from time-to-time comes up with some interesting (non-porn) shot set-ups.
The film opens with the group of six wives playing a game of racketball, with a mustached ref watching on. After the game & banter between the four, they retire to the showers- where the ref starts fantasizing about encounters with each in the shower, then on the ball court. After this, we get one of the more interesting shot set-ups, as a conversation between the four is carried out from under each’s toilet cubical with just the legs/ pants showing- Watkins skillful edits back and forth between the cubicals in a very skillful & amusing manner. As the film unfolds, and it focus in on first one couple then another- we get female encounters with fairground muscle men & sword swallowers, fairly extreme BDSM with a bespeckled husband whose wife wears night cream, turn of the century brothel encounters, and mostly bizarrely in a gym where multiple male & female figures are painted different colors & wear swim hats & goggles. Though-out Watkins script adds in moments of sly and cheeky humor, which also makes the whole thing more watchable.
Cast wise we have known & recognizable New Yorker Hardcore actors like Samantha Fox( not the page three model) and Vanessa del Rio- and they are joined by some recognizable faces from ’70s & 80’s exploration like Robert Kerman(Cannibal Holocaust & Eaten Alive), and Michael Gaunt ( City Of The Living Dead & Let Me Die A Women). And mostly the cast does a good enough job at the acting side of things, as well of course in their various fleshy encounters. On the whole, The Pink Ladies is a competent example of late 70’s New York porn, that’s well made, edited and cast- with along the way the odd more creative touches and moments of humor making it not just a plot-less shag fest.
Moving onto this new reissue, and as we’ve come to expect VS has done a stellar job on the new print- it’s a 2k scan taking from the original negative, and everything is so clear & defined- with the late 70’s brighter colors really stand out, as does of course the flesh tones too. On the extra front, we get a thirteen-minute interview with one of the film's actors John A. Mozzer ( aka Alan Adrian), and he conducts this sitting naked in a chair. Next we get an eighteen-minute discussion/ appraise of the film from underground journalist Art Ettinger who did one of the longest ever interviews with Watkins- this sees him discussing where the film sits in Watkins filmography & how it compares to his other adult films, the more known exploration actors Kerman & Gaunt, and Watkins impression of a few of the film's actors- including the guy who appears in the BDSM scene, who apparently was nicknamed Spike, as he liked to get his manhood nailed down- All told it’s a great featurette. Lastly, we get production stills, script & shooting schedule gallery, and the original trailer
Seemingly The Pink Ladies has been very difficult to get hold of- so it’s great to see VS giving their usual care and consideration to this release. Sure this won’t be for everyone, but if your curious about Roger Watkins wider filmography, or enjoy NYC porn from the 70’s that's bright & at times slyly amusing I think you’ll get a kick out of this release.