One of the best films i have seen
... View MoreI am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible
... View MoreOk... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies
... View MoreThis is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama
... View MorePerhaps a trained psychiatrist could help me understand why three of the films I have recently rented have had to do with what I can only call homicidal genitalia. First there was "One Eyed Monster," in which the alien-possessed wiener of Ron Jeremy goes on a murderous spree. Then there was "Teeth," about a teenage woman with the condition known as "vagina dentata." And now...1970's "The Amazing Transplant"! The director's credit in this film is given as "Louis Silverman," but the picture's use of unsynchronized dialogue, meaningless shots of inanimate objects, horrendous acting, bad fashions, garish decor, sloppy editing and an oftentimes non sequitur jazz score all demonstrate that the real "auteur" here must be none other than "the female Ed Wood," Doris Wishman. During the course of this truly sui generis experience, the viewer meets Arthur Barlen, a young man with an unfortunate tendency to attack and rape any woman he encounters who is wearing gold earrings. The cause, as his detective uncle soon discovers by doing a little sleuthing (and I really don't think I'm spoiling too much for potential viewers at this late date), is the penis transplant that Arthur had had three months earlier. During this bloodless procedure, Arthur remains fully conscious and even carries on a running conversation with the operating surgeon! Anyway, having previously suffered through five other Wishman epics--"Nude on the Moon," "Bad Girls Go to Hell," "Another Day, Another Man," and the Chesty Morgan abominations "Deadly Weapons" and "Double Agent 73"--I suppose I should've known what to expect here. Just call me a glutton for punishment. This DVD, by the way, from those maniacs at Something Weird, looks surprisingly fine--better than it deserves to--and, typical for this outfit, comes with some pretty wacky extras. The naval scare film on sex hygiene might just turn you away from intercourse for good!
... View MoreThis is classic Doris Wishman - shots of dead air, horrible dubbing, impossibly bad acting, New York City streetscapes, and scene direction so terrible that'll it make you gasp. (Also expect a ton of her signature feet shots and eccentric art direction; this time around it involves a puzzling equestrian theme). Anyway, if you know Doris and like her take on gonzo sleaze, "The Amazing Transplant" is gonna be a fun time. Similar to "Bad Girls Go to Hell" "Deadly Weapons" and "Double Agent 73," this movie is, in its awfulness, pretty consistently funny. My only real complaint with "Transplant," as an unintentional comedy, is that the sex scenes are way too long. (Picture a 5-min scene between two ugly people, most of which comprises shots of the guy's bare arse. Yeah...). That said, expect to fast forward through some parts. It is worth it, though, because almost every scene is laughable in some way. (The scene with the killer's mom, whose dress sports multiple mustard stains, had us laughing heartily). If you are new to Doris Wishman, and feel up to the task of viewing some of the poorest film-making imaginable, I'd start with "Bad Girls Go to Hell," because it showcases all the signatures of the Wishman style, minus half the sleaziness of "Transplant." If you had a good time with "Bad Girls," and weren't offended or anything, queue up "The Amazing Transplant." This is unintentional surrealism at its sleazy finest. Further proof that Wishman was, alongside Coleman Francis, America's most inept film director.
... View MoreI have a confession to make. Until I sat down to watch THE AMAZING TRANSPLANT, I was a Doris Wishman virgin ! Well, that's not entirely true as I had seen her hardcore/horror hybrid COME WITH ME, MY LOVE back in the day when the lady still vehemently denied any involvement in the explicit side of the sex film industry. Hoping to pop my cherry with her notorious sex change mockumentary LET ME DIE A WOMAN and waffling on the Chesty Morgan duo (Geddit ?), it was TRANSPLANT's outrageous premise that finally reeled me in. Many a starry-eyed genre "critic" (read : devoted fan boy who would defend Doris to his dying breath) has likened Ms. Wishman to Ed Wood as both were blatantly incompetent movie makers whose sheer ineptitude in terms of both narrative coherence and production values somehow translated into a charm of their own. Now I would agree with such assessment as far as Wood's concerned, whose exuberant enthusiasm largely compensated for his glaring lack of talent. Maybe TRANSPLANT was just a poor place to start exploring the works of Wishman, but her listless disinterest as a director is far more shocking than the tabloid-inspired subject matter she can barely be bothered to tackle. Simply put, I never thought a flick about a penis graft turning a nice, all American kid into a demented rapist and accidental assassin could possibly turn out this boring.The kid in question is swinging single Arthur Barlen (played by future Oscar-winning DoP Joao Fernandez who has surely had one of the strangest careers in the world, encompassing both the mainstream and hardcore pornography, having shot most of Gerard Damiano's classics as "Harry Flecks") who turns up after a long absence at the door of spurned fiancée Mary Thorne (the deliciously named Sandy Eden), only to fall under the spell of her dangling gold earrings and choke her to death ! So much for whodunit. Arthur's widowed mother Ann (Linda Southern) seeks aid from her brother in law, detective Bill Barlen, portrayed by longtime sleaze veteran Larry Hunter. At least both Southern and Hunter attempt an acting performance, though defeated by Doris' trademark out of sync dubbing (with constant cutaways to inanimate objects and people's shoes ?!), and had both featured in Damiano's prior to penetration TEENIE TULIP. Finding Arthur's little black book, Bill sets out to investigate the missing family member's sordid past through his acquaintances. Soon to become a fornication film mainstay, pretty Kim Pope (from Damiano's MEMORIES WITHIN MISS AGGIE as well as Shaun Costello's wonderful PASSIONS OF CAROL) appears as the new girl in town who made the mistake of putting her trust in the apparently affable Arthur and inviting him in, a vicious violation her sorry reward. Perky one shot wonder Olive Denneccio you know that must be her real name ! is Edie Stone, who went to high school with Arthur and has been yearning for him ever since. Their rape turned to romance bit would be offensive if it were invested with even a modicum of dramatic weight. Instead, Wishman treats it as just another skin display. Blowsy upstairs neighbor Bobbie is played by Pat Barrett at the end of an obviously all too long run in sexploitation flicks. You might remember her as the lady flashing her fleshy wares at Sly Stallone at the start of Morton Lewis' incredibly dire PARTY AT KITTY AND STUD'S a/k/a Italian STALLION as the rest of the world now knows it.But what about that amazing transplant Doris lured us in with ? Well, turns out Artie Boy was jealous of his friend Felix's prowess with the fairer sex, as evidenced by an artily shot flashback involving dvddrive-in.com's estimable Casey Scott's favorite sexploitation sirens Linda Boyce and Uta Erickson. The film's single genuinely erotic encounter, a tiny puddle of style and sensuality in a quagmire of crap, it showcases the talents of cinematographer C. Davis Smith, who until then seemed thwarted by Wishman's ham-fisted approach, bringing to mind that he also photographed extremely well, I might add such adult classics like Howard Winters' practically perfect NEON NIGHTS and COED TEASERS, one of the frequently despised Lenny "Leon Gucci" Kirtman's finer films. When Felix took ill with a mystery virus, Arthur blackmailed the family physician (who sidelined as an abortionist) into the titular genital graft. The rapist tendencies are explained away by Felix having a thing for golden earrings, so "naturally" our anti-hero is so mesmerized by the starlets' gaudy costume jewelery he just has to ravish them on the spot ! The film's final shot merely adds insult to injury. Doris devotees will undoubtedly argue that she's an acquired taste and ample print evidence suggests that her legion of fans treasures exactly those same elements that leave her detractors scratching their heads and occasionally screaming in agony. I guess she's just not the girl for me, even if she does manage to build an entire movie around the premise (and promise) of pecker !
... View MoreOf all the excessively nonsensical, rancid and imbecilic Sexploitation movies ever made during the decade of the 1970's (and genre buffs know there are a LOT of them), Doris Wishman's "The Amazing Transplant" definitely takes the cake when talking in terms of pure senselessness and sheer incoherence. This doesn't even qualify as a movie; this is just some crazy lady (Wishman was the only female smut-director at that time) showcasing her most lurid and morally incorrect sexual fantasies. The premise appealed to me, since it sounded like a deviant and exploitative variation on the "Mad Love" and "Hands of Orlac" concept. In those classic films the hands of an executed killer become transplanted onto a pianist who lost his in an accident, but the hands gradually turn their new owner into an unstoppable killing machine. "The Amazing Transplant" basically features the exact same plot, but of course we're dealing with a raping penis here instead of a murdering pair of hands. It's a curious and interesting concept for a sleazy and gritty 70's exploitation flick, but the sad truth is that Wishman wasn't the least bit interested in telling a story, as the (not so) amazing penis transplant only gets mentioned ten minutes prior to the ending. The rest of film merely exists of sleazy and soft-core padding with atrocious acting performances, painful dialogs and unattractive women. In the opening sequences, Arthur Barlen strangles his fiancée and what a fight she puts up and flees. His uncle, who's also a police detective, goes after him using Arthur's address book as the only lead. Whilst the sleazy fat copper checks out the young girls' legs and breasts, they explain through flashbacks how Arthur changed from a quiet and introvert boy into a perverted and mad-raving sex machine. At those points, we're not supposed to know anything about the penis transplant, but obviously the title and every possible synopsis description on the internet already revealed everything. The film only lasts a mere 70 minutes, yet it's insufferably boring and contains over 75% of redundant footage. There's an inexplicably large amount of images showing people's legs and feet as they simply stroll over sidewalks. Larry Hunter's character of Bill Barlen the detective is unintentionally hilarious. He displays the weirdest facial expressions when astonished, makes offensive remarks towards lesbians and simply walks away when women clearly need emotional support. This was my fourth movie directed by Doris "Sultana-of-Sleaze" Wishman (after "Deadly Weapons", "Double Agent 73" and "Let Me Die a Woman") and she never ceases to "amaze" me. Not necessarily in a positive way, but you have to admit she dared to exploit pretty much every controversial topic.
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