The Image
(1976/Uncut/Radley Metzger/Synapse)
Picture: C+ Sound: C+ Extras: C Film: C+
For a man
known for his cheesy sex films, Radley Metzger decided maybe he should take the
next step into the XXX world somehow.
With sex films arriving in heir hardcore form, his older films were
suddenly a larger joke than anything he could have intended. The
Image (1976) has a unique (and often as dumb as his previous films) sex
triangle with sexually experimental Jean, kinky oddball Claire and strange “sex
slave” Anne who is lost in humiliation not being able to handle reality. Jean and Claire are not playing with a full
deck either and complications ensure.
The film
is surprisingly infantilized for being so sexually and thematically graphic, it
might have had some shock value at the time, but has not aged well at all
except that it is a much more common type of supposed tale of eroticism. Especially with The Internet and even
mainstream media making sex a joke, this is an odd relic indeed.
As compared
to past Metzger sexcapades, this one loses form and style with its increase of
sleaze and Metzger was running out of ideas.
What made him somewhat distinct was suppressed to be hip and is somewhat
of a sellout as compared to his most famous past works. He even uses some of the same actors, but
there is even less story here and it is only a curio since this is when he went
further than at just about any other time in his career.
The
anamorphically enhanced 1.78 x 1 image has some detail issues, tough color is
consistent. It looks as good and often
better than the last Metzger films we have looked at in his sex cycle, though
he also did a disappointing 1978 The Cat
& The Canary. That was a
thriller only. The Dolby Digital 2.0
Mono is not bad here, while extras include an isolated music score track,
trailers for several Metzger films and a paper pullout with an essay by Stephen
R. Bissette with more information about the film. For more about those other Metzger sex films,
here are links to coverage of each of the recent sets issued on DVD:
Set One has
The Alley Cats, Theresa & Isabelle and Camille 2000
at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1655/Radley+Metzger+Collection+-+Volume+One
Set Two has
The Dirty Girls, Little Mother and Score at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/1886/Radley+Metzger+Collection+-+Volume+Two
Set Three
has Carmen, Baby, The Lickerish Quartet
and The Princess & The Call Girl at:
http://www.fulvuedrive-in.com/review/2141/Radley+Metzger+Collection+-+Volume+Three
For more
information about this and other great titles from Synapse Films, be sure to
visit their site at the following link where you can also order these discs:
http://www.synapse-films.com
- Nicholas Sheffo
