FANTASM (1976) ***

Before he directed the Ozploitation horror flicks Patrick and Road Games, Richard Franklin made this breezy, funny, and sexy softcore comedy.  The crew was split between Australia and Los Angeles, which meant Franklin was able to utilize a veritable who’s who of talent from the ‘70s American hardcore scene.  John Holmes, Rene Bond, Candy Samples, Uschi Digard, William Margold, and Serena all turn up at one point or another, which makes it a treat for fans of vintage smut.  

“The Wraparound Sequences” (*** ½) begin with a woman quietly pleasuring herself.  Then, a German shrink (John Bluthal) walks into her bedroom and begins addressing the audience (much to her confusion).  He informs us on the importance of opening up about our sexual fantasies instead of keeping them secret.  He then tells ten stories about ten different women and their sexual fantasies.  

“Beauty Parlor” (***) involves Dee Dee Levitt being pampered in a salon by three men.  This sequence is probably the least sexy of the bunch, but it’s not without its charms.  The slow build-up eventually leads to a nice payoff when Levitt climaxes while her nether region is being shaved.

The second segment, “Card Game” (*** ½) finds a married woman (Maria Arnold) getting sucked into a strip poker game with her husband and his friends (one of whom is William Margold).  Eventually, it turns into an all-out orgy.  This sequence delivers a nice balance of yearning and fulfillment, and Arnold does a fine job as the unsure wife who slowly lets down her guard and becomes increasingly uninhibited.   

Gretchen Gayle stars as a horny housewife in “Wearing the Pants” (****).  While daydreaming in her kitchen, she notices a pervert (Con Covert) stealing her undergarments from the clothesline and gets her revenge by using a strap-on on him.  This segment is just plain fun.  Most of that is credited to the drop-dead gorgeous Gayle who is clearly relishing playing the role of dominatrix.

“Nightmare Alley” (***) features Rene Bond fantasizing about being tied up and raped in a boxing ring.  Fans of “roughies” (and Bond) should enjoy this interracial scene.  However, it’s much too brief to deal with the psychological underpinnings inherent in her fantasy. 

The fifth story, “The Girls” (****) is the real centerpiece.  It involves Uschi Digard seducing a bookish woman (Marta Lutra) in a sauna.  Whereas the other sequences were fanciful, comical, or lurid, this one is just straight-up intensely erotic.  Franklin does a good job at showcasing the women and their contrasting body types (Lutra has a small, girlish figure while Digard is, of course, massively bosomed), which adds to the overall intensity.  I especially liked the coda when the two women are eventually engulfed in steam, making it a perfect capper on this mini-masterpiece of ‘70s erotica.  

John Holmes pops out of a swimming pool naked and rubs fruit on the naked body of a lonely housewife in “Fruit Salad” (** ½).  Despite his presence, it’s one of the weakest sequences in the bunch (unless you have a food fetish, that is).  While this segment is somewhat lacking, it’s the only one that features hardcore footage, albeit briefly (and underwater to boot).

“Mother’s Darling” (***) has Candy Samples’ son coming home from war and she rewards him with a hot bath.  The tone of this incestuous sequence is all over the place.  Her son goes from making disturbing confessions of the trauma he experienced in war to using a rubber ducky on his mother in a comical manner.  It doesn’t quite work, but Samples is sexy enough to make up for its shortcomings.  

“Black Velvet” (** ½) features a black hooker (Shayne) who sits three of her clients down on a bed and then does a striptease for them.  As she does so, she fantasizes about being a stripper on stage.  There really isn’t much going on in this segment, which feels kind of like filler compared to the more outrageous episodes, but it isn’t bad, all things considered.

Roxanne (Female Chauvinists) Brewer steals the show in “After School” (*** ½).  She plays a big-titted schoolgirl teasing her teacher (Al Ward), who gets so frustrated that he spanks her.  Brewer has a commanding screen presence and is super sexy in this sequence, which gives her an ample opportunity to show off her exquisite frame.

The final sequence is “Blood Orgy” (** ½).  It revolves around Serena being fucked and sacrificed on an altar by a Satanic cult.  Despite the prime set-up, it doesn’t go anywhere and is over much too quickly.  I did like the imaginative use of a candle though.

As with any anthology, Fantasm is pretty uneven.  However, Franklin, a disciple of Hitchcock, fills many of the segments with artsy touches that make them stick out.  Whether it’s a clever use of mirrors (as in the first sequence) or unique sexual positions (there’s a hot scene involving a rocking chair) or subtle camerawork (like in the dominatrix sequence), these little flourishes help to heighten the sexual atmosphere.  The wraparound sequences of the German shrink introducing each segment are also good for a few laughs, which adds to the fun.  Franklin’s eventual Hollywood output was a bit of a mixed bag, but this is probably the most blatantly fun movie he ever made (although you could definitely make a case for FX 2:  The Deadly Art of Illusion).

AKA:  World of Sexual Fantasy.