FANNY HILL (1983) ***

Homeless virgin Fanny Hill (Lisa Foster from Cave Dwellers) is taken in by the madam of a brothel (Paddie O’Neil).  She sells Fanny’s virginity to an old codger, but she runs off with a young suitor.  When his father learns of the affair, he forbids the relationship, leaving Fanny to return to her life of sin.  Eventually, Fanny quits the establishment and winds up working for an upscale madam (Shelley Winters).  When one of her rich clients (Buck Rogers’ Wilfred Hyde-White) kicks off, he leaves Fanny a giant inheritance which allows her to reunite with her true love.   

The set-up is kind of long-winded and the stuff in between the nude scenes is mostly unfunny.  The budget is a bit higher than your typical ‘80s sexploitaton period comedy though, which helps.  The costumes are especially well done and make it feel like you’re watching a “real” movie rather than a bawdy Skinamax T & A flick.  

Fortunately, whenever Foster is front and center getting naked (which is often), Fanny Hill is a lot of fun.  Fanny takes baths, has lesbian encounters, and engages in various sexual misadventures.  One of her lovers has a horse-riding fetish, and whenever he doesn’t please her, Fanny resorts to seducing a young stablehand. There are also scenes of Fanny spying on other working girls, and even a little S & M thrown in there for good measure.  It’s a shame Foster only appeared in a handful of films because she has an engaging presence.  She later quit acting and began a career in visual effects, working on such films as Cliffhanger and Die Hard with a Vengeance.   

The supporting cast is a lot of fun too.  Oliver Reed is a hoot as the goofy lawyer.  His highly tweaked performance nearly reaches Nicolas Cage levels of weirdness.  Raising his voice to a high-pitched squeal, it often sounds like he was huffing helium just before cameras rolled.  (He kind of sounds like a British version of Popeye.)  I don’t know if the director just didn’t give a shit or if Reed was in the midst of a week-long drunk, but it’s pretty amusing to watch.  It’s also fun seeing Winters grinding out a paycheck in something like this, and Hyde-White is pretty funny as Fanny’s old rich john. 

AKA:  Sex, Lies and Renaissance.