THE BEST OF DORIS WISHMAN (2021) ***

The Best of Doris Wishman is a celebration of the smut movie pioneer’s work.  It is a hodgepodge of movie trailers (Hideout in the Sun, Nude on the Moon, Gentlemen Prefer Nature Girls, Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, The Sex Perils of Paulette, Bad Girls Go to Hell, Another Day, Another Man, My Brother’s Wife, A Taste of Flesh, Indecent Desires, Too Much Too Often, The Amazing Transplant, Love Toy, Keyholes are for Peeping, Deadly Weapons, Double Agent 73, and The Immoral Three) and musical interludes from her films (such as Diary of a Nudist, Blaze Starr Goes Nudist, Indecent Desires, and Deadly Weapons) that almost play like mini-music videos.  In addition to the DVD, there’s also a bonus CD, which is essentially just an audio version of the DVD.  It’s not exactly a must-have, but I’m glad that Something Weird and Modern Harmonic is really taking up the cause to preserve music from old exploitation movies.  Some of these rarities would be forgotten if it hadn’t been for their efforts, and for that, we should be thankful. 

The Best of Doris Wishman offers a nice sampling of her work.  Most of the eras of her career are touched upon, from nudie movies to roughies to her gonzo exploitation films.  I just wish it had been a bit more exhaustive as there’s no mention of her magnum opus, Let Me Die a Woman or her attempt at an ‘80s slasher, A Night to Dismember.   

The DVD runs seventy-six minutes, but strangely, only forty are devoted to Wishman.  The rest of the time is spent on ads for Modern Harmonic’s other vinyl releases like Something Weird’s Greatest Hits CD (which in itself is highly recommended), The Doll Squad, Mr. Peter’s Pets, Pacific Northwest Fuzz Box, Missile to the Moon, She Demons, Psychedelicsex Kicks, Pacific Northwest Jukebox, Girl in Gold Boots, The Party Girls, It’s a Revolution Mother, Dracula (The Dirty Old Man), and Something Weird’s Spookshow Spectacular a Go-Go.  I’m not knocking it as I have enjoyed every CD I’ve bought from Modern Harmonic.  However, I kind of wish the DVD was a wall-to-wall trailer compilation.  The musical interludes are fine (as is the rare audio of Wishman on the set), but I was kind of hoping the DVD would be more than a mere visual accompaniment to the CD.  Even with my reservations, this is still a treat for Wishman fans.