A Taste of Flesh kicks off with a great opening instrumental theme song. It’s not quite up to snuff with “The Hell Raisers” from Another Day, Another Man, but it is definitely a toe-tapper. (Luckily for Another Day, Another Man fans, “The Hell Raisers” appears later in the film.) In fact, all the music in the movie is top notch and helps give it a larger than life feel that a low budget, apartment-bound sex flick might not have otherwise had. Naturally, like Doris Wishman’s other roughies, the theme song accompanies black and white photos of what we will see throughout the picture.
The plot is essentially a remake of Suddenly, but because it’s Doris Wishman doing the remaking, it’s Suddenly, but with Lesbians.
The film begins with a great bubble bath scene where Hannah (Peggy Steffans) is soaking in the tub. Her friend Bobi (Layla Peters) interrupts Hannah and begins putting the moves on her. From the awkward cutting to the blank, lifeless expressions on the actresses’ faces, it’s hard to tell if this scene is supposed to be consensual or not. That just makes it that much more bizarrely fascinating.
Hannah is in the city for a few days and stays with Bobi and her lesbian roommate Carol (Darlene Bennett). A pair of gunmen worm their way into Carol’s apartment and take the ladies hostage. It seems a foreign dignitary happens to be staying at the hotel across the street, and Carol’s apartment has the perfect vantage point for an assassination attempt. While waiting for the dignitary to arrive, the men amuse themselves by beating, harassing, seducing, and raping the women.
Because of the cookie cutter plot, you might be inclined to think A Taste of Flesh is going to be more like a “real” movie than a Doris Wishman skin flick. It’s not one of her best, but if you’re patient, there’s some Wishman-y goodness in store for you. The foot shots and scenes of dialogue occurring while the actress speaking the lines is off screen are a given, but the most entertaining aspect of the film comes in the form of its padding. About halfway through, the plot stops dead in its tracks for a long dream/fantasy scene where Bobi dresses like a man, has a romantic champagne toast with Hannah, and then takes her to bed. Another unnecessary but welcome scene involves Carol undressing, looking at herself nude in the mirror, and then rolling around on the bed for no good reason whatsoever.
A Taste of Flesh has its merits, but it falls short of some of Wishman’s other roughies. While there are a few novel bits spread throughout, it’s nothing crazy enough to put it over the top. The ending is a bit rushed and unsatisfying too, which doesn’t help matters.
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