FORMAT: VHS
A year after the Sylvia Kristel Emmanuelle cable series debuted, the property was rebooted with a Sci-Fi slant. The Emmanuelle in Space series, like the one that preceded it, was seven films long and was produced by Alain Siritzky. As with the ’93 Emmanuelle series, it is three episodes of the TV show stitched together to make one feature.
The first story establishes the premise of the entire show. Aliens come to Earth seeking sex education lessons. Lucky for them, their leader, Haffron (Paul Michael Robinson) runs into Emmanuelle (now played by Krista Allen), who knows a thing or two about sexual pleasure. He beams her back to his spaceship and she gives him a quickie lesson. Haffron is impressed with her skills and implores her to return to Earth to find other partners willing to show the aliens a good time.
Emmanuelle: First Contact is far from perfect, but it helps that the Alien Seeking Sex with Earth Women subgenre is one of my favorite Skinamax subgenres. Even if the film itself is less than (inter)stellar, the overall goofiness of the premise is endearing. The fish-out-of-water scenes of the aliens having awkward sexual encounters are amusing enough, as are the scenes where the alien crew members don Virtual Reality headsets and watch while Emmanuelle gets it on.
The second episode has Emmanuelle taking Heffron on a cruise. She transforms herself into another woman and tells him to come find her, stating he’ll know her by her “essence”. After banging three women, he finally figures out who she is.
The comedy is just as sharp in this segment. The bed-hopping scenes play like an old timey bedroom farce. It also contains some of the same globe-hopping charm of the ‘93 Emmanuelle series as Emmanuelle and Heffron wind up in Egypt by the end of the episode.
The final segment has Emmanuelle and another alien crew member visiting her musician friend whose career has stalled because she can’t get over her ex-husband. He seduces her and together they create beautiful music. They claim they want to get married, but Emmanuelle knows that the relationship will never work. She then enlists Heffron’s help to drive them apart.
This episode contains a few decent interracial scenes. That helps give this sequence a different flavor. It also contains some pretty funny business with Heffron trying to figure out how to use a condom. The body-switching stuff is quite amusing too and helps to make this the best story of the three.
As with the other Emmanuelle cable series, Emmanuelle is able to change her form. Instead of using magic perfume, she masters the art of alien mind control to alter her appearance. It’s goofy to be sure, but it’s not nearly the dumbest thing we’ve been forced to believe in an Emmanuelle movie.
The humor and Sci-Fi silliness of Emmanuelle: First Contact is its chief asset. Unfortunately, it’s lacking in the one department we watch an Emmanuelle movie for: The sex. While there are plenty of sex scenes to be had, many of them suffer from constant cutaways to other characters or landscapes during the action, which gets distracting. They also contain far too much slow motion, which prevents them from getting steamy. The poor, overly dark lighting doesn’t help matters either.
Despite all that, it’s still marginally recommended, if only to see Allen’s winning performance. She was an excellent choice to replace Kristel and help keep the character moving forward. Allen is a likeable presence and certainly seems game during her sex scenes. Her winsome innocence helps to glue the uneven sequences together. Throughout it all, she proves to be a genuinely funny comedienne in addition to a sultry Skinamax siren.
AKA: Emmanuelle in Space: First Contact. AKA: Emmanuelle: Queen of the Galaxy.
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