Russ Meyer directed this semi-comical expose on the sexual mores of Europe. Utilizing a “Hidden Camera” gimmick, he goes from country to country investigating the local strip clubs and red-light districts. It’s all as phony as a three-dollar bill, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun.
First up is Brussels where a dynamite redhead dances topless for the camera. Then we’re off to Amsterdam to see the sex workers who ply their trade in open windows. (“Amsterdam is the most prostitute-infested Dutch city!”) In Copenhagen, a blonde named Greta jiggles topless on stage. Hamburg features a cute blonde doing a striptease on a bed. Our European vacation finally comes to a close in Paris where we take a trip to the world famous Crazy Horse strip club.
Part travelogue, part pseudo-mondo movie, all skin flick, Europe in the Raw is an entertaining slice of sexploitation. It’s also surprisingly funny. Most filmmakers would take this sort of set-up and use it merely as a framework to showcase skin. Well, Meyer does that too, but he’s also able to inject it with plenty of humor. I especially liked the cheeky close-ups of suggestive European traffic signs and humorous sounding town names. (Like Badgasse.) My favorite part was the trip inside a Dutch nudist camp where a woman plays ping pong wearing nothing but wooden clogs.
Overall, I think I enjoyed the strip club sequences slightly more than the “hidden camera” stuff, but it’s all pretty amusing. Also, some of the historical factoids that accompany the scenes of European city life are dragged out a bit too long and other moments just sort of feel like padding (like the comic relief gondola ride). That said, at sixty-six minutes, Europe in the Raw still makes for breezy cheesecake entertainment.
Meyer reused some of the footage for Mondo Topless.
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