"Joy" (1983)

Alright, I'll be the first person to admit, I am not, by any means, a sexploitation fan. However, when I received a package from Severin containing a couple of films in the genre, I thought I'd give it a try. Why was I so naive?

Right, the story. The films begins with a young girl being woken up from a dream about a roaring tiger. She goes downstairs, on;y to be even more terrified and awe-struck at the sight of her mother and father humping ferociously in the firelight. Cut to years later, that girl is now a famous model that also happens to be a ravenous exhibitionist. In other words, she falls for any man who can half-ass his way through a conversation about modern art. Anyway, back to the story. One night, while at an art gallery, she, for some reason, falls for a man who is obviously much older, and to be honest, sort of creepy. As the story progresses, she finds out that her new lover basically expects to chew her up and spit her out, but no, Joy won't stand for that.

There is not much reason to continue attempting to describe the story of this film, because, other than what I have just mentioned, and a sort-of twist at the end, there isn't much of one.

I guess I'm not the target audience of a film like this, but really, who is? To me, this films seems like overly- pretentious porn made by people who were too afraid to go hardcore. I hate to be blunt, but they could have done so many great things with the core story of this, but they just don't. There are near brilliant moments sprinkled through-out, like the aforementioned twist ending, but other then those, there is not much here for fans of films where the heart is clearly visible.

As for the DVD itself, Severin presents us with a very good transfer that accentuates the film's at-times beautiful cinematography, a very clean sound mix (French audio with optional English subtitles), and last, but certainly not least, an interview with the film's star, Claudia Udy. On a quick note, I must say, after watching this interview, I heard why they did some of things they did, and I must say, I gained a new appreciation for the film.

In closing, see "Joy" if your a fan of sexploitation, buy this DVD if you are a fan of the film and want to see it presented in the best way possible.

Film Rating: 2 out of 4
DVD Rating: 3 out of 4