DAY 169--PORNO HOLOCAUST

When two markets are as lucrative as both the horror genre and hardcore pornography, it's inevitable that an enterprising filmmaker will decide to combine them. The 1970's was littered with several attempts to mesh fright with sexually-explicit material to varying degrees of success (one of my favorites is 1973's THE DEVIL'S ECSTACY, which plays like a pornographic version of CARNIVAL OF SOULS with a dash of occultism), but it wasn't until 1980 when the living dead got in on the action, thanks to Italian hack extraordinaire Joe D'Amato. The first was the more accomplished EROTIC NIGHTS OF THE LIVING DEAD with George Eastman and Laura Gemser, and today's entry, 1981's PORNO HOLOCAUST.

Filmed back to back with EROTIC NIGHTS, often utilizing the same locations, PORNO HOLOCAUST's provocative title is solely a cash-in on the notoriety of Ruggero Deodato's CANNIBAL HOLOCAUST and not any declaration of thematic intent. (Today's pornography, with its unfathomable fascination with triple-penetrations and the limits of rectal endurance, can be a much more grueling experience.) The threadbare story concerns a group of research scientists, led by George Eastman, studying the effects of radiation on the wildlife of a tropical island. There they find a monstrously-hung zombie-like native who systematically slaughters the men in the cast and rapes the females, killing them with his irradiated semen.

The downfall of PORNO HOLOCAUST is that it fails on either level. The horrific elements--which obviously are less important than the on-screen copulation, considering Holmes of the Dead doesn't appear until almost the mid-point--are minimal, with very little gore or action to liven the proceedings (no surprise, given D'Amato's track record of tedium, though uncredited collaborator Bruno Mattei can surely share the blame). The sex scenes are also dry and perfunctory, with unattractive performers who are frequently visibly uncomfortable (witness the look of distaste on Dirce Funari's face during her threesome). Couple the laborious pace with a running time of just under two hours and PORNO HOLOCAUST can be damn near impossible to sit through.

For a hilarious additional opinion, here's the Cinema Snob:



And since I want to share Nico Fidenco's trippy score, here's the opening credits: