“The Sorceress” is something that
plays more like a late night HBO skin flick than a candidate for a newly
remastered Synapse Blu-ray. With that in mind, it is somewhat exciting to see
how good a 1995 semi softcore cheapie can look. Director Jim Wynorski shouldn’t
be a stranger to genre fans as he is a prolific filmmaker with over 150 titles
to his name. Wynorski has made a career dabbling in all genres ranging from
horror, science fiction, comedy, thriller, and erotica; usually adapting with
the trend or even setting them. Wynorski
ended up doing a slew of titles in the erotic thriller genre, this being one of
them. Certainly, there will be a few who watch “The Sorceress” who would have
probably wanted to have viewed it 20 years ago, preferably late at night when
no one was around. The plot follows a
successful lawyer who has had a curse put upon him by his dead wife. Three
years pass and our lawyer is trying to move on but soon realizes that his
wife's grasp is still clutching at him from behind the grave.
“The Sorceress” isn’t exactly
appealing in all that many ways, but it follows the golden rule of movies, it
never bores its audience. Nearly every scene is drenched with nudity and sex;
glimpses of full frontal female and male nudity and dreamy lesbian make out
sessions are included. “Sorceress” never stops whetting the sexual appetite of
the viewers or never stops wetting the nipples of the actresses in the film.
Scenes without nudity attempt to add elements of horror, comedy, and drama. The
result is tolerable to decent, though these scenes are really just pacing to
get to the abundant naughty bits. The cast of the film includes a slew of
familiar faces such as genre favorites Michael Parks, Linda Blair, Julie
Strain, Marshall Williams, and Eddie Albert.
The choice of cast helps the runtime to go by quickly as does the
competent camera and lighting work. These three positive attributes create a
bundle that comes across as a well put together affair. “Sorceress” being
brought to Blu-ray may not call for a celebration but should happily be
welcomed; not as a masterpiece but as a remembrance of a short lived genre. A
genre that could no longer exist in today’s film environment. “Sorceress” is too sexual for the studios and
not hard enough for the internet. It’s safe to say softcore thrillers aren’t
coming back anytime soon, especially at a modest, but not insulting, budget.
“The Sorceress” disc is rounded out
with two commentary tracks; the first being just Wynorski in which he brushes
over film making techniques, the constant change of what genre is marketable,
and his ability to adapt with it. This works well as an entertaining piece and
a learning experience. The second commentary is that of Jim Wynorski and
special effects artist Tom Savini who has no affiliation with this film, but
comes along for the ride. This second commentary is filled with anecdotes that
are not pertaining to the film and is a laugh riot. The highlight has to be the
“possible” upcoming feature they come up with entitled “The Blummy”, a
Blaxploitation horror comedy in the vein of “Blacula” and “Blackenstein.” “The
Sorceress” looks great on Blu-ray and is fully uncut, featuring all the below
the belt bits once too raw for VHS. If you are a fan of this film, it’s a great
upgrade and if you are just curious and/or possibility horny… it’s really not a
bad pickup.
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