It's Called Murder, Baby

Director - Anthony Spinelli (Pulp Friction)
Starring - John Leslie (Anal Assassins), Lisa De Leeuw (Midnight Zone), and Juliet Anderson (Tattoo Vampire)
Release Date - 1983
Genre - Crime/Mystery/Drama
Tagline - "There's one thing nice girls don't do..."
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (Out of 5):

     My no horror July has been running now for a little over a week and so far I have refrained from watching films from my favorite genre.  It is during my no horror months that I try to get caught up on my Vinegar Syndrome and Impulse Pictures.  Both send me horror films but they also send me exploitation, blaxploitation, and sexploitation.  Most of the time it's sexploitation or vintage porn.  Sometime ago I was sent the film Dixie Ray Hollywood Star.  The film was a crude sexploitation flick that bordered on straight forward porn.  This release from Vin Syn also came with an "R" rated cut of the film that was retitled It's Called Murder, Baby.  This "R" rated version was more my spead so I checked that cut out over the "X" version.  Once again, thanks Vin Syn for sending this one my way!

     The film follows a private dick who is hired on by Hollywood star Dixie Ray to find the man that is black mailing her.  Someone snatched a photo of her not wearing panties and is now bribing her.  She has lost work due to her age and is now having a hard time funding her lavish lifestyle.  These bribes is hitting her wallet hard and she needs her dick to find out who it is.  They first suspect her ex-husband who has been secretly sleeping with her daughter from another marriage but when he winds up dead he quickly puts the pieces together and learns that the killer and one behind the blackmailing is the one that hired him in the first place.

     I was ready to hate this movie.  I grew up on exploitation and blaxploitation films but I was never introduced to sexploitation flicks and vintage porns with plots until I was in college.  Some, not many, were fun times while others just made no fucking sense and Swiss cheese the story all to hell.  However, It's Called Murder, Baby was very entertaining.  The acting in this one was surprisingly well done considering a majority of the cast was porn stars before hand.  I'm not trying to disrespect or demoralize porn stars.  They do a great job in their roles but the films they are accustomed to do not require a great deal of theatrics.  They fuck for other's enjoyments and I respect that.  I know several porn stars and cam models and I mean no disrespect.  With that being said, this cast shows a hell of a lot of talent when it comes to actually acting and not just the sex scenes.  I was really impressed by John Leslie and Lisa De Leeuw.  They both showed some amazing acting chops that can put most of today's talents to shame.  They both worked very well together and their scenes showed it.  The story for this one is similar to dozen other murder mystery noirs.  The film uses the murder mystery cliches of the classic noir films from the golden age of cinema and tosses all that in with some hardcore sex.  The story flows well but the sex scene does break up the story somewhat and gets very distracting.  That is the main reason I enjoyed the "R" rated version of the "X".  Finally those of you looking for blood will not find any here all.  Instead, you will find some sleaze.  Overall, It's Called Murder, Baby is a pretty fun and raunchy murder mystery piece.  It has some solid acting and the story is pretty enjoyable.  If you want some sleazy action and mystery then be sure to check this one out!