Frankie and Johnnie... Were Lovers

Director - Alan Colberg (Superstar, All Night Long)
Starring - Rene Bond (Disco Lady, Teenage Lovers), Ric Lutze (Please Don't Eat My Mother!, Midnight Eyes), and John Barnum (My Deep Hunger, The Cremators)
Release Date - 1973
Genre - Romance/Drama
Tagline - "America's most sensuous legend becomes this year's most erotic film!"
Format - DVD (Personal Collection) (Screener)

Rating (out of 5):

     I've spent the last week or so reviewing as many horror movies as I could.  In fact, I think I've reviewed more this week than I have most months.  Since last Sunday I've reviewed almost 4 movies a day with no breaks.  I love writing reviews and recently I've found my passion again.  I can't stop writing.  However, I'm starting to get a little burned out on horror from binging several a day so I decided to mix it up a bit.  Recently, Vinegar Syndrome started their Peekarama series again.  I reviewed another release last week and decided it would be the perfect time to break up all the horror with two sleazy releases from Vin Syn.  The first on the chopping block is the softcore Frankie and Johnnie... Were Lovers from 1973.  Thanks Vin Syn for sending this one over.

     The film follows lovers Frankie (Bond) and Johnnie (Lutze) who are in an abusive relationship.  Bond is a lounge singer that met Johnnie after breaking up with her ex.  However, Johnnie is obsessed with his job as a computer tech and his car hobby.  Also, Johnnie is often cheating on Frankie with her friend.

     It took some time for me to come around to sexploitation or I just hadn't found the right ones for me.  Now, I can't wait until I get the next one in.  Sadly, Frankie and Johnnie was not a fun one for me.  The acting in this one is what you would expect from an early 70s sexploitation flick.  The cast tries to get into character but they awkwardly go through their scenes.  I wasn't a fan of the characters and how their personalities would change from scene to scene.  It made the story miss it's mark and the cast looked like they were confusing the characters.  The story for this one is a solid base line for a sexploitation but the jumping back and forth between current and the past events made it a little difficult to follow.  The editing almost feels sloppy.  If the story was more linear it would have been way more entertaining.  Finally, no blood and gore in this one.  However, if you want to watch beautiful ladies dry hump dudes then you will be in heaven.  Overall, Frankie and Johnnie just wasn't that fun for me.  The flow of the film is chaotic, the cast feels distracted, and the overall film is just boring.  If you want a sexploitation flick to check out I can suggest several more instead of this one.