Well folks, it's finally here - the moment you've all been waiting for. Fans have been clamoring for a completely uncut DVD of Emanuelle (that's one M) in America ever since Anchor Bay pulled it unexpectedly from their release schedule a while back. Blue Underground head honcho Bill Lustig has really come through for fans by producing a gorgeously presented special edition DVD of this ultra sleazy classic. Was it worth the wait? Are we crazy for wanting to see this snuff, errr I mean stuff? Have we all secured our first class tickets straight to hell? Yes, yes and oh god YES!

Super sexy Laura Gemser (star of more Emanuelle flicks than you can shake a stick at) appears as the title character, a nosy reporter / fashion photographer who's always willing to go the extra mile for a fresh scoop. This go round Emanuelle finds herself as part of a harem after she gets a tip that something shady is going on at the mansion of wealthy businessman Eric Van Darren. Van Darren's harem is comprised of one woman for each astrological sign; Emanuelle successfully fakes being a Virgo. In any event, after Emanuelle gets frisky with some of the other women poolside and witnesses the unnatural love between a woman and a horse (stroke it baby, ewwwww!) she hightails it out of there with some proof of illegal weapons smuggling.

Emanuelle manages to get out in one piece only to make friends with a smooth talking aristocrat who invites her to spend some time with him in Italy. There, Emanuelle discovers how much them rich folk really do enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, ultimately finding herself in the midst of a Caligula-like orgy! It's at this point that Emanuelle is given another scoop (after she takes part in a threesome) - some bizarre island where unattractive rich women can buy the services of nubile young men! Emanuelle heads on over to the island finding herself in the midst of even more debauchery than in Italy as she snoops around the complex snapping some compromising pics of people in action (if you know what I mean!). This is where the story takes an even more disturbing turn (if that's even possible) when Emanuelle stumbles upon the fact that some of these richie folk are actually getting off on watching grotesque 8mm snuff films!

Whew!

Emanuelle now heads back to the USA, this time to Washington DC to get to the bottom of this whole snuff film business where she's seduced by another man with a lot of power and even more disturbing snuff film footage to show off! He makes a solid attempt to use the snuff footage once again to get Emanuelle's rocks off! (Editor's Note: OK, It's at this point that I truly almost got sick off of my HI-C fruit punch juice box). You'd think that this would all lead to one hell of a conclusion, but you'd be dead wrong. All of this nonesense leads to (unfortunately) a most unsatisfying conclusion, with absolutely no closure or explanation for anything whatsoever.

Let's get one thing out of the way right from the start. It's all here: from the hard-core inserts, disturbing faked snuff footage, right down to the horse and each one of those tender strokes he willingly receives! Let it be known that EIA is an extremely disturbing display of excess and filth. The hard-core inserts appear as just that - after the fact inserts. You still have the same film with or without them, and they don't amount to much more than a few moments of in your face fellatio along with a few moments of penetration. Of note is the fact that Gemser never participates in anything more than soft core shennanigans. As far as the snuff footage goes, just as graphic. Women being brutally tortured and sexually ravished and in one particularly grotesque and shocking moment a woman has her breasts sliced right off (in gruesome detail).

The film itself is a bit wishy-washy, yet wholly entertaining with a heap of true added value for the fan of trash cinema. The film starts off innocently enough like just about any other Gemser/D'Amato Emanuelle outing, that is until she hits the island. Up until this point it's all fairly soft-core and innocent. About an hour in it's evident that a few foreign distributors got a hold of this puppy and started making their demands - most of the hard-core inserts hit at this point in the film.

EIA is not a great flick, not by any stretch of the imagination, but it is an infamous slice of sleaze and holds up quite well to its rep, even to this day. The real appeal here though is Gemser. Without Gemser, none of these Emanuelle rips would be half of the films that they actually are. She adds an undeniable charm and dare I say erotic innocence? She's an incredible on screen presence and incredibly sexy to boot. Many of the earlier scenes involving Gemser are truly captivating, then once the film trails off into the land of sleaze and honey - there's no turning back and all Gemser can do is just look on in disgust (which she does quite well mind you).

Presented in an anamorphic widescreen transfer, Blue Underground presents EIA in a most respectable special edition DVD. Colors are bright, lively and dead on. Print damage is minimal - a few specs and some slight grain in a few scenes. Overall this is a very pleasing transfer and completely unexpected for such a title. Since this DVD is completely uncut, it does appear as if some moments have been pulled from a couple of sources so during a few scenes it does get slightly spotty, but as a whole it's hardly noticeable or problematic.

Audio is presented in English, French and Italian mono - of course I opted for the English track. Overall the audio track was just as pleasing as the picture quality. Exceptionally clear dialogue and really no evidence of distortion. There are two infectious as hell 70's style hippie songs called Goodbye and Farewell and Celebrate Myself both of which are sung by a group called Armonium. It's a truly bizarre compliment to the outrageous film itself, now I have to try and track down these songs!

Extras include an audio interview with Laura Gemser (with subs) set to a backdrop of stills (11 minutes) along with an interview with Joe D'Amato (13 minutes) and he seems like a genuinely nice guy, while a few BIOS and a text history of the Emanuelle films by David Flint round out the extras.

Overall we have a quality presentation of a truly sick and disturbing film that's certainly not for everyone. If you happen to be one of the people that this film is for however (c'mon you KNOW who you are!), then Blue Underground's DVD of EIA not only comes highly recommended, it comes HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommended! I may be putting myself on Satan's doorstep by saying this, but EIA from Blue Underground is easily one of the best genre releases of the year.

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