Who's ready for an ass slappin' good time? Yup, that's right, Tinto "assman" Brass himself has come to visit Monsters at Play. You know what he's brought with him? That's right, plenty of ass! In '83 Brass hit us with the softcore epic, The Key, which pretty much set the standard for his films up until this very day. The man with the ass fetish really shined with The Key and thanks to Cult Epics, we can now enjoy this gem in the privacy of our own homes (thank god).

Nino (Frank Finlay) is finding it harder each and every day to keep up with his much younger wife Teresa (Stefania Sandrelli ). It's soon discovered that jealousy and desire is the viagra that Nino needs, and Teresa is more than happy to comply. She begins a torrid and most sexually charged affair with her son-in-law Laszlo (Franco Branciaroli), much to the chagrin of their daughter Lisa (Barbara Cupisti of Stage Fright). What follows includes a host of goodies such as bizarre sexual encounters, photo sessions like you've never seen before, senior citizen cross-dressing (nope, that's not a typo), and more ass-slapping than you can shake a stick at (or would want to for that matter) Hope you like yourself some ass, Tinto sure does!

The Key, in my opinion is one of Tinto's more accomplished and watchable films. This makes sense considering The Key pretty much set the standard for Brass and his future cinema endeavors. Full of great sets, mostly impressive performances (amidst all the ass-slapping) and an awesome score from composer Ennio Morricone, The Key is a fine example of early 80's erotica done right (this ain't no "skinemax" jerk-off fest that's for sure). One thing that I really admire about Brass is that despite the obviously low budgets his films have, they manage to never look or feel cheap. He seems to stretch his film dollar pretty far, which I'm sure makes his investors quite happy. He may not make the best films, but I still feel that his unique style has plenty to offer for fans of this type of cinema. It's most certainly not for everybody, but if your idea of heaven is ass, well then let the angels sing!

Cult Epics presents The Key in America completely uncut and the result is fairly impressive. The print used is in nice shape with barely a blemish to be found. Colors are a bit muted and the photography is very soft (yup, that's 80's photography for you) so on DVD the results can be less than astounding. Blacks are not nearly as deep as one would like (I fiddled with the screen brightness a bit to achieve a more desired effect), but it goes without saying, this is still the best that The Key has looked on home video (also keep in mind that the packaging states this is a 16X9 transfer, when in actuality, it is not). From what I understand, there is a European counterpart with nearly identical picture quality, yet lacking in a few areas that the Cult Epics DVD excels. The Cult Epics version includes subtitles for selected scenes that have remained in Italian over the years. Audio is presented in mono and sounds fine. There is a slight hiss early on but it quickly clears up and we are left with nicely balanced audio (for a mono mix). Dialogue is clear for the most part, and the great Morricone score sounds very nice indeed.

Cult Epics presents an array of extras that allows their edition of The Key to stand ahead of the pack. First up is an interview with Tinto Brass himself. The interview runs about 17 minutes and is a nice addition. Next up is a brief still gallery and 3 trailers for other Cult Epics releases (The Key, Miranda, All Ladies Do It). Last up are filmographies for both Brass, and actress Stefania Sandrelli.

Overall, this is a fine presentation of Tinto Brass erotica on DVD. Fans should not hesitate to pick up this gem. C'mon all you ass lovers, you know who you are.