Arriving on blu-ray from Severin on April 25th is this three-film set of erotic dramas two of which (Black Venus and Ecstasy under the title of Love Scenes) are upgrades of previous DVD releases. Meanwhile the weird ass Melody of Passion arrives on blu-ray for the first time. Let’s slip in something comfortable and see what awaits, shall we?

First up is Ecstasy (or Love Scenes if you wish). Val is a critically acclaimed actress whose husband Peter is a director whose star is on the rise as well. For his next project, he wants to move forward with a steamy erotic drama but the producers aren’t willing to give him a proper budget unless he can convince his wife to appear in the film, putting her in an uncomfortable position since she has never done something so explicit. Peter is able to convince Val to do the film but it backfires on him when acting in the film unleashes a raw sexual side of Val heretofore unseen. Up next in Black Venus, Armand is a down-on-his-luck sculptor who meets a charming Caribbean woman and is immediately smitten with and inspired by her, sculpting her exquisite form before bedding her. After she hurts his pride, she is thrown out on the street and is forced into prostitution but Armand just can’t get over her. Finally in Melody of Passion, a young college student named Betty discovers that she has inherited a castle in Spain from a distant relative. What she doesn’t know is that the executor of the estate has been renting out rooms of the castle for tawdry sexual encounters. Unfortunately for Betty, the lawyer is willing to do whatever it takes to make sure his cash cow doesn’t stop getting milked. Oh, there’s also a band that hangs out there, a couple of thieves plotting to rob the place and other random shenanigans.

Kicking things off with Ecstasy, fans of classic ’70s exploitation will recognize lead actress Val played by Tiffany Bolling of The Candy Snatchers and Bonnie’s Kids, and she’s actually quite good in it. Added to this fairly random cast of sexy ladies is ex-Catwoman Julie Newmar as the writer on the film (who really isn’t given much at all to do here other than storm off in a huff when the director starts changing the script) and the almost always extremely sexy Britt Eklund, here playing a shockingly frumpy photographer than befriends Val on set and is also not given much to do other than be accused of being a lesbian. This film flirts with some interesting ideas as the director/husband Peter begins to evolve the production into a more self-reflexive direction mirroring he and his wife’s real relationship. Unfortunately the film just doesn’t push this angle hard enough to be effective and the narrative eventually peters out into a TV-movie-esque soapy ending. This one is helmed by the dull and derivative Bud Townsend, probably most known for his X-rated Alice in Wonderland and the ’80s sex comedy The Beach Girls. Frankly, you’d think a movie about shooting a movie would be filmed with a little more style, but what we get is a very flat-looking film that almost feels like a TV movie with more sex and nudity.

Moving on to what I think is the best-made film in the set is the classy Black Venus, directed by Claude Mulot, an actual talent responsible for surprisingly well-made adult films like La femme-objet and Pussy Talk. Josephine Jacqueline Jones as the lead role Venus really sells the enigmatic and eventual tragic characterization that drives the film while José Antonio Ceinos is also quite good as her amour who is inspired by her beauty. And it is easy to see why. Jones is absolutely striking and Mulot shoots her with a caressing soft focus that suits the tone of the film very well. Everything about this movie, based on a story by French author Balzac, looks sumptuous, from the cinematography to the costume and set design. Another nice thing about this one is how organic the sex and nudity is to the overall narrative. Nothing about the film feels gratuitous even though it does get pretty racy at times. To be honest, it does get a little too melodramatic for my tastes at times, particularly in the third act, but overall, this is a very well made euro-erotica film that fans of these kinds of films should almost certainly check out.

Then we have what Severin advertises as a “Bonus Feature Film”, La chica que cayó del cielo a.k.a. Melody of Passion directed by Czech filmmaker Hubert Frank who Severin fans know as the one who helmed another of these erotic dramas Vanessa. I’m going to be brutally honest. This movie is horrible. And also amazing. Can these two seemingly disparate notions exist simultaneously? With Melody of Passion at least, it can. This film had so many scenes where it was ambiguous as to whether the scene was intended to be played for laughs or not, and yet I found myself laughing out loud anyway. From the bananas premise of a young woman inheriting a sex motel in a Spanish castle to the random burglars sneaking around to the sniper in a tree that gets dispatched when the young woman is being shown an old WWI rifle and accidentally discharges it. There are multiple scenes where what I think is the film score turns out to be diegetic music within the film like when we hear a slinky, sex trumpet score on and off for a while only to have the music acknowledged by a character in the film at which point it cuts to a random guy named Micky playing his trumpet in another tower of the castle. We hear the music again. Sometimes it’s diegetic, sometimes it’s just the score. WTF? Also we have a scene where the young woman and Micky go to confront the lawyer/executor, and when his assistant asks who they are, Micky just points to a random name in the appointment book. Cut to assistant introducing them as “Mr. Fidel Castro…and…his..uh… wife?” Seriously this is a demented and bad movie, and I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Looking at the technical side, all three are presented in 1:85:1 transfers. No mention is made beyond that as to the source of the scans, so I’m going to assume Severin used the same one they did for the DVDs of the first two. Since Melody of Passion is a new release, it has to be a new transfer, but I can’t find any info about its origin either. Overall though, all three look pretty good. The films overall look a little soft, especially Black Venus, but that also may just be how the film was shot in general. All three have English mono tracks with Black Venus including also a German & French mono track and Melody of Passion also including a German mono track. The only subtitles included are DSH so that might bug some people, but I was fine with it. The extras are pretty much non-existent with just a trailer for Black Venus and Ecstasy (under its Love Scenes title) included. But the set is priced accordingly, so that seems fair.

If you are a fan of sexy euro cult films in general, you may find black Venus up your alley. Meanwhile if you want a somewhat meta turgid sexual drama, you might end up digging Ecstasy. Melody of Passion is the kind of film that only a select few will enjoy. But those select few will enjoy the living hell out of it. Overall, this is a pretty solid slice of sex and sleaze from Severin.