LUST FOR LAURA premieres at LAKE PLACID FILM FESTIVAL Friday morning, June 5, 2004…stop…Legendary erotica director, Joe Sarno, his wife Peggy Steffans, Seduction Cinema actresses Isadora Edison and Chelsea Mundae, and a Seduction Cinema film crew…stop…Traveling North on the NY State Thruway, I-87…stop…Destination: Lake Placid, New York, home of the Lake Placid Film Festival…stop…Honor Sarno and screen his films Inga and Lust for Laura…stop   And so began a whirlwind 3 day festival jaunt for Joe Sarno et al, in downtown Lake Placid, nestled alongside its picturesque and famous namesake lake, in the Adirondack Mountains of Upstate New York.   Joe Sarno had been invited by festival programmers to be an honorary attendee at this year’s festival event – their 5th Annual.  Besides being a participant in the engrossing “Panels After Dark: Sexploitation Cinema” panel discussion on Friday night, June 4, Sarno was honored with a midnight, June 4 screening of his classic 1967 film Inga and a midnight, June 5 theatrical premiere of his newest erotica drama, Lust for Laura, produced by Seduction Cinema this past spring.   Despite the late-night screenings at the historic Palace Theater, both films were very well attended with audiences comprised of both long-time Sarno aficionados and those new to his body of work.  Following each screening, Sarno, Peggy Steffans and long-time Sarno cinematographer Bruce Sparks fielded questions from audience members who yearned for the inside scoop on these and other classic Sarno productions. Throughout the day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, the roving Seduction Cinema film crew was able to set up interviews with cameraman Bruce Sparks, sexploitation academician, Doris Wishman biographer and "Sexploitation Cinema" panelist Michael Bowen, and fellow panelists Chris Fujiwara and Grady Turner.  The crew also grabbed interviews with Seduction Cinema actress and Lust for Laura lead Isadora Edison as well as Lust for Laura and Sin Sister's Chelsea Mundae.  Cut together with the ENG-style interviews conducted outside the Palace Theater with patrons leaving the Sarno screenings and B-roll visuals of the beautiful Lake Placid downtown area and surrounding environs, the resulting documentary will be an exciting and comprehensive look at Joe Sarno’s participation at the 2004 Lake Placid Film Festival and the historical impact of his work upon sexploitation cinema.  The documentary will also be included as a DVD extra on the 2005 Lust for Laura release.

VAN HELSING FILM GOES FOR THE JUGULAR

Writer/director Max Von Diesel helms the next Seduction Cinema project – a rousing, over-the-top, ultra-erotic vampire flick based upon the sophomore feature film produced by SC way back in 1997, Vampire’s Seduction. The new film – The Sexy Adventures of Van Helsing - goes into post-production at the time of this writing at locations in northern New Jersey and at SC studios in New Jersey.  It’s chock full of exquisite women who put their “necks on the line” for it – and bodies, too! Seduction Cinema fave Darian Caine headlines as dark, sensual Countess Dracoola with Erika Smith (Shock-O-Rama’s Bite Me!, Sinful Wives) as her perpetual nemesis, the sexy and resourceful Van Helsing.  Voluptuous Isadora Edison, star of Joseph Sarno’s new film, Lust for Laura, Kay Kirtland (Lust for Laura), Andrea Davis (Dr. Jekyll and Mistress Hyde), A.J. Khan (Lord of the G-Strings) and Caitlin Ross (Bite Me!) round out the amazing and talented cast.  With this outstanding line-up of beautiful actresses, you can rest (in peace) assured that The Sexy Adventures of Van Helsing will stake its claim as one of the most erotic films yet created by Seduction Cinema. 

Vampire’s Seduction was produced soon after the home video success of the first Seduction Cinema film ever made, Caress of the Vampire, and it became a mini-cult classic of sorts upon its initial VHS-only release (it was re-released on DVD in 2000) due to a unique mix of steamy lesbian encounters and slapstick humor.  And it introduced director John Bacchus to an unsuspecting public.  Now Von Diesel will have his way with the characters and story to put a fresh new spin on the sensual battle of wills between Dracoola and Van Helsing. 

Look for The Sexy Adventures of Van Helsing to hit pay-per-view later this fall with a home video DVD  release scheduled for October 26, 2004. 

ANDREA DAVIS GRACES NJ

Stunning California-based Seduction Cinema actress Andrea Davis recently flew out to New Jersey, care of SC, to appear in two heavy-weight erotica films: Joseph Sarno’s astonishing comeback feature, Lust for Laura and Max Von Diesel’s first film for Seduction Cinema, The Erotic Adventures of Van Helsing.     Andrea’s roles to date have been in Los Angeles productions directed by acclaimed erotic cinema filmmaker Tony Marsiglia and starring Misty Mundae and Julian Wells – 2003’s Sin Sisters and Dr. Jekyll and Mistress Hyde and 2004’s Seduction Cinema’s Dracula and Chantal.  Her sensual performances and presence in the currently released films, hand-in-hand with her girlish beauty, have made her one of Seduction Cinema’s most requested actresses – she has a devoted and rapidly growing fan base – and SC is only too happy to oblige it with more Andrea.  And just wait till you experience Andrea in Dracula (Sept. 2004 release) and Chantal (early 2005 release) ­– two dark, visually striking, sexually provocative films shot back-to-back in LA last September.  Her popularity is sure to explode.

Being Andrea’s first trip out to New Jersey to work on a project (in this case, two), Lust for Laura and The Erotic Adventures of Van Helsing afforded her the opportunity to meet many of the NY/NJ-based actors and actresses, crew people, and ei Cinema and Seduction Cinema personnel she had only heard about.  They were thrilled to make her acquaintance, share some fun times with her on set, and witness first-hand the seductive beauty and sexiness that just radiates from her.

NEW SARNO FILM TO PREMIERE AT FILM FESTIVAL

The programmers of the 5th Annual Lake Placid Film Festival have invited legendary erotica/sexploitation director Joseph Sarno to be a featured guest at this year’s event, held June 2 - 6, in beautiful Lake Placid, NY, nestled in the Adirondack Mountains.  Sarno’s newest film, Lust for Laura, produced by Michael Raso, will be seeing its world premiere at the festival.  Sarno’s groundbreaking 1967 classic, Inga, will also be screened.

On Friday night, June 4, from 9:00 – 10:30pm, Sarno will take part in the “Panels After Dark: Exploitation Cinema” – an eye-opening look at the often overlooked and dismissed worlds of exploitation and sexploitation cinema.  The panel will be moderated by sexploitation academician and authority, Michael Bowen.  It promises to be special night for the 83-year-old Sarno, who just recently wrapped production on his first erotica film in over 20 years and has been busy putting together a cut to screen at the festival.

This year’s Guest of Honor and host will be acclaimed director Martin Scorsese.  Other guests include actors Willem Dafoe and Matthew Modine, director Paul Schrader, and cinematography Haskell Wexler, to name a few.

The Lake Placid Film Festival is ranked in the top ten of U.S. film fests by IndieWIRE.  Each year since its founding in 1999, producers, screenwriters, actors, directors, film theorists, etc., have assembled once a year in the picturesque town to celebrate and discuss, eat and breathe cinema in order to better understand cinema’s importance and relevance as both an art form, as a social and cultural mirror, and, ultimately, as entertainment.  All five days of the festival are devoted to various roundtable discussions, master classes, panels, seminars, script readings, producing and screenwriting workshops, and interviews that help shed light on the filmmaking process and filmmaking professionals.  This year, 60 films – features, shorts, documentaries – will be screened, including 12 world premieres…Joseph Sarno’s Lust for Laura being one of them.

Seduction Cinema and Joe Sarno are thrilled to be associated with and an active participant in this year’s festival.  Stay tuned for further post-festival news. 

Please visit the film festival website: www.lakeplacidfilmfestival.com

POPcinema Stars Among Those Welcoming Back Soldiers Who Caught Saddam

Rachael Robbins, co-star of Shock-O-Rama Cinema’s Screaming Dead, and Julian Wells, co-star of SpiderBabe, were part of a constellation of stars invited to the U.S. Army’s Ft. Hood in Texas recently for a mammoth welcome home party celebrating the return from Iraq of members of the “Ironhorse Brigade,” the military unit that caught former Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein.

The curvaceous actresses joined a large number of other entertainers – including Randy Travis, the Lynard Skynard band and pro-wrestling idol “Stone Cold” Steve Austin – at a day-long event that attracted an estimated 100,000 to the world’s largest military base. 

“It was an incredible experience,” said Rachael, who, along with Julian, spent time signing autographs and meeting the soldiers, among them General Raymond Odierno, the commanding officer of the Ironhorse Brigade and the architect of the plan to capture Hussein.  “It felt good to give something back to the men and women who put their lives on the line for us and for the people of Iraq.”

The girls also were interviewed by the Armed Forces Television and Radio Service in its studio on the base.  Their interview and those conducted with the other celebrities in attendance were brought together in a show that was later broadcast to American military personnel around the world. 

Rachael and Julian are very popular among the soldiers as pin-ups, as are two other ei Cinema stars, Darian Caine and Misty Mundae.  Frequent requests for signed photos and posters from the movies they’re in are fielded by ei Cinema personnel and the company is proud to receive photos from the front lines of GIs holding the prized possessions once they receive them.

“It’s nice to know that we’re helping keep morale up,” said Julian.

APRIL CHILLER EXPO

Another April, another great Chiller Theatre Toy, Model and Film Expo – Live!! from the Meadowlands Sheraton Hotel, deep in the heart of East Rutherford, NJ.  This year’s show ran April 23 thru April 25 and saw promoter Kevin Clement and company wrapping up their 13^th year! (The October 2004 show begins Chiller Year 14!)

As is custom at every Chiller, the convention was very well-attended by fans who never fail to take full advantage of the diverse and impressive roster of popular ‘B’ movie and TV celebrities and partake of the unique goods and services offered up by the exciting line-up of vendors.  Speaking of vendors, both Seduction Cinema and Shock-O-Rama Cinema had a sizeable presence at the convention – 4 tables on the balcony level overlooking the bustling ground floor atrium.  A fifth table was devoted exclusively to and commandeered by Seduction Cinema rising star and oft photographed NYC model Isadora Edison, the voluptuous lead actress in Joseph Sarno’s recently wrapped feature, Lust for Laura, and the upcoming, Erotic Adventures of Van Helsing.  Chiller was the perfect venue for introducing Isadora to the fans, who gladly partook of her loveliness and the sexy 8x10’s that were available for autographing.

Also attending Chiller was the lovely Darian Caine.  The always-engaging Seduction Cinema siren spent the weekend seducing fans and admirers with her “Dark Side.”  Beautiful Rachael Robbins, star of Shock-O-Rama Cinema’s premier, in-house produced horror film, Screaming Dead, written and directed by Brett Piper, was at the Shock-O table on Saturday to promote the film and make sure every fan left happy – a signed Rachael 8x10 in one hand, a Screaming Dead DVD in the other!

Another fun and exciting Chiller Expo, sadly, bites the dust.  But wait!  The October show is just around the corner!  Visit www.ChillerTheatre.com

WEEKEND OF WONDER

Femme Fatales magazine’s first ever Weekend of Wonder went down in exciting fashion, April 24-25, at the Burbank Airport Hilton, in sunny Burbank, CA.  The Weekend of Wonder was dedicated to celebrating the “Sexy Sirens of the Screen,” and the convention did just that and more – shining a bright light on the exquisite females, including Seduction Cinema’s very own Julian Wells and Andrea Davis, whose beauty and talent grace the TV shows and films we all know and love. And their presence within the pages of Femme Fatales helps to make the magazine the sexy, popular, one-of-a-kind success that it is.  

Throughout the day on Saturday and Sunday, Julian and Andrea appeared at the Seduction Cinema booth, meeting fans, signing 8x10s and DVDs, and posing for photos...and looking stunning while doing it.  Both days also afforded the girls the opportunity to be part of the Seduction Cinema panel where they were able to field questions from fans and introduce trailers for several upcoming Seduction Cinema and Shock-O-Rama Cinema releases including Screaming Dead, Sexy American Idle, Suburban Nightmare, Lust for Dracula, Chantal, Bite Me! and Sinful Wives (a.k.a. Mine).  Julian and Andrea share the screen with Misty Mundae in Lust for Dracula (Sept. 2004 release) and Chantal (early 2005).

Much thanks to Mark Altman, Dave Williams, Sean Jordan, Jeff Bond, Dan Scapperotti and everyone from Femme Fatales who worked tirelessly to make it a special weekend for the fans, for Julian Wells and Andrea Davis, and for Seduction Cinema studios.  Here’s looking forward to next year’s show!

NEW JOSEPH SARNO FILM

Erotica cinema legend Joseph Sarno and Seduction Cinema have just wrapped production on Joe’s first film in twenty years – Lust for Laura (originally Laura), featuring a luscious sextet of Seduction Cinema actresses including Isadora Edison, playing the titular character, Chelsea Mundae, Kay Kirtland, Tina Tyler, A.J. Khan and Andrea Davis.

Lust for Laura has immediately gone to post-production where it is being cut by senior editor Brian McNulty.  The tireless Sarno, now 83, is making the daily trip in from Manhattan to Butler, New Jersey, so that he may supervise both the rough cut then the final edit.  Sarno’s instincts for cutting together a scene for maximum emotional, psychological and sexual intensity are still as sharp as ever, and the film is shaping up to be his hottest and most controversial yet!  And that’s saying a lot considering his impressive filmography from the 1960s and 70s that includes such tinderboxes of smoldering female-centric sexuality as Butterflies and Bibi: Confessions of a Sweet Sixteen (a.ka. Girl Meets Girl).

Sarno is effusive in his praise for his hand-picked cast, and he is thrilled with how Lust for Laura is coming together.  He hopes to complete as close to a final cut of the film as possible in the next couple weeks so that it will be ready for the 5th Annual Lake Placid Film Festival, which plans to theatrically premiere Lust for Laura at their upcoming June 2^nd  - 6^th event.  Sarno’s 1968 classic, Inga, will also be screened at the festival, and Joe himself will be a featured guest.  This year’s festival Guest of Honor and host will be Martin Scorsese.

AMERICAN IDOL SPOOF

Seduction Cinema’s newest spoof – Sexy American Idle – has just hit the stores, so grab a copy of this 3 disc set and be the first on your block to experience the talent competition from hell…straight from the hallowed halls of the Northeast Westover VFW Hall.  Sexy American Idle Collector’s Edition Set includes the R-rated film and a bonus CD soundtrack of original music and musical performances as well as audio clips from the film. An insert postcard included in the packaging instructs just how easy it is to get the FREE Unrated/Naughty version DVD of Sexy American Idle – only $3.00 shipping/handling.  Both the R-rated and Unrated DVDs contain multiple deleted scenes and performances, extended bits, and behind-the-scenes.  All in all, a nice package from the very talented team at Seduction Cinema. 

With Sexy American Idle, writer/director/actor John Fedele (Titanic 2000) and co-scripter Julian Wells (they also play six characters between them) have delivered a hilarious parody full of outrageous characters who will do anything to experience their 15 minutes of fame - but are more deserving of a bullet in the head instead.  Watch Julian Wells and Misty Mundae “perform” as never before seen.  Witness the sensual bribery it takes to persuade judge Anoushka to change her vote.  Experience drunken British rocker Glitter Bolan and his inability to differentiate between human and simian performers.  Wow to the erotic lesbian exploits of Annie Cockledue (C.J. DiMarsico).  This and much, much more awaits the eager fan with a true eye for talent.

Check out Alternative Cinema magazine, issue #23 (Fall 2003), for the down’n’dirty, nitty-gritty making of Sexy American Idle, as told by writer/director Fedele himself.

THOSE 69 GIRLS

That 70s Girl – That hot-bed of retro-flavored erotica starring Misty Mundae, Julian Wells, A.J. Khan and Kelli Summers – will be available in all retail stores in early June 2004.  Both the Collector’s Edition VHS and DVD include the uncut and ultra-naughty That 70s Girl along with the bonus feature film, Dr. Christina of Sweden, directed by 60s/70s sexploitation filmmaker Nick Philips (Roxanna, Lustful Addiction).

In That 70s Girl, Julian Wells (SpiderBabe) and Kelli Summers (SpiderBabe) play Ashleigh and Jennifer – two straight-as-an-arrow sisters conned out of their money and in desperate need of a housemate to share the costs of living. What they get from their new hippie roommate, Petal (Misty Mundae), and her love slave, Mandy (AJ Khan), is a lesson or two – or three! – in Free Love.  Petal may be a flower child, but she’s all woman in bed, and she shows her friends how to free a mind while unleashing one hell of a body. Together all four do what comes naturally to happenin’ chicks looking for ultra-erotic kicks at the time of the “Dawning of the Age of Aquarius.” 

And if that doesn’t set your bell-bottoms on fire, then get ready for “Dr. Christina” - the stunning and voluptuous journalist who writes sex-related stories and columns for a Swedish tabloid.  Sent to France by the newspaper and thrilled by her first taste of Paris, Dr. Christina’s first task is to interview young people about their opinions on sex in the age of Free Love, and she quickly learns that actions speak louder than words the moment she happens upon an eager young couple.

That 70s Girl VHS and DVD also offers up a fun behind-the-scenes documentary and a huge selection of trailers for films starring Misty Mundae.  The DVD includes footage of Misty walking around Manhattan all dolled up in 70s garb for That 70s Girl ‘B’ roll, then donning roller-skates and looking sweet and beautiful, and just a little bit unsteady, on eight wheels.

Look for That 70s Girl at Best Buy, fye and other fine retailers in early June.

BUG BITES

Q: What has 10 legs, no brains, a swollen abdomen and a wad of dollar bills? 

A: A bloodsucking bug on a stripper. 

But this isn’t your typical eight-legged variety of pests.  These are big, mean, fast and ugly mutant bugs…and they are hungry!

Veteran horror filmmaker Brett Piper (Shock-O-Rama Cinema’s recent Screaming Dead) has just completed post-production on his latest fright film for Shock-O-Rama Cinema – the mutant bug on the loose Bite Me!.  The special fx-laden film stars Misty Mundae, Julian Wells, Erika Smith, John Fedele, Rob Monkiewicz, Caitlin Ross, Sylvianne Chebance, Michael R. Thomas, David Fine, and Doc Burrows, and it is set for an October 26, 2004 release.

A crate of bio-engineered marijuana winds up at a strip-joint after a drug deal gone bad, bringing with it a renegade DEA agent and a swarm of the monstrous critters.  Just what owner Ralph, bartender Gina (Sylvianne Chebance) and sultry dancers Crystal, Trix and Amber (Misty Mundae, Erika Smith, Caitlin Ross) need as they struggle to save their club from the unsavory clutches of Teresa (Julian Wells).  A local yocal exterminator is called in to thwart the infestation, but quicker than you can say “roach motel,” these oversized insectoids prove they are made of tougher stuff.  The club is under attack by a stealthy, skittering invasion of bad-ass, bloodthirsty bugs, and there’s nowhere to run, no place to hide, and not a lap-dance in sight.  And when the DEA heavy falls victim to a hungry horde, you can be sure he’ll be back…but he might not quite be human anymore.

It’s Tremors meets the Invasion of the Saucer Men in this thrilling, sexy, skin-crawling creepfest from horror auteur Brett Piper. 

Bite Me! is the 3^rd in-house produced horror film from Shock-O-Rama Cinema, following hot on the heels of Brett Piper’s Screaming Dead (March 2004) and Jon Keeyes’ Suburban Nightmare (coming in June 2004), and it’s the 2^nd by Piper for Shock-O-Rama in the past year.  This time around, Piper has gone all-out with amazing mechanical stop-motion effects that bring the blood-sucking bugs and the climax’s  human-sized monstrosity to life in all their gruesome glory.  Each stop-motion and miniature effect, including the creation of a seemingly 100 foot tall dinosaur that towers over the movie’s strip club location, were fabricated in post-production by Piper.  The poseable bugs and monsters were photographed by Piper frame by frame in the studio, then matted seamlessly via digital technology into the “live action” footage of the actors. The multi-facted, one man wrecking crew of a director has been working day-in, day-out for several months on the Bite Me! fx, and the film has only just recently been finished in total except for the final sound edit/mix.

Shock-O-Rama hopes that fans will truly enjoy and appreciate Bite Me!’s extensive use of classic stop-motion animation, especially in this day and age of often unconvincing CGI fx.  As for the talented ensemble of real actors, there is no doubt that fans will love their performances and the wacky characters they have created. 

HOME SWEET HOME…GONE STRAIGHT TO HELL

In 2001, ei Cinema approached filmmaker Jon Keeyes with the idea of him writing and directing a horror film for the Shock-O-Rama Cinema label.  Based upon the results and success of his first feature, American Nightmare, ei was confident that Keeyes could deliver a kick-ass film.  ei was thrilled when Keeyes agreed to tackle the project, and Suburban Nightmare was born.  Production of the script, initially titled Blood and Roses and based upon a story idea by Debbie Rochon, began in early 2002 in Keeyes’ home state of Texas – a state infamous for a certain other bloodthirsty clan of cannibals.  Actors Trent Haaga (Terror Firmer) and Brandy Little (American Nightmare) were cast as husband and wife psycho-cannibals Charles and Deborah Rosenblad – a.k.a. “the neighbors from hell.”  Throw them in their nice suburban home, give them each a nice, big chip on their shoulder – maybe a few irreconcilable differences, a distant memory of happier murderous times, some sharp implements, a woman tied up in their basement awaiting slaughter, fresh human meat in the pasta – and you’ve got yourself a gruesome and bloody little tale of domestic violence gone way over the edge.

Shock-O-Rama’s upcoming DVD release of Suburban Nightmare – June 29, 2004 – is packed full of extra goodies.  Multiple documentaries shot during production including “The Torture Room,” “World of the Killers,” “On the Set,” and “The Victims,” as well as audio commentary by writer/director Keeyes and editor Robert McCollum, provide much insight into the behind-the-scenes creation of the film.  With Suburban Nightmare, Shock-O-Rama Cinema has introduced its “Shocking Shorts” short subject horror film segment that will become a standard Extra on future Shock-O-Rama releases – on DVD and VHS.  Rob Fitz’s frontier shocker Lost Face and Daniel De La Vega’s macabre Deep Dream and Last Supper comprise this releases’s “Shocking Shorts” selections. Shock-O-Rama is committed to supporting similar cutting edge short horror films on future releases and giving them the opportunity to be seen by a much wider audience and fan base.

Suburban Nightmare will be available at all major retail stores, including Best Buy and Movie Gallery stores nationwide.

SCREAMING DEAD & SUBURBAN NIGHTMARE ATTACK MOVIE GALLERY

Shock-O-Rama and Brett Piper’s Screaming Dead finally hits all Movie Gallery stores, June 9, 2004.  The Alabama-based retailer, the #2 rental chain in the U.S., has been a big supporter of Seduction Cinema releases over the past couple years, consistently taking in many of the popular erotica label’s top titles.  Now Movie Gallery has committed to the Shock-O-Rama Cinema horror label, and Screaming Dead will be the first title to their shelves, followed by Jon Keeyes’ Suburban Nightmare, on June 29, 2004.  Look for these titles on the above dates, and rent, rent, rent.  It’ll help save a space on their shelves for each upcoming release on Shock-O-Rama.