Let's just get right to it, shall we? Are they erotic? Not in the least. Are they campy fun? Well...maybe one of them. Should you buy it? Listen - if you're reading this review, and you already know the title of the DVD is One Shocking Moment, The Abnormal Female, and Maidens of Fetish Street: Special Edition you probably already have a fairly clear idea of what you're getting into. You know you're going to at least rent it, aren't you?

I hadn't seen a grindhouse nudie-cutie/roughie in some time, not since college, where, particularly for film students, it was a sort of "right of passage" to find a few and bring them to at least one party. And my reaction to them then, was pretty much my reaction to them now (as I suspect it is with most people who've seen one or two): initial laughter for about five minutes, while feeling superior to the material, segueing quickly into a frozen grin, then silence, then ultimately, boredom. Let's face it; these little shorts were produced for the raincoat crowd, not your average moviegoer, and they offer little besides an initial sense of titillation (which has more to do with anticipation of what you think you're going to see, rather than what you're actually presented with), followed by a certain queasiness in watching them.

That being said, Something Weird Video does provide the goods for those whose kink must be obeyed. The triple feature of One Shocking Moment, The Abnormal Female, and Maidens of Fetish Street: Special Edition provides a fairly decent spectrum of the nudie-cutie/roughie grindhouse offerings typical of the 1960s. The best of the bunch here (and the one that you can at least sit through without feeling like a total jerk), is the first feature, One Shocking Moment, produced, written and directed by cult legend Ted V. Mikels (The Astro-Zombies, The Corpse Grinders, The Doll Squad). Borrowing a story that's as old as the hills, Mikels takes the oft-filmed morality tale of the big city seducing and almost destroying the young couple from the hinterlands, and warps it to fit the grindhouse sensibilities. Cliff, the top man back in Grand Rapids, is promoted to the L.A. office, where he moves with his sweet, innocent bride, Mindy. Once there, Cliff immediately acts as if he's unhinged by every female he sees, particularly next-door-neighbor, Joannie, who, at the drop of a hat, will drop her hat - and any other clothes she may have on. Complicating matters is Mindy's new-found friend, Tanya, who runs the local peeler bar, and who gets paid to whip masochistic men. Tanya's looking for a new girlfriend (since Joannie is giving her guff) once she lays eyes on Mindy.

A case could be made for Mikel's somewhat advanced treatment (for the grindhouse set) of the male and female characters in One Shocking Moment. While he's no Douglas Sirk or even Sam Fuller (although that central image of Tanya's heel stamping on Cliff's hand certainly feels Fullerian), he does get across the dynamic of a troubled marriage fairly well. Cliff works long hours to make money, because he feels this will make Mindy happy. Mindy, who wants Cliff to succeed, ultimately wishes him to fail, because his workaholic ways are tearing them apart. Ultimately, these long hours away leads to Cliff having an affair at work, and almost having an affair with Joannie. Mindy, who finally realizes that Cliff may have gone over to the "dark side" during an orgy, decides if you can't beat them, join them, and proceeds to strip for the other guests. Only after Tanya demands Cliff make love to her (which he quite naturally declines), and after she brutally denigrates him, calling him one of "the perverted bastards who call themselves men," does Cliff realize the mistakes he's made, and gets Mindy out of the orgy. One Shocking Moment is nothing new dramatically, to be sure, but it's competently handled, with some fairly good direction and lighting (for a nudie), and it boasts a (relatively) attractive cast.

Falling down to the other end of the nudie/roughie spectrum is the abysmal The Abnormal Female, directed by George Rodgers. Posing as a kind of Chapman Report for the nudies, this sleazy 60 minute grind details (in non-synch sound) the exploits of several of Dr. Shuman's patients, all of whom, curiously, suffer from "sexual dysfunctions" (how convenient). First we see Vicki, who's a sadist and who enjoys torturing and humiliating men (whippings, lemon juice down the throat - I know, I don't get it, either). Next up, Sherri and Kathy; Sherri is a bored housewife who goes down to the Discotheque West (in San Francisco) to pick up some rough trade (which we have to watch, unfortunately - including some really gross close-up kissing). Kathy, Sherri's sister, has a grungy, dirty hippie boyfriend, who naturally turns her on. And finally, we have married swingers Janet and Fred. Fred wants a menage a trois with another woman -- with Janet and the woman taking center stage; Janet demurs but eventually goes along with it, only to find out that she prefers that to him. The film ends with two women taking a shower. You may feel the need for one yourself, after watching this painfully dull, unerotic mess. At least One Shocking Moment had some decent lighting; this one looks like it was shot with one dim klieg light.

And finally, we have the totally insane Maidens of Fetish Street, directed by Saul Resnick. One can only guess that Saul watched Citizen Kane one too many times; the lighting effects in Maidens of Fetish Street are as evocative as they are totally out of place with a grindhouse roughie. Equally disturbing is the purple prose of the film noir narration that often makes Maidens of Fetish Street sound like a Twilight Zone episode on acid. There's some kind of story going on here, with Nick, a bespectacled "wild cat" (if you could only see him, you'd realize how funny that description is) who dreams of former friends who are also weirdos, and who may be time traveling back to 1928 Los Angeles, and who frequents a bondage bookstore where he loses himself in reveries concerning a cathouse of fetish delights, and an old woman who whips him. As for purpose or intent of Maidens of Fetish Street, I throw my hands up; I just don't know. But it's spectacularly incompetent, much like a botched final from a film student who tried to get it all done the night before it's due. There's nothing remotely erotic in it, either.

The DVD:

The Video:
Surprisingly, the image quality for all three films in One Shocking Moment, The Abnormal Female, and Maidens of Fetish Street: Special Edition are pretty good, considering not much thought must have gone into securing these titles for film history. One Shocking Moment and Maidens of Fetish Street look the best, with clean prints and solid blacks. The Abnormal Female is pretty rough looking, but most of that comes from the original incompetents who shot and edited the film. Of course, these are all black and white, and full screen.

The Audio:
The Dolby Digital mono soundtrack is pretty clear; I could hear all of the looped-in groans and moans.

The Extras:
One Shocking Moment, The Abnormal Female, and Maidens of Fetish Street: Special Edition does have some appropriately sick extras. There are trailers for The Bizarre Ones, Scare Their Pants Off, and Venus in Furs -- all fetish nudie/roughies. And there's a Gallery of Sick Sixties Sex Stills with Audio Oddities which really aren't so much stills (there's one or two), as print ads for various 1960's skin flicks. Probably most intriguing of the lot (and perhaps the whole DVD) is an 8mm Kink-O-Rama Loop: Punishment Party! Purporting to be a bunch of suburban housewives enacting out various fake whippings and spankings, it has the authentic look of just that: some bizarre loop for the grindhouses that someone made with a bunch of housewives. However, as with almost everything that has to do with the movies, looks can be deceiving, and these could just be actresses (the good-looking blonde with the whip and the boots looks suspiciously "actress-y"). Either way, it's a bizarre little film clip that feels like something David Lynch must have watched before embarking on his film career.

Final Thoughts:
One Shocking Moment, The Abnormal Female, and Maidens of Fetish Street: Special Edition isn't going to kill you, or warp your moral judgement if you choose to watch it. I'm sure there are those out there who enjoy this kind of thing - and to that I say, to each his own. And I'm sure there's even more people out there who are looking for something to hoot at, just like we did in college, something camp to jack up a dull party. And to that I say, fine. Enjoy yourselves. But remember -- I warned you: it's only funny for about five minutes. Rent it.