Simon Sheridan has written the sleeve-notes, and provided ‘extras’, for the following DVD and Blu-ray releases:
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Valentino (1977)  Controversial British director Ken Russell (Women in Love, The Devils) tells the story of one of the silver screen’s greatest legends, Rudolf Valentino, in this flamboyant and sexually-charged film. Starring world-famous ballet dancer Rudolf Nureyev alongside Michelle Phillips and Felicity Kendal, Valentino traces the adored actor’s journey from humble beginnings as an Italian immigrant in New York, where he worked as a gigolo, to Hollywood, where he seduces famous lovers and ascends to stardom. Despite such towering success, tragedy beckons however, as Rudy falls preys to the mass-hysteria of his audience, the blood-thirsty press and his own indulgent lifestyle. Available from Amazon: Valentino [DVD + Blu-ray] |
Pasolini (2015)  Written and directed by Abel Ferrara (Driller Killer, Bad Lieutenant, Welcome to New York), this dark, daring drama tells the story of the fateful final days of the controversial filmmaker Pier Paolo Pasolini. Having recently finished making Salò, or 120 Days of Sodom Pasolini has enraged audiences, critics and politicians with his homosexuality and the scandal that surrounds his films. Starring Willem Dafoe (The Last Temptation of Christ) as the great auteur, the movie focusses on both Pasolin’s private and professional life, and explores the inner-world of the filmmaker in the days before his violent death.Available from Amazon: Pasolini [DVD] |
Horror Hospital (1972)  Legendary British actor Michael Gough stars as Doctor Storm, the depraved proprietor of a ‘health hotel’ in the English countryside. But when a burned-out rocker (Robin Askwith, Confessions of a Window Cleaner) and his sexy new girlfriend arrive for a relaxing vacation, they’ll instead become trapped in a nightmare of psycho bikers, cheeky dwarves, rampant decapitations, gratuitous nudity, lethal luxury sedans and a diabolical plan to create a slave army of lobotomized zombies. Skip Martin (Vampire Circus) and Dennis Price (Theatre of Blood) co-star in this bloody/campy cult favourite from writer/director Antony Balch, now transferred in HD from the original 35mm camera negative.Available from Amazon: Horror Hospital [Blu-ray] |
Burke & Hare (1971)  Vernon Sewell (The Blood Beast Terror) directs this Hammer-esque horror concerning 19th century grave robbing, when the need for fresh corpses led to a series of grisly murders in Edinburgh. When villainous Burke and Hare realise that demand for corpses is outstripping supply, they decide to take matters into their own hands and prey on drunken prostitutes in the brothels and alleyways of Victorian Scotland. Derren Nesbit, Glynn Edwards, Yootha Joyce and Francoise Pascal star in this seminal British shocker.Available from Amazon: Burke & Hare [DVD] |
School for Sex (1968)  Dastardly Giles Wingate (Derek Aylward, Come Play with Me) appears in court accused of embezzling £30,000. However, Wingate’s barrister argues that his client is actually the real victim, having been swindled out of his family fortune by nine beautiful ex-wives. The Judge takes pity on Wingate, who decides to open an exclusive finishing school in the English countryside. He gleefully teaches the fine art of financial extortion to a group of sexy delinquent girls, with often hilarious results! Directed by cult British filmmaker Pete Walker, School for Sex was one of the most successful sex comedies of all-time, breaking box office records in London’s West End. This ‘X’-rated romp also features several gorgeous models of the era, including Françoise Pascal (Mind Your Language), Cathy Howard (Secrets of Sex) and Nicola Austine (On the Game). Making its way onto DVD for the very first time, School for Sex is supplemented with a saucy selection of Walker’s famous 8mm glamour shorts. School for Sex – available from Amazon. |
For Men Only (1967)  Freddie Horne (David Kernan, Carry On Abroad) loves his job working for a trendy women’s fashion magazine, but his pretty blonde fiancée is getting jealous. To smooth things over Freddie takes a job with the Puritan Magazine Group, an organisation hell-bent on promoting moral reform and ‘family values’. However, the caddish chief executive Miles Fanthorpe (Derek Aylward, Come Play with Me) is not all he seems. Fanthorpe’s country house is actually full of scantily-clad young women, and he is secretly publishing a girlie magazine! Originally released as I Like Birds, this riotous 1967 sex farce was the first big screen movie by cult British filmmaker Pete Walker, who went on to helm horror classics like House of Whipcord and Frightmare. Making its debut on DVD for the very first time, For Men Only is supplemented with a saucy selection of Walker’s famous 8mm glamour shorts, including Soho Striptease, banned since 1960.Available from Amazon: For Men Only [DVD] |
Eskimo Nell (1974)  Alongside Come Play with Me and Confessions of a Window Cleaner, Eskimo Nell takes its place as one of the most celebrated British sex comedies of the 1970s. Featuring a witty script from Michael Armstrong (who also stars) and directed by a young Martin Campbell years before he helmed the James Bond movies GoldenEye and Casino Royale, Eskimo Nellis a hilarious satire on the low-budget British movie industry. Three inexperienced filmmakers attempt to make a movie version of the notoriously rude poem The Ballad of Eskimo Nell, with disastrous results. This classic British comedy features a cast of famous faces including Roy Kinnear (The Three Musketeers) and Katy Manning (Doctor Who) plus an eye-popping cameo from Mary Millington in her début movie.Available from Amazon: Eskimo Nell 40th Anniversary Special Edition [Blu-ray] |
Can You Keep It Up for a Week? (1974)  Prim and proper Annette (Jill Damas) promises to marry her accident-prone boyfriend Gilbert (Jeremy Bulloch, The Empire Strikes Back) on condition that he manages to hold down a job for just seven days, but not everything goes to plan. When dopey Gilbert signs up with an employment agency, suddenly every nymphomaniac in London wants to get him on the job! One of the best-known British sex comedies of the 1970s, Can You Keep It Up for a Week? stars a gaggle of sexy performers including Sue Longhurst (Come Play with Me) and Valerie Leon (Carry On Girls), plus an eye-popping cameo from the legendary Richard O`Sullivan (Man About the House) as a gay photographer!Available from Amazon: Can You Keep It Up For a Week? [DVD] |
Au Pair Girls (1972)  These sexy au pairs only came to make the beds… but they end up doing everything! Four Continental dolly-birds arrive in London to work as home-helps, but within 24-hours they all lose all of their clothes in this raucous 1970s sex comedy classic! Directed by veteran filmmaker Val Guest (Confessions of a Window Cleaner), and based on a kinky story by David Grant (Love Variations), Au Pair Girls features hilarious cameos from a host of famous faces including John Le Mesurier (Dad’s Army), Trevor Bannister (Are You Being Served?) and Richard O’Sullivan (Man About the House).Available from Amazon: Au Pair Girls [DVD] |
Zeta One (1969) A Swinging secret agent (Robin Hawdon) regales his pretty young secretary (Danish pin-up Yutte Stensgaard) with tales of far-out adventures in this super-psychedelic spaced-out sex comedy! A race of all-girl aliens begin kidnapping beautiful English popsies and taking them back to their home planet. However, the evil Major Bourdon (James Robertson Justice, Doctor in the House) is determined to foil the plans of these topless inter-galactic Amazonians. Based on a short-lived 1960s’ magazine, this camp, über-kitsch obscurity co-stars the delectable Valerie Leon (The Spy Who Loved Me) and ‘Carry On’ legend Charles Hawtrey in a role he probably chose to forget! Available from Amazon:: Zeta One [DVD] |
The Sex Thief (1973) Audacious cat burglar Grant Henry (David Warbeck, Hammer’s Twins of Evil) steals more than just wealthy women’s diamonds in this riotous 1973 British sex comedy. The dashing gentleman thief becomes the talk of London, but a pretty insurance investigator (Diane Keen) and breast-obsessed policeman (Michael Armstrong) are hot on his heels. The Sex Thief was the directorial debut of New Zealand-born Martin Campbell – who would later graduate to Hollywood blockbusters like Goldeneye and Casino Royale – but the film gained notoriety after being released in a hardcore porn version in America in 1976. Available from Amazon: The Sex Thief [DVD] |
The Chairman (1969)  Oscar winner Gregory Peck stars in this suspenseful 1969 Cold War spy thriller set deep behind the Bamboo Curtain and directed by Oscar-nominated J.Lee Thompson (The Guns of Navarone). When the Chinese make a scientific discovery that could change the world forever, Nobel Prize-winning scientist John Hathaway (Gregory Peck) is the only hope for the West to steal the secret. Hathaway is sent on a deadly mission to China unaware that his spymasters have planted a powerful explosive in his body! The Chairman has been digitally restored and remastered, and is available to own on UK DVD for the very first time in a strictly limited and numbered edition of just 2000 copies.Available from Amazon: The Chairman [DVD]  |
For the Love of Ada (1972)  Based on the hit Thames Television sitcom, which ran from 1970 to 1971, For the Love of Ada follows the late-flowering romance between two young-at-heart pensioners. Irene Handl (Come Play with Me) and Wilfred Pickles (Billy Liar) star as Ada and Walter Bingley who, despite being in their seventies, are only now celebrating their first wedding anniversary. However, unbeknownst to them, a surprise party has been organised to celebrate their big day. But with calamities befalling the couple at every turn, will these comical OAPs ever make it through the day?Available from Amazon For the Love of Ada [DVD] |
Not Now Darling (1972)  Based on Ray Cooney’s record-breaking stage farce, Not Now Darling follows the misadventures of insatiable womaniser Gilbert Bodley (Leslie Phillips), the boss of an exclusive West End fur salon. In order to give his mistress Janie (Julie Ege, Up Pompeii!) an expensive mink coat without upsetting her jealous husband, Gilbert agrees to sell it to her cheap. However things don’t go to plan and the tricky transaction creates a hilarious and chaotic chain of events. Co-directed by David Croft (Are You Being Served?), this quick-witted British comedy also features rib-tickling performances from ‘Carry On’ stars Barbara Windsor, Joan Sims and Peter Butterworth.Available from Amazon: Not Now Darling [DVD] |
Nudes of the World (1962) & Take Off Your Clothes and Live (1963)  This saucy double-bill pushed the barriers of Sixties’ film censorship when naked girls could only be shown if they were extolling the ‘healthy lifestyle’ of naturism! Produced and directed by sexploitation double-act Stanley Long (On the Game) and Arnold Louis Miller (West End Jungle), Nudes of the World sees a group of international beauty queens turn an English stately home into a nudist camp, with unexpected results! The movie broke box office records in London in 1961 and features narration by Blue Peter’s legendary presenter Valerie Singleton. The sequel, Take Off Your Clothes and Live, follows a group of pretty English girls escaping to the French Riviera, where they discover the joys of stripping off in the sunshine! Unseen for 50 years, both films are making their debut on DVD.Available from Amazon: Nudes Of The World & Take Off Your Clothes And Live [DVD]  |
What’s Good for the Goose (1969)  British comedy legend Norman Wisdom swaps ‘Mr. Grimsdale’ for extra-marital bonking in this outrageous and colourful British sex comedy! Wisdom takes the role of a married middle-aged bank clerk whose love life is transformed by the shapely curves of a promiscuous 18-year-old hitchhiker, played by Sally Geeson (Carry On Abroad). Produced by exploitation maestro Tony Tenser (Witchfinder General), this taboo-busting movie created a storm of tabloid controversy upon its original release and features a bizarre appearance by cult psychedelic rock band The Pretty Things.Available from Amazon: What’s Good for the Goose [DVD]  |
Naked – as Nature Intended (1961) and Secrets of a Windmill Girl (1963)  Naked – as Nature Intended, helmed by controversial director George Harrison Marks (Come Play with Me), caused a media sensation in the 1960s for its frank depiction of nakedness. Starring glamour legend Pamela Green (Peeping Tom), the movie follows the adventures of a group of pretty girls who trek across the south of England to reach a nudist camp in Cornwall, where they suddenly lose their inhibitions and bare all! Hugely successful, the movie ran for 18 months solidly in London alone. Secrets of a Windmill Girl was filmed on location at Soho’s infamous Windmill Theatre. A young Pauline Collins (Shirley Valentine), resplendent in fishnet stockings, plays an innocent girl seduced by the sleazy world of striptease, orgies and drugs. But her downward spiral into vice has devastating consequences.Available from Amazon: Naked – as Nature Intended & Secrets of a Windmill Girl [DVD] |
Virgin Witch (1970)  When two pretty hitch-hikers are hired for a modelling assignment at a creepy English manor house, all is not what it seems – a witches’ coven is in residence, populated by nude swingers, frustrated lesbians and a boiling cauldron of kinky sex! Directed by prolific filmmaker Ray Austin (The Avengers and Space 1999), Virgin Witch is a psychedelic mix of naked girls and bloodcurdling horror. This naughty British sex-thriller stars real-life sisters Vicki Michelle (from BBC sitcom ‘Allo ‘Allo) and Ann Michelle (Psychomania), with show-stopping support from Patricia Haines (Michael Caine’s first wife) and ‘X’-rated smoothie Neil Hallett (Keep It Up Downstairs). Originally rejected outright by the British censor, Virgin Witch is now available on DVD for the very first time.Available from Amazon: Virgin Witch [DVD] |
Confessions of a Sex Maniac (1974) & Love Variations (1969)  Comedy legend Roger Lloyd Pack (BBC1’s Only Fools and Horses and The Vicar of Dibley) plays Henry, an up ‘n’ coming architect tasked with designing a new leisure centre. Assisted by his sexy, super-efficient secretary Hilary (Vicki Hodge), Henry hits upon the idea of modelling the building on the shape of a humungous breast! In his quest for the perfect boob he road-tests a bevy of beautiful birds, including 70s’ sex-bombs Cherri Gilham, Ava Cadell and Monika Ringwald. Love Variations was Britain’s first ever feature-length sex education film and caused widespread tabloid controversy upon its original release. Now more hysterical than educational, the ground-breaking Love Variations shows models performing a variety of sexual positions, whilst a ‘family doctor’ provides an excitable commentary. |
The Flesh is Weak (1957)  Evil Tony Giani (John Derek, The Ten Commandments) is a handsome pimp who preys on naïve young women who arrive in London looking for fame and fortune. He wines and dines them, gets them a place to stay but soon blackmails them into prostitution. One such girl is pretty Italian Marissa (Milly Vitale) who instantly falls under Giani’s wicked spell. But when Milly tries to escape her tawdry surroundings her life is put in mortal danger. It seems that only a kindly investigative journalist (William Franklyn) can rescue her from her life stuck in the sordid gutters of Soho. Directed by renowned British-born Hollywood director Don Chaffey (One Million Years BC and TV’s The Prisoner), this once-notorious ‘X’-rated 1950s’ shocker scandalised the British film industry and was inspired by terrifying real-life events. This little-seen British crime classic is presented here in a beautifully restored new print.Available from Amazon: The Flesh Is Weak [DVD]  |
Emmanuelle in Soho (1981)  Set in London’s notorious red-light district, Emmanuelle in Soho exposes the salacious world of back-street striptease shows, pornographers and the infamous ‘casting couch’. Fame hungry Emmanuelle (Mandy Miller) does whatever it takes to make it big, even if that means signing up with London’s sleaziest porn agent (John M. East). Produced by David ‘Come Play with Me’ Sullivan, Emmanuelle in Soho features tragic beauty Julie Lee in her only starring role, ably assisted by a bevy of gorgeous girls, including eye-popping cameos from sex queens Linzi Drew and Marie Harper. Released in July 1981, the movie became the very last blockbuster of the British sex comedy era, running solidly for 35 weeks in London alone.Available from Amazon: Emmanuelle In Soho – [DVD] [1981]  |
| Confessions from the David Galaxy Affair (1979)
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The Playbirds (1978)  In her greatest film role, the legendary Mary Millington plays a sexy policewoman secretly infiltrating the seedy world of pornography. In order to unmask a pathological killer who’s targeting the beautiful centrefolds of Playbirds magazine, Mary puts her life, and reputation, on the line by sleeping with millionaire publisher Harry Dougan (Alan Lake). The Chief Superintendant (Glynn Edwards) and Police Commissioner (Windsor Davies) are keeping a close eye on her, but time is running out fast. Now that Mary’s joined the blue squad, will she blow her cover? One of the most fabled British sexploitation films of the 1970s finally gets a release on DVD, beautifully remastered from the original negatives. Based on the best-selling porn magazine and featuring star turns from Gavin Campbell (That’s Life!), Dudley Sutton (Lovejoy) and the luscious Suzy Mandel, The Playbirds is a murder thriller bursting with thrilling bodies!
Available from Amazon: The Playbirds Ft Extra Mary Millington’s World Striptease Extravaganza Digitally Remastered Special Edition DVD |
Come Play with Me (1977)  Originally released in April 1977 amid a whirlwind of tabloid controversy, Come Play with Me is the most celebrated British sex comedy of all time. Directed by infamous filmmaker George Harrison Marks, this classic X-rated farce tells the story of two elderly banknote forgers who seek refuge at a health farm. Luckily for them, the clinic is staffed by a hoard of sex-crazed nurses who can’t wait to offer a variety of special treatments! Featuring famous character actors like Irene Handl, Alfie Bass and Ronald Fraser, Come Play with Me really set temperatures rising with its supporting cast of beautiful glamour girls – Suzy Mandel, Anna Bergman, Sue Longhurst, Nicola Austine and, most famously of all, the legendary Mary Millington. Movie audiences found the temptation too much to resist and the film played solidly in London for nearly four years – still a British cinema record. Now, exactly 33 years after its original box office-busting cinema debut Come Play with Me is presented here digitally remastered from the original negatives and with a host of saucy special features.Available from Amazon: Come Play With Me Digitally Remastered Special Edition DVD 1977  |
| Take an Easy Ride (1974) & Go Girl (1972)
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Goodbye Gemini (1970)  In the Age of Aquarius, the deranged Gemini twins share everything – teddy bears, lovers and murder! Judy Geeson (To Sir with Love) and Martin Potter (Fellini’s Satyricon) play 20-year-old siblings with an unusually close relationship. Their bizarre fantasy world is shattered by the arrival of Clive (Alexis Kanner), a flamboyant London criminal with a massive gambling debt. As the twins become exposed to the sleazy underbelly of swinging London nightlife, they tumble into a bubbling cauldron of kinky sex, blackmail and sickening violence. Directed by Alan Gibson (Dracula A.D. 1972), with cameos from Freddie Jones and the legendary Sir Michael Redgrave, Goodbye Gemini is an unsettling tale of incest, obsessive jealousy and death. Unseen since the early Seventies, the movie is one of the most controversial – and taboo-busting – British exploitation pictures ever made.Available from Amazon: Goodbye Gemini – Digitally Remastered 1970 [DVD]  |
The Statue (1970)  The old saying goes “Not all men are created equal” and The Statue certainly proves the point! David Niven (The Pink Panther) stars in this uproarious comedy about an eminent professor awarded the ultimate accolade – a statue of himself in London’s Grosvenor Square. But Niven is less than impressed when he finally sees the huge erection. The penis on the marble figure doesn’t actually belong to him! Niven embarks on a frantic journey across Europe to uncover the real owner of the offending member, but his quest to find the truth has hilarious consequences. Co-starring Robert Vaughn (The Man from U.N.C.L.E.), John Cleese & Graham Chapman (Monty Python’s Flying Circus) and directed by Rod Amateau (The Dukes of Hazzard), The Statue is a saucy 70s’ farce where the jokes come thick and fast!
Available from Amazon: The Statue – Widescreen Edition [DVD] |
| On the Game (1973)
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| This, That and the Other (1969)
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| Best of the Adventures (1981)
Movie expert Peter |
| Secrets of Sex (1969)
Available from Amazon: Secrets of Sex [DVD] |
Sex and the Other Woman (1972)  Wives beware! Husbands be wary! These women are dangerous! Sex and the Other Woman follows the randy exploits of four sexy seductresses, four willing husbands and the tempting taste of forbidden fruit. Who could possibly resist a bit on the side? Directed by Stanley Long, the ‘King of Sexploitation’, and starring the sardonic Richard Wattis (Carry On Spying) and legendary ‘Page 3’ girl Felicity Devonshire, this cult 1970s sex comedy presents the bare facts about the pleasures and perils of adultery. Sex and the Other Woman – available from Amazon. |
| Ups and Downs of a Handyman (1975)
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Intimate Games (1976)  When hapless college tutor Professor Gottlieb (George Baker, The Ruth Rendell Mysteries) instructs his class of horny pupils to research a project on sexual fantasies he gets more than he bargained for. From double entendres to delightful stripteases, the young men and women are soon playing the most intimate of games! This classic British sex comedy features a perfect mixture of familiar acting faces, such as Ian Hendry, Hugh Lloyd, Queenie Watts and a raunchy roll call of naughty 1970s stars including Anna Bergman, Suzy Mandel and an early un-credited appearance by superstar Mary Millington.Available from Amazon: Intimate Games [DVD]  |
| Spaced Out (1979) & Sex Clinic (1973)
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| Cool it Carol! (1970)
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| Stanley Long’s Adventures Trilogy (box-set)
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| Gaiety George (1946)
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Willo the Wisp (1981)  If you go down in the woods today you’re sure of a big surprise! All 26 episodes of this classic animated favourite, produced for the BBC in 1981. The series was written and directed by Nick Spargo and voiced by the incomparable Kenneth Williams (Carry On Camping). The character of Willo the Wisp originated in an educational animation created by Spargo for British Gas in 1975 and the stories were set in Doyley Woods, a small beech wood in Oxfordshire, near the director’s home.Available from Amazon: Willo The Wisp [DVD]  |
What the Swedish Butler Saw (1973)  A Victorian aristocrat (Ole Soltoft) buys a former madhouse and converts it into a love nest for seducing Alice (Sue Longhurst – Come Play with Me) the object of his affections, unaware that Jack the Ripper lives in secret passages lining the building! After receiving the help of a brothel Madame (Diana Dors – Adventures of a Taxi Driver) he tries to seduce Alice with hypnotism, aphrodisiacs and various mechanical devices. All his efforts though end in hilarious disaster as this saucy 1970’s romp unfolds.Available from Amazon: What the Swedish Butler Saw [DVD] |
The Mary Millington Movie Collection (2020) 
