The Joys of Jezebel (1970)

Director:

Bethel Buckalew

Writer:

Maurice Smith (screenplay)

Genre:

Fantasy

Tagline:

Intensively Incandescent In Color

Plot:

Satan lets Jezebel return to earth to deliver the soul of a blonde virgin named Rachel by taking over her body. However, Jezebel gets more than she bargained for. |

Plot Keywords:

Jezebel | Satan | Virgin | Female Nudity | Lesbianism

Cast

Christine Murray	...	Jezebel
Christopher Stone	...	Lucifer
Johnny Rocco	...	Joshua (as John Rocco)
Jay Edwards	...	Jeremiah
Dixie Donovan	...	Rachel
Angela Graves	...	Ruth
Woody Lee	...	Solomon
Jess White	...	Goliath
La La	...	Lust
Sherise Roland	...	Eve
Ron Smith	...	Isaac
Geets Romo	...	Sol
Alice Fredlund	...	Sarah (as Alice Friedland)
Feleshia Manning	...	Esther
Bonnie Cooper	...	Girl in Hell

Runtime:

75 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Not that bad for a Bethel Buckalew film

Somebody should do a retrospective on the career of sexploitation filmmaker Bethel Buckalew (well, not me, but SOMEONE should). Buckalew was kind of a pioneer in the sense that while a lot of other sexploitation filmmakers of that era were always messing around with plots and drama and things like that, Buckalew went right for the wall-to-wall sex, just like softcore porn movies all pretty much do today. In fact, Buckalew's films were basically early versions of hardcore porn films without the penetration (i.e. without those sexy extreme close-ups of Ron Jeremy's pistoning perineum), and it even took hardcore porn ten years or so to become as content-free as some of Buckalew's stuff. Of course, this is a pretty dubious accomplishment, and I am also being a little unfair to Buckalew. He did occasionally try (and for the most part fail) to make some real movies (more-or-less) like "Young Cycle Girls".

This film is interesting in that it shows a little more ambition than some of his films in that it's a costume drama and a morality tale (well, sort of), but at the same time it's still within Buckalew's obvious area of expertise (ie.non-stop softcore scromping). "Jezebel" is in hell after being torn apart by her husband "Josiah's" dogs. "Satan" decides to give her a chance to go back and get revenge by inhabiting the body (and what a body it is!) of a naive, bubble-breasted blonde bimbo named "Rachel". So she does--but not until after witnessing a long gratuitous infernal orgy. "Josiah" spends all his time orgying as well,so it's very likely the typical viewer will have "shot his wad" and/or fallen asleep before "Jezebel" ever gets her revenge, but oh, well. . .

The girl playing the virginal bimbo "Rachel" is unusually attractive and not a bad actress (although I'm not sure she's acting--Buckalew may have picked her up right off a bus at the Hollywood station and immediately cast her in this before she could even ask anyone for directions). "Satan" meanwhile is played by Christopher Stone, who was later married to Dee Wallace Stone. I find it perversely enjoyable to see the husband of "E.T."'s mom dressed in a cheap devil outfit and being orally serviced by a naked bimbo. It's funny how there never seems to be more than one or two degrees of separation between mainstream, family-friendly Hollywood and the porno industry. Of course, Stone is by far the best actor in this (and perhaps the only actor in this. . .) This is not that bad for a Bethel Buckalew film.