The "Black Emanuelle" series went from pointless erotica ("Black Emanuelle") to the most crass and tasteless Italian exploitation ("Emanuelle in America")without ever actually achieving any drama or a real plot. This is about the closest the series ever came to a real movie. Gemser has a meatier-than-usual role as a trophy wife who has knocked off her rich, jaded husband, but is being blackmailed by the sleazy character she hired to do it. She falls in love with her late husband's industrialist partner (played by Gemser's real husband Gabrielle Tinti), and for some reason keeps around her husband's busty mistress, who had helped him sexually torture her and who begins plotting with the blackmailer against her. On the other, she seems genuinely devoted to her husband's teenage daughter, Livia (thus this movie was alternately called "Emmanuelle's Daughter" to capture the lucrative pervert market). The blackmailer, a sleazy looking Greek guy who always has a rose between teeth, makes his way sexually through the entire female cast, but isn't necessarily a very intimidating villain.
The ending of this movie is abrupt and incredibly stupid, but up until then there is some genuine dramatic tension, making this slightly more interesting than the typical Emanuelle flick. It's not nearly as transgressive and disturbing as some of the Joe D'Amato Emanuelle films (although the Italian sleazemeister was peripherally involved in this on the production end). There is one unpleasantly graphic, but not entirely gratuitous, rape scene involving an actress of an indeterminate, but probably pretty young, age--but no "snuff film" footage, equine masturbation, or cannibalism here.
Gemser, on the other hand, looks great and really gets a chance to act for change. Definitely recommended for Gemser/Emanuelle fans. As for everyone else. . .well, why are you reading this anyway?
