With all respect to lor_, one of the foremost chroniclers on IMDb of low- rent XXX junk, he missed the mark by a mile on this one. AAH is a superb verite mood piece that's well worth your time.
In typical exploitation style (as lor_ states, harking back to the '60s and beyond), the film presents a "last days" account of an anonymous Los Angeles prostitute. What's remarkable is the lyrical approach to the material. Rather than moralizing or condemning, the film seems to be presenting an honest look at her life, which vacillates between happiness and depression and don't necessarily get mired in a "woe is me" air of misery every time the clothes come off. To the contrary, scenes like the orgy at the mansion have a weird, dispassionate joy and beauty about them, and the film doesn't seem to necessarily present prostitution as the cause of all its protagonist's ills. Her final, jangled monologue, crudely as it may be recorded and delivered, nevertheless has a painful air of very real hurt, which for once more than justifies (SPOILER?) the usually pat suicide ending.
Recently released by Vinegar Syndrome in an uncut, 65-minute edition through its Exploitation.TV streaming service, AAH was initially only available through Something Weird, which had put it out in a print truncated by probably 6 or 7 minutes. While I haven't been able to ascertain all that's missing, there's about a minute or two more at both the head and tail of the film. Ironically, in the latter case, the extension may actually work *against* the movie, as while the Something Weird print ends with (SPOILER) our protagonist staring longingly into her bathroom mirror, then pouring a pile of pills into her hand before cutting to a spliced-on "The End" card, the uncut edition extends the sequence to show its aftermath - a bloody wrist-slashing that's honestly more than the film needs to show. We get it. Still, AAH is a bold and daring little hardcore gem in the '70s style, unafraid of taking risks and willing to fail in trying. What it may lack in polish it makes up for its openness to experimentation, and this quality certainly distinguishes it from the pack of pro forma one-day-wonders crowding the release schedules of companies like Something Weird and After Hours. Definitely worth a look for those seeking something different!
In typical exploitation style (as lor_ states, harking back to the '60s and beyond), the film presents a "last days" account of an anonymous Los Angeles prostitute. What's remarkable is the lyrical approach to the material. Rather than moralizing or condemning, the film seems to be presenting an honest look at her life, which vacillates between happiness and depression and don't necessarily get mired in a "woe is me" air of misery every time the clothes come off. To the contrary, scenes like the orgy at the mansion have a weird, dispassionate joy and beauty about them, and the film doesn't seem to necessarily present prostitution as the cause of all its protagonist's ills. Her final, jangled monologue, crudely as it may be recorded and delivered, nevertheless has a painful air of very real hurt, which for once more than justifies (SPOILER?) the usually pat suicide ending.
Recently released by Vinegar Syndrome in an uncut, 65-minute edition through its Exploitation.TV streaming service, AAH was initially only available through Something Weird, which had put it out in a print truncated by probably 6 or 7 minutes. While I haven't been able to ascertain all that's missing, there's about a minute or two more at both the head and tail of the film. Ironically, in the latter case, the extension may actually work *against* the movie, as while the Something Weird print ends with (SPOILER) our protagonist staring longingly into her bathroom mirror, then pouring a pile of pills into her hand before cutting to a spliced-on "The End" card, the uncut edition extends the sequence to show its aftermath - a bloody wrist-slashing that's honestly more than the film needs to show. We get it. Still, AAH is a bold and daring little hardcore gem in the '70s style, unafraid of taking risks and willing to fail in trying. What it may lack in polish it makes up for its openness to experimentation, and this quality certainly distinguishes it from the pack of pro forma one-day-wonders crowding the release schedules of companies like Something Weird and After Hours. Definitely worth a look for those seeking something different!