In Hot Blood (1968)

A pretty girl tries to make it in the fashion business as a model but gets corrupted by the industry's seedy underbelly.

Director:

Joel Landwehr (as Leo J. Rhewdnal)

Stars:

Doris Porro, Ruth Colon, Tom Zolfo

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Doris Porro	...	Rita
Ruth Colon	...	Roberta
Tom Zolfo	...	Photographer
Dolores	...	Sandy

Storyline

Rita, an ill-paid factory worker, is determined to make it as a model in New York City. She's an ordinary girl with an extraordinary body. She learns by watching other models, but she also knows that photographers will insist on gratifying their own pleasure if she's to get the jobs. With a voice-over narration supplying all the commentary, we watch her six-month descent, from first jobs to wild parties, from drug use to seduction. "Pain is their pastime," says the narrator. How far will the degradation take Rita?

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Plot Keywords:

ambition | bdsm | topless female nudity | underbelly | whipping | 

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Taglines:

A wild romp through the city's sex-pads...

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Genres:

Drama

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User Reviews

Unacknowledged Findlay film?

Here's another anti-erotic, sleazy East-coast "roughie" from the mid-60s. A voluptuous Asian-American girl seeks a gig as a photographer's model in Manhattan. She's already resigned herself to the fact that the photo sessions are little more than excuses for perverse, drug-infused orgies. When one stoned model becomes abusive, our protagonist and another girl (who's afraid of needles) are forced to knock her unconscious. The pair flee to an apartment for more fun and games, while the whacked-out one plots revenge (luckily, she keeps a handy meat cleaver in her purse!). Mayhem ensues.

The girls are all rather butch and ill-groomed, featuring the usual assortment of scars and other physical flaws; while, for symmetry's sake, the boys all seem quite fey. There's plenty of topless and backside nudity, but everyone keeps his/her underpants on for the down and dirty stuff. S&M, fruit fetishes, high-heel caressing, and other offbeat practices are the order of the day.

What's most remarkable about the picture is that it seems so obviously to be the work of that maestro of sleaze, Michael Findlay, though there's no attestation to this fact in any reference sources. I'm sure it's his NY-accented voice as the narrator (there's no live sound, just funky jazz library cues which often run out mid-scene). The existential, beat-inspired poetic musings are unmistakeably his. The shadowy photography, occasional bizarre camera angles, oddball sex, and especially the unwarranted violent conclusion, all smack of his genius. If this isn't enough to convince the amateur sleuth, the opening credits are presented in the exact same style as in his "Flesh" trilogy -- they're scrawled on nude bodies with lipstick or a grease pen. And one of the main characters is named Roberta (not played by his wife, though).

The director credited on screen is one "Leo J. Rhrednal", supposedly a palindromic pseudonym for Joel Landwehr. Now that Mr. Landwehr's other credited picture, "Fluctuations", is out on DVD, maybe the true story will come out.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Filming Locations:

New York City, New York, USA

Company Credits

Technical Specs

Runtime:

59 min (DVD)

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1