All Rise...

Judge Gordon Sullivan is averse to cinematic wizardry and witchcraft.

Editor's Note

Our review of Sorceress (1982) (Blu-ray), published August 11th, 2014, is also available.

The Charge

"All the pleasures of the flesh"

The Case

The early '90s was a kind of golden age for soft-core films. On the technical side, hardcore pornography had switched over almost exclusively to video, leaving those with film-based skill sets in high supply but comparatively low demand. On the distribution side, cable had pervaded American homes, creating a huge market for after-hours programming on various basic and premium cable channels. And then the internet had to show up and ruin everything, putting just about every kind of sex there is at the fingertips of everybody. Softcore filmmaking has largely been on a decline since. Luckily, fans can still revisit their favorites on home video. I don't think Sorceress counts as a classic by softcore standards, but it is a fascinating glimpse into a by-gone era of filmmaking.

Erica (Julie Strain, Tales from the Crapper) wants to ensure that her husband (Larry Poindexter, 17 Again) gets a promotion at work, so she performs a little voodoo ritual designed to kill his main rival (Edward Albert, Guarding Tess). But instead of killing him, she only puts him in a wheelchair, and it turns out that his wife (Linda Blair, The Exorcist) is also a witch and won't stand by while her man is threatened.

There are only so many convincing ways to get characters to convincingly shuck their duds. Obviously it happens during sex, so softcore films contrive to have as many sex scenes as possible. But unless a plot is wall-to-wall sex, there has to be a good reason for characters (and let's be real, especially women) to get naked. That's why there are so many softcore car-wash movies—it's a convincing way to get women in little clothing to gyrate provocatively. Another popular tactic is to make the story about witches. Of course witches have to dress sexy, and because they cast spells there are all sorts of excuses for sexy situation. That's why the late '80s and early '90s were lousy with witch-themed erotica, from Witchboard to Witchcraft and, of course, Sorceress.

But it's almost disingenuous to call Sorceress "witch-themed." The film's basic plot—rival witches with a bit of the ghostly thrown in—is really just an excuse for the erotic content. Things get started immediately, as the film opens on Julie Strain in a see-through robe doing some gibberish incantations. Though there are some strategically-placed shadows, it's obvious she's not wearing anything other than the robe (unless you count jewelry). And though it lets up in fits and starts, this scene sets the tone for the rest of the film. The highlight is obviously the extended lesbian threesome featuring the participants in S&M themed lingerie.

Sorceress is what it is. If you ever watched a softcore flick on Cinemax between 1990 and 2000, then very little will surprise you. Two things are, however, of note. The most obvious is the cast list, which includes the likes of Linda Blair. She's not given much to do, but as the "good" witch of the film she projects a certain innocence that fans of her work will be familiar with. Michael Parks—who is perhaps most famous now for the films of Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith—also makes a surprise turn. No one is given much to do, but the acting is better than I expected. The other thing to note about Sorceress is that the women who get naked are very much in that early-to-mid '90s vein. Expect very big hair and even bigger (surgically-altered) breasts. It's not my preferred aesthetic, but it's the one on display here.

You can see a surprising amount of detail about that aesthetic with Synapse's Sorceress (Blu-ray) release. This is apparently the "uncensored, director-approved edition" of the film, and the 1.78:1/1080p AVC-encoded transfer comes from a new 2K scan of the original elements. The film is in surprisingly good shape given its budget and vintage. The overall look skews soft, but there's a decently film-like appearance to the image, though there doesn't seem to be much in the way of grain. Colors look fine, and black levels are deep enough and consistent. The film's DTS-HD 2.0 track does a fine job with the dialogue and music, presenting both without problems.

The set's extras consist of a pair of commentaries from writer/director Jim Wynorski, one solo and the other with FX wizard Tom Savini. Wynorski is now making creature features, but he remembers his time in the softcore trenches fondly, and he dishes up some interesting tidbits.

Sorceress isn't a lost classic, but those with fond memories of the heyday of softcore cable erotica will find something to appreciate in the oddness of this feature. The Blu-ray deserves a special shout-out for a solid presentation and a surprising number of commentaries.

The Verdict

Guilty of lacking magic.

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