Netherlands/1971
Directed By: Wim Verstappen
Written By: Wim Verstappen, Charles Gormley
Starring: Hugo Metsers, Carry Tefsen, Kees Brusse
Color/89 Minutes/Not Rated
Region Free
Release Date: February 12, 2019
Blu-ray/DVD
The Film
A young man named Michael has been released from prison after five years for having sexual relations with a fifteen year old girl, an act that he has found isn't really looked down upon anymore. Michael's parole officer has set him up with an apartment in a high rise that Michael finds filled with women, much to his liking. With his sex drive going wild after so many years of not being able to touch a woman Michael takes a liking to the married women of the complex and begins to have affairs with the women leading to threesomes, and even orgies that involve most of the building.
BLUE MOVIE is extremely thin on plot, with that brief synopsis making up almost the entirety of the movie until a moment near the end where a man at the orgy is laughed at for being impotent and leaps from the balcony to his death. It's at this moment that the film shows some power as most of BLUE MOVIE seems to be celebrating sexual liberation and freedom but without much meaning behind any of it with the sexual affairs and encounters usually having little consequence for anyone involved. When a man jumps to his death over sexual humiliation we're shown how powerful the sexual encounter can be.
BLUE MOVIE never enters full on hardcore pornography but for a film from 1971 taboos are broken and walls are torn down. It also proves to be a wonderfully directed and photographed film as Jan de Bont cut his teeth on films like this before going on to photograph films like Die Hard and The Hunt For Red October and direct blockbusters like Speed and Twister. BLUE MOVIE will likely be remembered historically for breaking barriers and attacking social norms and taboos more than for being an entertaining film but even if BLUE MOVIE is a bit of a bore, there's plenty of far more fun and exciting sexploitation films out there, few have the artistic merit of BLUE MOVIE.
The Audio & Video
Cult Epics presents BLUE MOVIE on Blu-ray with a 1.37:1 full frame aspect ratio in full 1080p high definition from a new restoration and transfer from the 16mm reversal and 35mm duplicate negative done by The Eye Film Institute. While the overall image quality is perfectly fine and presentable the colors are unremarkable and detail levels are pretty good. The image is generally a bit flat but presented in an appropriately realistic manner. The picture is free of any immediately noticeable scratches, dirt/debris or other damage. The audio fares better with the lone option being a 2.0 Dolby Digital mono mix in the films native Dutch with optional English subtitles. The audio is clear, free of any distortions, damage, or background noise. The film doesn't have a dynamic soundtrack but the audio track on this Blu-ray handles it beautifully.
Please Note: Screenshots have been taken from the DVD copy of the film
The Extras
Bonus features include:
-Interview with Wim Verstappen from 1971
-Interview with producer Pim de la Parra from the 2018 Dutch Sex Wave Festival
-2018 interview with Hugo Metsers Jr.
-Eye Film Institute featurette
-Poster and photo gallery
-Scorpio Films Trailers
The Bottom Line
Cult Epics should be commended for bringing this historical piece of sexploitation to Blu-ray.
BLUE MOVIE is available HERE
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