The Blue Balloon (1973) Poster

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4/10
Exploited
kosmasp3 April 2024
No pun intended - no really, I mean it literally. And I reckon one can find something in something sleazy as this. And one can also try to understand the time this was done - when this was shot I assume there was not much one could find in terms of adult ... let's call it entertainment! That said, nowadays there is an overkill of it - you search for something, you go on social media and even if you don't want any of it .. you get stuff that might make you blush (I am trying to put it as mildly as possible - even with a review to a title you should not be able to see unless you enable adult content).

This was a bonus feature on the Sinful Dwarf disc - another curiosity ... and worse (at least in my book) than this. Because while this knows what it is - the other one may have had more story, but was not as in your face as this. I guess it depends on what you are looking for. This one could have been preachy, but it also could have been in a sense educational ... a warning sign. I find it disturbing if one thinks the main female character "chooses" any of this - she gives in at one point or another - sometimes under the influence, sometimes under resignation ... again, one could have done more with this ... let's call it dilemma ... but then the "entertainment" factor probably would have been lessened ... again this is morally questionable at best ... if Straw Dogs was controversial ... if this had bigger actors it would have been a way bigger outcry I assume.

But if you are here for the intercourse, you might be or leave satisfied (another pun you say?) ... though I do not try to take anything lightly shown here ... remember this is grindhouse and sleaze ... and adult themed (to put it mildly)
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Not a Masterpiece But It's Of Interest
Michael_Elliott6 March 2016
The Blue Balloon (1973)

** (out of 4)

Bizarre roughie porn from Sweden has Lisbeth Olsen playing a shy woman who meets a man who she finally gives herself to sexually. The two are eventually married before he gets drafted. Once he's gone the woman is left alone but is kidnapped by a crazed lesbian who drugs her, ties her up and forces her into prostitution.

THE BLUE BALLOON was pretty much forgotten until it started making the rounds in a shortened version. It became known that the producers of this film also made the notorious THE SINFUL DWARF and when that film was released to Blu-ray the fine folks at Severin included this movie as a bonus. This print here runs 71 minutes, which is much longer than some of the bootlegs out there.

For the most part this film isn't horrible but at the same time it's a long way off from Bergman. I think the film will be of interest to fans of roughies because there's some rather brutal or should I say unerotic stuff here. The female character is constantly being abused until she gets hooked on everything she's doing. There's actually a fairly decent story being told here and while I won't ruin the ending I will say that it makes an impact. The sex scenes are good for what they are but there's no doubt that the low-budget really doesn't help things as everything here is pretty cheaply shot.
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7/10
Seedy Danish "roughie"
Falconeer5 October 2015
The version I saw of this very obscure title, ran roughly 58 minutes, so I'm not sure what is missing from this print. This site lists the original run time of 73 minutes. If plot and story was cut, then I would surely love to see this in it's full length version.

"Blue Balloon" is sleazy, grindhouse porn, to be sure. But the storyline does draw you in, if you let it. This young woman is spotted at the airport, by a truly despicable woman in a wig and dark sunglasses, who pretends to be concerned about the girl's welfare. Having just said goodbye to her boyfriend as he goes away to the army, she is distraught, and allows herself to be drugged and taken to a seedy apartment. She is kept high on marijuana joints laced with heroin, in order to keep her in line, as she is repeatedly raped by paying male customers. At one point she escapes, but her new addiction keeps her working the streets, until one night a familiar face reappears..

These 1970's exploit films sometimes have this strange, atmospheric quality, and "Blue Balloon" is certainly one of those. If there was just a little more story, or some more non-sexual scenes, this could have been better. And I suspect that the long version might be just that. Even so, this is a curiosity piece that will be interesting to fans of vintage grindhouse cinema.
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