SEXY PIRATES is another erotic costume adventure from Joe D'Amato, made right at the end of his life. Unlike the others he made, however, this one is strictly softcore and a great deal tamer than his others. There are a handful of beautiful women who regularly disrobe for some steamy moments, but otherwise this is more plot-focused and even has some action in it to recommend it. It harks back to the costume adventures of the early '60s, a lot cheaper and with worse acting and production values, but fairly impressive visually and with plenty going on to see you through. A step up, then, from the usual fare D'Amato made during this era.
5 Reviews
Sexy pirates
BandSAboutMovies16 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
Predators of the Antilles was released in the U. S. as Sexy Pirates and it's the last non-adult film that D'Amato would direct. So how strange that this film is a throwback to old school swashbuckling with barely dirty nudity and sex scenes for a man who just spent five years filming Rocco Siffredi's yam bag up close.
You know how excited Joe was to make a mainstream film? He used the name David Hills, the name he used for Caligula... The Untold Story, Ator the Fighting Eagle, Ator 2, Quest for the Mighty Sword and Frankenstein 2000.
Joe also knows that if you want to make a fun adult-oriented pirate movie, you need a gorgeous leading lady. He ably succeeds with the casting of Anita Rinaldi, who was also in Top Model, and whose adult career took her to producing and directing. She's Lady Elena Hamilton and her goal is to rescue her husband no matter what it takes.
What it takes means hiring her own crew, as the king won't negotiate with pirates. So she asks Captain Graham to take her to Tortuga to enlist the legendary gentleman pirate Thomas Butler with the promise of offering herself to him biblically if he helps her rescue her husband. Shockingly - and keep in mind Joe D'Amato directed this - this doesn't happen in the very next scene.
So with her husband being sold to the evil Don Diego de la Vega, a team of pirates is put together to rescue the nobleman, including Butler's woman Pilar, an explosives expert, a monstrous protector for Elena, a sharpshooter and even a martial arts expert named Kato played by the astoundingly named Whu Tang Tung.
If this was your first D'Amato film, you may wonder why we did an entire week of his films. For those of us along for a much longer voyage, this elicits a smile, as we're seeing him tone it down one last time. Sadly, D'Amato died of a heart attack on January 23, 1999. According to Luigi Cozzi, his death happened unexpectedly while he was busy preparing a new film. His last film? So on brand it was an X-rated version of Showgirls called Showgirl, starring Eva Henger and Nacho Vidal.
You know how excited Joe was to make a mainstream film? He used the name David Hills, the name he used for Caligula... The Untold Story, Ator the Fighting Eagle, Ator 2, Quest for the Mighty Sword and Frankenstein 2000.
Joe also knows that if you want to make a fun adult-oriented pirate movie, you need a gorgeous leading lady. He ably succeeds with the casting of Anita Rinaldi, who was also in Top Model, and whose adult career took her to producing and directing. She's Lady Elena Hamilton and her goal is to rescue her husband no matter what it takes.
What it takes means hiring her own crew, as the king won't negotiate with pirates. So she asks Captain Graham to take her to Tortuga to enlist the legendary gentleman pirate Thomas Butler with the promise of offering herself to him biblically if he helps her rescue her husband. Shockingly - and keep in mind Joe D'Amato directed this - this doesn't happen in the very next scene.
So with her husband being sold to the evil Don Diego de la Vega, a team of pirates is put together to rescue the nobleman, including Butler's woman Pilar, an explosives expert, a monstrous protector for Elena, a sharpshooter and even a martial arts expert named Kato played by the astoundingly named Whu Tang Tung.
If this was your first D'Amato film, you may wonder why we did an entire week of his films. For those of us along for a much longer voyage, this elicits a smile, as we're seeing him tone it down one last time. Sadly, D'Amato died of a heart attack on January 23, 1999. According to Luigi Cozzi, his death happened unexpectedly while he was busy preparing a new film. His last film? So on brand it was an X-rated version of Showgirls called Showgirl, starring Eva Henger and Nacho Vidal.
Well-made Joe D'Amato adventure proved he still had the chops
lor_25 April 2011
Despite a latter-day career of over 100 hardcore porn films, Joe D'Amato proved he could still make a decent movie with SEXY PIRATES, a rollicking adventure tale that plays as well as many Hollywood '50s B pictures from the major studios. It has finally been released in America, though misleadingly sold as "erotica".
The nudity and sex scenes in this 90-minute movie last only seconds and would qualify for a soft R rating. The production is oddly credited to La Idra Musica, a music publishing outfit familiar from Joe's XXX films (e.g., THE JOY CLUB), but evidently backing a modest budget "clean" movie this time as a flyer into that end of the business.
Shot in Hungary, film boasts porn star Anita Rinaldi in the leading role, and Joe photographs her very flatteringly -she is a treat in this movie. I've seen some of her XXX work (VISIONS and Joe's MIDNIGHT OBSESSION), both as director and star, and it is routine compared to this mainstream outing.
She plays Lady Elena Hamilton, stopping at nothing to rescue her husband, Lord Hamilton (stolidly played by erstwhile stunt man Menyhert Dutombe) from pirates. Plot twists are conventional but worth describing as they demonstrate Joe's commitment to making a real movie for a change, even dusting off his "straight" pseudonym David Hills for the occasion.
When pirate George Rackham captures Lord Hamilton, killing his entire crew but saving him for ransom, King Charles of England rejects Elena's plea to save him. The king won't negotiate with pirates (sounds familiar hundreds of years later) and won't waste the treasure to mount a rescue mission.
Elena organizes her own mission, getting Captain Graham (Zoltan Kiss) to take her to Tortuga to enlist legendary "gentleman pirate" Thomas Butler (Carlo De Palma, not the Antonioni/Woody Allen cinematographer who uses the "Di" spelling unfortunately but another bloke).
De Palma resembles a macho version of Fisher Stevens (if one can imagine that) and is less than optimal casting for the lead role, but D'Amato makes do with a colorful cast of companions.
Elena agrees to give herself sexually to Butler if he succeeds in rescuing her hubby, but he proves to be a real gentleman, never forcing her to deliver on this promise. I was glad to see Joe toning down the rush-to-sex groove that he had become locked in for over a decade, and substitute good, old-fashioned story values.
In one plot lapse, Butler's beautiful and tempestuous girlfriend Pilar accompanies them on the mission, even though she and Elena have had a cat fight due to his divided attentions. This is all cleared up by film's end, but rather sloppily handled en route.
They discover that Hamilton has been sold by Rackham to the evil Don Diego de la Vega (sounds like a Zorro character, hammily played by Laszlo Mandrasz) so they recruit a motley crew to head to Maracaibo to assault De La Vega's fortress.
In an homage to Italian Westerns (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY to be specific) they find a sharpshooter who turns his confederate in for reward and then saves him from the noose with a well-timed shot, a tough way to make a living. An explosives expert Jean (Gabor Kun) is brought aboard and in a clever comic relief scene the hulking bald Gallon (Istvan Hangos) becomes Elena's protector. Oriental martial arts expert Kato (Whu Tang Tung) comes along for the ride.
The team defeats a Dutch ship in battle to arrive at Maracaibo incognito, but De La Vega smells the trap and puts them all in irons. After some escaping, sword-fighting, explosions and other derring-do the happy ending is achieved in a whirlwind finish.
This is low-budget film, but importantly it's adequately budgeted, as Joe photographs the women with lovely back-lighting and beautiful orangey hues, and all the shipboard footage is convincing. His many fans should be pleased at this return to form (copyrighted 1999, the year of his death), and undoubtedly regret that he toiled in the porn wilderness for so long instead of cranking out more quality Bs.
The nudity and sex scenes in this 90-minute movie last only seconds and would qualify for a soft R rating. The production is oddly credited to La Idra Musica, a music publishing outfit familiar from Joe's XXX films (e.g., THE JOY CLUB), but evidently backing a modest budget "clean" movie this time as a flyer into that end of the business.
Shot in Hungary, film boasts porn star Anita Rinaldi in the leading role, and Joe photographs her very flatteringly -she is a treat in this movie. I've seen some of her XXX work (VISIONS and Joe's MIDNIGHT OBSESSION), both as director and star, and it is routine compared to this mainstream outing.
She plays Lady Elena Hamilton, stopping at nothing to rescue her husband, Lord Hamilton (stolidly played by erstwhile stunt man Menyhert Dutombe) from pirates. Plot twists are conventional but worth describing as they demonstrate Joe's commitment to making a real movie for a change, even dusting off his "straight" pseudonym David Hills for the occasion.
When pirate George Rackham captures Lord Hamilton, killing his entire crew but saving him for ransom, King Charles of England rejects Elena's plea to save him. The king won't negotiate with pirates (sounds familiar hundreds of years later) and won't waste the treasure to mount a rescue mission.
Elena organizes her own mission, getting Captain Graham (Zoltan Kiss) to take her to Tortuga to enlist legendary "gentleman pirate" Thomas Butler (Carlo De Palma, not the Antonioni/Woody Allen cinematographer who uses the "Di" spelling unfortunately but another bloke).
De Palma resembles a macho version of Fisher Stevens (if one can imagine that) and is less than optimal casting for the lead role, but D'Amato makes do with a colorful cast of companions.
Elena agrees to give herself sexually to Butler if he succeeds in rescuing her hubby, but he proves to be a real gentleman, never forcing her to deliver on this promise. I was glad to see Joe toning down the rush-to-sex groove that he had become locked in for over a decade, and substitute good, old-fashioned story values.
In one plot lapse, Butler's beautiful and tempestuous girlfriend Pilar accompanies them on the mission, even though she and Elena have had a cat fight due to his divided attentions. This is all cleared up by film's end, but rather sloppily handled en route.
They discover that Hamilton has been sold by Rackham to the evil Don Diego de la Vega (sounds like a Zorro character, hammily played by Laszlo Mandrasz) so they recruit a motley crew to head to Maracaibo to assault De La Vega's fortress.
In an homage to Italian Westerns (THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY to be specific) they find a sharpshooter who turns his confederate in for reward and then saves him from the noose with a well-timed shot, a tough way to make a living. An explosives expert Jean (Gabor Kun) is brought aboard and in a clever comic relief scene the hulking bald Gallon (Istvan Hangos) becomes Elena's protector. Oriental martial arts expert Kato (Whu Tang Tung) comes along for the ride.
The team defeats a Dutch ship in battle to arrive at Maracaibo incognito, but De La Vega smells the trap and puts them all in irons. After some escaping, sword-fighting, explosions and other derring-do the happy ending is achieved in a whirlwind finish.
This is low-budget film, but importantly it's adequately budgeted, as Joe photographs the women with lovely back-lighting and beautiful orangey hues, and all the shipboard footage is convincing. His many fans should be pleased at this return to form (copyrighted 1999, the year of his death), and undoubtedly regret that he toiled in the porn wilderness for so long instead of cranking out more quality Bs.
Sailing away
kosmasp29 April 2020
So I have not translated the original title and what it would mean in english. One of the international titles is more than missleading though (Sexy Pirates). While there is nudity and I reckon you can attest beauty to the people involved, this is more of an by the numbers adventure. The version I saw did cut away when things were about to get steamy. There might be other versions that depict a bit more though I do not think it would make the film better.
What I do think is missing (apart from more meat to the story, no pun intended), is women being more than just pretty little things to look at. It would have been nice if they had some stunt scenes for themselves. Having cliches as team members might be good enough for you, but overall there is not enough to keep anyone interested for the whole run time ... morals aside
What I do think is missing (apart from more meat to the story, no pun intended), is women being more than just pretty little things to look at. It would have been nice if they had some stunt scenes for themselves. Having cliches as team members might be good enough for you, but overall there is not enough to keep anyone interested for the whole run time ... morals aside
WE CAN DANCE
nogodnomasters8 May 2019
Warning: Spoilers
Lord Hamilton (Menyhért René Balog-Dutombé) is kidnapped by pirates and England won't pay the 10,000 gold piece ransom. Lady Hamilton (Anita Rinaldi) decides to rescue him with the aides of a gallery of rogues, including an oriental fighter named Kato.
The film promises to be an action packed sexy romp,and is anything but. The sword play was really bad. It looked like these guys were unsure which end to hold the sword. It also promises a "cat fight" which wasn't the knocked down drag out rip your clothes off kind, but one that lasts about 30 seconds.
The film does have f-bombs, sex and nudity but far from the norm for a Joe D'Amato film. No extras on the DVD and not a great transfer to DVD.
The film promises to be an action packed sexy romp,and is anything but. The sword play was really bad. It looked like these guys were unsure which end to hold the sword. It also promises a "cat fight" which wasn't the knocked down drag out rip your clothes off kind, but one that lasts about 30 seconds.
The film does have f-bombs, sex and nudity but far from the norm for a Joe D'Amato film. No extras on the DVD and not a great transfer to DVD.
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