Bettie Page Videos

There are a number of video compilations of Bettie Page's short films, but none of them stay in production for very long. Bettie Page Uncovered (or DVD) contains a lot of previously unreleased material, gives you a pretty good look at Page's work, and certainly explains her enduring popularity.

Other Bettie Page videos worth looking for are: Striporama ($20), Teaserama ($20), and Varietease ($20). The last two were shot by the legendary Irving Klaw. In Varietease she performs a 'dance of seven veils.'

On DVD see Cult Epic's Bettie Page: Bondage Queen and Pin Up Queen which are the best of the lot, and at 90 minutes also the longest of the Bettie Page compilations. Teaserama (in Canada) and Varietease (in Canada) are also now available on DVD. Bettie Page in Bondage is best avoided unless you are an absolutely obsessive collector.

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Starring: Madonna, Willem Dafoe
Director: Uli Edel 

Madonna continues her flirtation with bdsm in this movie. As is all too common these days, there's an R rated version of this film to get past the censors and an unrated versio that was released on video. Madonna's wealthy lover drops dead of a heart attack during a night of wild, kinky sex. She is accused of murdering him and hires a top atorney to defend her. Madonna seduces him as well and teaches him the joys of kinky sex and hot wax. Predictable 'surprise' ending. 

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Starring: Dan Akyroyd, Dana Delany, Paul Mercurio, Rosie O'Donnell 
Director: Garry Marshall 

This comedic rendition of the Anne Rice (Rampling) novel offended many of the bdsm community's leaders who thought it trivialized and lampooned what we do. It was also boycotted by many bdsm organizations. It is actually not a bad film, just forget that it is based on the book because there's virtually no similarity between the two. Ellioit is turned into a novice and a separate plot line is introduced featuring undercover cops Sheila Kingston and Fred Lavery (O'Donnell and Akyroyd) who attempt to track down notorious, though never photographed, diamond smuggler Omar and his beautiful sidekick (Iman). The smugglers chase Elliot to an island bdsm paradise after he photographs them smuggling diamonds through airport customs. There are lots of cute one-liners, and some inside humor that clearly indicates some knowledge of the bdsm community. There's also a lot of footage of scantily clad beautiful people in a tropical setting, a few bdsm scenes and a fight between Iman and O'Donnell in fetish attire. 

Radley Metzger's erotic classic, originally titled The Punishment of Anne.

This is a hilarious and witty French send-up of de Sade using puppets. You'll never be able to take the divine Marquis seriously after seeing this. The Marquis de Sade is depicted as a philosophically-minded cocker spaniel. He has been jailed for defiling a crucifix. When not searching for new ways to gratify his unquenchable lust, he discusses literary criticism, philosophy, morality, and politics with his only confidant, his enormous penis. Lots of kinky puppet sex. 

Directed by Henri Xhonneux and Roland Topor 

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DVD (Canada)

This is one of the few instances in which the movie is better than the book. Censors had the most dramatic of the bdsm scenes cut, but this Unrated version has it. Rourke plays the classic mysterious top; Basinger his latest love interest. Typical for this type of movie, the sex scenes are great, but the plot surrounding them leaves much to be desired. The dialogue could also have used some work. Who could possibly forget the line: "Every time I see you, you're buying chickens." 

Starring: Mickey Rourke and Kim Basinger 
Director: Adrian Lyne 

Rourke starred in the very similar film Wild Orchid (directed by Zalman King) a few years later. It has the same pretty cinematography, but lacks the energy of 9 1/2 Weeks. Another 9 1/2 Weeks is even worse.

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Starring: Dirk Bogarde and Charlotte Rampling. 
Director: Liliana Cavani 

This film remains a cult favorite due to its cast and good director. Its theme, though, leaves much to desired. Set in 1957 it  follows the sadomasochistic relationship between a former Nazi concentration camp guard and one of the female prisoners he used to abuse. Now employed as a night porter in Vienna, the guard is reunited with his victim when she checks into his hotel with her husband. They resume their relationship and the audience learns about their time together in the camp in a series of flashbacks. The story is supposedly based on an interviews with an actual concentration camp survivor. This film inspired a host of sleazy imitators, the most famous of which is Ilsa She Wolf of the SS. All these films have helped reinforce the common association of consensual bdsm activities with Nazi atrocities. 
 

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Starring: Pier Paolo Pasolini
Director: Pier Paolo Pasolini

This, Pasolini's last film, is either admired or reviled by critics. Everyone has an opinion, and it is always a strong one.It is loosely based on De Sade's 120 Days of Sodom. Set in World War II Italy, high-ranking Fascists kidnap, abuse, and eventually kill sixteen adolescent boys and girls. Graphic scenes include rape, torture, scat, and a host of other unpleasantries incuding stale philosophical dialogues. One can only imagine what de Sade would have thought. Italian censors banned it on its released. 

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Starring: Corinne Clery, Jean-Pierre Andreani, Gabriel Cattand, Li Sellgren, Albane Navizet, Nadine Perles, Laurie Moutoussamy, Henri Piegay, Alain Noury. 

Directed by Just Jaeckin 

This highly erotic movie follows the book fairly closely until the end. The costuming and settings are absolutely beautiful and continue to inspire fetish fashion designers as well as jewelry makers. Jaeckin also directed the classic Emmanuelle and the Perils of Gwendoline, a film loosely based on John WIllie's Gwendoline.

A new, 10 part, version of Story of O was produced a few years ago, and is now available on DVD: The Story of O: the Series (volume 1), volume 2, volume 3, volume 4, and volume 5. Each volume contains two 60 minute episodes.

In Canada: volumes one, two, three, four, and five.

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Directed by Elfi Mikesch and Monika Treut 

This beautifully shot, stylish film continues Treut's exploration of bdsm. It focuses on Wanda, a dominatrix who operates a Hamburg club that caters to bdsm. The club's highlight is Wanda putting her male and female slaves through their paces. The movie delves into her relationships with the various people in her life, including her lesbian, shoe fetishist lover, a male performer at her club, and others. If you like her style, you might also want to look at Erotique (1996) which is four short, erotic films; two with bdsm themes. 

Female Misbehavior (1992) is the documentary that introduced us to director  Monika Treut. It contains four interviews of women on the sexual fringe:  Camille Paglia, the author of Sexual Personae; porn star and sex goddess Annie Sprinkle, lesbian bdsmer Carol and her lover, and Max, a female-to-male transsexual. 
 

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Directed by Pedro Almodovar 
Starring: Victoria Abril and Antonio Banderas 

This humorous film follows a recently released mental patient who falls in love with and kidnaps an actress. He keeps her chained to his bed for several days while he tries to convince her to fall in love with him. His absolute adoration of her is actually rather romantic, in a mentally unbalanced kind of way. Almodovar's 1993 film Kika also stars Abril and has a few bondage and rape scenes. 
 

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Starring: Miho Nikaido 
Directed by Ryu Murakami 

Based on a novel by Murakami, this movie chronicles the sexual adventures of a Tokyo prostitute (Nikaido) who specializes in bdsm in addition to providing standard sexual services. Sometimes she's top; other times she bottoms. It is surprisingly graphic with numerous bdsm scenes. These tend to be violent and a bit edgy. There is even a golden shower. The extensive drug use may bother some people. Typical of the genre, Nikaido becomes troubled by her occupation and sinks into depression. 

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Price: $26.96

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Venus in Furs (1970), unrated, $29.95

Directed by Maartje Seyferth and Victor Nieuwenhuijs

Artsy European, black and white film that follows Sacher Mosoch's story reasonably well.