The Film (4/5)

Babyface 2 is Alex de Renzy's in name only sequel to his 1977 film Babyface.  As a director, Alex de Renzy went through four distinct different periods.  His first period was experimental adult films, which are really only for the die-hard fans of Alex de Renzy's films.  His next period, and his best period in the eyes of this reviewer, are his edgy feature adult films.  This was followed by his mainstream friendly adult film period.  And finally, his last period was his Rex Borsky movies.

The original Babyface was very much a product of Alex de Renzy's edgy feature film period whereas Babyface 2 is very much a product of Alex de Renzy's mainstream-friendly adult film period.  Alex de Renzy's biggest mistake – and really only mistake – with Babyface 2 was naming it to appear as if it was a continuation of Babyface.  Honestly, Babyface 2 should have been allowed to stand on its own merits.

Babyface 2 tells us the story, narrated by Candie Evans as told to her by her boyfriend Marc (Marc Wallice), about how an old lady (Molly Seagrim) who loves high school guys got to be that way.  The popular rumor is that it was due to a stroke.  The real story starts with Careena's (Careena Collins) bachelorette party and the mocking of an underwhelming male stripper (Jamie Gillis) that goes very awry.

Babyface 2 is demonstrative of a time that, had the adult movie industry not gone to the cheap shot on video productions, adult movies and mainstream movies were close to crossing over.  While Alex de Renzy was making mainstream friendly, had the hardcore footage been swapped out for softcore footage, adult films like Babyface 2 his peer Chuck Vincent was making hardcore friendly, had hardcore footage been added, films like Preppies and Wimps.  Babyface 2 even sounds mainstream, due to a musical riff that sounds strangely similar to The Cars' “Magic” that is very old by the end of the film due to how many times it is used.

Like many of the sex comedies of the time, be them mainstream or adult, Babyface 2 is just a lot of fun.  The film never takes itself seriously and doesn't try to do anything overly important.  There isn't an attempt to make a meaningful film like Alex de Renzy was doing during his second period.  Babyface 2 is just plain entertainment for the point of being entertaining and Babyface 2 succeeds very well at being entertaining entertainment.

The cast is excellent.  This reviewer will never understand why Jamie Gillis never went further than the essentially cameo roles he had in the mainstream movie industry.  He was a talented actor that always brought his characters to life and the comic down and out male stripper isn't any different.  Gillis owns the character.  The female cast members in the film are excellent as well.  The sex scenes, as any viewer should expect from a high-caliber cast like Babyface 2 has are excellent and fun to watch.

If the viewer completely forgets about Babyface and views Babyface 2 as a stand-alone film without bringing in any expectations of Babyface, Babyface 2 is going to be a fun film to sit back and watch.  The film sports a great cast, some hot sex scenes, and genuine humor.

Audio/Video (5/5)

Vinegar Syndrome has done a beautiful job with their Blu-ray/DVD combo pack of Babyface 2.  Babyface 2 was shot on film and Vinegar Syndrome has used a 2K scan of the 35mm camera negative for this release.  Babyface 2 is presented in the anamorphic widescreen aspect ratio of 1.78:1 in 1080p on the Blu-ray and 480p on the DVD.  Both the DVD and the Blu-ray contain the same content as each other.  The image quality on the release is excellent.  The color in the film are vibrant and jump off the screen and the image is flawless with grain present.  The video quality of this release is on par with that of any major studio's Blu-ray releases; Vinegar Syndrome should be very proud of this release.

Babyface 2 is presented on the Blu-ray with a DTS-HD Master Audio 1.0 monaural audio track and on the DVD with a Dolby Digital 1.0 monaural audio track.  The audio presentation sounds nice with a low hiss present and some occasional pops in the audio.  The dialog in the film is clear and easy to hear at all times during the presentation of the film.

Extras (0.5/5)

The only extra that Vinegar Syndrome has included on this release is the theatrical trailer for Babyface 2.

Overall

Babyface 2 isn't the best film that Alex de Renzy ever made during his long period in the adult industry, however, Babyface 2 is a fun adult film that could have also been just as successful had the film been made as an R-rated adult comedy like Alex de Renzy's peer Chuck Vincent was making during the same time.  Babyface 2 is a fun watch that will certainly be entertaining for fans of the genre and the Blu-ray/DVD combo pack release from Vinegar Syndrome is definitely a worthy investment.